Kira's POV
The scream wakes me three seconds before the attack hits.
I'm rolling out of bed as the first explosion rocks the settlement, my wolf surging forward on pure instinct. Through my window, I see fire—bright orange flames eating through Knox and Sera's cabin like it's made of paper.
"RAIDERS!" someone shouts, and then the night erupts into chaos.
I shift mid-leap through my door, my silver wolf taking over completely. The bond flares hot in my chest—Daemon feels my terror, his own panic slamming back through the connection. But he's too far away to help. I'm on my own.
The settlement is under full attack. Warriors I recognize from Silvercrest—Stella's personal guard—are tearing through homes, dragging out rogues who can't fight. Women. Children. The elderly.
And leading them, her blonde hair wild and eyes crazy with jealousy, is Stella.
"Find the Silver Wolf!" she screams. "Bring me her head!"
My wolf snarls. Oh, she wants me? She's about to get me.
I launch myself at the nearest warrior—one of the guys who used to laugh when Daemon shoved me around. He doesn't laugh when my jaws close around his shoulder, doesn't laugh when I throw him fifteen feet into a tree. My Silver Wolf strength is fully awake now, and I'm done being the victim.
"KIRA!" Knox yells, fighting off three warriors at once. Sera is beside him, bleeding from a gash on her leg. They're outnumbered, overwhelmed.
I need to even these odds.
A warrior lunges at me. I dodge and counter, my claws raking across his ribs. Another comes from behind—I spin and catch him mid-air, slamming him into the ground so hard he doesn't get up.
For eighteen years, people told me I was weak. Defective. Worthless.
They were so, so wrong.
I'm taking down my fourth attacker when the temperature drops.
The air itself seems to darken, like someone blew out the sun. Dark purple smoke rolls across the settlement, and every rogue it touches starts screaming. I watch in horror as a young wolf—barely fourteen—collapses, his body shriveling like something's sucking the life right out of him.
Elder Moira steps through the smoke like death itself.
"There she is," Moira says, her voice sweet as poison. "The Moon Goddess's special little pet."
I shift back to human, standing tall even though I'm terrified. "You're using forbidden magic. The Council will execute you for this."
"The Council will never know." Moira's hands glow with that sick purple light. "Because there won't be any witnesses. Everyone here dies tonight—after I take what should have been mine."
The smoke moves toward me like it's alive, reaching with dark tendrils. I try to dodge, but it's too fast. It wraps around my legs, my arms, my throat.
And then it finds the bond.
The pain is immediate and excruciating. Moira's magic latches onto the mate bond like a parasite, using it as a highway straight to my soul. I feel her pulling at my essence, at my wolf, trying to rip her right out of my body.
"NO!" I scream, fighting back with everything I have. My silver wolf thrashes inside me, refusing to be stolen.
But Moira is ancient, powerful, and she's been planning this for weeks. The magic digs deeper, deeper, until I can't breathe, can't think, can't—
Through the bond, Daemon feels it. Feels me dying. His anguish explodes across the connection so violently it makes Moira stumble.
"Interesting," she says, recovering quickly. "The bond is stronger than I thought. No matter. It just means more power for me when I finish draining you."
She pulls harder. My vision goes dark at the edges. Knox and Sera are screaming my name, but they can't get through the smoke. Nobody can reach me.
I'm going to die here.
I'm going to die, and Daemon will feel every second of it through our bond.
I'm sorry, I think at him desperately. I'm so sorry. You were trying to change, and I was too angry to see it. I'm—
A howl splits the night.
Not just any howl. An Alpha's howl. Daemon's howl.
He crashes into the clearing like a black hurricane, bigger than I've ever seen him, his silver-grey eyes blazing with fury. He hits Moira's smoke barrier so hard it shatters, dark magic exploding outward.
Behind him are Cain and at least twenty warriors I recognize—the younger ones, the ones who never liked Alpha Ryker's cruelty.
"You dare attack my mate?" Daemon's voice isn't human anymore. It's pure Alpha dominance, and even Moira flinches. "You dare use forbidden magic on MY LUNA?"
He shifts mid-run, his massive wolf form placing himself between me and Moira. I collapse the second her magic releases me, gasping for air that won't come.
"Daemon Silvercrest," Moira says, but her voice shakes now. "You're supposed to be preparing for the challenge. Your father will be furious—"
"My father can go to hell," Daemon snarls. "And you're about to join him."
Cain shifts beside him, flanked by the warriors. "Anyone still loyal to Moira or Stella has three seconds to run. One—"
Stella's warriors scatter. Smart choice.
Stella herself stands frozen, staring at Daemon with betrayed fury. "You would choose HER over me? I'm perfect! I'm powerful! I was supposed to be your Luna!"
"You were supposed to be someone who didn't murder innocents for power," Daemon growls. "You and Moira just committed treason. Leave Silvercrest territory by dawn, or Cain executes you both."
"You can't do that!" Stella shrieks. "You're not Alpha yet!"
"But I will be." Daemon's confidence is absolute. "And when I am, I'm making sure monsters like you never hurt anyone again."
Moira's eyes narrow. She looks at me, then at Daemon, calculating. "This isn't over, boy. Your father won't let this slide. And the Silver Wolf—" She points at me with a twisted smile. "She's dying anyway. The bond won't hold much longer. All I have to do is wait."
She vanishes in a cloud of dark smoke, Stella disappearing with her.
The second they're gone, Daemon shifts back and runs to me. He drops to his knees, cradling my face in his hands.
"Kira. Kira, look at me. Stay with me."
I try to answer, but black spots are dancing across my vision. Moira was right—the bond damage, plus her attack, plus weeks of rejecting it—it's too much. My body is shutting down.
"No, no, no." Daemon's voice cracks. "You don't get to die on me. Not now. Not when I finally—" He stops, his hand pressed over my heart where the bond mark burns. "Elder Thorne! Someone get Elder Thorne!"
Through blurry vision, I see Knox carrying the old woman over. She takes one look at me and her face goes pale.
"The bond is collapsing," she says quietly. "And this time, there's no stopping it. Hours, maybe. A day at most."
"Then fix it!" Daemon roars. "Magic, medicine, I don't care! Fix her!"
"There's only one way." Elder Thorne looks between us sadly. "Complete the bond fully, or let her go peacefully. Those are your only choices."
"No." I force the word out through cracked lips. "Not... your choice... to make."
Daemon's eyes meet mine, and they're full of tears. This powerful Alpha who never cries is breaking apart right in front of me.
"I know," he whispers. "I know it's your choice. It's always been your choice. But Kira, please. Please don't choose death just to spite me."
"Not... spite..." Breathing is so hard. "Can't... forgive..."
"I don't need your forgiveness." His hand tightens on mine. "I just need you alive. Hate me for the rest of your life if you want. Reject me every single day. I don't care. Just don't leave me like this."
My wolf is howling inside me, begging me to accept him. To complete the bond and heal us both. But my human heart—my broken, scarred human heart—is terrified.
What if he hurts me again? What if this is just the bond talking? What if—
"I love you," Daemon says, and the world stops. "I know I have no right to say it. I know you don't believe me. But I love you, Kira Ashwood. Not because of the bond. Not because you're a Silver Wolf. But because you're the strongest person I've ever met, and you survived eighteen years of hell—including the hell I put you through—and you're still here, still fighting."
Tears stream down my face. "You... you destroyed me."
"I know." He leans his forehead against mine. "And I'll spend forever trying to build you back up. If you let me."
Elder Thorne stands up. "I'll give you privacy for whatever choice you make. But choose soon, child. You don't have much time."
She leaves with Knox and Sera, though I can feel them watching from a distance.
It's just me and Daemon now. The boy who tortured me. The man who challenged his father for me. The mate I rejected. The Alpha who might love me.
"What if I can't?" I whisper. "What if the bond forces me to accept you, and I spend the rest of my life resenting you for it?"
"Then I'll accept that," Daemon says simply. "Your resentment. Your anger. All of it. As long as you're alive to feel it."
Through the bond, I feel his truth. He means every word.
And I realize—this isn't about forgiveness. It's about choice. My choice. Not the Moon Goddess's, not the bond's, not fate's.
Mine.
I reach up and touch his face. "If I do this—if I accept the bond—things change. You don't get to be the Alpha who treats people like garbage anymore."
"Done," he says immediately.
"You don't get to use Alpha command on me unless it's life or death."
"Done."
"And you grovel." I hold his gaze. "For years. Decades. However long it takes until I actually believe you've changed."
"I'll grovel for eternity if that's what you need." His thumb brushes away my tears. "Anything, Kira. Name it."
I take a shuddering breath. This is insane. This is stupid. This is—
"I, Kira Ashwood, accept Daemon Silvercrest as my mate."
The bond explodes between us like a supernova.
Gold and silver light erupts from where we're touching, washing over both of us. I feel the broken pieces of the bond snap back together, stronger than before. The pain vanishes, replaced by warmth, by rightness, by—
Oh.
Oh no.
Through the completed bond, I can feel everything Daemon feels. His love for me—desperate and consuming and absolutely real. His terror that I'll still reject him. His determination to be better. His memories of every cruel thing he did, each one haunting him.
And underneath it all, his wolf's pure joy: MATE. OURS. FINALLY.
My wolf echoes it: OURS. SAFE. HOME.
"Kira?" Daemon's voice is cautious, like he's afraid I'll take it back.
I pull him down and kiss him.
It's not a romantic movie kiss. It's messy and desperate and we're both crying and covered in dirt and blood. But it's real. And it's ours.
When we finally break apart, Daemon is staring at me like I hung the moon.
"Does this mean—"
"It means I'm choosing to try," I interrupt. "That's all I can promise right now. To try."
"That's all I'm asking." He helps me stand, keeping one arm around my waist when I wobble. "Now let's get you healed. And then—"
A howl cuts through the night. A summons. We both recognize it instantly.
Alpha Ryker.
Through the bond, I feel Daemon's fear spike. The challenge is in one week. His father just felt the bond complete—felt Daemon choose me over pack politics.
Ryker isn't going to wait a week anymore.
Cain runs over, his face grave. "Message just came through. The challenge has been moved up. Your father wants to fight tomorrow at dawn."
Tomorrow. Not a week. Tomorrow.
"He's going to kill me before I'm fully healed from training," Daemon says quietly. "That's the plan."
"Then don't go," I say immediately. "We run. Both of us. We leave and never look back."
Daemon cups my face gently. "If I run, he hunts everyone I care about. You, Cain, every wolf who helped me tonight. Running isn't an option."
"Then we fight together."
"No." His voice is firm. "You just almost died, Kira. You're not going anywhere near that challenge."
I grab his shirt. "You don't get to die on me either. We just completed this stupid bond. You don't get to make me a widow before I'm even a wife."
Daemon laughs, but it sounds broken. "A week ago, you wanted me dead. Now you're worried about me dying?"
"Yeah, well." I glare at him through my tears. "I'm allowed to change my mind. That's what choices are for."
He kisses my forehead. "Then choose to trust me. One fight. I beat my father, we get our happy ending. I lose—"
"You don't lose," I interrupt fiercely. "I didn't accept this bond just to watch you die."
Through our connection, Daemon feels my determination—and my absolute terror that he won't survive.
"I'll win," he promises. "For you. For us. For the future we're going to build."
But as we head back to treat the wounded, as Daemon makes plans with Cain, as the settlement slowly recovers—I can't shake the feeling that tomorrow's fight will change everything.
And not in the way either of us hopes.