One

Desiree

"Fall back! FALL BACK!"

My father's voice tears through the chaos, but it's too late. Blood paints the earth red beneath my boots, and the metallic stench of death clogs my throat. Bodies, so many bodies, litter the ground like broken dolls.

This wasn't supposed to happen. The Midnight Pack promised peace talks. They lied.

"Desiree, run!" My father's command snaps me back to reality. Alpha Marcus Greyfort, the strongest wolf I've ever known, stumbles backward as three massive wolves circle him. His gray fur is matted with blood, his movements slower than they should be.

"No!" The word rips from my chest. "Dad!"

I shift mid-sprint, my bones cracking and reforming in seconds. My wolf bursts free, silver fur gleaming even in this nightmare. I have to reach him. I have to..

A black wolf, larger than any I've seen, slams into my father's side. The sickening crunch of bone echoes across the battlefield. Dad's wolf form crumples, and he doesn't get back up.

Time stops. My heart stops.

"DAD!" The scream that leaves me is barely human. I'm running, stumbling, my paws tearing at the mud. But hands, human hands, grab me from behind, yanking me backward.

"Let me GO!" I thrash against my Beta's grip, watching as the black wolf stands over my father's still form. "I'll kill him! I'll kill them all!"

"He's gone, Desiree." Marcus, my Beta and childhood friend, holds me tighter even as I claw at his arms. "Your father's gone. We have to retreat."

Gone.

The word doesn't make sense. My father can't be gone. He's the Alpha. He's invincible. He's—

The black wolf shifts. A man emerges from the shadows, tall and broad-shouldered, his presence suffocating. Dark hair falls across a face carved from stone, and eyes like molten silver sweep across the battlefield with cold satisfaction.

Alpha Gillian  Blackthorn. The Alpha King. The monster from every nightmare my pack whispers about. Something inside me shatters and reforms into pure, crystalline rage.

I wrench free from Marcus and shift back, not caring that I'm naked and vulnerable. Let them see. Let them all see. I storm forward, my legs shaking but my resolve iron-hard.

"You BASTARD!" My voice carries across the sudden silence. Warriors from both packs freeze, turning to watch. "You killed him! You killed my father!"

Gillian 's head turns slowly in my direction. Those silver eyes lock onto mine, and the world tilts sideways.

No. No, no, no.

My wolf, who moments ago was snarling for blood, suddenly whimpers. She presses against my consciousness, not in fear, but in... recognition. Longing. Submission.

Mate, she whispers.  Mate. MATE.

"Traitor," I hiss at her, at myself, at the Moon Goddess who would play such a cruel joke. My father's body is still warm, and my wolf wants to curl up at this murderer's feet?

Gillian  moves toward me with predatory grace. Every step is deliberate, measured. His pack parts for him like water, their eyes gleaming with bloodlust and curiosity.

"You're Marcus Greyfort's daughter." His voice is deep, rough like gravel. Not a question. A statement.

"Desiree Greyfort." I lift my chin, refusing to show weakness even as my wolf practically purrs at his proximity. "And you're a dead man."

His lips twitch. Almost a smile. Almost. "Brave words from a wolf who just lost her Alpha."

"I'll make you pay." The promise tastes like iron on my tongue. "I'll take everything from you, just like you took him from me. I swear it on the Moon herself."

Something flickers in those silver eyes. Respect? Amusement? I can't tell. He stops just inches away, so close I can feel the heat radiating from his skin, smell the pine and smoke scent that makes my traitorous wolf whine.

"You feel it." Another statement. His hand rises, and I force myself not to flinch. "The bond."

"I feel nothing," I lie through clenched teeth.

His fingers brush my jaw, tilting my face up. The contact sends electricity racing down my spine, and I hate it. I hate him. I hate this.

"Liar." His thumb traces my lower lip, and my breath catches. "Your wolf knows what you refuse to accept."

"Don't.."

But he's already moving. His head dips, and I feel the press of his canines against my neck. Every instinct screams at me to fight, to run, to do something. But my body won't obey. My wolf won't obey. She wants this.

The bite is quick and agonizing. Fire races through my veins as his mark sears into my skin, binding us together in a way that can never be undone. I hear gasps, murmurs, the shocked whispers of both packs watching this impossible scene. An Alpha King marking his enemy. His father's killer claimed his victim's daughter.

"Mine," Gillian  growls against my throat, his voice reverberating through my bones. "My mate. My Luna."

My legs give out. The world blurs at the edges, darkness creeping in. His mark burns like a brand, fighting with my grief, my rage, my confusion. Too much. It's all too much.

Strong arms catch me before I hit the ground. Gillian 's scent surrounds me, and even now, even hating him with every fiber of my being, my wolf settles in his hold.

I'm dimly aware of voices, of movement. Of being carried. But one sound cuts through the fog with crystal clarity.

A low, dark chuckle.

"Touching. Really."

Through half-closed eyes, I see him. Another man, younger than Gillian  but with the same sharp features. Same dark hair. But his eyes burn gold, not silver, and they're fixed on me with an intensity that makes my skin crawl.

"Brother." Gillian 's arms tighten around me. A warning.

"Alpha," the man, Lucius, my fading mind supplies, corrects with a mocking smile. He steps closer, and that smile turns cold. Cruel. "The Moon blessed you with quite a prize. The daughter of the man you killed. How... poetic."

He leans in, so close I can see the madness dancing in those gold eyes.

"You chose the wrong Blackthorn, little wolf." His whisper is soft, intimate, terrifying. "And I will rip you away from him... piece by piece."

Then darkness swallows me whole.