Chapter 13

Nadia

The attack, when it finally came, didn't happen where anyone expected.

It was a Friday night, three weeks into training, and the Ashford pack was hosting a smaller gathering — nothing like the fall bonfire, just a quiet dinner between the three allied packs meant to strengthen ties after weeks of tension. My father agreed to attend, cautiously optimistic that visible unity might discourage Draven from moving at all.

He was wrong.

The first sign of trouble was the lights.

Halfway through dinner, every light across the Ashford compound cut out at once, plunging the hall into darkness. Shouts erupted outside almost immediately, warriors scrambling, the unmistakable snarl of shifting wolves cutting through the night air.

"Perimeter breach!" someone shouted. "Multiple points, north and east!"

Kade was on his feet instantly, pulling me up beside him. "Stay close."

"I'm not hiding this time."

"I didn't say hide." His eyes were sharp even in the dark. "I said stay close. There's a difference."

Alpha Ashford and my father moved toward the chaos immediately, warriors falling into defensive formation around the hall. Through the broken windows, I caught glimpses of unfamiliar wolves pressing against the compound's outer defenses, more than I could easily count.

"That's not thirty," Kade said grimly, watching the same scene. "That's more."

We moved out into the compound grounds together, joining the defensive line as warriors clashed with the first wave of attackers near the tree line. My wolf surged forward the moment I stepped outside, weeks of controlled training finally meeting the real thing.

A rogue broke through the line ahead of us, moving fast, teeth bared. Kade intercepted him before I could react, and I turned to face a second attacker circling in from the side.

I didn't hesitate this time.

My wolf answered instantly, power flowing the way we'd trained instead of spilling out uncontrolled. I met the rogue head-on, faster and stronger than he expected, driving him back until he broke off and fled toward the trees rather than continue.

"Nadia!" My father's voice cut through the chaos. "East side, now!"

I ran toward him, warriors parting to let me through, and found him facing a wolf larger than any I'd seen, dark-furred, scarred along one shoulder, radiating the kind of dominance that only came from years of forcing submission out of others.

Draven.

"So the rumors were true," a voice said as the wolf shifted back into human form, tall, cold-eyed, entirely unbothered by the chaos around him. "The Royal Pack's hidden Alpha, finally standing in the open."

"You'll answer for tonight," my father said, voice low and dangerous.

"Will I?" Draven's gaze moved past my father, settling on me with an interest that made my skin crawl. "I only came for one thing. Everything else is simply noise to distract you while I take it."

Before anyone could move, three more rogues broke through the perimeter behind him, cutting my father and the nearest warriors off from reaching me in time.

Draven smiled, cold and satisfied. "There we are."

I didn't run.

Weeks of training had built something steadier in me than fear, and I let it answer now instead of panic. "You want a fight," I said, "you've got one. But I'm not going anywhere with you."

"You misunderstand." Draven began circling slowly, unhurried. "I don't need you willing. I need you bonded. A forced claim, sealed through blood, binds just as permanently as one freely given. More permanently, in some ways, since you'll have no choice but to accept it once it's done."

Ice ran through me, but I forced my voice steady. "You'll have to catch me first."

He lunged before I finished the sentence, shifting mid-motion, faster than I expected from someone his size. I dodged, barely, my wolf reacting on pure instinct honed from weeks of Kade refusing to hold back in training. I countered hard, catching Draven across the shoulder, drawing blood for the first time since the fight began.

He staggered back, genuine surprise flickering across his face. "You've been trained."

"You should've done better research."

He recovered fast, coming at me again, stronger this time, forcing me back several steps before I found solid footing. Somewhere behind me, I heard Kade shouting my name, fighting his way through rogues trying to keep him separated from me.

I couldn't wait for help. I had to hold my own until it arrived.

Draven struck again, and this time I let my Alpha power surge fully forward, the way my father had trained me to trust instead of restrain. The force of it staggered Draven back several feet, shock replacing the confidence on his face as he realized, too late, exactly what he'd underestimated.

"Impossible," he snarled. "A first-generation female Alpha, fully trained? That's not"

"Apparently it is," I said, and struck again before he could finish.

Kade broke through the line of rogues seconds later, shifting fully, moving to flank Draven from the opposite side. Caught between us, Draven's confidence finally cracked, calculation replacing arrogance as he realized the fight wasn't going the way he'd planned.

"This isn't over," he snarled, backing toward the tree line as more warriors finally closed in around him. "You think one lucky fight changes anything? I've spent ten years building toward this. I won't stop because of one setback."

"Then we'll be ready next time too," I said.

He held my gaze a moment longer, something calculating and furious behind his eyes, then shifted fully and fled into the darkness, the remaining rogues scattering after him before our warriors could fully surround them.

The compound fell into an uneasy quiet, broken only by warriors checking for injuries, the distant sound of retreating footsteps fading into the trees.

Kade reached me first, shifting back, checking me over with hands that shook slightly despite his best effort to stay calm. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." My own hands were shaking too, adrenaline and fear finally catching up now that the immediate danger had passed. "He got away."

"For now." Kade pulled me close, relief and lingering fear tangled together in the tight grip of his arms around me. "But you held your own against him, Nadia. You beat him back."

My father reached us moments later, checking me over himself before pulling me into a fierce hug, something he rarely did in front of others. "You did exactly what we trained for," he said quietly. "I'm proud of you. And terrified for you. Both, completely, at the same time."

"He'll come back," I said, the reality settling heavy despite the relief of surviving tonight. "He said it himself. Ten years of planning doesn't end because of one failed attempt."

My father nodded grimly, looking out toward the dark tree line where Draven had disappeared. "Then we stop planning to defend ourselves, and start planning to end this properly. Before he gets a second chance to try again."