DAMIEN POV
"Get. Out." I stood between my father and Isla's bed, every muscle tense for a fight.
Victor's ice-blue eyes—the same ones I saw in the mirror—blazed with fury. "You dare speak to me that way? In my own house?"
"Your house?" I laughed bitterly. "The one that burned down tonight? That house?"
"Don't change the subject." He pointed at Isla, who'd gone pale against the pillows. "That omega doesn't belong here. She doesn't belong anywhere near this family."
My wolf snarled, pushing forward. The urge to shift and defend my mate was overwhelming. "She was attacked. Beaten. Left for dead. Where exactly should I have taken her?"
"A hospital. A clinic. Anywhere but your bedroom!" Victor's voice rose. "Do you have any idea what this looks like? The future Alpha, alone with a scholarship omega? The scandal—"
"I don't care about scandal!" The words exploded out of me. "Someone tried to kill her tonight. At my party. In our home. And you're worried about gossip?"
Victor's expression shifted, became calculating. "Who attacked her?"
"I don't know yet. Three wolves in masks. They brought silver." I gestured to Isla's bandaged arms where the net had burned her. "They knew she'd be alone. Knew where to find her. Almost like someone gave them information."
"What are you implying?"
"I'm not implying anything. I'm stating facts." I crossed my arms. "Someone in our circle wanted Isla hurt. Someone with access to party information, security details, maybe even pack communications."
Victor was quiet for a long moment. Then: "Even if what you say is true, it changes nothing. She still doesn't belong with you."
"She's my mate." The words came out steady and sure. "My fated mate. The Moon Goddess chose her for me."
"Impossible." But I heard doubt in his voice. "You never said anything about sensing a mate bond."
"Because it happened tonight. At the party. The moment I scented her, my wolf knew." I met his gaze without flinching. "You taught me to respect pack law. To honor our traditions. Fated mates are the highest law. You can't ask me to reject that."
"I can and I will." Victor stepped closer, his Alpha power radiating out. Most wolves would have cowered. A month ago, I might have. "That girl is a nobody. Her mother was cast out in disgrace. She has no connections, no status, no worthy bloodline. She will weaken our pack."
"She graduated top of her class despite everyone trying to destroy her," I shot back. "She survived four years of harassment and kept going. She's stronger than half the wolves in our pack combined."
"Strength isn't the same as breeding—"
"Then our pack deserves to fail!" The words shocked both of us. I'd never challenged my father like this. Never questioned pack doctrine. "If we're so fragile that one omega mate can destroy us, maybe we don't deserve power."
Victor's face went red. "You're being manipulated. She's probably using the mate bond to trap you, to access our wealth—"
"She ran from me!" I nearly shouted. "She rejected the bond. Told me to stay away. Does that sound like someone after money?"
Silence fell. Behind me, I heard Isla's sharp intake of breath.
"She rejected you?" Victor's voice was dangerous. "Then accept her rejection and end this farce."
"I can't." The admission hurt. "I won't. She's mine, and I'm hers. Nothing you say will change that."
"Then you leave me no choice." Victor straightened, his face becoming an emotionless mask. "As Alpha of this pack, I'm invoking ancient law. Isla Monroe will face a worthiness trial before the Lunar Council. If she fails to prove her value, the bond will be forcibly severed."
My blood ran cold. "You can't do that. Those trials are archaic—"
"Those trials are pack law. And as Alpha, I can absolutely invoke them." He looked past me to Isla. "You have seventy-two hours to prepare your defense, Miss Monroe. Prove you're worthy of my son, or lose him forever."
"Father, please—"
"Silence!" His Alpha command hit like a physical blow. "You wanted to honor tradition? Fine. She'll face our traditions. All of them."
He turned to leave, then paused. "And Damien? Until the trial concludes, you're forbidden from seeing her. No contact. No communication. If you disobey, I'll consider it a challenge to my authority as Alpha. Do you understand what that means?"
I understood perfectly. Challenging an Alpha meant a fight to the death.
"You'd kill your own son over this?" My voice was hollow.
"I'd do whatever necessary to protect this pack." Victor's expression softened slightly. "I'm trying to save you from a disastrous mistake. Someday you'll thank me."
He left, closing the door with a soft click that felt like a prison gate slamming shut.
I turned to Isla, who looked like she might throw up.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think he'd—"
"A worthiness trial." She laughed, but it sounded broken. "They're going to judge whether I'm good enough for you. Put me on trial like a criminal."
"I won't let them hurt you."
"You can't stop them!" Tears streamed down her face. "Your father just banned you from seeing me. And in three days, I have to stand before a council of elite wolves who already hate me and prove I deserve to exist in your world."
She was right. My father had outmaneuvered us perfectly.
"There has to be a way—" I started.
"There isn't." Isla wiped her eyes. "This is exactly why I rejected the bond. I knew this would happen. Your family, your pack, your entire world sees me as inferior. As unwanted."
"I don't see you that way."
"It doesn't matter what you see!" Her voice cracked. "In seventy-two hours, they'll destroy me. They'll dig up every embarrassing thing about my life. My dead mother. My poverty. My omega status. They'll parade me in front of everyone and prove I'm not good enough."
"Then we run." The idea formed as I spoke. "Leave the pack. Start somewhere new. I have money—"
"And become rogue wolves?" She shook her head. "Hunted by every pack? That's not a life. That's survival."
She was right again. I hated that she was right.
"I won't let them break us," I said fiercely. "I'll find a way to stop this trial. To prove to my father—"
"Damien." She looked at me with exhausted eyes. "You need to let me go. Accept my rejection. Save yourself."
"Never."
"You don't even know me!" Her frustration boiled over. "We met hours ago! You can't throw away your entire life for a stranger!"
"You're not a stranger. You're my mate." I moved closer. "And every instinct I have says protecting you matters more than anything else."
"That's just the bond talking—"
"Maybe. Or maybe I'm finally feeling something real for the first time in my life." I knelt beside the bed, looking up at her. "I've spent twenty-five years pretending to be happy. Going through motions. Using people because I was too scared to actually connect with anyone. Then I scented you, and everything changed."
Tears fell faster down her cheeks. "This is insane."
"Probably." I managed a weak smile. "But I'm not walking away. Not from you. Not from this."
She opened her mouth to respond, but her phone rang. She grabbed it with shaking hands.
"Hello?" A pause. Her face went white. "What? No, that's impossible. I—" Another pause. "I understand."
She hung up and looked at me with devastated eyes.
"That was the academy. Because of the viral video and the fire investigation, they're moving my scholarship review to tomorrow morning. Eight AM." Her voice was hollow. "They're going to expel me before the worthiness trial even happens."
The room spun. "They can't—"
"They can. They are." She laughed bitterly. "Your father doesn't need to wait three days. Tomorrow, I lose my scholarship, my degree, my future. Everything I worked for. Gone."
"I'll talk to them. I'll use my family's influence—"
"Your family IS the influence!" She practically screamed it. "Don't you understand? Your father probably arranged this. Moved up the review. Applied pressure. He's removing me from your life piece by piece."
She was falling apart in front of me, and I couldn't fix it.
"There has to be something—" I started.
My phone buzzed. A text from Marcus.
"Emergency. Found security footage from the attack. You need to see this NOW. And Damien... you're not going to like who's behind it."
My stomach dropped. "What?"
Another text. An attached video file.
I opened it with shaking hands.
The footage showed Isla's attack from a security camera angle. Three masked figures. The silver net. The beating.
But then one attacker's mask slipped.
I saw the face clearly.
And my entire world shattered.
"No," I whispered. "No, this can't be right."
"What?" Isla leaned over to look. "What is it?"
I showed her the screen, frozen on the attacker's revealed face.
She gasped.
Because the person who'd orchestrated her attack, who'd beaten her and left her for dead, who'd tried to destroy her?
Was my sister.
Riley Blackwood. My own flesh and blood.
"Your sister tried to kill me," Isla whispered, her voice breaking. "Your family is trying to kill me."
I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. My sister. The person I'd grown up with, protected, loved.
Had tried to murder my mate.
And if Riley did this, who else in my family was involved?
Was my father behind this too?
Had I brought Isla into my home only to deliver her directly to the people who wanted her dead?