I shouldn't want her.
The thought repeated in my head like a warning that refused to fade.
Yet the scent of Elena Cruz still clung to my skin.
My wolf refused to calm down.
Mine.
The word kept rising in my chest like a growl.
I walked away from my bedroom slowly, forcing my expression back into the cold mask my pack knew.
Control first. Emotion later.
Always.
But control felt thin today.
Dangerously thin.
Damon was waiting for me outside the corridor.
He leaned against the wall with his arms folded. His eyes moved once over my face.
Sharp.
Observing.
He knew something was wrong.
Damon Graves had fought beside me for years. He could read my mood faster than most wolves could smell blood.
"You look terrible," he said flatly.
"I slept badly."
He snorted.
"That's a lie."
I kept walking.
He followed.
"That girl is still here," Damon added.
I stopped.
Slowly.
My wolf stirred at the way he said it.
That girl.
Like she meant nothing.
Like she was replaceable.
"She has a name," I said quietly.
"Elena."
Damon studied me again.
"That's the problem," he said.
My jaw tightened.
"What problem?"
"You care already."
The accusation landed harder than it should have.
I didn't answer.
Silence was often enough.
But Damon wasn't one of my soldiers. He didn't fear pushing.
"You brought her into your private wing," he continued. "You dismissed guards. You ordered the staff not to speak about her."
His voice lowered.
"You're hiding her."
"I'm protecting her."
"That's the same thing right now."
My wolf stirred again.
Protect.
The instinct was sharp.
Violent.
I kept my voice calm.
"She was targeted last night."
"I know."
"You saw the men?"
"I interrogated one before he died."
That made me turn.
"What?"
"He bit through his own tongue before he spoke," Damon said.
My stomach tightened.
Coward's escape.
Or trained loyalty.
"Someone sent them," Damon continued. "That part is obvious."
"Yes."
"But they weren't sent randomly."
I said nothing.
Because I already knew.
My wolf had known the moment Elena walked into that gala.
The moment her scent wrapped around me like a memory.
Like fate.
Like something I had lost once already.
Damon's eyes sharpened.
"You know why they targeted her."
I looked away.
"That girl smells like a claim."
My chest tightened.
"She smells like your territory."
My silence confirmed everything.
Damon ran a hand over his face.
"Roman..."
His voice lowered.
"Tell me you didn't."
The words felt heavy.
But I didn't lie.
"My wolf recognized her."
Damon froze.
"No."
"Yes."
"That's impossible."
"So I thought."
My mind flashed back to the moment upstairs.
Steam in the air.
Her wide brown eyes.
The moment her skin brushed mine.
Lightning.
Recognition.
Mate.
A second chance my wolf had howled for.
And a curse I never asked for.
Damon's voice pulled me back.
"You already had a mate."
"I know."
"She died."
"I remember."
His eyes darkened.
"We buried her together."
The memory burned.
Blood.
Smoke.
Her broken body in my arms.
The ambush had been meant for me.
She paid the price.
That was the day I decided love was my weakness.
And weakness got people killed.
"Roman," Damon said carefully, "wolves don't get two mates."
"Rarely."
"Almost never."
"And yet here we are."
Silence stretched.
Then Damon spoke again.
"Does she know?"
I thought of Elena's face in the bed.
Confused.
Angry.
Hurt.
"I told her."
"How did she react?"
"She looked like the ground disappeared under her."
Damon sighed.
"That sounds right."
We started walking again.
My thoughts were heavier now.
Elena's voice still echoed in my mind.
You investigated me.
Yes.
I had.
The moment my wolf recognized her scent I had ordered a background check.
Name: Elena Cruz.
Age: twenty-two.
Student.
Two jobs.
No criminal record.
No pack affiliation.
Humans.
Except she didn't feel human.
My wolf knew that instantly.
Damon spoke again.
"She's the Alpha princess's best friend."
"Yes."
"That alone is a disaster."
"I know."
"If Sienna finds out"
"She will."
"Then your house becomes a battlefield."
I said nothing.
Because that part had already begun.
Damon lowered his voice.
"You lost your first mate because someone used your heart against you."
"I remember."
"History might repeat itself."
My wolf growled.
Low.
Threatening.
"Not this time."
Damon's stare hardened.
"You sound like a man who already chose."
Maybe I had.
Maybe my wolf had chosen for me.
Because every time Elena looked scared...
Something inside me snapped.
A violent instinct.
Touch her and die.
The thought came easily.
Too easily.
Damon spoke again.
"Tell me something honestly."
"Go on."
"If someone comes for her... what will you do?"
The answer came without thought.
"I'll kill anyone who tries."
Damon closed his eyes briefly.
"That's what I was afraid of."
We reached the stairs.
Voices from downstairs echoed faintly.
Pack members.
Breakfast.
Politics.
Normal life.
But nothing felt normal anymore.
Because upstairs in my bedroom was a girl who could break everything I built.
Damon leaned closer.
"You need to think clearly."
"I am."
"No," he said bluntly. "You're thinking like a wolf. Not a king."
I turned slowly.
"You forget who you're speaking to."
"I remember exactly."
His voice was steady.
"You rule thousands of wolves."
"Yes."
"Your enemies are waiting for a mistake."
"Yes."
"And right now your biggest weakness is a twenty-two-year-old girl who doesn't even know the rules of our world."
His words were cruel.
But they weren't wrong.
That was the problem.
I spoke quietly.
"She didn't ask for this."
"They never do."
"I dragged her into danger."
"You did."
"So I will protect her."
Damon looked at me carefully.
"Even if the council disagrees?"
"Yes."
"Even if the pack questions your judgment?"
"Yes."
"Even if Sienna hates you for it?"
My chest tightened.
But my answer didn't change.
"Yes."
Damon exhaled slowly.
"You're serious."
"I always am."
He rubbed his temples.
"This is going to explode."
"It already has."
"You haven't even seen the worst part yet."
I frowned slightly.
"What do you mean?"
Damon pulled a small folded paper from his pocket.
"A message arrived ten minutes ago."
"From who?"
"The council."
My wolf stiffened.
The council rarely contacted me directly.
Not unless something serious was happening.
I took the paper.
The message was short.
Urgent.
Cold.
Alpha King Roman Blackwood is required to attend an immediate council meeting.
Matters concerning pack security and suspected internal betrayal will be discussed.
Attendance is mandatory.
My eyes narrowed.
"They move fast."
Damon nodded.
"Too fast."
Which meant something worse.
Someone had already spoken.
Someone inside my pack had already started whispering.
"Elena," Damon said carefully, "is the center of this storm now."
"I know."
"They'll ask about her."
"I expected that."
"They might demand you hand her over."
My wolf exploded inside my chest.
A violent snarl clawed up my throat.
"No."
The word came out like steel.
Damon watched me carefully.
"If they force the issue?"
"They won't."
"You're sure?"
"I'll make sure."
But deep down...
A darker thought formed.
The council was powerful.
Old.
Traditional.
They hated uncertainty.
Elena Cruz was uncertain walking on two legs.
A human girl tied to the Alpha King.
A possible mate.
A weakness.
Or a weapon.
Damon spoke again.
"You should leave guards on her door."
"They're already there."
"Good."
"Quiet guards."
"Even better."
He studied me one last time.
"Roman."
"What."
"Be honest with me."
I waited.
He spoke slowly.
"Is this really about protection?"
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"You could send her away. Hide her somewhere safe. Another territory."
My wolf rejected the idea instantly.
A deep, savage refusal.
"No."
Damon noticed.
His eyes darkened.
"That's what I thought."
He stepped closer.
Lowered his voice.
"You're not protecting her."
"What are you saying?"
"You're keeping her close because you can't stand the thought of someone else touching her."
The truth landed like a blade.
I didn't answer.
Because I couldn't.
Damon sighed.
"Mate bond or not... that kind of obsession gets kings killed."
My voice dropped to a dangerous whisper.
"Then anyone who tries will die first."
Damon shook his head.
"You're impossible."
"Maybe."
"But you're still my Alpha."
"And you're still my Beta."
He stepped back.
"The council meeting starts in twenty minutes."
"I'll be there."
"And Elena?"
"I'll deal with her after."
But the moment I said it...
My wolf stirred again.
Uneasy.
Alert.
Something felt wrong.
Damon noticed my expression.
"What is it?"
I looked back toward the upper hallway.
Toward my bedroom.
Toward the girl who had already changed everything.
"Elena is alone," I said slowly.
"Yes."
"And half the pack knows she exists now."
Damon's face hardened.
"That's not good."
"No."
A cold feeling crawled down my spine.
Because enemies didn't always attack with claws.
Sometimes they used whispers.
Sometimes they used people.
Sometimes...
They used betrayal.
My wolf growled.
Low.
Warning.
Danger.
And suddenly I had one terrifying thought.
What if someone inside this house already moved against her?
I turned sharply.
"I'm going back upstairs."
Damon frowned.
"The council"
"Can wait five minutes."
"That's risky."
"So is leaving her alone."
I started walking fast.
My heartbeat picked up.
Something was wrong.
I could feel it.
That instinct had kept me alive through war.
And right now it was screaming.
Behind me Damon muttered,
"This day just keeps getting worse."
I reached the hallway.
My bedroom door was still closed.
But one thing made my blood run cold.
The guards I had placed outside were gone.
Gone.
No footsteps.
No voices.
No wolves.
Just silence.
My wolf exploded with rage.
I grabbed the door handle.
Twisted it open.
"Elena"
The word stopped in my throat.
Because the room was empty.
And the window was wide open.
My mate had disappeared... and the council was already calling me to judgment.
