LOGIN“No one touches him tonight. No one.”The words leave my mouth before I can soften them, before I can measure how much fear is buried inside them, and even though my voice sounds steady and unyielding, I feel the panic clawing through my chest because the child’s warning has already rooted itself deep inside me, whispering that this night will take something from me if I let it.Damon exhales slowly beside me, as if he is weighing my words instead of feeling their urgency.“You don’t get to decide that,” he says, his tone quiet but edged with resistance.I turn to him immediately, my heart already racing.“I do if it keeps you alive,” I fire back, refusing to let him dismiss this like everything else.His gaze locks onto mine, dark and intense, the kind of look that usually makes me falter, but not tonight.“You think I need hiding?” he asks, his voice low and dangerous.“I think you need to stop pretending you can’t fall,” I reply sharply, stepping closer to him as my voice lowers, g
The child has just declared that Aria will destroy Damon, shaking both of them to their core, while Damon’s supposed dead father stands watching, and the truth about bloodlines continues to unravel.“Say that again… and I will walk away.”My voice came out low, rough, and barely controlled, but every word carried weight, because I meant it in a way that scared even me, in a way that made Aria’s eyes widen as if she could feel the edge I was standing on.“Damon…” she whispered.But I didn’t look at her.I couldn’t.Because if I did, I might break.And I wasn’t allowed to break.Not now.Not when everything was falling apart.“Tell me you don’t believe that,” I said, my jaw tight, my hands clenched at my sides as I forced myself to stand still, even though the pain in my body was spreading, even though the weakness in my blood was getting worse. “Tell me you don’t believe what he just said.”Silence.That was her answer.And it hit harder than any blade.“I didn’t say I believe it,” she
“I don’t kneel to anyone.”My voice came out low, steady, but something inside me shook the moment those words left my mouth, because the man standing in front of me did not even flinch, did not even blink, as if he had expected that answer long before I was born.A slow chuckle echoed.“You always say that,” he said calmly, his tone almost bored, like he had heard me speak those exact words in another life, another time, another version of me that I could not remember.My jaw tightened.“Show your face,” I demanded, stepping forward again, ignoring the sharp pain spreading through my chest, ignoring the weakness creeping into my bones as my Alpha power continued to drain like something unseen was feeding on it. “You hide behind shadows and speak like you know me. That ends now.”Before he could respond, Aria’s voice broke through, sharp and strained.“Damon… stop.”I turned to her instantly.She was holding the baby close, her arms tight, her breathing uneven, and I could see it—the
“Show yourself.”My voice came out low, steady, but there was a storm beneath it, a dangerous edge that even I could not fully control as I took a step forward, my eyes fixed on the unseen presence that had already made itself known through the fear in the air and the way my son’s body tensed in Aria’s arms.“Show yourself,” I repeated, slower this time, letting the command settle like a challenge, like a promise of violence if it was ignored.Aria’s fingers tightened around the child as she moved closer to me, her breath uneven, her voice trembling despite the strength she tried to hold onto. “Damon… he feels it. The baby feels him. Something is here.”“I know,” I answered, not taking my eyes off the empty space ahead, even though it no longer felt empty, even though every instinct in my body screamed that we were no longer alone.The child stirred, then suddenly went rigid, his small body arching slightly as a sharp sound escaped him—not a cry, not quite a scream, but something deep
“He is not just a child anymore.”I held him closer. My arms were trembling. My heart was hammering against my chest. The air felt thick. Heavy. Like it was waiting for something.“He’s… doing something,” Lucian said quietly, almost a whisper.“What do you mean?” I asked, my voice shaking.Lucian knelt beside me. His eyes were wide, alert. “The energy… it’s radiating from him. Stronger than anything I’ve seen in decades. He’s activating something inside himselfancestral power. The kind our old bloodlines only spoke of in legends.”I swallowed hard, my throat tight. “Legends are dangerous. They’re stories to scare children.”“But he’s real,” Lucian said. “And so is this power. Be careful.”I glanced down at the baby. His eyes were open. They glowed faintly. Not in anger, not in fearsomething else. Awareness. Intelligence far beyond his age. He looked at the closest council assassin, the one who had been creeping toward the barrier, and his tiny hands clenched.A ripple went through the
“They are inside. All of them.”“They are inside.”The words came out of Cassian’s mouth like a warning bell.My head snapped toward him immediately.“How many?”His eyes were fixed on the passage behind us.“All of them.”Lucian’s voice turned cold.“The council doesn’t send ‘all’ unless they plan to end something.”I clenched my fists.“They plan to end me.”Behind the sealed barrier, Aria’s voice broke through.“Damon, what’s happening?”I turned toward the stone wall that separated us.“The council is here.”Her breath caught.“No…”The baby in her arms made a soft sound.The chamber pulsed again.Lucian muttered quietly, “The timing is not a coincidence.”Cassian drew a short blade from his belt.“They tracked the energy surge.”I forced myself to stand straight even though the pain in my chest hadn’t faded.My Alpha power still felt unstable.Like something had been draining it from the inside.But none of that mattered now.“They want the child,” I said.Lucian nodded once.“Ye
I will not wait this time.“You owe me the truth.”The words leave my mouth before I can stop them. They sound calm, but they are not. They are sharp. They are heavy. They have been waiting too long.Damon turns slowly, like he already knows this moment is coming. His face is controlled. Too contro
“Everything is breaking.”The words left my mouth before I could stop them.My chest burned. My breath came out slow and heavy.The ritual circle around me pulsed like a living thing, pulling power from my body again and again.Cassian stood across from me, calm as if nothing was wrong.But everyth
“You used me.”The words came out before I could stop them.My voice shook, but I did not look away from Cassian.His smile did not fade.It only grew calmer.“Used you?” he repeated softly.“Yes.”My chest burned.“You brought me here because of my blood.”Cassian studied me like a teacher watchin
The corridor feels too small. My chest feels too tight. My mind feels too full.“Stop,” Damon growls. “She doesn’t need this.”“Yes,” Lucian says slowly. “She does.”I shake my head, trying to breathe. “Power? Bloodline? Claim? None of this makes sense.”Lucian’s voice softens a tone that doesn’t







