REJECTED BY ONE ALPHA, CLAIMED BY HIS DEADLIEST RIVAL

WHAT YOU ARE

"You need to tell me everything," Ariana said. "Right now."

"Not here." Lucien glanced at the tree line, still tense. "Inside the walls."

"I've had enough of waiting for answers tonight."

"And you'll have them. Just not standing in an open field where whoever that was could still be listening."

Ariana wanted to argue, but Mira's hand pressed lightly against her shoulder.

"He's right," Mira said. "Move first, talk after."

The walk back to the stronghold felt longer than the one that had brought her there hours earlier. Nobody spoke. Even the guards seemed rattled, glancing at the trees more than usual, weapons still drawn.

Once inside, Lucien led her past the main hall into a smaller room, a study lined with old books and a single fire burning low in the hearth. He closed the door behind them.

"Talk," Ariana said.

"Sit down first."

"I don't want to sit."

"Ariana."

"Lucien."

He exhaled, something close to a smile flickering and dying just as fast. "Fine. Stand, then."

"Thank you."

He moved to the fire, staring into it for a long moment before speaking. "The Moonblood line is older than either of our packs. Older than most pack structures still standing today."

"Older how?"

"Legend says the first Moonblood wolves were born directly from the Moon Goddess herself. Not descended from her blessing, like the rest of us. Made from it."

"That sounds like a story parents tell pups to keep them in line."

"Most legends start that way." Lucien turned to face her. "But every few generations, a wolf is born who carries traces of it. Strength beyond their rank. Instincts sharper than anyone around them. Sometimes abilities nobody can explain."

"And you think I'm one of them."

"I know your scent isn't ordinary. I noticed it the moment I found you in the woods." His jaw tightened. "I told myself it didn't matter tonight. That you'd already survived enough."

"But it does matter."

"Clearly." He nodded toward the door, toward the direction of the border they'd just left. "Whoever that was tonight, they didn't come to threaten a rejected omega. They came because they believe you're something else entirely."

Ariana's arms wrapped around herself. "Why would Silverfang hide something like that from me? If it's true?"

"Power like that doesn't stay quiet for long once it's known. If the elders suspected what you carried, hiding you as an unremarkable omega might have seemed safer. Fewer enemies interested in a girl nobody thought mattered."

"So they let Kael reject me. Let everyone humiliate me. To protect a secret."

"I don't know that for certain."

"But you suspect it."

Lucien's silence was answer enough.

Ariana sank into the chair behind her, legs finally giving out. "This is insane."

"I know."

"An hour ago I was just a rejected mate trying to survive the night. Now apparently I'm some kind of legend everyone wants to fight over."

"You're still the same person you were an hour ago." Lucien crouched in front of her chair, meeting her eyes directly. "Nothing about who you are changed tonight. Only what other people think you're worth."

"That's not comforting."

"It wasn't meant to be comforting. It was meant to be true."

Something in his voice made her look up.

"Why does it matter to you?" she asked. "What I am. Whether I'm ordinary or some ancient bloodline everyone's fighting over."

"It doesn't." He held her gaze steadily. "Not the way you mean."

"Then why—"

"Because you stood in that clearing tonight and refused to hide, even when every instinct in me screamed at you to stay behind the wall." A faint, reluctant smile. "Moonblood or not, that's the part of you I noticed first."

Ariana's breath caught, something warm cutting through the fear and confusion tangled in her chest.

"You're deflecting," she said, though her voice had lost some of its edge.

"Maybe."

Before she could respond, a sharp knock interrupted them. Grier stepped inside without waiting for permission, expression grave.

"Alpha. Apologies for the intrusion."

"What is it?"

"A second message arrived. From Silverfang." Grier held out a folded parchment, his hand not quite steady. "The council has already convened. They're calling an emergency session at dawn."

"About the parley?"

"No, Alpha." Grier's eyes flicked to Ariana, something almost sympathetic in them. "Word of what happened at the border already reached them. About the Moonblood."

Ariana's stomach dropped. "That's not possible. It just happened."

"News travels faster than any of us would like, especially when someone wants it to." Grier's jaw tightened. "The council isn't just discussing Kael's grievance anymore. They're discussing what to do about you specifically. And Alpha Draven has requested to address the council personally."

"To say what?" Ariana asked.

Lucien rose slowly, something cold settling into his expression.

"To remind everyone," he said quietly, "that a Moonblood wolf belongs to the pack that can control her. And Kael Draven has just realized exactly how much that's worth."