When we are one

Chapter 11 Corbin

A few hours pass before Anika and I decide to let our wolves out. Silvara and Ezra have been on edge all evening, clawing at the walls of our minds to connect. The second we shift, Ezra surges forward, wild with anticipation. Silvara stands regal and radiant under the moonlight, her silver fur glistening like frost in the dark. She’s beautiful—and powerful. Too powerful.

Ezra’s POV:

Power pulses off her. She's not like the others. She's not meant to submit—and moon help me, that makes her irresistible.

I circle her once, testing. She doesn’t flinch.

Good.

I lunge.

I knock her to the ground, pinning her beneath me with a growl. Her scent hits me hard—intoxicating, unlike anything I’ve known. I nose her jawline, nuzzle the soft space behind her ear. She lets out a low whine, and it shoots straight through me. My body bows back, head lifting to the heavens as a howl tears from my throat.

She is mine.

Corbin’s POV:

In a blink, Anika shifts back, bare skin glowing in the moonlight, her gloved hand reaching for Ezra’s muzzle. The contact is gentle, reverent. A bond deeper than instinct hums between them. Between us.

I shift back too, kneeling before her. She's still staring into my eyes, our breath shallow in the stillness. She's flushed, and that blush... it's art. Dangerous, addictive art.

“Corbin…” she murmurs, clearing her throat, “do you think we should head home? I’ve got training tomorrow. If I don’t rest, I can’t reach my full potential.”

I lean in close, lips brushing her ear. “Is that what you really want?”

Her breath hitches.

I press a kiss to her cheek—light, teasing. She extends a hand and I pull her gently to her feet. A twig sticks out of her hair. I lean in again, and she mirrors me, expecting a kiss. My blood heats—but I grab the twig instead and show her.

Disappointment flashes in her eyes, and it hits me harder than I expect.

Before I can say anything, she vanishes.

Ezra’s POV:

What the f**k? She vanished. Gone. No scent trail. Nothing.

I shift, instincts screaming, and bolt toward the house.

Corbin’s POV:

I don’t slow until I reach the back door. Ezra growls low in frustration, the sound deep and dangerous. I race upstairs, throw Anika’s door open—and there she is. Sitting on the edge of the bed, calm and smug as ever.

She grins. “For an Alpha, you’re quite slow, big boy.”

I can’t help it—I storm across the room, needing to touch her, make sure she’s really here. My hands twitch with restraint. That... wasn’t just fast movement. It was teleportation.

Not a gift normal wolves have.

I sit beside her, and she just smiles, evasive as ever.

“Corbin,” she says softly, “will you lay with me until I fall asleep?”

She says my name. Not ‘Alpha.’ My name. And it lights a fire inside me. Ezra howls in my head, begging for release, for the chance to make her ours.

She curls into the sheets, and just as I’m about to slide in beside her—

Knock knock.

Beta Banks.

Ezra growls, not even subtle. Banks flinches.

“What do you want, Banks?” I snap.

He straightens. “Sorry, Alpha. Your father needs you in the basement. Now.”

I glance at Anika and mindlink her: I’ll be back. Stay in your room.

As I push past Banks, his curiosity sparks in the bond between us.

Banks’ Mindlink:

“She’s your mate, isn’t she?”

I ignore him.

“Corbin, I can smell her on you and Ezra. If she’s not your mate... you want her, don’t you? The rogue?”

I whirl around, pin him to the wall with one hand. Ezra roars inside, barely leashed. My fist pulls back—ready to strike—when Anika’s astral projection appears beside me.

Ezra’s POV:

She’s shimmering, not fully corporeal—just presence. Even in this form, I feel her.

Corbin’s POV:

“Corbin,” she says calmly, “put Banks down.”

Her voice grounds me. I release him. Banks stares, stunned, as he reaches out to touch her and his hand goes straight through.

She disappears.

“What the actual hell,” he whispers.

I turn on him. “You say anything about this—anything—and you’ll wish you hadn’t. Her powers aren’t common knowledge, and if word spreads, she’ll be in danger. The whole pack could be.”

He nods solemnly. “I won’t speak of it. But you need to start talking. I’m your beta. I have a right to know.”

“I know,” I sigh. “Just... not now. There’s too much we still don’t understand.”

We descend to the basement.

It smells like rot. Fear.

The dungeons haven’t been used in years, but now... Alpha Samuel stands beside Beta Briar, who’s currently interrogating a cloaked rogue shackled to the wall.

The rogue is bleeding, half-conscious, and definitely broken.

“Father,” I say, “what’s going on?”

Samuel turns, eyes grim. “Your mother caught him scouting the borders. We need answers—why he’s here, who sent him, and if he's looking for Anika.”

My stomach sinks.

“So it’s started.”

Samuel nods. “Your mother believes this is only the beginning.”

He studies me closely. “We also need to discuss your mating ceremony. If Anika won’t accept the bond, Grace is still a viable Luna. You need to think of the future.”

Ezra snarls so violently I nearly lose control.

Grace. That name is poison.

Ezra’s POV:

She is not Silvara. She is not our mate. She is not even a memory worth keeping.

Corbin’s POV:

I glare at my father, teeth bared.

“I will never be mated to Grace.”