CHAPTER SEVEN: SECRETS AND SHADOWS

    SECRETS AND SHADOWS

My grandfather didn’t speak again.

He just tightened his grip on my arms as if he could keep the world from swallowing me whole.

The forest around us buzzed with panic — wolves pacing, claws sinking into earth, growls rumbling low and unsettled. Everyone kept glancing toward the shadows where Damien had vanished, as if expecting him to step out again.

As if they feared he would.

I swallowed hard. “Grandpa… what does that mean? Werewolf King? I thought that was just a title. A story.”

He exchanged a look with two warriors nearby — the kind of look that said, not here. Not in front of me. Not in the open.

“Let’s go,” he said gruffly. “Now.”

He didn’t wait for my reply. He practically dragged me out of the forest and toward the estate, his fingers clamped around my wrist like a shackle.

When we finally crossed the mansion threshold, the doors slammed shut behind us. Guards took positions outside. My grandmother — Regina — stood at the top of the grand staircase, her usually composed expression shattered.

“Oh, Goddess…” she muttered when she saw my face. “It’s begun.”

Her words made my stomach twist. “What’s begun?”

Neither of them answered.

Instead, Matteo marched me into a room I’d never seen before — an old study lined with dusty books, ancient tapestries, and maps that looked centuries old. He shut the door behind us.

And then he turned on me.

“What were you thinking?” he growled, his voice thick with fear and anger. “You should never have been alone in those woods! Not with him out there!”

I flinched. “I—I didn’t know. I didn’t expect—”

“You went out there after we already warned you!” Matteo snapped.

“Matteo,” Regina said sharply. “Enough. She’s shaken.”

“She needs to understand!” he snapped at her. “She needs to know how dangerous this is!”

I felt my chest tighten. “Dangerous how? You keep saying that without explaining anything!”

Matteo rubbed his hands over his face, pacing.

Regina exhaled slowly, like she had been holding her breath for years.

“Emily,” she said gently, “Damien Vaashekoff is not an ordinary wolf.”

I swallowed hard. “I could tell.”

“He is the strongest Alpha alive,” she continued. “The Blood-Bound King. Leader of all packs. Ruler by strength and divine appointment. Even other Alphas bend to him.”

I blinked. “Then why hasn’t Ethan’s pack mentioned him? Why has no one talked about him?”

“Because he is not supposed to be here,” Matteo said. “He stays hidden. He moves in secrecy. He goes where he wants, answers to no one.”

My heart hammered.

“And he does not claim mates,” Regina added quietly. “He never has.”

I froze.

“So…” My voice shook. “Why did he claim me?”

Regina looked at Matteo.

Matteo looked at the floor.

Nobody wanted to answer.

“Tell me,” I whispered.

Matteo’s voice lowered. “Because your wolf is… special.”

My breath caught. “Special how?”

Regina stepped forward and placed a hand over my heart. “You were not born ordinary, Emily. You were born with a power this world has almost forgotten.”

A chill swept through me.

“The white wolf,” I whispered, remembering Bella’s eerie, knowing smile.

Regina’s eyes widened. “Bella told you?”

“She… she hinted at it.”

Matteo cursed under his breath. “That girl sees too much.”

I shook my head, feeling the world tilt under me. “But I don’t even have a wolf. I’ve never shifted.”

“Because you haven’t awakened yet,” Regina said softly. “White wolves awaken differently. Their bond, their spirit, their transformation — everything comes later. At the moment when destiny demands it.”

Destiny.

That word always felt like it belonged in stories, not real life.

“So Damien…” I swallowed hard. “He knew what I was?”

“Yes,” Matteo said. “He would have sensed it instantly. Kings always sense rare bloodlines.”

Rare blood.

Rare wolf.

Rare danger.

My skin prickled.

“But what does he want?” My voice cracked. “Why did he say that I’m… his?”

Regina placed her hands on my shoulders. “Emily, listen to me carefully. The Werewolf King is not like other men. When he sets his eyes on something, he does not ask. He takes.”

Something inside me shrank.

Matteo continued, “And because of what you are… you are a threat. A symbol. A power source. Whoever controls the white wolf controls balance — or chaos.”

My knees felt weak. “But I don’t want to be controlled.”

Matteo’s jaw clenched. “Then you must stay far away from Damien.”

I almost laughed — a broken, breathless sound.

“He saved my life.”

“He also claimed you,” Matteo snapped. “And that is far worse.”

I felt my heartbeat stutter. “What does that even mean?”

Regina stepped back. “It means he sees you as his mate. His equal. His partner.”

Mate.

Again.

Rejected by one mate.

Claimed by another.

“Emily,” Regina whispered, “you do not know what it means to be bound to a King. Their bond is not gentle. It does not ask permission. It rewrites your life. Your fate.”

Matteo added, “And a bond with him could awaken your wolf in ways that could destroy you.”

Silence filled the room — heavy and choking.

Finally, I whispered, “What do I do?”

Regina exchanged a look with Matteo.

Matteo exhaled sharply. “For now? You stay inside this estate. You do not wander into the woods. You do not leave without a guard. You avoid the forest at all costs.”

I swallowed hard. “And Damien?”

“He will come again,” Regina whispered. “He always comes back for what he wants.”

That sent a shiver through me.

Matteo’s voice hardened. “If he approaches you again, you tell us immediately. You do not speak to him. Do not let him near you.”

“So you expect me to… ignore him?” I asked bitterly.

“Yes,” Matteo said. “It is the only way.”

I looked down at my shaking hands.

Ignore Damien.

The man who saved me.

The wolf who watched me.

The King who claimed me.

The one whose voice still echoed in my head—

You’re mine.

How on earth am I supposed to ignore that?

For the rest of the day, the estate buzzed with heightened security. Guards patrolled the grounds. Wolves paced the perimeter. Everyone acted like the world had shifted on its axis.

Maybe it had.

By evening, I was back in my room, staring out the window at the endless stretch of forest. The moonlight spilled over the trees like liquid silver. I wondered where Damien was. If he was watching.

If he was waiting.

A knock sounded on my door.

“Come in,” I said quietly.

Bella slipped in, her curls bouncing slightly as she closed the door behind her. Her expression was serious — too serious for someone her age.

“You saw him,” she said.

It wasn’t a question.

I nodded.

Bella exhaled. “I warned you the woods are dangerous.”

“I know,” I muttered, sinking onto the edge of my bed. “But I didn’t expect the danger to… talk.”

Bella sat beside me. “Damien isn’t danger. He is the knife that danger runs from.”

That… didn’t make me feel better.

She continued, “You’re scared. I understand that. But you should also understand something else.”

“What?” I whispered.

“You felt something.”

I looked away sharply. “No, I didn’t.”

Bella smiled — a soft, annoying, all-knowing smile. “You can lie to your grandparents. You can lie to Ethan. You can even lie to yourself, if that helps you sleep.”

She leaned closer.

“But you can’t lie to me.”

Heat flushed through my cheeks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Bella’s voice softened. “Your wolf reacted to him, Emily. Even if you didn’t feel the bond fully, even if your wolf is asleep… she recognized him.”

I shook my head. “No. She can’t. My wolf is dormant. Silent. I don’t feel anything.”

Bella took my hand.

“You dream, don’t you?”

My breath caught.

She continued softly, “You saw something last night. Something powerful. Something bloody. A warning.”

My hands trembled. “How did you know?”

“Because I saw it too,” she whispered. “I see what you see. What your wolf sees. What your future will bring.”

My stomach twisted. “What did you see?”

Bella hesitated.

That scared me more than anything.

“Bella,” I whispered. “Tell me.”

She squeezed my hand, her eyes filled with something I rarely saw in her — fear.

“I saw you,” she said. “And I saw Damien.”

My heart thudded painfully.

“And?”

“And the night your wolf awakens…” Bella swallowed hard. “Someone dies.”

I stared at her, the air leaving my lungs.

“Who?” I choked out.

Bella’s voice cracked.

“I don’t know.”

Before I could speak again, a howl tore through the night — deep, loud, vibrating through the walls of the estate.

Bella’s eyes widened.

“Oh no…”

“What?” I whispered, dread curling in my stomach.

Bella grabbed my arm. “That howl—it’s not one of ours.”

My blood ran cold.

“Then wh

ose is it?” I whispered.

Bella’s voice trembled.

“His.”

The room shook with a second howl — closer, stronger, powerful.

Damien was back.