LUCIEN POV
The first rogue came at me with teeth like knives and eyes that glowed demon-red.
I shifted mid-leap, meeting him in the air. Our bodies crashed together with bone-breaking force. I got my jaws around his throat and RIPPED.
He went down screaming.
But three more took his place immediately.
"PROTECT THE WHITE WOLF!" my father roared, his Alpha command slamming into every Silvercrest wolf in range.
I fought my way toward Thessaly, my wolf completely feral with the need to keep our mate safe. Caspian was already there, standing between her and five rogues, his ice-blue eyes blazing with fury.
Dax and Kieran fought back-to-back near Senna's porch, cutting down rogues with brutal efficiency.
But there were too many. Way too many.
And they all wanted one thing: Thessaly.
"Behind you!" Thessaly screamed.
I spun. A massive rogue—bigger than any I'd ever seen—lunged at me with claws extended. I dodged, but not fast enough. Pain exploded across my ribs as his claws tore through fur and flesh.
Then the rogue just... stopped.
He hung in the air, frozen, his eyes going wide with terror.
Thessaly stood ten feet away, one hand raised, her eyes blazing pure WHITE. Power rolled off her in waves that made my teeth ache.
"Touch him again," she said quietly, "and I'll make you BEG for death."
The rogue whimpered.
Then she THREW him—without touching him, just with her power—sending him flying fifty feet into a tree. He hit with a sickening crack and didn't get up.
Every rogue in the yard froze, staring at her.
Every Silvercrest wolf froze too, staring at our mate who'd just used MAGIC like it was nothing.
"She's too powerful," one rogue whispered, his voice hoarse with fear. "The boss didn't say she could do THAT—"
"Kill her anyway!" another rogue snarled. "We don't go back without the White Wolf's head!"
They charged her all at once.
My wolf SCREAMED. I threw myself forward, Caspian right beside me, both of us desperate to reach Thessaly before—
She shifted.
Her white wolf erupted from her human form in an explosion of light and power. She was MASSIVE—bigger than me, bigger than Caspian, bigger than our father. Ancient magic crackled around her like lightning.
She met the rogues head-on.
What happened next wasn't a fight. It was a massacre.
Thessaly moved like death itself, impossibly fast, impossibly strong. She tore through rogues like they were made of paper. Her jaws closed around throats. Her claws ripped through flesh. Her power threw wolves across the yard without her even touching them.
She was magnificent.
She was terrifying.
She was OURS, and we'd spent seventeen years making her scrub our floors.
The thought made me want to throw up even while I fought beside her.
Within minutes, every rogue was either dead or running. The survivors fled into the forest, howling in terror.
Thessaly stood in the center of Senna's yard, covered in blood that wasn't hers, breathing hard. Her white fur glowed in the moonlight.
She'd saved us. Saved the entire pack.
The girl we'd called weak and pathetic had just single-handedly destroyed twenty rogues.
My father shifted back to human, staring at Thessaly with awe and horror. "Moon Goddess. She's... she's real. The legends were real."
Thessaly shifted back too. She stood there naked and bloody, glaring at all of us like she wanted to tear us apart next.
I couldn't blame her.
"Someone want to explain," she said through gritted teeth, "why TWENTY ROGUES just tried to kill me?"
Silence.
Because none of us had an answer. Rogues didn't organize in groups that large. They didn't coordinate attacks. And they definitely didn't specifically target one wolf.
Unless someone SENT them.
My father's face went gray. "Someone knows about you. About what you are."
"Great," Thessaly spat. "I've been awake as a wolf for exactly two hours and already have assassination attempts. This is going GREAT."
Senna ran out of her house—she'd wisely stayed inside during the fight—and threw a blanket around Thessaly. "Are you okay? Did any of them hurt you?"
"I'm fine." Thessaly's voice softened when she looked at her friend. "Are YOU okay?"
"Better than those rogues." Senna grinned, though I could see fear in her eyes. "That was the most badass thing I've ever seen."
My father approached slowly, carefully, like Thessaly was a wild animal that might bolt. "We need to talk. Inside. Now."
"I don't answer to you," Thessaly said coldly.
"Please." My father's voice cracked. "I know I have no right to ask. But please. Your life is in danger, and I need to understand why."
Thessaly stared at him for a long moment. Then she looked at me and Caspian.
The hatred in her eyes made my wolf whimper.
"Fine," she said finally. "But Senna comes too. And if anyone tries to lock me up or control me or—"
"No one will touch you," my father interrupted. He did something I'd never seen him do in my entire life.
He dropped to one knee.
Alpha Thorne, leader of Silvercrest Pack, KNEELED before the girl he'd let us torture for seventeen years.
"Lunaris bloodline," he whispered, his voice filled with reverence and shame. "Royal wolves. I didn't know. If I had known what you were—"
"You'd have treated me like a person instead of a slave?" Thessaly finished bitterly. "How noble of you. Except I shouldn't have needed to be ROYALTY for you to care. I was a CHILD. A five-year-old orphan who needed protection. And you let your pack destroy me."
Every word was a knife in my gut.
She was right. Moon Goddess, she was so right.
"I failed you," my father said, his head bowed. "Completely and unforgivably. But I'm begging you now—come to the Alpha house. Take the Luna suite. Let me provide the protection I should have given you from the start."
"Why?" Thessaly's laugh was hollow. "So you can parade me around like a prize? Show off the royal wolf you discovered?"
"So I can keep you ALIVE," my father growled. "Those rogues were sent by someone. Someone who knows what you are and wants you dead. You need the pack's protection."
"The pack's protection," Thessaly repeated slowly. "The same pack that's been torturing me since I was five. That protection?"
I stepped forward before I could stop myself. "They won't touch you again. I'll make sure of it."
Thessaly's eyes snapped to me. "YOU'LL make sure? You, who called me worthless yesterday? You, who laughed when other wolves spit in my food? YOU'RE going to protect me?"
"Yes," I said, my voice raw. "I know I don't deserve your trust. I know I've been—" My throat closed up. "I've been a monster to you. But you're my MATE, Thessaly. My wolf would tear apart anyone who hurt you. Even if you never forgive me, even if you reject the bond, I will NEVER let anyone harm you again."
"Pretty words," she said coldly. "But I've heard you use pretty words before. Usually right before you humiliated me in front of the pack."
That was fair. I'd done exactly that.
Caspian moved to stand beside me. "We can't change the past. But we can protect you NOW. Please, Thessaly. Come to the Alpha house. Bring Senna. Take whatever rooms you want. We'll stay out of your way if that's what you need. Just... please be safe."
Thessaly looked between us, her expression unreadable.
Finally, she sighed. "Fine. I'll come to the stupid Alpha house. But ONLY because Senna's house just got destroyed in that fight, and she needs somewhere to stay too."
Relief flooded through me so intensely I almost fell over.
"Thank you," my father breathed.
"Don't thank me yet," Thessaly said sharply. "I have conditions. Senna comes as my personal companion. We get rooms far away from all of you. And if ANYONE—and I mean anyone—tries to tell me what to do or treat me like property, I'm gone. Understand?"
"Understood," my father said immediately.
Thessaly nodded once. She started walking toward the Alpha house, Senna beside her, both of them wrapped in blankets.
Me, Caspian, Dax, and Kieran followed at a distance like pathetic puppies.
"We're screwed," Dax muttered. "She's never going to forgive us."
"Can you blame her?" Kieran asked quietly.
No. I really couldn't.
We were almost to the Alpha house when Thessaly suddenly stopped walking.
She went completely still, her head tilted like she was listening to something.
"Thessaly?" Senna asked nervously. "What's wrong?"
"Someone's calling me," Thessaly whispered. Her eyes started glowing white again. "Through the... the White Wolf bond. It's Thaddeus."
My wolf snarled with jealousy.
"What's he saying?" my father demanded.
Thessaly's face went pale. "He says the rogues weren't random. Someone hired them. Someone powerful." She looked at us, fear flickering across her face for the first time. "He says there's a bounty on my head. Every rogue pack in the region is coming to Silvercrest."
She paused, listening to whatever Thaddeus was telling her through their private bond.
Then her eyes went WIDE.
"What?" Caspian demanded. "What did he say?"
Thessaly's voice shook. "The bounty was posted by someone inside Silvercrest Pack. Someone who wants me dead before I can claim my royal rights."
We all turned to look at the Alpha house.
Standing in the window of the Luna suite, watching us with cold fury in her eyes, was Rowena.
She smiled.
Then the lights went out.
And Thessaly SCREAMED.