Corvus POV
"Alpha Corvus? Sir, are you alright?"
I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't look away from the silver-haired she-wolf staring at me through my cabin window.
Seraphina Crane. The Silvercrest Beta's daughter. The enemy.
My mate.
The bond burned in my chest like liquid fire, demanding I go to her, claim her, mark her as mine in front of my entire pack. My wolf was roaring inside me, furious that I was standing here talking to my warriors instead of protecting what belonged to us.
But she couldn't belong to us. It was impossible.
"Sir?" Kael, my Beta, stepped closer. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."
I forced myself to turn away from the cabin, away from those terrified ice-blue eyes. "I'm fine. Tell the Silvercrest Alpha we haven't seen his daughter. She probably ran deeper into neutral territory."
"But we found her scent—"
"I said we haven't seen her." My Alpha command cracked through the air like a whip. "Am I clear?"
All five wolves immediately dropped their heads in submission. "Yes, Alpha."
"Good. Now leave. All of you. I need to patrol this area alone."
They hesitated—it wasn't safe for even an Alpha to patrol alone near the border—but they didn't dare argue. Within seconds, they were gone, disappearing into the forest.
I waited until I couldn't hear their footsteps anymore. Then I turned back to the cabin.
Seraphina stood in the doorway now, wrapped in one of my shirts, her silver hair wild around her face. She looked terrified and defiant at the same time.
"You're the Alpha," she said. Not a question. An accusation.
"And you're the Beta's daughter." I walked toward her slowly, watching her tense. "We both left out some important details last night."
"You lied to me."
"You lied to me too." I stopped a few feet away, close enough to feel the bond pulling us together, far enough to keep control. "You said your name was Seraphina. You didn't mention you were pack royalty. That your father is Magnus Crane, the wolf who killed three of my warriors last year in a border dispute."
She flinched. "Your wolves attacked first."
"That's not what my survivors said."
"Of course they didn't. Just like your pack probably tells stories about how evil and savage Silvercrest is." She crossed her arms. "Let me guess—you've been raised to hate us since you were a pup?"
"Yes," I admitted. "Just like you were raised to hate me."
We stared at each other, the mate bond crackling between us like lightning. My wolf was going insane, demanding I close the distance, kiss her, claim her. The human side of me knew that would be a disaster.
"This can't be real," Seraphina whispered. "Fated mates from enemy packs... it doesn't happen. The Moon Goddess wouldn't be that cruel."
"Apparently she would." I ran a hand through my hair, trying to think past the overwhelming need to touch her. "We need to figure this out. Fast. Your father is looking for you. My pack thinks you left. If anyone discovers—"
"They'll kill us both." She finished my sentence. "Or worse, they'll force us to reject the bond."
The thought of rejecting the mate bond made my wolf snarl viciously. Rejection was agonizing—it involved a ritual that severed the sacred connection the Moon Goddess created. Most wolves didn't survive it. Those who did were never whole again.
"We can't tell anyone," I said.
"Obviously." Seraphina's eyes flashed with anger and hurt. "So what? We just pretend last night never happened? Go back to being enemies?"
"What else can we do?" I demanded. "You think our packs will let us be together? Your father would rather see you dead than mated to me. And my pack would call me a traitor for choosing a Silvercrest wolf over them."
"I never said I wanted to be with you!" But her voice cracked, and I could feel her pain through the bond. The connection went both ways—I felt her fear, her confusion, her desperate hope that somehow this could work.
It made everything worse.
"Good," I said coldly, even though it killed me. "Because I don't want you either. Last night was a mistake. A moment of weakness. Nothing more."
The bond screamed at the lie. Seraphina's eyes filled with tears, and I felt each one like a knife to my chest.
"You're right," she said quietly. "It was a mistake. I should go."
"No." The word came out harsher than I meant it. "You can't go back yet. Your pack saw you run into our territory. They heard the commotion. If you return now, they'll ask questions. Want to know where you spent the night."
"So what am I supposed to do? Stay here? With you?"
Before I could answer, Kael's voice echoed through the mind-link all pack wolves shared: Alpha! Emergency at the main compound. The Silvercrest Alpha just arrived with twenty warriors. He's demanding to search our territory for his daughter. He says if we're hiding her, it's an act of war.
My blood turned to ice.
I looked at Seraphina. "Your father is here. With warriors. He's threatening war if I don't let him search for you."
Her face went pale. "He'll smell your scent on me. He'll know what we did. Corvus, he'll kill you."
The sound of my name on her lips made my wolf purr, even in this disaster.
"Then we need to hide you better." I grabbed her hand, ignoring the electric shock of skin-to-skin contact. "There's a hidden room beneath the cabin. Old panic room from the war years. No one knows about it except—"
Footsteps. Coming fast through the forest.
"Alpha Corvus!" Another warrior crashed through the trees. "Your Beta sent me ahead. The Silvercrest wolves are coming here. They tracked the female's scent to this location. They'll be here in minutes!"
Seraphina's hand tightened on mine. "What do we do?"
I had seconds to decide. Hide her and risk my pack's safety if she was discovered. Or hand her over to her father and break the mate bond before it even had a chance.
My wolf made the choice for me.
"Tell Kael I'm bringing her in," I said to the warrior. "Tell him I found the Silvercrest female trespassing and I'm personally escorting her to her father."
Seraphina's eyes went wide with betrayal. "You're giving me back?"
"I have to. If they find you here hidden in my cabin, they'll know something happened between us." I pulled her close, my lips next to her ear. "Trust me. Please."
"Why should I trust you?" But she didn't pull away.
"Because you're my mate," I whispered. "And I protect what's mine. Even from my own pack."
The warrior shifted nervously. "Alpha, they're almost here—"
"Go. Tell them I'm coming."
He ran off. I had maybe ninety seconds before twenty Silvercrest warriors descended on my cabin.
"Listen carefully," I told Seraphina. "When we meet your father, you tell him you ran into our territory by accident. Got lost. I found you this morning and I'm returning you out of respect for pack law. Nothing else happened. We never touched. Understand?"
"But the bond—"
"They can't sense it unless we let them. Lock it down. Hide it deep. Can you do that?"
She nodded, but I felt her terror through our connection.
I grabbed a jacket and threw it at her. "Put this on. Cover my scent as much as possible."
She was halfway into the jacket when the forest exploded with growls.
Twenty massive wolves surrounded the cabin, all snarling at me with hate-filled eyes. At the center of the pack stood the biggest wolf I'd ever seen—silver-gray with ice-blue eyes identical to Seraphina's.
Alpha Magnus Crane. My enemy. My mate's father.
He shifted to human form, his face twisted with rage. "Where is my daughter, Nightshade?"
I felt Seraphina trembling beside me. Felt her fear through the bond.
"She's here," I said calmly. "I found her on my morning patrol. She was lost. I was about to escort her back to your territory."
Magnus's eyes locked on Seraphina. "Is this true? Did this wolf harm you?"
Say no, I begged silently through the bond. Please say no.
Seraphina lifted her chin. "He didn't touch me, Father. I got lost running last night. Alpha Corvus found me and offered to return me safely."
Magnus didn't look convinced. He walked closer, sniffing the air. His eyes narrowed.
"You're wearing his jacket."
"I was cold," Seraphina said quickly. "He offered it. That's all."
"That's all?" Magnus's voice dropped to a dangerous growl. He looked at me. "My daughter runs away the night before her mating ceremony. She crosses into enemy territory. And you expect me to believe you just found her this morning and nothing happened?"
The tension was suffocating. One wrong word and this turned into a bloodbath.
"Nothing happened," I repeated. "You have my word as Alpha."
"Your word means nothing to me, Nightshade." Magnus grabbed Seraphina's arm, yanking her away from me. The bond screamed in protest. "But I'll take my daughter back. And if I find out you touched her—if I find out you did anything to her—I will rip your throat out personally. War be damned."
He started dragging Seraphina toward the other wolves.
She looked back at me one last time, her eyes desperate and confused and heartbroken.
What do we do? her voice whispered through our new mind-link, the private connection only fated mates shared.
Survive, I sent back. Just survive. I'll find a way to fix this.
How?
I had no answer. Because there was no way to fix this. We were enemies. Our packs had been at war for generations. The mate bond between us wasn't a blessing.
It was a curse that would destroy us both.
As Magnus led Seraphina away, one of his warriors stayed behind. He walked up to me with a cold smile.
"The Alpha wants you to know: peace negotiations begin in two weeks. Neutral territory. You'll be meeting with our diplomatic representative to discuss the treaty."
My stomach dropped. "Who's the representative?"
The warrior's smile widened. "His daughter. Seraphina Crane. She'll be staying in your territory for one month while you negotiate terms."
Then he shifted and ran after his pack, leaving me standing there in shock.
I was going to spend a month with my mate. My enemy. The one person I couldn't have.
The one person my wolf would die trying to claim.
This was going to be a disaster.