Chapter 18
1043 Words
"Some predators hunt with claws… others hunt with whispers."
The training courtyard slowly returned to its usual rhythm after Isolde was dragged away.
Warriors resumed their sparring. Laughter rose again, forced and uneasy, as if the pack needed noise to erase what they had just witnessed.
But not everyone had moved on so easily.
High above the courtyard, standing behind the carved stone balcony of the Alpha residence, Cassiana watched the empty space where Isolde had been moments before.
Her sharp eyes gleamed with thought.
She had seen it.
Not clearly.
But enough.
That faint flicker of silver light around the girl’s body had not escaped her notice. Most wolves would have dismissed it as imagination, a trick of the morning mist.
Cassiana was not most wolves.
She leaned lightly against the balcony railing, her fingers tapping thoughtfully against the stone.
“Interesting,” she murmured softly to herself.
Power had a scent.
Not always something the nose could detect, but something deeper—something the instincts recognized.
And the moment that silver shimmer appeared around Isolde, Cassiana’s instincts had stirred.
That girl was not normal.
Not weak.
Not ordinary.
Which meant she was either valuable…
Or dangerous.
Cassiana straightened slowly.
And she intended to discover which.
Inside the servants’ wing, the air was colder and darker.
The guards dragged Isolde down the narrow corridor before finally throwing her roughly into the small room she slept in.
The door slammed behind them.
The echo lingered in the silence.
For several long moments, Isolde didn’t move.
She remained where she had fallen, curled slightly against the hard wooden floor as the pain slowly spread through her ribs and shoulders.
Her cheek throbbed where Kael had struck her.
Her chest hurt each time she breathed.
But the pain was nothing new.
What confused her was the strange warmth still lingering beneath her skin.
It pulsed faintly inside her chest, like a heartbeat that didn’t belong entirely to her.
Her wolf.
Isolde slowly rolled onto her back, staring at the cracked wooden ceiling above her.
“Why now?” she whispered weakly.
For years her wolf had been silent.
Dormant.
Sometimes she had wondered if something inside her was broken—that perhaps the Moon Goddess had forgotten her entirely.
But recently…
Something had changed.
Her wolf was waking.
Not fully.
Not yet.
But it was there.
Watching.
Waiting.
A quiet presence that felt ancient and powerful in a way she couldn’t explain.
It scared her.
Because if her family sensed it…
They would only punish her more.
Across the pack house, Valen paced inside his chambers like a caged animal.
His wolf was restless.
Agitated.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the same image again.
Isolde kneeling on the stone courtyard.
Blood on her lip.
Defiance in her voice.
“I belong to no one.”
The words echoed through his mind like a challenge.
Valen slammed his hand against the stone wall beside him.
“Damn her,” he muttered.
Why did she affect him like this?
She was nothing.
Just a weak Gamma girl the pack had always mocked.
And yet…
His wolf refused to calm down.
It kept pushing forward with a possessive growl every time her image appeared in his thoughts.
Valen dragged a hand through his hair, frustrated.
He remembered the moment he rejected her in front of the entire pack.
At the time, it had felt easy.
Necessary.
Cassiana had been the perfect future Luna—strong, respected, politically powerful.
Isolde had been a humiliation waiting to happen.
Rejecting her had been the obvious choice.
So why now…
Why now did something inside him feel so violently wrong?
A knock sounded at his chamber door.
Before he could respond, the door opened.
Cassiana stepped inside gracefully.
“You look troubled,” she observed casually.
Valen scowled.
“I’m not.”
Cassiana raised an eyebrow, unconvinced.
She walked further into the room, her sharp gaze studying him carefully.
“You’ve been watching that girl a lot lately,” she said lightly.
Valen stiffened.
“She’s nothing.”
Cassiana smiled faintly.
“Yes,” she said. “That’s what makes it so fascinating.”
She sat on the edge of the long wooden table near the window.
“Tell me something,” she continued. “Did you feel it?”
Valen’s eyes narrowed.
“Feel what?”
Cassiana tilted her head thoughtfully.
“That strange energy around her earlier.”
The room fell silent.
Valen’s jaw tightened.
So he hadn’t imagined it.
“You saw it too,” he said quietly.
Cassiana’s smile widened slightly.
“Oh yes.”
She leaned back slightly, her fingers resting against the table as her mind worked quickly through the possibilities.
There were very few wolves capable of producing that kind of aura.
Even fewer who could do it without realizing it.
Which meant one thing.
Isolde was hiding something.
Something important.
Cassiana’s gaze flickered back toward Valen.
And suddenly an idea formed.
A very dangerous idea.
“What if she isn’t as weak as everyone believes?” Cassiana said slowly.
Valen’s wolf growled.
The thought alone ignited something dark inside him.
If Isolde truly possessed power…
Then she should belong to him.
Not to the pack.
Not to anyone else.
Him.
Cassiana watched the storm building behind his eyes and smiled inwardly.
Yes.
This could be useful.
Very useful.
Because if that girl truly carried rare power…
Then controlling her could change everything.
And if Valen’s obsession grew strong enough…
He might destroy her himself.
Either way—
Cassiana would win.
She stood smoothly and walked toward the door.
But before leaving, she glanced back at him.
“Oh,” she added casually.
“There’s something else you should know.”
Valen looked up.
Cassiana’s lips curved into a slow smile.
“The Silvermoon Kingdom has sent word.”
Valen frowned.
“What word?”
Cassiana’s eyes gleamed with amusement.
“The Lycan Prince is coming.”
The room went very still.
None of them knew it yet.
But the moment that prince stepped into Blackwood territory…
Everything would begin to change.
And the girl everyone believed was nothing…
Would become the center of a war none of them were prepared for.
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