Daemon's POV
I was in my car, halfway to the Old Library, when my phone exploded with notifications.
Video after video. Text after text. All showing the same impossible thing: Isla Silvermoon shifting into a massive silver wolf and taking down three rogues like they were puppies.
My hands gripped the steering wheel so hard it cracked.
She'd awakened. Her true Alpha form had broken through whatever was suppressing it. And the entire supernatural world had just watched it happen live.
"Sir, we have a problem." My head of security's voice came through the car speaker. "Four other Alpha heirs just entered campus airspace. They're all heading to the Old Library."
Of course they were. Every unmated Alpha within flying distance would be scrambling to reach her first. To offer protection. To claim the most powerful she-wolf in three generations.
To do everything I should have done hours ago.
"Get my father on the phone," I ordered.
"He's already en route, sir. ETA three minutes."
Great. Just perfect. My father would arrive at the exact moment I was trying to fix my catastrophic mistake. He'd see every other Alpha heir trying to claim my mate—the mate I'd rejected in front of everyone.
The mate who now had absolutely no reason to ever forgive me.
I pushed the accelerator to the floor.
The Old Library was chaos when I arrived. Campus security had cordoned off the area, but helicopters circled overhead. I recognized the emblems: Ashford Pack. Frost Pack. Nightshade Pack. Even the Mountain Ridge Pack from three territories away.
Everyone wanted a piece of the Silvermoon heir.
I shoved past security, flashing my Alpha authority. They let me through—barely. Inside the cordoned area, I saw her.
Isla stood in the center of a protective circle formed by campus security. She wore someone's jacket over torn clothes, blood still streaking her arms from the fight. Professor Nightshade leaned against her, wounded but alive.
But what made my wolf go absolutely feral was the four Alpha heirs surrounding them, all talking at once, all trying to get Isla's attention.
"I can offer you sanctuary in the Ashford territory," Thorne Ashford was saying. He stood closest to her, and something about his body language made my blood boil. Too comfortable. Too familiar. "My pack would be honored to—"
"The Nightshade Pack has stronger magical defenses," interrupted Kael Nightshade, stepping forward. "Those rogues won't get within a mile of—"
"Gentlemen." The coldest voice I'd ever heard cut through the noise. A female Alpha I didn't recognize stepped into the circle—tall, lethal, with ice-blonde hair and violet eyes. "While you're busy making offers, the actual threat is still out there. Perhaps we should focus on her safety before fighting over who gets to claim her?"
That was Lyra Frost. Vivienne's older sister. The actual Frost Pack heir, not Vivienne's spoiled wannabe version. She was legendary—youngest Alpha to ever lead a successful rogue purge, rumored to have killed twenty opponents in single combat.
And she was looking at Isla like she'd found something precious.
"I'm not a prize to be claimed," Isla said quietly, but her voice carried. Power hummed beneath her words—Alpha command she didn't even know she was using. "I didn't ask for any of this."
"No, but you have it anyway." Lyra crouched down to Isla's level, treating her like an equal despite technically outranking her. "Those rogues will come back. Bigger force. Better prepared. You need allies, Isla. Strong ones."
"She has allies." I stepped forward before I could stop myself. Every head turned toward me. "She has me."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Then Thorne Ashford laughed—sharp and bitter. "She has you? The Alpha who publicly rejected her three hours ago? The mate who chose politics over his bond? That's rich, Blackthorn."
"I made a mistake," I said, looking only at Isla. Her storm-gray eyes were cold, empty. "I was wrong. About everything. And I want to fix it."
"Too late." Isla's voice was ice. "You made your choice. Now live with it."
"The corrupted bond will kill us both in less than a month," I said desperately. "You know that, right? Without forgiveness and reconciliation, the poison spreads until—"
"Then I guess we both die." She smiled, and it was the cruelest thing I'd ever seen. "At least I'll die knowing I didn't betray my own soul for status."
The words hit like a physical blow. My wolf howled in agony. She was right. She was absolutely right.
"Isla, please—"
"No." She stood up, and despite being smaller than everyone in the circle, she commanded the space. "You rejected me when you thought I was nobody. When I was just an Omega you could throw away. Now I'm valuable, and suddenly you want me back?" She stepped closer, and I could see tears threatening in her eyes—but she didn't let them fall. "I'm not someone you get to pick up and put down whenever it's convenient, Daemon. I'm not your backup plan."
"You were never a backup plan," I said, my voice breaking. "You were my mate. My perfect other half. And I destroyed that because I was a coward who cared more about my father's approval than—"
A howl cut through the night—close, too close. Then another. And another.
The rogues were back.
"Everyone inside the security perimeter!" the head of campus security shouted. "Now!"
But the rogues weren't attacking the library this time. They were attacking the helicopters.
Explosions lit up the night sky. One helicopter went down in flames. Screams filled the air. The Alpha heirs immediately shifted, ready for battle.
"They're not here for a fight," Lyra said, her eyes narrowing. "They're here for a kidnapping."
She was right. While most of the rogue pack attacked the helicopters and security, a smaller group broke through the perimeter—heading straight for Isla.
"Get her out of here!" Professor Nightshade screamed.
I shifted before anyone else could move. My fire-red wolf was massive, bred for combat, trained since childhood. I put myself between Isla and the rogues, snarling a warning that made the ground shake.
The lead rogue shifted to human form. He was covered in scars, his eyes were cold and calculating. "Move aside, Blackthorn pup. This doesn't concern you. You rejected her, remember? She's not your mate anymore."
"She's still mine," I growled. "Always will be."
"Touching. But irrelevant." He smiled, showing fangs. "We have orders to bring the Silvermoon heir back alive. You, however..." He gestured, and ten more rogues emerged from the shadows. All huge. All trained killers. "You can die."
They attacked as one.
I fought like I'd never fought before. My wolf tore through rogues with savage efficiency, protecting Isla even as blood poured from a dozen wounds. But there were too many. Way too many.
A rogue got past me, lunging for Isla. I tried to turn, to stop him, but another rogue had my throat—
Silver light exploded through the clearing.
Isla had shifted. Her massive silver wolf form radiated power that made every other wolf—rogue and Alpha alike—stumble backward. Her eyes glowed pure gold, and when she spoke, it was with the voice of an Alpha who commanded armies.
"KNEEL."
It wasn't a request. It was a command backed by bloodline power three generations deep. Every rogue in the clearing dropped to their knees, unable to resist. Even I felt the pull, my wolf wanting to submit to the stronger Alpha.
Isla had just dominated an entire rogue pack with a single word.
The lead rogue stared up at her in shock and fear. "You... you're fully awakened. The prophecy was true."
"What prophecy?" Isla demanded, her Alpha voice making the words vibrate through the air.
"The Last Silvermoon," he gasped. "The one who will unite or destroy the Five Territories. The weapon everyone wants to claim." He laughed despite the blood in his mouth. "We were sent to capture you. But someone else is coming. Someone much, much worse."
"Who?" Lyra stepped forward, blade in hand.
"The Council of Shadows. The ones who paid us to kill her family eight years ago." He looked at Isla with something almost like pity. "They thought they'd eliminated the Silvermoon bloodline. But now that you've awakened..." He coughed blood. "They'll send everything they have to finish the job. Or to force you to join them."
"Join them to do what?" I asked, shifting back to human form.
The rogue's smile was terrible. "To start the war that will burn down every pack in the Five Territories. With the Silvermoon Alpha leading their army."
He died before he could say more.
Silence fell over the clearing. Every Alpha heir stared at Isla—at the weapon, the prize, the danger standing in the center of them all.
"This changes everything," Thorne said quietly.
"No," Isla said, her voice shaking as she shifted back. "This changes nothing. I'm not starting a war. I'm not joining any Council. I'm not being anyone's weapon."
"You might not have a choice." Lyra's expression was grim. "If the Council of Shadows wants you, they'll tear apart the Five Territories to get you. We need to act first."
"We?" Isla looked around at the Alpha heirs. "I don't even know you people."
"Then let us introduce ourselves properly," said a new voice.
A figure emerged from the shadows—older, powerful, radiating authority that made even Lyra straighten. He wore the insignia of the High Council, the ruling body that governed all Five Territories.
"I am Elder Markus of the High Council," he said. "And I'm here to offer you a choice, Isla Silvermoon. Join us willingly and help us destroy the Council of Shadows before they start their war. Or..." His smile was cold. "We'll be forced to contain you. For everyone's safety."
"Contain?" I stepped forward. "You can't just imprison her because she's powerful—"
"We can and we will if she refuses to cooperate." Elder Markus's eyes never left Isla. "The Last Silvermoon is either the Five Territories' greatest hope or its greatest threat. You have forty-eight hours to decide which one you'll be, child. Choose wisely."
He disappeared into the night, leaving Isla standing alone, surrounded by Alphas who wanted to claim her and a Council that wanted to control her.
My mate looked at me with those storm-gray eyes—so much pain, so much betrayal.
"Still think rejecting me was your biggest mistake?" she asked softly.
Then she walked away, and I realized: losing her wasn't my biggest mistake.
Living long enough to see what I'd lost was going to be so much worse.