Raven POV
I couldn't sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Kade's face—pale, dying, accepting his fate. Every time I tried to rest, the mate bond pulled harder, whispering that my mate needed me.
"Shut up," I told my wolf. "He's not our problem anymore."
But she didn't listen. She never listened.
I threw off the expensive silk sheets and padded to the window. Haven City sparkled below—lights and life and possibilities. Somewhere out there, Kade was dying. And somehow, that was supposed to be my decision to make.
A soft knock interrupted my spiral. "Come in."
Darius entered carrying a tray with tea and cookies. "Thought you might be awake. The bond rejection keeps most people up the first few nights."
"Does it get easier?" I asked, accepting the tea gratefully.
"Eventually. Once the bond fully severs or... doesn't." He sat across from me, his expression unreadable. "Have you made a decision about Kade?"
"I don't know. Is that weak? That I can't just let him die?" The words tumbled out before I could stop them. "He tortured me for years. Made me wish I didn't exist. But now that I have the power to end him, I can't do it. What does that make me?"
"Human," Darius said simply. "And kind. Two things Kade never was to you."
"I don't want to be kind. I want to be strong. Cold. Like you." I gestured at him. "How do you do it? Stay so controlled when everything's falling apart?"
Something flickered across Darius's face—pain, quickly hidden. "Practice. When you lose everything that matters, you learn to protect what's left. Even if what's left is just yourself."
Before I could ask what he meant, his phone buzzed. He checked it, and his entire demeanor changed—shoulders tensing, jaw clenching.
"What's wrong?"
"We have visitors. Three Alphas just crossed into Haven City territory demanding to speak with me." He stood, his voice going cold and commanding. "Stay here. Lock the door. Don't come out until I return."
"What Alphas? Why—"
"They're here for you. Word spread faster than I anticipated." Darius was already moving toward the door. "Whatever happens, do not let them see you. Shadow wolves trigger... instincts in unmated Alphas. Dangerous instincts."
He left before I could protest, locking the door from outside. I heard his footsteps fade down the hallway, followed by other sounds—heavy boots, multiple voices, aggressive posturing.
I pressed my ear against the door, straining to hear.
"...no right to harbor a rogue shadow wolf..." An unfamiliar Alpha voice, rough and demanding.
"She's under my protection." Darius's voice was steel. "Pack law is clear. Any wolf who crosses my border seeking sanctuary receives it."
"Pack law also states that unmated shadow wolves are communal property. Too powerful to belong to one pack." A different voice, smoother but just as threatening. "Hand her over, Hunt. We'll decide her fate through proper channels."
Communal property. Like I was a weapon to be shared.
Rage burned through my fear. These Alphas didn't even know my name, and they were already deciding my future.
"She's a person, not property," Darius said, and I felt a surge of gratitude. "And she stays here."
"Then we'll take her by force."
The sound of fighting erupted—snarls, crashing furniture, bodies hitting walls. My wolf screamed at me to help, to fight, to do something.
But I was trapped in this room, locked away like a prize to be protected.
No. I was done being helpless.
I focused on my wolf, feeling her power surge through me. Shadow wolves could teleport through darkness—Darius had mentioned that. I'd done it once by accident during training.
Time to do it on purpose.
I closed my eyes, visualizing the shadows in the hallway outside. Felt them calling to me like old friends. Then I stepped forward and—
The world went black and cold. For a heartbeat, I existed in nothingness. Then I was standing in the hallway, staring at chaos.
Darius fought three massive Alphas—all bigger than him, all attacking at once. Blood streaked his face. His guards were unconscious on the floor.
He was losing.
One Alpha—a brute with a scarred face—grabbed Darius by the throat and slammed him against the wall. "Last chance, Hunt. Where is she?"
"Go... to hell," Darius choked out.
The scarred Alpha raised his fist for a killing blow.
I didn't think. My wolf surged forward, and I shifted mid-run. My shadow wolf form crashed into the scarred Alpha, sending him flying across the room.
All three Alphas froze, staring at me. Their eyes went wide with recognition and something worse—hunger.
"There she is," one whispered. "The shadow wolf."
They started toward me slowly, like predators stalking prey. Darius tried to stand, but he was too injured to help.
I was on my own.
My wolf growled, ready to fight. But three experienced Alphas against one newly-shifted female? The odds weren't good.
"Easy, little wolf," the scarred Alpha crooned. "We're not going to hurt you. We just want to... talk. About your future. About which pack you'll join."
"I'm not joining anyone," I snarled, shocked when actual words came out of my wolf's mouth. Shadow wolves could speak while shifted? That was new.
"You don't have a choice." He lunged.
I teleported through shadows again—this time on purpose. Appeared behind him and bit down hard on his leg. He screamed, and I vanished again before his friends could grab me.
For the next minute, I played a deadly game of cat and mouse. Teleporting, striking, disappearing. My wolf knew how to fight like she'd been doing it for years.
But I was getting tired. Each teleport drained energy I didn't have. And they were learning my patterns.
The scarred Alpha anticipated my next move and caught me mid-teleport, his hand closing around my throat. "Enough games."
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't escape. My vision started going dark—
A roar shook the entire building.
The front doors exploded inward, and a massive golden-brown wolf charged through. He was huge—Alpha-sized, powerful, moving with deadly purpose despite obvious weakness.
Kade.
His wolf looked half-dead, ribs showing, breathing labored. But his eyes burned with protective fury as he positioned himself between me and the three Alphas.
The scarred Alpha laughed. "Kade Thornwell. Heard you were dying from a rejected mate bond. Guess the rumors were true—you look terrible."
Kade's wolf snarled in response. Touch her again, and dying won't stop me from ripping out your throat.
"She's not yours anymore. She rejected you." The scarred Alpha squeezed my throat tighter. "Which makes her fair game."
Kade attacked.
He shouldn't have been able to move that fast. Shouldn't have had the strength. But somehow, he fought like a demon—all teeth and claws and desperate rage.
The other two Alphas joined the fight. Three against one. Kade didn't stand a chance.
But he kept fighting. Kept taking hits meant for me. Kept putting himself between danger and the mate who'd rejected him.
"Stop!" I screamed. "You're going to die!"
Already dying, Kade's wolf growled, dodging a blow and landing one of his own. Might as well die protecting you.
The scarred Alpha released me and shifted, joining the fight fully. Now three massive Alpha wolves circled Kade's weakened form.
This was my fault. All of it. If I'd just accepted the bond, Kade wouldn't be dying. If I'd stayed hidden, these Alphas wouldn't be here. If I'd been stronger—
My wolf cut off my spiral. Stop thinking. Start fighting.
She was right.
I shifted fully, letting my shadow wolf take control. Power I didn't know I had exploded through me—ancient magic from a bloodline nearly extinct.
The room went completely dark. Not regular darkness—absolute shadow that only I could see through.
I heard the Alphas panicking, unable to see. Heard Kade's labored breathing. Heard Darius groaning as he tried to stand.
Through the shadows, I struck. Fast, brutal, precise. I didn't kill—that would bring pack war. But I hurt them enough that they'd think twice about coming back.
When I released the shadows, all three enemy Alphas lay unconscious. Darius leaned against the wall, bleeding but alive. And Kade—
Kade collapsed, his wolf form fading back to human. He lay on the floor, naked and trembling, blood pooling beneath him.
"No," I whispered, rushing to his side. "No, no, no. You idiot. Why did you do that?"
"Mate," he breathed, barely conscious. "Protect... mate..."
His heart stuttered. Stopped. Started again weakly.
He was dying. Right here. Right now.
And the bond screamed at me to fix it, to save him, to choose.
"Raven." Darius's voice was urgent. "If you're going to do something, do it now. Once he's dead, there's no bringing him back."
I looked down at Kade—this boy who'd tortured me, this man who'd just nearly died protecting me. My tormentor and my mate.
The choice I'd been avoiding stood right in front of me.
Let him die and be free forever.
Or save him and risk everything.
My wolf didn't hesitate. She knew what she wanted.
But did I?
Kade's eyes fluttered open one last time, meeting mine. "Sorry," he whispered. "For everything. You deserved... better..."
His heart stopped beating.
The bond went ice-cold and silent.
And I realized, one second too late, what my choice was.
"NO!"
I pressed my hands to his chest, and my shadow wolf magic exploded outward—desperate, instinctive, wild.