RAMON

The scent hit me before I reached the gates. Blood. Death. Malric's pack.

Bodies lay scattered across the approach to my fortress. Five wolves, all young, all wearing Malric's colors. Throats torn out. Precise kills.

Tessa was already there, crouched beside one. "They're still warm. This happened less than an hour ago."

"Who?"

"Don't know. No scent markers. Whoever did this knew how to hide their tracks." She stood, face grim. "This is a message, Ramon."

I knew. I just didn't want to admit it.

"Malric's pack members, killed at my gates." I looked around at the gathered warriors. "He'll claim I ordered this. Use it as an excuse to move against me."

"Did you?" The question came from Gregor, his tone challenging.

I turned on him. "If I wanted Malric's wolves dead, I'd kill them myself. Not hide behind anonymous slaughter."

"Then who?"

Good question. Someone wanted war between my pack and the Council. Someone who stood to benefit from both sides tearing each other apart.

Before I could answer, a scout burst through the gates. "Alpha! Malric's war party. Two hundred strong. They're three hours out and moving fast."

Fuck.

"Battle stations," I ordered. "Archers on the walls. Fighters in formation. No one engages unless I give the order."

The fortress erupted into controlled chaos. Warriors running to positions. Weapons being distributed. The organized panic of a pack preparing for war.

I found Tessa at the armory. "Get Martin. Take him to the tunnels beneath the fortress."

"The escape routes?"

"If this goes bad, I want him out. Take him far from pack lands. Hide him."

She gripped my arm. "And you?"

"I'll handle Malric."

"Ramon"

"That's an order, Tessa."

I made it back to my chambers to find Martin pacing, his face pale. "I heard. Malric's coming."

"Yeah."

"Because of me."

"Because he's been looking for an excuse to destroy me for years. You just gave him a convenient reason." I started pulling on armor, strapping weapons into place. "Tessa's going to take you to the escape tunnels."

"No."

I looked up. "That wasn't a request."

"I'm not running while you fight my battle."

"This isn't your battle. It's pack politics that go back decades."

"It became my battle the moment you claimed me." He moved closer, jaw set. "I'm not leaving you."

The bond thrummed with his determination. Stubborn. Brave. Completely insane.

"Martin"

"If you die protecting me and I'm not even here, I'll never forgive myself. Or you." His voice shook but held firm. "We're in this together, remember? That was the deal."

I wanted to argue. Wanted to lock him in the tunnels myself if necessary. But the look in his eyes stopped me.

This mattered to him. Standing beside me mattered.

"Fine. But you stay behind the fortress walls. Don't engage. Don't put yourself in danger."

"Agreed."

I finished arming myself, then pulled him close. The bond flared between us, stronger than ever. I could feel his fear, his determination, his absolute refusal to abandon me.

"Whatever happens out there," I said against his hair, "know that I don't regret claiming you."

His arms wrapped around my waist. "Don't die."

"I'll do my best."

Malric's war party arrived at sunset, two hundred wolves in full battle formation. The old Alpha himself led them, riding a massive black horse, white robes stained red at the hem.

Symbolic. Threatening. Completely on brand.

I met him at the gates with fifty of my best warriors. A show of strength without committing to full battle.

"Alpha Draven." Malric's voice carried across the space between us. "I've come to collect justice for my fallen wolves."

"I didn't kill them."

"They were slaughtered at your gates."

"By someone who wanted exactly this result. Someone who benefits from us destroying each other."

Malric's pale eyes narrowed. "Are you suggesting I killed my own pack members?"

"I'm suggesting we've both been played. And walking into war serves neither of us."

For a moment, I thought he might actually listen. Might see the logic.

Then his gaze shifted past me to the fortress walls. To Martin, standing visible beside Tessa.

"Unless," Malric said slowly, "the goal was to draw out the abomination. To finally eliminate the curse you've brought into our world."

Ice shot through my veins. "Touch him and I'll kill you myself."

"Such devotion. Such loyalty." Malric's smile was poison. "Tell me, Ramon, what is it about that male omega that has you throwing away everything you built? Everything you are?"

"He's my mate."

"He's a weapon. One you're too blinded by false bonds to see."

"The bond is real. The entire Rite witnessed it."

"Magic can be faked. Prophecies twisted." Malric leaned forward. "That creature is using you and when you finally see the truth, your pack will be ruined. Your legacy, ash."

My wolf surged forward, demanding blood. But starting this fight would make me exactly what Malric claimed, a reckless Alpha controlled by emotion rather than logic.

"I'm giving you one chance," I said, voice deadly calm. "Take your war party and leave. We investigate these murders together, find who's really responsible. Or we paint this snow red with the blood of both our packs."

Malric stared at me for a long moment. Then he laughed, the sound sharp and cruel.

"I'd forgotten how entertaining you are. Very well. Three days. You have three days to deliver evidence of your innocence." He turned his horse. "After that, I'm coming for the omega. And you won't stop me."

They left as dramatically as they'd arrived, the war party melting back into the forest.

I stood at the gates until the last wolf disappeared, my body vibrating with unused violence.

Tessa appeared at my elbow. "That went better than expected."

"He gave us three days because the full moon is in two nights. He knows what that means for an uncompleted bond."

"Which is?"

Honestly, I wasn't sure. But every instinct screamed that Martin and I were running out of time.

I found him still on the walls, staring after Malric's party. When he heard my footsteps, he turned, and the relief on his face made something in my chest crack.

"You're alive."

"For now."

"He's going to come back."

"Yeah."

Martin moved closer, and I caught him, pulling him against my chest. The bond hummed contentedly, finally satisfied with physical contact.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "For all of this. For destroying your life."

"You didn't destroy anything. This has been coming for years. You just accelerated the timeline."

"That's not exactly comforting."

I pressed my face into his hair, breathing him in. Mate. Mine. Worth fighting for.

"Two days until the full moon," I said quietly. "Martin, whatever this bond demands of us that night—"

"I know." His hands fisted in my shirt. "I can feel it too. The pull. It's getting impossible to ignore."

"If we complete the bond, there's no going back."

"And if we don't?"

"I don't know. But something tells me it won't be good."

We stood there on the walls as darkness fell completely, holding each other while the moon rose fat and bright above us.

Two days.

Two days to figure out how to survive impossible odds.

Two days until everything changed.