“Step aside, Damian. Or do you want this to end in flames?”
My voice cut through the chaos like steel, sharp and unyielding. Around us, the Raven Pack stood poised, their cloaked figures a sea of darkness against the moonlit ruins of the once-proud fortress. Smoke curled through the night air, carrying with it the acrid stench of destruction.
Damian stood at the center of the wreckage, blood streaking down his face, his silver eyes blazing with defiance. Five years had done little to dull his arrogance. He looked at me at Celeste with a mixture of suspicion and contempt.
“I don’t take orders from masked cowards,” he growled, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword.
A smirk tugged at the corner of my lips. Same Damian always so quick to bare his teeth. He hadn’t changed, but I had.
“Coward?” I echoed, stepping closer, my boots crunching over shattered stone. “Perhaps. But I’m the coward standing between you and the grave.”
The shadows at my feet rippled, shifting with my every move. I could feel their hunger, their anticipation, as if they lived and breathed for the chaos I commanded.
Behind me, Corvus, my second in command, spoke softly. His voice was steady, but there was an edge to it.
“They’re regrouping, Celeste. We need his decision now.”
Damian’s pack what remained of them huddled in the shadows, battered and broken. I could see it in their eyes: fear, desperation, and the faintest flicker of hope.
“An alliance,” I said, my tone cool and deliberate. “You can save what’s left of your pack, Damian. All you have to do is bow.”
His laugh was bitter, a hollow sound that grated against my nerves.
“Bow? To you? Tell me, Celeste, what’s beneath that mask? A coward’s scars?”
The words hit harder than I expected, though I refused to show it. Instead, I tilted my head, allowing the mask’s shadow to conceal the heat rising in my cheeks.
“You can keep your pride,” I replied, my voice smooth. “But your pride won’t protect your pack from what’s coming.”
His gaze narrowed, suspicion flickering across his face.
“And why should I trust you? You show up with an army of shadows and demand submission. What’s your endgame?”
I stepped closer, close enough to see the faint tremor in his hand. His pride was a fortress, but cracks were beginning to show.
“My endgame,” I murmured, “is survival. Yours is irrelevant unless you make the right choice.”
The words hung heavy in the air. For a moment, it felt as though the world had paused, holding its breath. Damian’s jaw clenched, and I could see the war waging in his mind.
Then he turned to me, his eyes narrowing as if trying to pierce through the veil of my mask.
“You’re too familiar,” he said softly. “Your voice… those eyes… I know you.”
My heart skipped, the rhythm faltering before I forced it back into submission. I couldn’t let him see the cracks in my armor.
“You know nothing,” I said sharply, letting the shadows rise around me like a protective shroud.
But Damian didn’t flinch. If anything, his gaze grew sharper, more intent. The way his lips parted, the way his fingers twitched as though reaching for something or someone sent a jolt of unease through me.
“No,” he murmured, his voice a dangerous whisper. “I do know you.”
My breath hitched, though I quickly masked it with a scoff.
“You’re grasping at ghosts, Alpha. Make your choice before I change my mind.”
But he didn’t move. His eyes locked onto mine, burning with an intensity that felt far too personal. And then he said it
“Sophia.”
The name slammed into me like a blow, stealing the air from my lungs. For the first time in years, I felt the edges of my carefully constructed facade begin to splinter.
Around us, the tension thickened, the night itself seeming to hold its breath. Corvus took a step forward, his hand brushing my shoulder in silent warning.
“Celeste,” he said firmly, “we need to move.”
I forced myself to look away from Damian, my mask of indifference slipping back into place like a second skin.
“Your time is running out,” I said coldly, my voice cutting through the stillness. “Choose, or the shadows will decide for you.”
But Damian didn’t answer. He simply stared, his gaze searing into mine as though trying to unravel the tangled web of secrets I’d built.
And as the seconds stretched into an eternity, one thought burned in my mind:
He cannot know.
“Sophia,” he repeated, softer this time, the word laced with disbelief and something far more dangerous.
The shadows around me stirred restlessly, a warning of the chaos on the horizon.
Then, before I could respond, a roar split the night a sound so primal it sent a shiver down my spine.
The attack had begun.
