Chapter 6

Dylan’s POV 

He leaned in, his voice a cold promise of doom.

“Unless the White Wolf bonds with an Alpha strong enough to share the burden. To anchor them."

"That's enough," Vincent snaps. "These are old stories, rumors."

"Are they? Or are you hoping to use her power before it consumes her?"

Vincent moves faster than I expect, backhanding Marcus hard enough to send him sprawling. "You forget your place, son."

Marcus wipes blood from his mouth, grinning. "No, Father. I know exactly where I stand."

"We're leaving," I announce, grabbing Nadia's arm.

"Wait," Vincent says. "Please. There's something else. Something important."

Against my better judgment, we follow him to a vault beneath the pack house. Inside are artifacts, books, paintings. He stops at a portrait of a woman with pure white hair and familiar eyes.

"My grandmother," he says. "Your great-grandmother. She was the last White Wolf before you."

Nadia stares at the painting, transfixed. The woman is beautiful but there's something unsettling about her expression. A wildness.

"Marcus wasn't entirely wrong," Vincent admits. "The power did affect her. But not because she was weak. Because she was alone. She had no anchor, no equal to share the burden."

"You mean a mate," Nadia says.

"Not just any mate. A true mate. One strong enough to withstand the White Wolf's power." He looks pointedly at me. "An Alpha who chose politics over his mate bond probably isn't strong enough."

My wolf snarls, but I hold it back.

"There's more," Vincent continues, pulling out an ancient book. "The prophecy everyone mentions? It's incomplete. The full version says the White Wolf will either unite our kind or destroy it, depending on one choice."

"What choice?"

"Whether to embrace the full power alone, or share it with another. If you try to hold all the power yourself, it will corrupt you like it did her." He gestures to the painting. "But if you bond fully with a true mate, the power stabilizes. Grows stronger but controllable."

"You're lying," I say. "Trying to manipulate her."

"Am I? Tell me, Alpha Winters, have you noticed anything strange since she arrived? Wolves acting differently? Power fluctuations?"

I have, actually. The pack bonds feel different with Nadia here. Stronger but unstable, like electricity before a storm.

"She needs training," Vincent continues. "She needs to understand her heritage. Stay here, Nadia. Let me teach you."

"So you can use her," I snap.

"So I can save her!" Vincent roars. "You think you can protect her? You couldn't even protect her from your own father! She needs someone who understands White Wolf power."

"Stop," Nadia says quietly. "Both of you, stop."

She walks to the painting, touching it gently. "Tell me how she died."

Vincent hesitates. "Her mate killed her. Marcus told the truth about that. She became too powerful, too dangerous. He thought he was saving the pack."

"Was he?"

"No. Her death caused a power vacuum that led to a war. Hundreds died."

Nadia turns to face us. "I need to think. Alone."

"Nadia—" I start.

"Please, Dylan. Just... give me a minute."

I don't want to leave her, but James pulls me away. We wait outside the vault, tension crackling between Vincent and me.

When Nadia emerges, her face is set with determination.

"I'll take the training," she says, and my heart drops. "But not here. Vincent, you'll come to Silver Moon. Guest quarters. You'll teach me there, where I have my pack's support."

"That's not—" Vincent starts.

"That's the offer. Take it or leave it."

He considers, then nods. "Fine. But I bring Marcus."

"No," I say immediately.

"He's my son. He has as much right to know his sister as you have to hover over your rejected mate."

The words sting, but Nadia agrees before I can argue.

The drive back is silent. Nadia stares out the window while I replay everything in my mind. The painting, the warnings, Marcus's hungry looks at Nadia.

"You okay?" James asks Nadia softly.

"I don't know. If what Vincent said is true, if the power will corrupt me..."

"We won't let that happen," I say firmly.

"You can't stop it, Dylan. Not unless..."

"Unless what?"

She looks at me, vulnerability clear in her eyes. "Unless we complete the mate bond. Fully. But that means trusting you again, and I... I don't know if I can."

The words hurt more than any physical wound could.

"I know," I say quietly. "But I'll earn it. Whatever it takes."

"What if there isn't time? What if the power corrupts me first?"

"Then I'll find another way. I won't lose you again, Nadia. Not to Vincent, not to the power, not to anything."

She reaches over, taking my hand. It's the first time she's touched me voluntarily since returning.

"I want to trust you," she whispers. "I want to, but I'm scared."

"I know. I'm scared too."

"The big bad Alpha is scared?"

"Terrified. Of losing you, of failing you again, of not being strong enough to anchor you if you need me."

She squeezes my hand. "You are strong enough. That's not the question."

"Then what is?"

"Whether I'm strong enough to forgive."

We're almost at Silver Moon when James tenses. "Alpha, something's wrong."

I smell it too. Blood. Smoke. Fear.

We race through the territory to find chaos. Buildings burning, wolves fighting, bodies on the ground.

"What happened?" I roar.

Beta Samuel appears, bloodied and limping. "Rogues. Hundreds of them. They came right after you left."

"Where did they go?"

"That's the thing, Alpha. They didn't leave. They're still here. In the pack house. They said... they said they're waiting for the White Wolf."

Nadia steps forward, power already glowing beneath her skin. "Then let's not keep them waiting."

But as we approach the pack house, I see who's leading the rogues and my blood turns to ice.

My father. The previous Alpha. The one who supposedly died two years ago.

He smiles when he sees us, his eyes fixed on Nadia.

"Hello, son. I've come to finish what I started five years ago."