MAGNUS'S POV
My mate just shifted into a wolf six months too early, and my dead best friend's widow is standing in front of us with a small army.
This night keeps getting worse.
"Magnus, who is that woman?" Thea's voice echoes in my head through the pack link. She sounds terrified and confused, still not understanding how mental communication works between wolves.
"Someone who shouldn't exist," I reply, moving to stand between Thea and Vesper. "Dorian never mentioned a wife."
Vesper's smile widens. "Of course he didn't. Our marriage was... private. Secret, even. Dorian had so many enemies." Her cold eyes fix on Thea. "But now that he's gone, I'm afraid his assets—including his precious daughter—become my responsibility."
Over my dead body.
I shift back to human form, not caring that I'm naked in front of a dozen armed wolves. Dominance isn't about clothes—it's about power. And right now, I need to remind everyone here who the Alpha is.
"Thea is under my protection," I growl. "Dorian's will was very clear."
"Was it?" Vesper pulls out a document. "Because I have a will dated three days after yours. In this one, Dorian leaves everything to his wife. Including guardianship of his daughter."
Impossible. Dorian came to see me three days ago. He was dying and he knew it. But he never mentioned a wife.
Unless...
"She's lying," I tell Thea through our link. "Stay behind me. Don't trust anything she says."
"I don't even know how to turn back into a human!" Thea's panic floods through our connection. "I'm stuck like this!"
Damn it. First shifts are always hard, but she shouldn't have been able to shift at all yet. Her Alpha bloodline awakening early means she's terrified, confused, and completely vulnerable.
My wolf wants to grab her and run. Hide her somewhere safe. Protect our mate.
But we're surrounded by at least twenty armed wolves, and Thea can barely walk on four legs without stumbling.
"I'll need to see proof of this marriage," I say coldly to Vesper.
"Of course." She nods to one of her men. He brings forward a folder. "Marriage certificate. Dated five years ago. Witnesses. All legal and binding."
I grab the papers, scanning them quickly. They look real. Too real.
But something's wrong. The dates don't match up. Five years ago, Dorian was...
My blood runs cold.
Five years ago was when Dorian first told me about Thea's mother. About how she died. About keeping Thea hidden.
"This is fake," I snarl, throwing the papers back at her.
"Is it?" Vesper's smile is pure poison. "Or did Dorian keep secrets from even you, Magnus? His so-called best friend?"
"Magnus, I smell blood," Thea interrupts. "Lots of it. Coming from those trucks."
I freeze. Focus on the vehicles behind Vesper's men. She's right—the scent of blood is overwhelming now that I'm paying attention. Fresh blood. Wolf blood.
"What are you carrying in those trucks?" I demand.
"Insurance." Vesper snaps her fingers. Two men open the back of the nearest truck.
Bodies spill out. Wolf bodies. Some still breathing. Barely.
My pack members.
"Cade," I whisper, recognizing my Beta among the wounded. His throat has been slashed. He's dying.
Rage explodes through me. My wolf tears at my control, demanding I rip Vesper apart.
"Magnus, don't!" Thea's voice cuts through the bloodlust. "She wants you to attack. Look—all her men have their weapons pointed at you."
She's right. Twenty guns, all loaded with silver bullets that can kill even an Alpha. They're waiting for me to make a move.
"Here's what's going to happen," Vesper says pleasantly. "You're going to let me take Thea. I'm her legal guardian now. And in return, I'll let your pack members live. Maybe even get them medical attention."
"No deal."
"No?" She pulls out a remote control. "Then I press this button and the bombs I planted throughout Thornhaven Estate detonate. Your entire pack dies. Men, women, children. Everyone."
My heart stops.
She's bluffing. She has to be bluffing.
But I can't risk it.
"Thea, when I give the signal, run. Run as fast as you can into the forest and don't stop."
"I'm not leaving you!"
"You don't have a choice. You're my responsibility now. Your father trusted me to keep you alive, and that's what I'm going to do."
"But—"
"That's an Alpha command. When I say run, you RUN."
I feel her submit to the command, hating it. Hating me. But at least she'll survive.
"I need proof," I tell Vesper. "Proof you actually planted bombs."
She smiles and shows me her phone. Live camera feeds from inside Thornhaven. I see the main hall, the nursery, the medical wing. And in each room, small packages with blinking red lights.
Real bombs.
"You're insane," I breathe.
"I'm practical." She gestures to Thea. "The girl comes with me, or everyone dies. Simple choice, really."
"Don't you dare give me to her," Thea snarls in my head. "I'd rather die."
"And I'd rather you live."
Before I can make a decision I'll regret forever, one of the rogue wolves that bowed to Thea earlier suddenly lunges—not at us, but at Vesper's men.
Chaos explodes.
Gunfire. Snarling. Screaming. The rogues are attacking Vesper's wolves, and I realize with shock that they're protecting Thea. They recognize her Alpha bloodline and they're choosing her over whoever's paying them.
"NOW, THEA! RUN!"
She hesitates for one second. Then she bolts into the forest.
Three of Vesper's men chase after her.
My wolf takes over completely. I shift mid-leap, landing on one of the men before he can follow my mate. My jaws close around his throat. Blood fills my mouth.
The other two keep running after Thea.
I throw the dead man aside and chase them. I'm faster, stronger, but they have a head start.
Through the pack link, I feel Thea's terror. She's never run on four legs before. Doesn't know how to navigate through trees. She crashes through bushes, stumbles over roots, and the men are gaining.
"Climb!" I shout at her. "Wolves can't climb but you're part human. CLIMB!"
She sees a tall tree and leaps. Her claws dig into bark. She scrambles up awkwardly, making it to a high branch just as the two men reach the base.
They circle below, snarling, trying to figure out how to reach her.
I arrive ten seconds later and make sure they never figure it out.
When both men are dead, I look up at Thea. She's shaking on the branch, white wolf fur stained with dirt and leaves.
"You can come down now. You're safe."
"I don't know how!"
"Just jump. I'll catch you."
"You're insane!"
"Thea. Jump."
She closes her eyes and jumps.
I catch her in my arms as I shift back to human form, her wolf body suddenly transforming back to human at the same moment.
Now I'm standing in a forest, completely naked, holding my equally naked mate who's crying and shaking and clinging to me like I'm the only solid thing in her shattered world.
"I've got you," I murmur, trying desperately not to notice how perfectly she fits against me. "You're safe. I've got you."
"Cade," she gasps. "Your friend—we have to help him—"
"I know. But first I need to get you somewhere secure." I set her down gently and pull off my jacket from where I stashed it earlier. Wrap it around her. "Can you walk?"
She nods, but her legs give out.
I catch her again. "Okay, plan B."
I scoop her into my arms and start running. My wolf knows these woods. Knows every path, every hiding spot. There's an old cabin ten miles north—abandoned, off-grid, perfect.
"Where are we going?" Thea asks weakly.
"Somewhere they can't find you."
"What about your pack? The bombs—"
"I'll handle it. But you're the priority right now."
She's quiet for a moment. Then: "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why am I the priority? You barely know me. Your pack is your family. Why save me instead of them?"
Because you're my mate and I would burn the world down before I let anyone hurt you.
But I can't say that.
So I say: "Because I made your father a promise. And I don't break promises."
She studies my face in the moonlight. "You're lying."
Damn. She's more perceptive than I gave her credit for.
Before I can respond, my phone buzzes. Text from an unknown number:
"Wrong choice, Alpha. Now everyone dies. Bombs detonate in 60 seconds. Hope your mate was worth it."
My heart stops.
"No," I whisper.
Thea looks at the phone. Reads the message. Her face goes white.
"Your pack," she breathes. "The children—Magnus, we have to—"
"We're ten miles away. We'll never make it in time."
Fifty-five seconds.
She grabs my phone. "Then call someone! Warn them!"
I dial Cade. No answer. He's too injured.
I try the pack house. No answer.
Fifty seconds.
"Magnus, DO SOMETHING!" Thea's screaming now.
My mind races. Think. THINK.
Then Thea does something impossible.
She closes her eyes, and I feel power surge through her—raw, untrained Alpha power that shouldn't exist yet. She throws her head back and HOWLS.
The sound echoes through the forest, through the mountains, through every wolf's mind within a hundred miles.
"EVACUATE! BOMBS! GET OUT NOW!"
Her mental command hits like a physical force. I feel it. Every wolf in the territory feels it. It's clumsy and uncontrolled, but it's undeniably an Alpha command.
My mate just gave orders to my entire pack.
And they're obeying.
Forty seconds.
Through the pack link, I sense movement at Thornhaven. Wolves running. Grabbing children. Fleeing the building.
Thirty seconds.
"They're listening," I tell Thea. "They're getting out."
She collapses in my arms, the power drain too much for her untrained body.
Twenty seconds.
"Did I... did I help?" she whispers.
"You saved them all," I say, awe in my voice.
Ten seconds.
In the distance, I see lights. Thornhaven Estate.
Five seconds.
"Close your eyes," I tell her.
Three.
Two.
One.
The night explodes with fire.