Derrick’s POVThe clearing smelled of off musk, a bitter tang that made the back of my throat itch with a warning. The altar’s obsidian surface gave off a pulse of radiance, somber light carved in the stone that hummed with an energy I couldn’t quite comprehend, but that sent a shiver down to the thick of my bones. Serena was beside me, eyes round, lunar mark dimly visible. My wolf snarled inside me, demanding I protect her, tear down anyone who threatened her or her child. But my blood ran cold at the sight of Sophia, stepping into the light. She was a ghost from Serena’s past, and a venomous one at that; one who had once torn her world apart. And now here she was, in my pack, a wicked grin on her lips that said nothing but trouble.Sophia’s eyes met my gaze with a long defiant stare. "Did you expect me, Alpha Derrick?" Her voice weaved, every word laced with a knowledge that sent me into tightening my fists. “I come in peace. For now.”“Peace?” I snarled, moving forward and protect
Serena’s POVThe note we had found pinned to the gnarled oak by a dagger yesterday was still seared into my mind.As Derrick marched forward his feet, his broad shoulders set towards the house, his alpha aura seemingly crackling in the moonlight. Elliot stood on my right, beside me. We had been in the car since the packhouse and the two men hadn't exchanged a word, the silence between them sharp enough to cut. I could feel it — their competition, their unspoken stakes in me, and the heaviness of truths neither would ever tell in full. My lunar mark pounded away under my sleeve, as though it knew what awaited us behind the altar.And here he was in the clearing: a black ring of old stones that glowed silver in the moonlight. In the middle, at the middle of the chamber, was an alter, a piece of obsidian carved with symbols that seemed to pulse with a soft glow. My breath caught. The carvings brought out the crescent-shaped mark on my shoulder — a mark I’d been born with, the one my moth
Derrick’s POVI felt my fists grip hard with my knuckles paining, the monster within me congraving with fury to be released. He remained there, his broad shoulders drooped, his blue eyes flashing with guilt as he was forced to confess to being the father of Serena’s baby. The words pierced me in a way no claw ever had, slashing into the fragile trust I had finally forged between us. My mate, Serena, the girl whose scent consumed my every breath was pregnant with another man’s baby. And that man was Elliot — the coward who’d refuse her, shame her, and now go around trespassing on my property, claiming he wanted to make shit right.I wanted to rip him apart, to let my wolf tear through his flesh until there was nothing left to kill but regret. But I couldn’t. Not yet. Not when Elise—my so called betrothed—had beeb whispering in Rhys’s ear, telling him all our strategies, our weak spots. I’d suspected it for weeks, but now I had proof—a intercepted message, written in her graceful hand,
Serena's POVI leaned against the tall window looking toward the sky in Derrick’s quarters, my fingers moving over the cold surface of the glass while the forest and all its colors and shadows outside melted together. The lunar mark on my shoulder — an etching that looked to most people like a crescent moon — scorched, a searing, stabbing heat that hadn’t let up since last night. It was as though the Moon Goddess herself was whispering secrets I wasn’t ready to know. My other hand was on my swollen belly, where the baby kicked, simultaneously a comfort and a burden. The pregnancy was doing something to me — dizzy spells, nausea, and an all consuming weariness that no amount of sleep could quell."Serena, you really shouldn't have to stand there all this time," Derrick’s voice broke the silence and low, with that particular protective edge that warmed and choked me at the same time. He was standing in the doorway, the wide stature of his cast over it, green eyes clouded with concern.‘
Derrick’s POVMy boots clicked on the marble floors as I paced through the corridors, angry. The scout’s message echoed in my head ‘Elliot’s here’.— On our territory. The coward who had broken Serena’s heart, leaving her to drown in her humiliation, he dared set foot on my land! I balled my fists tight, my nails deep in my palm enough to taste the tang of blood. He wasn’t just a ghost from her past — he was a menace, a living reminder of everything I’d vowed to keep her free from.Throwing the heavy oak doors to the war room open, I found my warriors already assembled, their faces wry under the flickering torches. Serena joined me by the map table, her green eyes wide with... something I could not catch—fear, maybe, or worse, recognition. Her fingers shook at the edge of the table and that curl of movement twisted something deep in my chest. I felt the desire to hold her, protect her from whatever the fuck the mere mention of this bastard would unearth but I couldn’t. Not yet.“Where
Serena’s POVI was sitting on the end of my bed with my fingers shaking, running over the odd, shimmering mark that was now visible on my shoulder. It was not a bruise or a scar, but it was delicate. My heart pounded in my chest, an exhilarating combination of awe and dread. This wasn’t normal. Not for an Omega without a wolf like myself.I'd had little sleep since Derrick and I had returned from the border, with that eerie message from Alpha Rhys carved in the tree. And now this mark. It seemed like a warning, a brand, a claim from something that was much larger than myself. What does this sign tell us?I threw on a long-sleeved shirt overtop to cover it, and made my way out of my room where the packhouse was silent in the pre-dawn hours. The air was heavy and oppressive, as if even the walls were holding their breath. I wanted answers, and there was nobody I trusted to give them but one—Elder Mara, the pack’s healer, whose half-mad wisdom had steered me through the darkest days.Th