Chapter 4: The First Attack
924 Words
The lockdown changed everything.
Silvercrest Estate no longer felt like a luxury penthouse in the sky—it felt like a sealed cage wrapped in glass and guarded by invisible teeth.
Outside, the city lights blurred through constant rain. Inside, silence had turned sharp and unnatural.
Elias hadn’t left Damon’s side in hours.
Not because he wanted to.
Because every security guard stationed outside the penthouse doors had the same message:
No one enters. No one leaves.
And Damon had said nothing to contradict them.
Now Elias stood near the living room window again, arms folded tightly across his chest. His reflection looked smaller than usual against the towering skyline.
Behind him, Damon was on the phone again.
Low voice. Controlled tone. Alpha authority woven into every word.
Elias didn’t need to hear the conversation to know what it was about.
Threats.
Security.
The unknown faction Selene had mentioned.
And him.
Always him.
The bond between them pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat neither of them could shut off.
Elias hated how aware he was of Damon’s presence even when he wasn’t looking.
“Stop pacing.”
Damon’s voice cut through the room.
Elias stopped instantly, turning slightly. “I wasn’t pacing.”
Damon lowered the phone. “You walked the same line three times.”
Elias frowned. “Maybe your penthouse is too small.”
A faint pause.
Then, surprisingly—
“That’s the first time anyone has ever called it small.”
Elias blinked.
Was that… humor?
Before he could respond, a sharp alarm suddenly chimed from somewhere deep within the building.
Both of them froze instantly.
Damon’s entire posture changed.
Alpha mode.
Instant control.
“What was that?” Elias asked quickly.
Damon didn’t answer. He was already moving.
“Stay behind me,” he said sharply.
Elias scoffed immediately. “Absolutely not.”
Damon shot him a look over his shoulder.
One look.
And something in Elias’s chest tightened.
Not fear.
Something worse.
Awareness.
The bond reacted instantly to Damon’s command.
Elias hated that his body almost listened.
Almost.
“I said I’m not hiding behind you,” Elias snapped.
Damon stopped walking.
Turned slightly.
And for a moment, the air between them cracked with something raw.
“You don’t understand what’s outside that door,” Damon said quietly.
Elias’s jaw tightened. “Then explain it.”
Damon’s eyes darkened.
But before he could answer—
BANG.
The entire penthouse shook.
Glass rattled violently.
The sound came from the outer corridor.
Elias stumbled slightly, heart jumping into his throat.
Damon moved instantly, grabbing Elias by the wrist and pulling him behind a marble pillar just as another impact slammed into the hallway door.
“Stay down,” Damon ordered.
Elias yanked his arm back. “Stop treating me like I’m helpless—”
A second explosion cut him off.
The reinforced door cracked inward.
Something heavy hit the floor outside.
Then silence.
Too much silence.
Damon’s eyes narrowed.
“They’re inside,” he said quietly.
Elias’s breath caught.
Footsteps followed.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Not rushed.
Not panicked.
Organized.
Elias pressed closer to the pillar despite himself.
The bond between him and Damon surged violently, as if reacting to danger.
Warmth turned into pressure.
Instinct screamed at him to stay near Damon.
Mine.
The feeling wasn’t his thought.
It was the bond’s.
And that terrified him more than the attackers outside.
The hallway lights flickered.
Then—
A shadow moved across the glass wall.
Damon stepped out instantly, blocking Elias without thinking.
“Stay behind me,” he repeated, voice lower now.
Elias didn’t argue this time.
Not because he agreed.
But because the air had changed.
Something had entered the penthouse.
Something wrong.
The glass wall shattered suddenly.
A wolf burst through it.
Not fully transformed—half human, half beast, eyes glowing an unnatural gold.
Elias staggered back in shock.
Damon didn’t.
He moved fast.
Too fast to track.
One second he was standing still—
The next he had the intruder by the throat and slammed him into the marble floor.
The impact cracked the stone.
Elias stared.
Damon was not just strong.
He was terrifying.
The intruder snarled, clawing at Damon’s grip.
“You have something that doesn’t belong to you,” the attacker growled.
Damon’s expression didn’t change.
“You’re in my territory,” he said coldly. “That makes you the one who doesn’t belong.”
The wolf laughed sharply.
Then looked past Damon.
Directly at Elias.
“Moon-marked omega,” the attacker said. “They were right.”
Elias’s stomach dropped.
Moon-marked?
Damon’s grip tightened instantly.
“Don’t look at him,” Damon said dangerously.
The attacker grinned through blood.
“You don’t understand what he is.”
Damon’s eyes glowed faintly now.
Alpha instinct rising.
“I understand enough,” he said.
Then he struck.
A single brutal movement.
The intruder went still instantly.
Silence crashed back into the penthouse.
Elias stood frozen, heart racing.
Damon rose slowly, breathing controlled again.
But his eyes were different now.
Fainter glow.
Deeper intensity.
He turned toward Elias.
And for the first time since they met…
Damon didn’t look confused.
He looked certain.
“Elias,” he said quietly.
Elias swallowed. “What?”
Damon stepped closer.
The bond between them flared violently again.
And Damon said the words that changed everything:
“They didn’t come for politics.”
A pause.
“They came because you’re not just my mate.”
Elias’s breath hitched.
Damon’s gaze sharpened.
“You’re something they’re willing to start a war for.”
- Writer
