Derek's POV
I slammed my hand into the punching bag so hard it exploded, sand spilling across the training room floor. Three hours of hard exercise and I still couldn't get Maya out of my head.
Moon Blessed omega.
Elder Rosa's whispered words to Maya had reached my supernatural ears as I walked away with Sarah. I wasn't meant to hear them, but I did. And now they were eating me alive.
"Alpha?" My Beta, Marcus, poked his head into the training room. "Your father wants to see you. Something about the wedding plan."
Wedding. The word made my wolf snarl with rage.
"Tell him I'm busy."
"Derek, he's with Alpha Cross and Sarah. They've been waiting for an hour."
I grabbed a towel and wiped sweat from my face. "Fine. But if they push me on this wedding date, someone's going to get hurt."
Marcus raised his eyebrows. "You know that's not like you, right? You've always been the calm, controlled one."
He was right. In all my years as Alpha, I'd never let emotions drive my choices. But everything changed the moment I met Maya. Now I felt like a wild animal stuck in a cage.
"Things change," I grumbled.
I went to my father's office, dreading every step. Through the door, I could hear Sarah's laugh – cold and planned. The sound used to be background noise to me. Now it made my skin crawl.
"Derek!" My father boomed as I entered. "Finally. We have important things to discuss."
Alpha Cross, Sarah's father, looked me up and down with disgust. "You look... rough. Is this how you prepare for big meetings?"
"I was training."
"All night?" Sarah asked nicely. "You missed our dinner plans."
I'd forgotten completely. "Something came up."
"Yes, we heard." Alpha Cross's words turned icy. "My daughter tells me you were... distracted by pack business yesterday."
Pack business. Is that what Sarah called my time with Maya?
"Derek," my father said slowly, "we need to move the wedding up. Alpha Cross is worried about the stability of our alliance."
"How much up?"
"This weekend."
The words hit me like a physical blow. "That's five days away."
"Plenty of time for a simple ceremony," Sarah said, watching my face carefully. "Unless there's some reason you want to delay?"
I could feel the trap closing around me. If I said no, they'd expect to know why. If I said yes, I'd be married to Sarah while my true mate was somewhere out there, probably dying from our separation. "I need time to think."
"Think about what?" Alpha Cross demanded. "You gave your word months ago."
"I gave my word before..."
"Before what?" My father's eyes narrowed. "Derek, what's going on?"
Before I could answer, a commotion exploded outside. Shouting, rushing footsteps, and underneath it all – Maya's scream.
I was out the door before anyone could stop me, running toward the sound. In the courtyard, I found Maya backed against a wall by three young wolves I identified as Sarah's cousins. They'd cornered her like a pack of bullies.
"Please," Maya was saying, her voice shaking. "I haven't done anything wrong."
"Haven't you?" The biggest cousin, Jake, sneered. "Setting fires, seducing engaged Alphas, causing trouble for your betters?"
"I didn't set any fire!"
"Liar!" Jake raised his hand to strike her.
I moved faster than I'd ever moved in my life. One second Jake was about to hit Maya, the next second he was on the ground with my hand around his throat.
"Touch her again and I'll rip your head off," I snarled.
Jake gasped for air, his eyes wide with fear. The other two cousins backed away quickly.
"Derek!" Sarah's voice cut through my rage. "What are you doing?"
I looked up to find Sarah, both our dads, and half the pack watching me protect Maya like a rabid wolf. The smart thing would have been to let go of Jake, make some excuse about pack order, and walk away.
Instead, I pulled Maya behind me, putting my body between her and anyone who might hurt her.
"I'm protecting a member of my pack from bullies," I said.
"She's nobody!" Jake wheezed. "Just a stupid omega who thinks she's special!"
My grip tightened until Jake's face turned purple. "She's under my care. Anyone who touches her answers to me." "Derek." My father's voice was deadly quiet. "Let him go. Now." I wanted to refuse. My wolf was screaming at me to eliminate the danger to our mate. But I was still Alpha, still bound by pack law. I released Jake, who scrambled away panting.
"Thank you," Maya whispered behind me.
The simple words nearly broke my control. I turned to look at her, and the sight of tears on her face made me want to kill everyone who'd made her afraid.
"Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm okay."
"You're not okay." I could see the shaking in her hands, smell her fear. "What did they want?"
"They... they said I needed to leave the pack. That I was causing trouble."
"Who told them that?"
Maya's eyes flicked to Sarah, then away. The answer was clear.
"This has gone far enough," Alpha Cross revealed. "Derek, you will marry my daughter this weekend, and this... distraction will end."
"She's not a distraction."
"Then what is she?" Sarah demanded, her mask finally slipping to show pure hate. "What is this omega to you?"
The question hung in the air like a loaded gun. Everyone was watching, waiting for my answer. Sarah, both fathers, the gathering pack members, and Maya herself.
I could lie. Say Maya was nothing special, just a pack member I felt obligated to guard. It would fix everything, keep the peace, protect the alliance.
But looking into Maya's eyes, I couldn't do it.
"She's my mate," I said.
Gasps echoed through the backyard. Sarah went white. Alpha Cross roared with rage.
"Impossible!" my father shouted. "You're bound by contract to Sarah!"
"Contracts don't matter to the moon goddess," I answered. "Maya is my true mate."
"Prove it," Sarah growled.
Before I could ask what she meant, Sarah pulled out a silver knife and lunged at Maya. Not to kill – to hurt. To see if I'd feel Maya's pain through our link.
I threw myself between them, the silver blade slicing deep into my shoulder. Pain burst through me, but underneath it, I felt something else.
Maya's pain, as sharp as the knife wound.
She doubled over, holding her shoulder in the exact spot where I'd been cut. The bond was real, obvious to everyone watching.
"Moon blessed," Elder Rosa breathed from the crowd. "She really is moon blessed."
"What does that mean?" Alpha Cross demanded.
"It means," Rosa said slowly, "that their mate bond was picked by the moon goddess herself. It cannot be broken by human promises or politics."
"That's just superstition," my father snapped.
"Is it?" Rosa pointed to Maya, still holding her shoulder, tears running down her face from pain she shouldn't be able to feel. "Look at her. She feels his pain as her own. That only happens with the most sacred mate ties."
Sarah looked around frantically. "Father, do something!"
But Alpha Cross was looking at Maya with a mixture of fear and calculation. "If she's truly moon blessed..." "Then Derek belongs to her," Rosa finished. "And trying to force him to mate with another could kill them both."
"Kill them?" My father looked shaken.
"The breakup sickness. It starts slow – sleepless nights, loss of appetite, inability to focus. But if they're kept apart too long..."
Rosa didn't need to finish. Everyone knew the stories of mates who died from broken ties.
Sarah's face twisted with anger. "I won't accept this! I am meant to be Luna of this pack!"
"You are meant to be Luna of a pack," a new voice said from behind us. "Just not this one."
We all turned to see a stranger walking into our courtyard – a tall, handsome man with kind eyes and an Alpha's manner.
"Who are you?" Alpha Cross demanded.
The man smiled. "Alpha Ethan Stone. Derek's cousin. And if I'm not wrong, Sarah Cross's true mate."
Sarah stumbled backward. "That's impossible. I don't feel anything for you."
"Don't you?" Ethan stepped closer, and Sarah's eyes went wide. "Check your wrist, Sarah. The mark appeared three days ago, didn't it? Right around the time Derek met his omega."
With shaking hands, Sarah pushed up her sleeve. There, silver against her pale skin, was a crescent moon mark.
"The moon works in mysterious ways," Elder Rosa said softly. "Sometimes she moves all the pieces at once."
I looked from Ethan to Sarah to Maya, my head spinning. "How did you know to come here?"
"The moon called me," Ethan said simply. "Told me my mate was in pain, being forced into a bond that wasn't hers."
"This is too convenient," Alpha Cross growled.
"Is it?" Ethan held out his hand to Sarah. "Touch me. See if you feel the link."
"I won't," Sarah said, but her hand was already reaching out like she couldn't help herself.
The moment their fingers touched, Sarah gasped. Power flowed between them, visible as golden light.
"Oh," she breathed. "Oh, I see."
"You feel it," Ethan said gently. "The real bond. Not the arranged marriage you were settling for."
Sarah looked at me, then at Maya, then back at Ethan. For the first time since I'd known her, her cold mask totally disappeared.
"I do feel it," she whispered. "It's... incredible."
"Then it's settled," my father said, though he looked dazed. "The alliance can proceed through Sarah and Ethan."
"Not quite," a dark voice said from the forest edge.
We all spun to see rogues appearing from the trees – at least twenty of them, surrounding our courtyard. Their boss stepped forward, his scarred face twisted in a cruel smile.
"Such a touching scene," he mocked. "But I'm afraid none of you will be mating with anyone."
"What do you want?" I demanded, moving Maya further behind me.
"The moon blessed omega, of course." His bright eyes fixed on Maya. "She's worth a lot to the right buyer. Ancient magic is very rare these days."
My blood ran cold. "You're not taking her."
"Oh, but I am. You see, Derek, while you've been playing romantic, my pack has surrounded your area. Your borders are compromised, your warriors are busy killing my people, and your precious omega has nowhere to run."
As if summoned by his words, howls of war rose from all directions. The attack had already started.
"Choose quickly, Alpha," the rogue boss said. "Give us the girl, or watch your entire pack burn."