Chapter 25
1710 Words
Gwen
I was dreaming.
At least, I thought I was.
The air was thick with moonlight—silver and humming, like it had a voice of its own. I stood barefoot in a clearing that didn’t feel like Middle Moon territory. The sky above me was velvet black, stars scattered like spilled sugar. And before me, cloaked in shadow and radiance alike, stood a woman.
She was tall, her silver hair drifting like mist, and her eyes held the whole galaxy inside them.
Selene.
I fell to my knees, instinct and reverence overtaking me. “Please,” I whispered. “Where is Akira?”
The goddess approached slowly, her bare feet never quite touching the grass. “Your wolf still lives, child.”
“Then why can’t I hear her?” My voice cracked, my hands trembling. “Why does it feel like part of me is dying?”
“Because she is suffering,” Selene said gently. “You are apart from your mate. The pain of that separation—combined with your grief, your fear, your silence—has weakened the connection. Wolves need their counterparts. She needs hers.”
Tears welled in my eyes. “Then give me the strength to break the Alpha’s hold. Please. I can’t live like this.”
“You are not ready. But you are awakening.” Her fingers brushed my forehead like a blessing. “The strength you seek is already within you. You just haven’t seen it yet.”
“When will I?”
She smiled, something fierce and endless in her expression. “Soon. Be patient, Gwendolyn. Your time is coming.”
And then the moonlight swallowed everything.
Third Person
The warehouse Cain’s team used as a base on the outskirts of Middle Moon was dim and sparsely furnished—just enough for war rooms and weapons. Jacob stood still as Cole and Cash adjusted the lapels on the custom suit he’d be wearing into the den of wolves trafficking Omegas.
“You’re Alpha Joseph Black,” Cole said. “Ruthless. From Crescent Tide Pack, up north in Maine. Your pack is small, but you’ve recently come into territory and need...entertainment. You’re scouting new acquisitions. Got it?”
“Got it.” Jacob’s voice was deeper than usual, coated in steel and a hint of boredom. He slipped into the persona like a second skin.
“Be careful with your temper,” Cash added. “Joseph’s charming. Confident. But he doesn’t overstep. Not yet.”
Cain watched from the corner, arms crossed, eyes like ice. “You have one objective. Identify the handlers. Confirm the presence of trafficked Omegas. Get us names, locations, and dates. If they suspect anything, we lose our chance to take the network down.”
Jacob nodded. “How long do I have?”
“A few days,” Cain replied. “A week, tops. We’ll be in contact via encrypted comms. You report anything that smells off. Understood?”
Jacob gave a single nod and turned to face the mirror. The reflection wasn’t his own anymore.
Gwen
I woke slowly, the soft warmth of blankets tangled around my legs. For a long moment, I didn’t open my eyes.
There was something comforting in the air. A presence that had disappeared as quickly as it arrived.
His scent. It clung to the pillow beside me. To the edge of the blanket curled under my chin. Cain.
Why was his scent everywhere?
I sat up slowly. The guestroom was dim and still, filtered light bleeding through the curtains. My body ached, but not like it had the day before. There was no new pain—just the old grief, the simmering rage.
Had he… stayed with me?
My fingers traced the edge of the pillow, heart racing. I couldn’t remember the night clearly after collapsing. Just whispers of heat, warmth. Safety.
And yet he hadn’t woken me.
He left.
I pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders, staring at the faint patterns of frost on the windowpane. For the first time in days, I felt something shift in my chest. A strange calm.
Something was coming. I could feel it.
I just didn’t know yet if it would be salvation—or ruin.
I barely had time to register the knock at the front door before Jordan was already heading for it, tightening the robe over her sleep clothes. I stayed rooted in the hallway, tension prickling up my spine like icy claws.
The moment I heard his voice, I knew.
Justin.
Jordan didn’t even get the door fully open before he pushed past her, eyes burning as they landed on me.
“You’ve got some nerve,” he hissed, his gaze scanning me from head to toe. Then he stopped, his nostrils flared. “His scent is all over you.”
I backed up instinctively, my stomach twisting. “Get out, Justin.”
But he didn’t move. He stepped toward me slowly, dangerously. “Did you think hiding in another wolf’s house would keep you from being mine? Did you let him touch you?”
“Cain hasn’t touched me,” I snapped, even though that wasn’t fully true. “And I’m not yours.”
His hand struck before I saw it coming—an open-palm slap that cracked across my cheek and sent me stumbling into the wall.
Everything froze.
Jordan lunged.
She was halfway across the living room, her teeth bared, when Derrick caught her around the waist and yanked her back. “Don’t,” he growled into her ear. “Not yet.”
“Let me go!” she spat, writhing against him. “He hit her! I’m going to—”
“I know,” Derrick said, voice steady, arms like iron. “But if you touch him now, you’re the one who’ll get punished.”
Justin turned to them with a sneer. “You need to train your mate better, Beta. She’s got a mouth on her.”
Derrick’s face changed in an instant. Still holding Jordan back with one arm, he took a single step toward Justin, towering over him. His voice dropped to a dangerous calm. “Hit another woman—especially mine—and I’ll bury your body so far off pack lands no one will ever find you. Do you understand me?”
Justin blinked. His bravado flickered.
“You think you're untouchable because your father's backing you,” Derrick continued. “But if you lay a hand on Gwen again, I promise you—future Alpha or not—I’ll make it look like an accident.”
Jordan stopped fighting him, her breathing sharp.
Justin looked at me once more. “You’ll regret this,” he spat, and stormed out the front door, slamming it behind him.
I let my knees give out. Jordan rushed to me the second Derrick released her.
I didn’t cry.
I was past crying.
But in that moment, I wanted nothing more than for someone to take the rage inside me and burn the world down with it.
The door slammed hard enough to rattle the walls, and the silence that followed felt heavy—choking.
Jordan was already kneeling beside me, cupping my cheek with trembling fingers. Her eyes were wild with fury and heartbreak.
“Gwen,” she breathed. “Goddess, Gwen.”
I didn’t answer.
I didn’t even flinch at her touch, though it stung where Justin had hit me.
“Why didn’t you fight back?” she asked, voice cracking as she brushed my hair from my face. “You could’ve taken him. You’re stronger than him.”
My throat burned. “I couldn’t,” I whispered. “I—he’s my Alpha. And there’s still the order, Jordan. It’s like it’s sewn into my bones.”
She sat beside me on the floor and wrapped her arms around me tightly. I didn’t even know I needed it until I felt myself sag against her, exhausted, broken, quiet.
“I should’ve torn his f*****g throat out,” she muttered.
I let out a breath that might’ve been a laugh if it wasn’t so sad. “I would’ve let you.”
Jordan pulled back slightly, her hands still on my shoulders. “You’re not staying there alone again. Ever. I don’t care what Terrance says or what Alpha Karl orders.”
“I’m not safe anywhere,” I said numbly. “He’ll just find a new way to get to me. A new door to open. A new mask to wear. And Akira—” I swallowed, throat thick. “She’s fading, Jordan. I don’t know how much more we can take.”
Jordan’s jaw clenched. “Then we’ll fight for her. For you.”
I looked at her, really looked—at the fierceness in her eyes, the bond mark on her neck, the way her hand stayed curled around mine like an anchor. “Why does it look so easy for you?” I asked quietly. “You and Derrick. You barely knew him, and now it’s like you’ve always had him.”
Her face softened. “It’s not easy. But it’s real. And it’s ours. That makes it worth the risk.”
I blinked back the sting in my eyes. “Do you think… I mean, is it supposed to feel like dying without your mate?”
Jordan squeezed my hand. “Yes. And also like being reborn once you find them.”
I closed my eyes.
I wanted that so badly it hurt.
“I think he stayed with me last night,” I said after a moment. “Cain.”
Jordan didn’t say anything.
“I woke up with his scent all around me, like he’d wrapped me up in it. Like he was trying to hold me together.”
Still, Jordan said nothing. Her silence spoke more than words.
“You know something,” I said, turning toward her. “Don’t you?”
She met my gaze, reluctant, torn. “I think you should ask him yourself.”
I nodded slowly. “Then I will.”
But not tonight.
Tonight, I was going to try and sleep. And maybe—just maybe—Akira would return to me in my dreams.
- Writer
