Serena’s POV

I hadn’t blinked since the wolf appeared.

It was Damon. I knew it, even before he shifted back his scent, his aura, the weight of his presence that commanded every inch of space.

But what shook me more than the carnage was the way he stood between me and the others. Muscles tensed. Hackles raised. His growl wasn’t just territorial…it was primal.

Protective.

He was shielding me.

And his wolves knew it.

Not a single one dared to speak as he shifted back fluid, brutal, breathtaking and rose to his full, terrifying height. His chest was heaving, blood and ash streaking down his skin. The air around him shimmered with rage.

“You touched what’s mine,” he snarled at the cowering wolves.

Mine?

My pulse stuttered.

Damon never looked at me. He didn’t need to. His rage made his message clear.

And then he turned and walked away.

As if nothing had happened.

As if he hadn’t just claimed me in front of the entire pack.

***

The following morning, the pack house was silent.

Tension hung thick as fog. No one dared to meet my eyes. Where yesterday I’d been mocked and spat at, today they passed by in silence avoiding, watching, fearing.

I should’ve felt safer.

Instead, I felt trapped in another kind of cage.

I stormed into the training field where I knew he’d be.

Damon stood alone at the center, sparring against two warriors at once. Sweat glistened on his skin as he moved like a phantom effortless, fast, merciless. Both wolves hit the dirt within seconds.

“You think this is how it works?” I called out.

He turned.

“You terrify them into silence and expect me to feel grateful?”

His silver eyes glinted. “Would you rather I let them tear you apart?”

I crossed my arms. “I’d rather not be paraded around like some… property.”

Damon walked toward me slowly, each step measured.

“You’re not my property.”

“Then what was that last night? You said I was yours.”

“I didn’t mean…”

He stopped, jaw flexing.

“You didn’t mean for your wolf to come out,” I finished for him. “But he did.”

His silence spoke louder than any words.

Something had shifted. Between us. Within him.

“You’re feeling it too,” I whispered.

He looked away.

So that was it. He knew. He’d known. And he was trying to ignore it.

I stepped forward. “Say it.”

“No.”

“Say it, Damon.”

His eyes snapped to mine, filled with something wild and tortured. “You want the truth? Fine.”

He grabbed my wrist, pulling me close until our breaths mingled.

“My wolf recognized you the moment you stepped into that temple,” he growled. “I didn’t want it. I still don’t. But the bond…”

His voice broke.

“It’s there. And it’s driving me insane.”

The words hit harder than I expected.

I wanted to deny the pull between us. To pretend my stomach didn’t twist every time he was near, that my skin didn’t tingle from his gaze. But I couldn’t lie anymore.

This thing between us was real.

And it terrified me.

“I’m not your mate,” I whispered.

Damon leaned closer, his breath warm against my temple.

“Tell that to my wolf.”

He released me and walked away, leaving me trembling.

***

That night, I found bruises on my arm.

Not fresh. Old ones. Faint, yellowed memories of my father’s “training.” Of the times I’d disobeyed, spoken out, tried to be more than what he wanted.

I stared at my reflection in the small cracked mirror. Not a Luna. Not a maid. Just a girl caught between blood and bond, between a monster and a mate.

But I wasn’t powerless anymore.

The next morning, I walked into the pack kitchen and demanded a blade.

The cook blinked at me. “Why?”

“Because I’m not just here to scrub floors anymore.”

I spent the next week in training.

To their credit, Damon’s warriors didn’t go easy on me. They knocked me down again and again. I bled. I cried. I cursed them all.

But I got back up.

And slowly, something changed.

They stopped sneering. Stopped whispering.

One of them..Trey, the younger one started giving me real advice. Another, Lena, silently handed me a water flask during breaks.

I wasn’t accepted yet.

But I was noticed.

And Damon… he watched.

Every night, from the shadows.

He never interrupted. Never spoke.

But I felt him. I knew he was there.

And each time our eyes locked, my heart betrayed me a little more.

***

Damon’s POV

She was fire.

And I was the fool trying not to burn.

I told myself I was watching to ensure she didn’t get killed in training. That I didn’t care if she fit in. That she was a Grey. A pawn.

But when she hit the ground and got back up again and again I felt something dangerous twist inside me.

Pride. Want. Bond.

My wolf clawed at my insides every time she flinched or limped.

Mate.

No.

She was Victor’s daughter. A reminder of everything I’d lost.

But when I saw Trey joking with her… when I saw Lena touch her wrist with familiarity…

Jealousy hit like a blade to the gut.

This was spiraling fast.

I needed to pull back before it consumed me.

But then the message came.

And all rational thought was gone.

***

Serena’s POV

I was just starting to breathe again when Damon burst into my room, fists clenched, eyes dark.

He tossed a blood-stained scroll onto the floor.

I stared at the crest.

My father’s seal.

Victor Grey.

The scent of scorched wax and rage filled the room.

Damon’s voice was ice. “Your father knows where you are.”

I picked up the scroll, heart thundering.

There were only eight words burned into the parchment:

Return my daughter… or I burn your pack next.