The rest of that night passed in fragments for Ashley. She returned to the scullery long after the hall had emptied, her hands shaking as she scrubbed the silver until her knuckles bled. The other servants cast curious glances but asked no questions. In Blackthorn Keep, silence was safer than curiosity. She finished her chores by candlelight, then slipped into the narrow attic room she shared with two other maids. The pallet was thin, the blanket thinner, but she curled beneath it anyway, staring at the rafters while the bond pulsed beneath her skin like a second heartbeat.
Sleep refused to come. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Damien: the hard line of his jaw, the storm in his gaze, the way his fingers had trembled when they touched her. The bond was alive now, a living thing coiled in her chest, tightening with every breath she took. She had heard stories of true mates, whispered tales passed between kitchen girls on cold nights. They spoke of instant knowing, of souls recognizing one another across battlefields or crowded markets. They never spoke of what happened when the bond formed between people who should never have met. An alpha heir and a servant without a mark. Power and nothing. The Moon Goddess did not make mistakes, the old ones said. Yet here was proof she could.
By dawn the snow had stopped, leaving the world sharp and glittering under a pale sky. Ashley rose before the others, dressed in silence, and slipped downstairs to start the fires. Routine was her armor. As long as she moved, as long as her hands stayed busy, the hunger clawing at her insides could be ignored. Almost.
She was kneeling before the great hearth in the lower hall, coaxing embers back to life, when the door opened behind her. Cold air rushed in, carrying his scent before his footsteps. Ashley's shoulders stiffened. She did not turn.
"You rise early," Damien said from the doorway. His voice was rough with lack of sleep, edged with something she could not name.
"The fires do not light themselves." She kept her tone flat, poking at the coals with more force than necessary.
He stepped inside and closed the heavy oak door. The sound echoed like a judgment. She felt him approach, slow and deliberate, until he stood directly behind her. Close enough that the heat of him chased away the morning chill.
"Look at me."
She set the poker down carefully. Then she rose and faced him.
In daylight he looked even more dangerous. Shadows lingered beneath his eyes, and a muscle ticked along his jaw. He had changed into a simpler tunic of dark wool, sleeves rolled to his elbows, revealing forearms corded with muscle and scarred from countless fights. Yet those storm gray eyes held the same feral intensity from the night before.
"You felt it," he said. Not a question.
Ashley met his gaze without flinching. "I felt everything."
He exhaled through his nose, a sound halfway between frustration and hunger. "This should not be possible."
"Then deny it." Her voice was steady even though her pulse hammered. "Walk away. Pretend it never happened. You are the heir of Silverfang. You have that power."
His laugh was bitter. "If only it worked that way."
He took another step closer. The space between them shrank until she had to tilt her head back to hold his stare. The bond sang, a low thrum that vibrated through her bones, urging her forward even as every instinct screamed to run.
"I have spent years building walls," he murmured. "Control. Discipline. No distractions. No weaknesses. And then you... a girl without a mark... slip through every defense like smoke."
"I am not your weakness." The words came out sharper than she intended. "I am nothing to you. You said it yourself last night. Disposable."
His expression darkened. "I said what was necessary in that room. Words for Gideon. Words for the elders. Not truth."
"Then what is the truth, Damien Blackwood?"
He studied her for a long moment. Then, slowly, he lifted a hand and brushed a stray lock of hair from her cheek. The touch was gentle, almost reverent, and it sent fire racing along her nerves.
"The truth," he said quietly, "is that the moment our eyes met through that tapestry, something inside me woke up and refused to go back to sleep. I have fought wars. I have killed men who stood between me and what I wanted. But this... this I cannot fight."
Ashley swallowed. "You still plan to mate with Clara."
His hand dropped. "The alliance must hold. My pack bleeds from border skirmishes. Your father's lands are rich in iron and timber. Without this union, both packs weaken. The rogues grow bolder every season. I cannot let personal desire unravel centuries of strategy."
"Then use me as you planned." The words tasted like ash. "Impregnate me. Discard me. Leave Clara untouched. The old rites will be satisfied. No one will know the bond exists except us."
Damien's eyes flashed. "You think I could touch you like that? Use your body for ritual and then walk away as though you were nothing?"
"You were willing to do it last night."
"Last night I had not felt this." He pressed a fist to his chest. "Last night I did not know what it meant to have my soul tethered to someone else's."
Silence stretched between them, heavy and charged.
Ashley looked away first, toward the hearth where flames now licked steadily upward. "Clara has been kind to me. The only one in this house who ever was. She does not deserve to be a pawn any more than I do. But she carries the mark. She carries the future. If I stand in the way of that, Gideon will destroy me. And if the bond is discovered... he will destroy us both."
Damien's jaw tightened. "Then we keep it hidden."
"How?" She laughed, the sound brittle. "The bond grows stronger every hour. I can feel you even now, like a thread pulled taut across the room. How long before someone notices? Before my scent changes? Before yours does?"
He stepped closer still, crowding her against the hearth stones. Heat from the fire licked at her back; heat from him pressed against her front. "We find a way. We buy time. Three nights. That is all we have until the ceremony."
"And then?"
"Then I claim what the Moon Goddess has given me." His voice dropped to a growl. "Not Clara. You."
The words hung between them, raw and dangerous.
Ashley's breath caught. Desire surged so fiercely she swayed toward him. Her hands lifted of their own accord, fingers curling into the fabric of his tunic. She could feel the steady thunder of his heart beneath her palms.
"One touch," he rasped. "Just one. To know it is real."
She should have refused. She should have shoved him away and run. Instead she rose on her toes and pressed her mouth to his.
The kiss was not gentle. It was desperate, starving, a collision of everything they had both tried to bury. His hands came up to frame her face, thumbs brushing her cheekbones as he angled her head and deepened the contact. She opened for him without hesitation, tasting storm and smoke and the wild edge of wolf. A low rumble vibrated in his chest, more beast than man, and she answered with a soft whimper that made him shudder.
He lifted her effortlessly, setting her on the wide stone mantel so their heights aligned. Her legs parted instinctively, wrapping around his hips as he stepped between them. The bond roared approval, flooding her with heat and need until she could barely think. His mouth left hers to trail down her throat, teeth grazing the unmarked skin where a crescent should have been. She arched into the touch, fingers threading through his hair, holding him there.
"Damien," she breathed.
He growled against her pulse. "Say it again."
"Damien."
The sound of his name on her lips seemed to unravel him. His hands slid beneath her dress, calloused palms skimming the backs of her thighs, lifting the fabric higher. She gasped as cool air met heated skin, then moaned when his fingers found the sensitive place between her legs. He stroked once, slow and deliberate, watching her face with fierce concentration.
"You are mine," he said, voice rough with possession. "Marked or not. Bond or no bond. Mine."
She could only nod, lost in sensation. He circled the sensitive bud with his thumb while two fingers pressed inside her, stretching her gently. Pleasure coiled tight and fast, building until she was trembling on the edge.
Then footsteps echoed in the corridor beyond the hall.
They froze.
Damien withdrew his hand with a curse, setting her down and stepping back. Ashley tugged her dress into place, cheeks burning, heart racing. The door opened.
Clara stepped inside, wrapped in a fur lined cloak, cheeks pink from the cold. She stopped short when she saw them.
"Ashley?" Her gaze flicked between them, confusion giving way to something sharper. "Father wants you in the solar. He is reviewing the ceremony rites with the elders."
Ashley nodded quickly. "Of course. I will go now."
She moved to pass Damien, but he caught her wrist, thumb brushing the inside in a touch no one else could see. The bond flared, a silent promise.
Clara's eyes narrowed slightly, but she said nothing.
As Ashley slipped past her sister, Clara caught her arm. "Are you all right?"
Ashley forced a small smile. "I am fine."
Clara searched her face. "You would tell me if something was wrong?"
The lie tasted bitter. "Always."
Clara released her, but the worry lingered in her eyes.
Ashley left the hall without looking back. She felt Damien's gaze on her until the door closed behind her.
The rest of the day blurred into preparations. Servants scrubbed floors until they gleamed. Hunters returned with fresh venison for the feast. Seamstresses fitted Clara for the ceremonial gown, a masterpiece of silver silk and moonstone beads. Ashley was kept busy fetching water, mending torn hems, carrying messages between the kitchens and the solar. Every task was designed to keep her visible yet invisible, present yet apart.
Yet the bond never quieted. She felt Damien moving through the keep: in the training yard sparring with his guards, in the armory inspecting weapons, in the great hall speaking with Gideon. Each time he drew near, heat bloomed beneath her skin. Each time he moved away, a hollow ache settled in her chest.
By evening she was exhausted, body and mind stretched thin. She retreated to the small herb garden behind the kitchens, the one place she could breathe without eyes on her. Snow had begun falling again, soft and silent. She sat on the low stone wall, pulling her knees to her chest, and let the cold seep into her bones.
Footsteps approached.
She did not startle when Damien appeared. She had felt him coming.
He stopped a few paces away, hands in his pockets, snow dusting his dark hair.
"We cannot keep meeting like this," she said quietly.
"I know."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because I cannot stay away." He stepped closer. "And because I need to know you are safe."
"Safe?" She laughed softly. "In this house? With what is coming?"
He crouched before her so their eyes were level. "Tell me what you want, Ashley. Not what duty demands. Not what Clara needs. What do you want?"
The question pierced her. No one had ever asked. Not her father. Not the servants. Not even Clara, though her kindness had come close.
"I want..." Her voice cracked. "I want to stop feeling like I am disappearing. I want to matter. And I want..." She met his gaze. "I want you. But not at Clara's expense. Not at the cost of war between our packs."
Damien reached out and took her hand, threading their fingers together. "Then we fight for both. We find a way to honor the bond without breaking everything else."
"How?"
"I do not know yet." His thumb stroked over her knuckles. "But I will not let you be used. I will not let them discard you. If it comes to it, I will challenge Gideon myself."
Her eyes widened. "You would risk open war?"
"For you?" He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. "I would burn the world down."
The bond hummed with truth.
They sat in silence as snow fell around them, two shadows in a wh
ite world, bound by something older than packs or politics.
Three nights remained.
The moon was waxing.
And the hunger between them was only beginning to wake.