CHAPTER 23

DRAKE POV

The dungeon smelled of damp walls and sweat. Three Eastern pack rogues hung from silver chains, their wrists raw red as the metal burned their flesh. The largest one—a beefy brute with a scar across his face spat at my boots as I entered.

Lucas sighed beside me. “Very charming.”

I backhanded the rogue hard enough to roll his head sideways. “Where is Elias?”

The rogue grinned as blood stained his teeth. “Coming for your pretty little Doctor.”

Kael surged forward, and my claws popped out. Lucas’s hand on my arm was the only thing stopping me from pulling out his insides out.

“Easy,” Lucas murmured. “They want you to lose control.”

Andre stepped from the shadows, his golden eyes icy cold. “Let me try.”

He didn’t wait for permission. Moving with measured grace, he gripped the rogue’s jaw and snarled, “the research. What is the endgame?”

The rogue’s bravado evaporated in seconds under Andre’s quiet heat. “W-weaponized shifting. An army of perfect soldiers.”

“And Lillian?” I snarled.

He sneered. “The key is on her skin. Her father’s final formula—etched in ink only moonlight reveals.”

The world tilted. I knew exactly what he is talking about. The small tattoo on her hip—the one she said was a childhood mark.

Lucas cursed. “You are telling us the Eastern Pack’s super weapon is hidden in a tattoo?”

The rogue laughed, the sound echoing off the stone walls. “More are coming for her. And she belongs to us until claimed by one of yours.”

The silver chains creaked as I slammed him against the wall. “She belongs to me.”

His eyes glinted with malice and spite. “Then claim her, Alpha. Before we do.”

Night had fallen by the time we left the dungeon. The forest air did little to cool down the fire in my veins. Every shadow seemed to hold new threats, every rustle of leaves a potential enemy.

Andre walked slightly ahead of us, with his shoulders tense. “We need to move her to the mountain safe house.”

“Agreed.” My mind raced….security details, patrol rotations, how to explain this to Lillian without making her panic.

Andre stopped abruptly. “I am claiming her tonight.”

The words landed like a physical blow on the head. “Like hell you are.”

He turned around to face me with his eyes glowing defiantly in the dark. “You heard that filth downstairs. She is not safe unclaimed.”

“Using her safety as an excuse?” I approached and faced him nose to nose. “That is low, even for you.”

He growled. “This is not about you or me. It is about keeping her alive.”

“Bull shit.” I shoved him against a pine tree. “If you mark her now, it will be for life. You really want to chain her to a bond she doesn’t want?”

His face scrunched up in pain. “Better than her ending up on an Eastern pack dissection table!”

Lucas stepped between us, with his hands raised sideways. “Enough. Both of you.”

The forest fell silent around us—no owls, no crickets, as if nature itself held its breath.

Lucas’s gaze snapped between us. “You want to keep her safe? Then figure this out now. Before the Eastern pack does it for you.”

Andre clenched his fist. “So what do you suggest? A duel?”

“Idiots.” Lucas ran a hand through his hair. “The tournament is in two days. First be united, then settle this after the Eastern threat is been dealt with.”

I stared at Andre, my brother, my beta, the man currently trying to steal my future and growled, “Stand down. That is an order.”

For a heartbeat, I thought he should defy me. Then his shoulders slumped. “You are going to get her killed.”

And that stung my heart.

Lillian was waiting on the porch when we returned, wrapped in my old cotton shirt. The sight of her…safe, whole, mine…eased the beast in my chest.

Andre’s scent was mixed with pain as he brushed past her without a word.

Lillian turned to to look at me in surprise and asked, “what happened?”

“Later.” I guided her inside, my hand possessive on her back. “Where is your mother?”

“She is resting.” She said calmly as her finger gripped the hem of my shirt. “Drake. You are scaring me.”

Good. Fear keeps people alive.

I backed her against the wall, caging her in. “The tattoo on your hip. What do you know about it?”

Her breath hitched. “It is just…my father’s design. He said I should consider it a birth mark. He said it was for protection.”

“Protection,” I repeated bitterly and shook my head. “It is the key to weaponized shifting.”

Color drained from her face as she breathed in shock, “that is not possible.”

“The Eastern pack seems to think otherwise.” My thumb brushed the mark on her throat. “They are coming for you Lily. And they won’t stop.”

Her eyes became misty with tears. “So what do we do?”

We. The word undid me.

I rested my forehead against hers. “I do not know.”

For the first time in my life, I had no plan, no strategy. Just a gnawing terror that I would fail her.

I found Andre in the war room, draining down whiskey straight from the bottle.

He didn’t look up. “Changed your mind yet?”

“Stand down, Andre.”

The bottle shattered against the wall. “Or what? You will banish me? Execute me like your father did hers?”

The blow landed squarely on my face. Exactly as intended.

I crossed the room in three strides, hauling him up by his shirt. “You think this is easy for me?” Choosing between my brother and my mate?”

“Mate?” He laughed harshly. “You do not have a mate. You have an obsession that is going to get us all killed.”

Lucas hurried in and barked, “will you two knuckleheads—”

“Stay out of this,” we snarled in unison.

Lucas threw his hands up. “Fine. Get yourselves slaughtered. But Lillian dies with you.”

The words froze us both.

Andre released me first. “He is right.”

I straightened my shirt. “I know.”

We stood, breathing deeply in heavy silence —two wolves who had shared everything since childhood. Now torn apart by the one thing we couldn’t share. Even as brothers.

Andre finally met my gaze. “Tournament is in two days. After that….”

“After that,” I agreed.

The unspoken words hung between us…

We settle this.

I found Lillian alone on the balcony, staring at the moon.

“They are really coming, aren’t they?”

I moved behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist. “Yes.”

Her hands covered mine. “Andre wants to claim me.”

My jaw tightened. “I know.”

She turned around in my embrace. “What do you want?”

The answer was so simple that it terrified me. “I want you. Always you.”

Her kiss tasted like tears and fear.

When we broke apart, her fingers traced the scar on my brow. “Then let’s tell them what we are made of at the tournament.”

A slow smile spread it self across my face. “Oh Lily. They have no idea what is coming.”

And as the moon bathed us in its silver light, Kael and I made a solemn vow….

Let the Eastern Pack come.

They would only find blood and teeth waiting.