Theron's POV
I slammed my fist into the wall so hard the stone cracked.
Your Majesty— the guard started.
Get out! I roared.
He scrambled away, leaving me alone in the corridor outside Kiera's cell. My knuckles bled where they'd connected with stone, but I barely felt it. All I could feel was the rage burning through my veins.
Phase Two: Breaking True Bonds.
Kiera's name was on a list. A list of wolves marked for mate bond experiments. Not as a victim who'd been given a fake bond—as a test subject whose real bond was supposed to be destroyed.
Which meant someone had known. Someone had known she was my true mate before either of us did. And they'd deliberately tried to keep us apart.
Through the bond, I felt Kiera's confusion and fear. She'd heard the guard's words too. Heard that she was part of something bigger and darker than we'd imagined.
I wanted to go back into her cell. Wanted to demand answers she didn't have. Wanted to—
What? Comfort her? Protect her? She was my prisoner, accused of murder. I couldn't afford to care about her feelings.
But I did. Gods help me, I did.
My wolf snarled inside me, furious that our mate was locked in a cell, frightened and alone. He wanted me to claim her, mark her, make her ours so thoroughly that no one could ever question it.
I shoved him down ruthlessly.
Footsteps approached from the other end of the corridor. Heavy boots. Familiar gait.
Rafe.
My best friend and Commander appeared around the corner, took one look at my bleeding knuckles and cracked wall, and sighed.
That bad?
Worse, I growled, stalking past him toward my office. Walk with me.
Rafe fell into step beside me, smart enough not to ask questions in the open corridors where anyone could hear. We climbed three flights of stairs in silence before reaching my private study.
I slammed the door shut behind us and locked it.
What's going on? Rafe demanded. The whole fortress is buzzing about emergency documents from Shadowmoon. Something about mate bond experiments?
I poured myself a drink. Drained it. Poured another.
Theron, Rafe said carefully. I've known you for eleven years. I've seen you crush rebellions without blinking. You don't lose control like this.
The mate-murderer downstairs isn't a mate-murderer, I said flatly. Her bond with Damien was fake. Artificially created by someone running illegal experiments.
Rafe's eyes widened. That's... that's not possible.
The documents prove it. Lists of wolves, payment records, test results. Damien volunteered to be bonded with Kiera. They made them both believe it was real.
Why would anyone— Rafe stopped, his tactical mind already working through the implications. Control. If you can decide who mates with who, you control bloodlines. Alliances. Power.
Exactly.
But if her bond with Damien was fake, why isn't she dead from killing him? Rafe asked the same question I'd been asking myself. Wolves die when they kill their mates. The bond
The bond only kills you if it's real, I interrupted. A fake bond can be broken without consequences.
Rafe paced across my study, processing. Then he stopped and looked at me with those too-sharp eyes that had made him my best strategist.
You're visiting her cell every night, he said quietly. The court is talking.
I stiffened. I'm interrogating a prisoner.
You're obsessed with her. Rafe stepped closer. I've known you eleven years, Theron. You've never personally handled a prisoner this long. You delegate. You stay detached. But with her—
It's complicated.
Uncomplicate it for me.
I turned away, staring out the window at Blood Court spread below. My fortress. My kingdom. Built on laws I'd thought were absolute.
How could I tell him? How could I admit that everything I believed about mate bonds was a lie?
She's my mate, I said quietly.
Silence.
Then: What?
The moment I saw her standing over Damien's body, the bond snapped into place. With me. Not him—me. I turned back to face Rafe. She's my true mate, Rafe. The one I've been searching for all these years.
My best friend looked like I'd punched him in the face.
That's impossible, he breathed.
I know.
She just killed her mate. You can't bond with someone who
I know! My voice came out sharper than intended. I know it's impossible. I know it breaks every rule. But I feel her, Rafe. Every emotion. Every thought. The bond is real.
Rafe sank into a chair, rubbing his face. If she could kill Damien, maybe he really wasn't her mate. Maybe the bond was fake somehow and— He looked up sharply. Wait. If they created a fake bond between her and Damien, and you're her true mate...
They deliberately kept us apart, I finished. Someone knew she was mine and gave her to Damien instead.
Why?
That was the question that had been eating at me since the guard delivered the news.
I don't know. But the documents called it 'Phase Two: Breaking True Bonds.' Which means there was a Phase One.
Creating fake bonds, Rafe said, following my logic. Phase One was making wolves believe they were mated when they weren't. Phase Two was breaking real bonds before they could form.
And Kiera was the test subject.
We stared at each other as the full horror of it sank in.
How many others? Rafe asked quietly. How many true mates have been separated? How many wolves are living with fake bonds, thinking they're with their destined partner?
I had no answer.
We need to investigate Shadowmoon, I said. Find out who's behind this. Names, connections, everything.
The court will ask why you're investigating a closed case. They'll say you're wasting resources on a simple murder.
Let them talk.
Rafe's eyes narrowed. They're already talking about how much time you spend with her. If they find out about the bond
They won't. I grabbed his shoulder. You tell no one. Not the Council. Not the court. No one.
If you're hiding your mate
I'm not hiding anything. I'm protecting an investigation into treason at the highest levels. I released him. Someone powerful enough to manipulate mate bonds has been operating in my territories. Until we know who, everyone is a suspect.
Rafe nodded slowly. I'll leave for Shadowmoon tonight. Quietly.
Take your best investigators. People you trust absolutely.
What will you do?
I looked toward the door, toward the dungeons below where Kiera was locked away.
I'll keep interrogating the prisoner, I said. And figure out what Phase Two really meant.
Rafe headed for the door, then paused. Theron? If she really is your mate, if this bond is real, what happens when the Council demands her execution?
My wolf rose inside me, ready to tear apart anyone who tried.
Then I'll have to choose, I said quietly. Between the law I've sworn to uphold and the woman fate chose for me.
That's not a choice. That's
A knock interrupted him. Sharp. Urgent.
I opened the door to find another guard, face pale.
What now? I demanded.
Message just arrived, Your Majesty. From someone calling herself 'L.' The guard held out a sealed letter. She says she has proof about the mate bond experiments. Proof that will change everything.
My heart stopped.
L. Lyra. Kiera's sister.
I ripped open the letter and read:
Alpha King— I know what they did to my sister. I know what they planned to do to you. I have documents proving everything. Meet me in three days at the Forgotten Hollows. Come alone or I disappear forever. And tell Kiera I'm alive. —L
Lyra's alive, I breathed.
Rafe moved to read over my shoulder. This could be a trap.
It could be our only chance at the truth.
I read the letter again, and my blood turned to ice when I reached the final line written at the very bottom in smaller script:
P.S. — They're planning to kill her before the trial. You have 48 hours.