That's her nature

Drystan’s POV

I drummed my fingers against the mahogany desk in the packhouse office, Victoria's face haunting my thoughts. Now, she must despise me. I'd chosen the path of vengeance and power instead of her. Victoria remains my only vulnerability, a fact no one can discover.

My phone vibrated against the desk.

"What has she done now?" I asked with a dry laugh.

"Besides scaling the fence daily?" Balthazar's voice crackled through the speaker. "She's stolen medical supplies and saved someone's life."

"I trained her well. “She never did fear consequences," I said, pride mixing with regret. "How are her abilities progressing?"

"She's mastering everything, Drystan. But she remains untamed."

"That's her nature," I replied, my chest tightening with longing.

"I'll arrive soon. Then set her free. I need her far from me when the war begins. I can't keep her safe."

Balthazar's heavy sigh filled the line. "Are you certain this is right?"

"Not at all. I shatter a little more each day without her. But loving her means letting her go."

"Perhaps someday she'll understand your sacrifice," Balthazar said before ending the call.

The academy

I stepped inside and there she was. Every muscle in my body went rigid as I forced my expression to remain stone-cold. Her eyes found mine instantly, searching, hopeful. My throat is constricted. All I wanted was to cross that room, pull her into my arms, breathe in her scent.

"I'll take these three," I announced flatly, then turned and walked out before my resolve crumbled. My chest felt hollow, carved out.

Balthazar clapped my shoulder outside. "That was cold. I think she got the message."

I nodded, barely able to draw breath. "Keep in touch," I managed, then escaped to my car before I could change my mind.

I emptied a bottle of whiskey when I returned, desperate to drown the image of her face, the memory of her scent. The phone's vibration jolted me from oblivion.

"Drystan, she knows." Balthazar's voice was tense.

I bolted upright. "How?"

"She used a viper to strangle another girl."

My foggy brain cleared instantly. "A viper? As in a snake?"

"Yes. After you left, she lost control. Her rival planted the snake in her bed, but Victoria turned it against her. I barely managed to intervene in time."

"Damn it." I ran a hand through my hair. "We need to contain this. Did anyone witness her abilities?"

"There's more. I followed her tonight. She had an owl perched on her arm and was communicating with it."

"She's connecting with her power." My stomach dropped. "Get her out of there immediately. Send her somewhere she can disappear among humans until I figure this out."

I've spent years protecting her, knowing what awaits. Wolves and other species will hunt her to extinction once they discover her abilities. No creature wants it, will be controlled by another.

The memory surfaced unbidden.

"Drystan, why is Mommy always so mean to me?" Her small voice trembled.

I knelt beside eight-year-old Victoria. "If your mother is mean, then my father is a monster."

She giggled as I pulled her into a hug.

"Look!" She darted away, returning with a salamander cupped in her palms. "It likes me. Watch."

The salamander closed its eyes when she commanded it, then accepted her gentle kiss.

"Victoria, focus. These forest herbs are crucial."

She pouted. "Fine."

I pointed to the jagged-leafed plant. "This one never touches it with your hands.

Stinging Nettle—Urtica dioica." Victoria said

Victoria absorbed knowledge like parched earth takes rain. Her mind outpaced even mine sometimes.

After grueling morning lessons, I'd reward her with trips to the wild blackberry patches. She'd return with purple-stained fingers and a rare, genuine smile. "Like a bear in a past life," I'd tease, watching her devour handful after handful.

I forced myself from bed, memories clinging like cobwebs I couldn't brush away.

The moment I knew I loved her haunted me most. After her fifteenth birthday, we spent a perfect day, plunging into icy streams, shifting forms to run through forest shadows, scaling cliffs where even mountain goats hesitated. Her laughter echoed through the trees.

Days later, fever consumed her. The pack doctor administered treatment after treatment while I maintained my vigil. Her delirious whispers terrified me: "Please don't make me do it." Her skin burned beneath my touch like molten metal. I believed I was watching her die.

I begged the Moon Goddess to spare her life.

Now, standing under scalding water, I beg that same goddess to numb the pain of letting her go. Without Victoria, I'm a hollow shell. Her brightness illuminated my darkness. And what terrifies me most is knowing someone else will inevitably be drawn to that light and claim it as their own.

Now I’m staring down a war, and the four packs under my command see me as this ruthless, ice-cold alpha. The image I’ve crafted, fear itself. Yet the thought of Victoria cracks me wide open. Is this what every man does? Hide behind a mask of authority while falling apart inside?

“Alpha Drystan, what’s the plan with the girls you brought?”

I blinked, distracted. “What?”

“From the academy,” Draven, my right-hand, clarified, raising an eyebrow.

I paused, then shrugged. “You know my taste. Set them aside, keep one for yourself. Now, give me the damn details on our position.”

“They won’t see it coming,” Draven said, a grin creeping onto his face.

“Good. Send in the second team.”

The day turned into a blur. Later, I walked into my bedroom to find two women from the academy waiting on my bed, the ones I’d chosen. Of course.

Distraction, I decided. Perfect. I shed my clothes and positioned myself between them on the silk sheets. One woman's mouth found its way south while the other traced patterns across my chest. I closed my eyes, willing my body to respond while my mind remained elsewhere. When it was over, I dismissed them with barely a word. The emptiness persisted as a void no physical pleasure could fill. Power, women, control, all hollow victories. I'd become pathetic, lovesick. When sleep finally came, Victoria's face appeared behind my closed eyelids, more real than anything else in my life.