Corvus POV
"Alpha, tell me you're not mated to a Silvercrest wolf!"
Kael's voice echoed through the throne room, and I felt my entire world balancing on a knife's edge.
Five of my best warriors stared at me with expressions ranging from shock to outright betrayal. My hands were still on Seraphina's face, her scent wrapped around me like a claiming. There was no hiding this. No lying our way out.
I could reject her right now. Deny the bond. Save my leadership and my pack's respect.
But looking into her terrified ice-blue eyes, I knew I'd rather die.
"She's my fated mate," I said again, louder this time. My voice didn't shake. "The Moon Goddess chose her for me. And I'm not rejecting that gift."
"Are you INSANE?" Kael exploded. "She's the enemy! Her father killed three of our warriors last year! Her pack has been trying to destroy us for generations!"
"I know who she is."
"Then you know this is impossible!" My Beta stepped closer, his eyes pleading now. "Corvus, you're my Alpha. My friend. But this... this will tear our pack apart. The others won't accept an enemy wolf as their Luna. You'll lose everything."
He was right. I knew he was right. But my wolf didn't care about logic or politics or pack stability. My wolf had found his mate, and nothing else mattered.
"I need time," I said. "Give me time to figure this out."
"Time for what?" One of the warriors—Marcus, a loyal soldier who'd fought beside me for years—stepped forward. "Time to betray everything we stand for? Alpha, my brother died fighting Silvercrest wolves. You expect me to bow to one?"
Seraphina flinched against me. I felt her shame and pain through the bond.
"She's not responsible for your brother's death," I said coldly.
"Her pack is! Her FATHER is!" Marcus's eyes blazed with rage. "And now you're choosing her over us? Over your own people?"
"I'm not choosing—"
"Yes, you are!" Kael interrupted. "The moment you refuse to reject her, you're choosing her over your pack. That's how everyone will see it."
Seraphina pulled away from me suddenly. "He's right." Her voice was quiet but steady. "Corvus, they're right. We can't do this."
"Don't," I warned.
"We have to face reality. I'm going back to Silvercrest. We'll tell our packs the negotiations failed. We'll never see each other again. And eventually..." Her voice cracked. "Eventually the bond will fade."
"That's a lie and you know it." I grabbed her hand, desperate. "Fated mate bonds don't fade. They either complete or they destroy us. There's no middle ground."
"Then we reject it." She yanked her hand free, tears streaming down her face. "We do the ritual. We sever the connection before it kills us both."
My wolf roared in fury. The thought of rejection—of deliberately cutting the sacred bond the Moon Goddess had given us—made me physically ill.
"I won't do it," I said flatly.
"You have to!"
"No." I stepped closer, lowering my voice so only she could hear. "I spent seven years dead inside, Seraphina. Going through the motions, leading my pack but never really living. Then I found you. And for the first time since my brother died, I felt alive. You think I'm going to give that up? Give YOU up? Not a chance."
She sobbed. "We don't have a choice."
"We always have a choice."
"Alpha!" Another warrior burst into the room, breathing hard. "Sir, we have a problem. The Silvercrest wolves heard the commotion. They're demanding to know what's happening. And..." He hesitated. "Alpha Magnus just crossed our border with twenty warriors. He's coming here. Now."
My blood turned to ice. Magnus. Seraphina's father. The most powerful Alpha in the region besides me.
If he found out about the bond, he'd declare war.
"How long until he arrives?" I demanded.
"Five minutes. Maybe less."
Seraphina went pale. "My father can't know. Corvus, if he finds out—"
"I know." I looked at Kael. "Get the Silvercrest delegation out of here. Back entrance. Tell them there's been a security concern and we're relocating them for safety."
"And what about her?" Kael gestured to Seraphina. "Magnus will demand to see his daughter."
"Then we give her to him," I said, the words like acid in my mouth. "We play this carefully. Seraphina goes back with her father. The negotiations are postponed. We buy ourselves time to figure this out."
"There's nothing to figure out!" Marcus shouted. "Alpha, you need to reject her NOW. Before this becomes a war."
"I'm not rejecting my mate."
"Then you're not fit to lead this pack!"
The words hung in the air like a death sentence. Challenging an Alpha's fitness to lead was the first step toward a challenge for leadership. If enough wolves agreed, Marcus could fight me for the Alpha position.
And given the circumstances, he might win the support.
Kael looked horrified. "Marcus, you're out of line—"
"Am I?" Marcus turned to the other warriors. "Our Alpha is compromised. He's putting his personal desires above the pack's safety. That's grounds for challenge."
Two of the warriors nodded. The other two looked uncertain.
My pack was fracturing. Right here, right now.
"Stop," Seraphina said suddenly. She stepped away from me, wiping her tears. "Marcus is right. Alpha Corvus can't lead effectively if he's... if we're..." She couldn't finish.
"Seraphina, don't—"
"I'm rejecting the bond," she announced, her voice breaking. "Right now. Publicly. So everyone knows."
"NO!" My wolf surged forward, desperate to stop her.
But she was already speaking the ancient words: "I, Seraphina Crane, reject the mate bond between myself and—"
I clamped my hand over her mouth, cutting off the rejection. "Don't you dare finish that sentence."
She struggled against me, tears soaking my palm. Through the bond, I felt her anguish, her certainty that this was the only way to save both our packs.
"Let her speak!" Marcus demanded.
"This is her choice!" Kael added.
But I couldn't let her go. Couldn't let her destroy us both to save me.
Heavy footsteps echoed in the hall. The doors burst open.
Alpha Magnus stood there with his warriors, his face twisted with fury. His eyes locked on me—on my hand covering his daughter's mouth, my arm around her waist, holding her against me.
"What," he said, his voice deadly quiet, "is going on here?"
I had exactly one second to make a choice. Let Seraphina complete the rejection and lose her forever. Or claim her fully, right here, right now, and damn the consequences.
My wolf made the decision for me.
I removed my hand from her mouth—and kissed her instead. Hard. Claiming. Letting everyone in the room see exactly what she meant to me.
When I pulled back, Seraphina stared at me with wide, shocked eyes.
Magnus's roar shook the entire building. "YOU TOUCHED MY DAUGHTER?"
"She's my fated mate," I announced to the room. To both packs. To the world. "The Moon Goddess chose her for me. And I choose her back."
Chaos erupted. Magnus shifted into his massive wolf form, snarling. Half my warriors drew weapons. Kael was shouting something I couldn't hear over the noise.
And Seraphina... Seraphina grabbed my face and kissed me back, fierce and desperate and real.
What did you just do? she sent through our bond.
Started a war, I replied. But at least we're fighting it together.
Magnus lunged at me, fully intending to rip my throat out.
But before he could reach me, something impossible happened.
The air in the throne room began to glow. Soft silver light emanated from Seraphina and golden light from me. The two colors swirled together, forming a brilliant column that shot toward the ceiling.
Every wolf in the room froze, staring.
The light intensified until it was almost blinding. Then a voice—ancient, powerful, definitely not human—echoed through all our minds:
THE BOND IS SANCTIFIED. THE MOON GODDESS HAS SPOKEN. THOSE WHO OPPOSE THIS UNION OPPOSE THE DIVINE WILL.
The light vanished as quickly as it appeared.
Dead silence filled the throne room.
I looked at Seraphina. She looked at me. We both looked at Magnus, who'd shifted back to human form and was staring at us with absolute shock.
"What..." Kael breathed. "What was that?"
An old female voice answered from the doorway. "That was a Moon Blessing."
Everyone turned. An ancient she-wolf stood there, her hair white as snow, her eyes milky with age. Elder Cassia—the oldest living wolf in either pack, keeper of ancient lore.
She walked forward slowly, leaning on a cane. "I felt the power from my cabin. Came as fast as these old bones could move." She looked at Seraphina and me with something like awe. "A Moon Blessing hasn't occurred in over three hundred years. It means the Moon Goddess herself has approved this union. To reject it now would be blasphemy."
"But they're enemies," Magnus protested weakly.
"They're fated mates blessed by the Goddess." Elder Cassia's voice held steel. "Which means this bond is sacred. Unbreakable. Divinely ordained." She looked around at both packs. "And any wolf who tries to separate them will face the Moon Goddess's wrath."
No one dared argue with that.
Marcus lowered his weapon. Magnus's warriors backed down. Even Kael looked stunned into submission.
I pulled Seraphina closer, hardly daring to believe it. "We're safe?"
"I think so," she whispered.
Elder Cassia smiled. "Safe? Oh no, young ones. Your trials are just beginning. Moon Blessed pairs face tests that would break normal wolves." Her smile faded. "The Goddess chose you for a reason. And that reason usually involves great sacrifice."
"What kind of sacrifice?" Seraphina asked.
The Elder's expression turned grave. "That's for you to discover. But know this—before your bond is complete, both of you will have to choose between love and duty. Between your mate and your pack. And the wrong choice will destroy everything you hold dear."
She turned and walked out, leaving us with that terrifying prophecy.
I looked at Seraphina. "Well. This just got more complicated."
"You think?" She laughed, slightly hysterical. "We went from secret forbidden love to divinely blessed mates who might destroy the world."
"At least we're doing it together."
Magnus cleared his throat. "Corvus. My office. Now. We need to discuss what happens next."
"Our packs need to meet," Kael added. "Figure out how to handle this politically."
Everyone was talking at once, planning, strategizing.
But all I could focus on was Seraphina's hand in mine, the bond humming between us, and the certainty that whatever came next, we'd face it together.
Even if it meant both our worlds burning down.