Darrian's POV
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She stood before me like the Goddess herself had descended into flesh and fury.
Heather.
No—Alpha Heather.
The black-furred wolf that had emerged wasn't just powerful. She radiated dominance, a quiet, devastating command that had stilled even me. She hadn't needed to speak. The air had bent around her.
And I had been too blind to see it.
She stood now in my office, clean from the fight but still cloaked in that aura. A different woman. She wasn't trembling. She wasn't hiding. And despite everything in me screaming that this should change the way I saw her, it hadn't.
It had just made things worse.
Because now I wanted her more—and hated myself for ever thinking her weak.
I closed the door behind us and turned to face her, arms crossed over my chest. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Heather blinked, confused. "Tell you what?"
"That you're an Alpha. That there's power like that buried inside you. Goddess, Heather, you pinned Mikaela like a pup. You could've ended her in seconds."
Her shoulders lifted and fell with a weary breath. "I didn't know."
I frowned. "What do you mean you didn't know?"
She looked away, eyes clouding over with something old and raw. "Because Marcus made sure I wouldn't."
My wolf growled.
She continued, voice quieter now. "He used silver. Not just in cuffs or chains, Darrian. In injections. In collars. Sometimes in my food. I was poisoned for years. At some point… I stopped feeling her. My wolf. I thought maybe she'd died. Or maybe I had. I didn't know."
I stared at her.
The silver would've suppressed everything. Strength. Senses. Healing. Shifting.
The bastard had silenced her wolf with methodical cruelty—and I had blamed her for the very weakness he created.
"Your wolf…" I asked slowly, "did she… say anything?"
Heather's lips trembled just slightly before she nodded. "She said she was waiting. Watching. That I'd have to choose to let her in. And I guess... it took being ready to die before I did."
My chest tightened. "You shouldn't have had to."
"No," she agreed, eyes locking with mine. "But I did. And now she's awake."
There was something both terrifying and comforting in those words.
Because it meant war had awakened more than our enemies.
It had awakened her.
I nodded, jaw tight. "Then we'll give her something to sink her teeth into."
I summoned my Beta and war advisors. Maps were spread across the table, scouts brought reports of Marcus's movements—he was close. Closer than I expected.
"He's marching with a full force,"Axel reported. "They crossed the eastern ridge last night. They're making a show of it. Heavy footfall. Noise. He wants us to see him coming."
"Coward hiding behind intimidation," my Beta muttered.
"No," I said, shaking my head. "He's not hiding. He's daring us."
Heather stepped closer to the table, eyes scanning the map.
I watched her, half-expecting the old version of her to flinch or defer.
She didn't.
She pointed to the terrain line just east of our outposts. "If he's trying to be seen, he's not just making a show. He's baiting us. Wants us to charge out, meet him in the open."
Axel raised a brow. "She's right. That's a trap."
Heather met his gaze without blinking. "Of course it is."
They nodded, almost in unison. My warriors—men who didn't trust easily—were already seeing her differently.
So was I.
She wasn't just a Luna by bond anymore. She was one by right.
Later, as the strategy meeting broke and the others filtered out, I stayed behind with her.
She leaned against the table, arms crossed, face unreadable.
"You really want to fight?" I asked finally.
Her gaze lifted to mine. "Would you stop me?"
I didn't answer.
Because the truth was—I didn't want to.
I wanted her beside me.
For reasons I didn't fully understand.
"You were right," I said quietly. "I did think you were weak."
Her lips twitched. "I know."
"I thought… I couldn't have a Luna who wasn't ready to bear war. But now I'm starting to think the Goddess gave me someone who could end one."
Heather looked away, emotions flickering in her eyes. "I'm not doing this for you, Darrian. Not just for you."
I nodded. "Good. Because this war? It's for you, too."
There was silence between us, but it wasn't empty.
It was full.
Of what we'd lost.
Of what we might still have.
Outside the window, thunder rolled.
The first wave of Marcus's army would reach the ridge by morning.
I looked at her and felt my wolf stir.
She had awakened her wolf.
Now it was time to unleash mine.
I watched Heather as she stepped out onto the balcony of my office, the wind lifting strands of her hair, moonlight catching the pale silver in her eyes. There was strength in her now—not just physical, but something elemental. Unbreakable.
I should've known.
I should've seen it.
Instead, I'd coddled my pride, weighed her worth against standards shaped by blood and tradition. I had considered replacing her with someone easier. Someone like Mikaela—who looked the part, spoke the part, and never challenged me.
But Mikaela had never made my wolf stir the way Heather did. She never made me question who I was or what I wanted. Mikaela was a weapon.
Heather… was a storm.
And storms didn't bend to will. They reshaped it.
Inside, my wolf growled low, a restless rumble in my chest. She's ours. But I didn't respond. I didn't know if I deserved her.
War was coming, and still I warred with myself.
I was Alpha of the Blackfang pack. A warrior. A killer. But I was also a man torn in two—between the mate I needed for victory and the woman who might destroy me with her truth.
Tomorrow we fought Marcus.
Tonight, I had to decide who I'd be when the blood spilled.