Four

Astrid’s POV

My phone buzzed just as I was lifting my cup.

Unknown Number: Did you receive the letter? Meet me at the neutral border clearing tomorrow morning. Come alone.

—Vincent Silvermist

My fingers stilled.

For a second, I didn’t breathe.

Vincent… Silvermist.

The name alone sent a sharp pulse through my chest, dragging up the memory of the sealed letter hidden in my drawer. 

I stared at the message, my heart pounding. This really is true?

No one outside this pack should know about that letter. No one should even know that name mattered to me. And yet—

I read the message again.

The phrasing was simple. No threats. No urgency beyond the request itself. Whoever sent this wasn’t trying to scare me into coming.

I deleted the message immediately and slipped my phone back into my pocket, forcing my expression to remain neutral as Anthony laughed at something Mira said across the table.

I didn’t decide right away.

Even hours later, the message sat in my mind like a splinter I couldn’t ignore.

If this was a trap, then it was a very well-informed one.

If it wasn’t…

My jaw tightened.

Then it meant everything in that letter might be real.

Silvermist.

A bloodline. A pack. A past that had nothing to do with Anthony, Mira, or the life they’d built around me like a cage.

I should ignore it.

That would be the safest choice.

But safe choices had led me to dying alone in the snow.

By the time the sun rose the next morning, I already knew I was going.

….

I’d told Anthony I was supervising the northern patrols. He’d barely looked up from his breakfast with Mira, too busy laughing at something she’d said to question why his Luna suddenly cared about border security after a long while.

Good. Let him think I was still the obedient little wolf who asked permission to breathe.

The clearing was exactly where the letter said it would be which is deep enough in neutral territory that no pack could claim jurisdiction. I stood there, waiting, watching the tree line for any sign of movement.

Ten minutes passed and them twenty.

My stomach started to twist.

What if this was a prank?

What if someone discovered I knew the truth about Anthony and was luring me out here to finish what the rogues started? What if there was no uncle, no Silvermist heir claim?

I checked my watch to see Thirty minutes passed.

Disappointment crashed through me so hard I had to grip a tree trunk to stay upright. Of course I’d been stupid enough to hope again and think that maybe, just maybe, I had family somewhere.

MAYBE I was more than Anthony’s discarded tool.

I turned to head back already crafting the lie I’d tell Anthony about patrol inspection, when a scent hit me.

It was pine and winter frost and something familiar that made my wolf perk up with interest.

Careful footsteps followed through the woods with the practiced quiet of someone who knew how to track and be tracked. The sound started distant, somewhere beyond the tree line then grew closer.

A figure emerged from the shadows between the trees.

He was older mid fifties with silver threading through dark hair that might have once been black. Tall, broad shouldered, moving with the controlled power of an Alpha even though he didn’t carry himself like one.

But it was his eyes that made my breath catch because they were blue. Exactly like mine!

The same unusual shade I’d seen in the mirror my entire life, the color Anthony once said made me look cold. The color I’d never seen on another wolf until now.

“Astrid.” His voice cracked on my name, and I watched his throat work as he stopped a few feet away. “You came. I was… I needed to make sure you weren’t followed. I’m sorry I made you wait.”

“Vincent?” The name came out barely a whisper.

He nodded and his expression moved from relief to grief and hope all tangled together. Oh. He has the kindest smile!

“I’m your father’s younger brother,” he confirmed quietly. “And Gods, you look just like him. You have the same eyes and that stubborn jaw.” A broken laugh escaped him. “He’d be so proud of you.”

The tears came before I could stop them.

This was family.

“I have proof if you want,” Vincent said, his own eyes suspiciously bright as he reached into his jacket. “Your father’s seal. It only responds to direct bloodline. And genetic records and—”

“I believe you.” The words tumbled out. My voice wavered despite myself. “You’ve been looking for me?”

“For years.” His answer came without hesitation. “We thought you were dead.”

Something inside me cracked.

Just a thin fracture spreading through something I hadn’t realized was still holding together.

“I’m not,” I said, quieter now.

“I can see that.” A faint, unsteady smile touched his face. “And Gods… you look just like him.”

I swallowed hard.

He smiled again. “That’s your Alpha blood recognizing kin. Your wolf knows family when she scents it.”

My Alpha blood. My wolf. My family.

Not an omega orphan Anthony took pity on or a useful tool he kept around for her abilities. An Alpha heir with a bloodline and a pack

“Silvermist,” I breathed. “Is it real? The pack, the territory—”

“Is yours by right.” Vincent stepped closer, his voice urgent now. “But we need to move fast. Your stepmother Skylar has been ruling illegally since your father died. She’s claimed you died as an infant and is petitioning the Council to—”

He stopped himself, like he was forcing the words into order.

Then, more quietly, “Astrid… have you thought about what you want to do?”

I blinked. “What do you mean?”

His gaze held mine. "Are you ready to take over Silvermist?”

My breath caught.

The weight of it settled over me all at once.

Could I really do it?

I didn’t know.

But for the first time, it felt like I had a choice.

I drew in a breath, my fingers curling slightly at my sides.

Just as I was about to nod—

The air shifted.

Vincent’s words cut off abruptly, his eyes flashing wolf-gold as his entire body went tense.

I felt the power before I saw the figure emerging. The kind of authority that didn’t need to be announced because everything in its path either bowed or broke.

Then—

A figure stepped out.