Thorne’s POV”Thorne‚ she’s human.
You think the pack would just accept her like that?”
Drake was leaning against the doorframe of my bedroom with his arms crossed over his chest and that look on his face that told me he had been holding this conversation in for hours and couldn’t keep it inside anymore.
I didn’t answer him.
I pulled the knot of my tie tighter against my throat and smoothed the front of my black suit jacket with both hands‚ checking the fit across my shoulders.
Perfect.
Everything needed to be perfect tonight.
“Did you hear what I just said?” Drake pushed off the doorframe and walked into the room‚ his footsteps heavy against the hardwood floor.
“I said she’s human‚ Thorne.
Fully human.
No wolf blood.
No pack lineage.
No connection to our world whatsoever.
And you want to walk into the annual summit tonight with her on your arm like that’s not going to set the entire room on fire?”
”I heard you‚” I said calmly‚ reaching for my watch on the dresser and clasping it around my wrist.
“I just don’t care.”
Drake let out a frustrated breath and dropped onto the edge of my bed‚ running both hands over his face like I was physically causing him pain.
He was my beta‚ had been since we were twenty five years old and I took my position as Alpha of the Greymoon pack.
He was also the closest thing I had to a best friend‚ after Ethan‚ which meant he was one of the only people on this planet who could talk to me like this without getting his throat ripped out.
“You don’t care‚” he repeated flatly.
“The most powerful packs in the region are going to be at this gala tonight.
Every Alpha‚ every Luna‚ every elder who has a say in how our world runs.
And you want to walk in with a human girl who doesn’t even know that werewolves exist and present her as your mate.
And you don’t care about the consequences of that.”
”She is my mate‚ Drake.” I turned away from the mirror and looked at him directly.
“She’s not some girl I picked up at a bar.
The bond chose her.
My wolf chose her.
And I chose her ten years ago when I first caught her scent and every cell in my body recognized her as mine.
There is nothing to discuss.”
”There is plenty to discuss because you’re not just some random wolf with a mate‚ Thorne.
You’re the Alpha of Greymoon.
Your mate becomes the Luna.
That means a human woman with no knowledge of our world‚ no ability to shift‚ no wolf to connect with the pack would be leading alongside you.
Do you understand how the elders are going to react to that?”
I picked up my cologne from the dresser and sprayed it once against my neck.
The scent settled over me‚ sharp and clean‚ but underneath it I could still smell her. Get faster updates on g.com.
Skye.
Her scent had been embedded in my skin since the elevator‚ since my office‚ since I had buried myself inside her and felt my wolf howl with a satisfaction so deep it shook the foundation of everything I thought I knew about control.
“The elders can react however they want‚” I said‚ setting the bottle down.
“Their opinions don’t change what she is to me.”
Drake stood up from the bed and walked toward me‚ lowering his voice like he was afraid someone might hear even though we were alone in my house.
“It’s not just the elders I’m worried about‚ Thorne.
It’s Kael.”
The name landed in the room like a dropped blade.
My hand stilled on my jacket.
The muscle in my jaw tightened involuntarily‚ and I felt my wolf stir beneath my skin‚ not with desire this time but with something older and darker and far more dangerous.
“What about him‚” I said‚ and my voice came out flat and cold in a way that made Drake take a small step back even though he had known me almost all his life.
“You know exactly what about him‚” Drake said carefully.
“Kael has been circling your position for years.
Ever since your father married his mother and brought him into the family‚ he has believed that the Alpha title should have gone to him.
He’s older than you by a year.
He thinks that gives him a claim.
And he has spent the last decade building alliances within the pack‚ whispering in the ears of elders‚ planting seeds of doubt about your leadership.
He’s patient‚ Thorne.
Dangerously patient.
And he’s been waiting for you to make a mistake that he can use against you.”
”I’m aware of what Kael has been doing‚” I said evenly.
“I’ve been aware of it since the day my father brought him into our home.”
”Then you have to understand that this is exactly the kind of ammunition he’s been waiting for.” Drake stepped closer and his voice dropped to barely above a whisper.
“The pack doesn’t want a human Luna.
You know that.
I know that.
The tradition goes back centuries.
An Alpha’s mate is supposed to be a wolf‚ someone who can feel the pack bond‚ someone who can lead beside you in both forms.
If you bring Skye to this gala tonight and present her as your chosen mate‚ Kael will use it.
He will go to every elder‚ every council member‚ every pack leader in that room and tell them that the Alpha of Greymoon has taken a human mate who can never be a true Luna.
And he will use that as leverage to challenge your position.
Formally.”
I could feel my wolf pressing against the inside of my chest‚ not anxious‚ not afraid‚ just angry.
A deep‚ simmering fury that had been building for years every time Kael’s name came up in a sentence that also contained the word “Alpha.”
Kael was my stepbrother.
My father had married his mother when I was twelve and Kael was thirteen‚ and from the very first day he stepped into our house‚ he looked at me like I was something standing in the way of something that belonged to him.
My father had taken him in as his own son‚ given him the Anderson name‚ raised him beside me like we were brothers by blood instead of circumstance.
And Kael had smiled through all of it while sharpening his knife behind his back.
He wanted my pack.
He wanted my title.
He wanted everything my bloodline had earned across generations‚ and he believed that being one year older somehow gave him more right to it than the son who was actually born to lead.
“Drake‚” I said‚ and I turned to face him fully.
He straightened up‚ his eyes meeting mine with the cautious alertness of a beta who could feel his Alpha’s energy shifting into something that most people would not want to be standing close to.
“I have led this pack since I was twenty five years old.
I have protected it‚ grown it‚ bled for it‚ and killed for it.
I built an empire in the human world that funds our operations and shields our existence.
I have done everything that was asked of me and more‚ without complaint‚ without hesitation‚ without ever once putting my own needs above the needs of my people.”
I paused and adjusted my cufflinks one final time.
“Skye is my mate.
She is the only thing I have ever wanted for myself in thirty-four years of living.
And if Kael or the elders or every single wolf in the Greymoon pack thinks that I am going to let her go because of tradition or politics or the ambitions of a stepbrother who has never earned a single thing he has‚ then they don’t know me at all.”
Drake shook his head and took a step forward‚ his voice tight with urgency.
“You’re not listening to me‚ Thorne.
Kael is ready.
He’s been meeting with the Elders behind closed doors for months now.
He has support.
Real support.
This isn’t just whispers anymore.
If you give him this opening tonight‚ he will take it and he won’t hesitate.”
I let the silence stretch between us for a long moment.
Long enough that Drake’s breathing changed and his eyes dropped slightly because even a beta who had known me almost all his life could not hold my gaze when my wolf was this close to the surface.
I straightened my tie one last time in the mirror and met my own reflection.
My eyes had already shifted from ice blue to molten gold‚ my wolf staring back at me with a terrifying calmness that only ever showed up right before destruction.
“If Kael thinks he can bring me down‚” I said quietly‚ my voice so low it barely filled the space between us‚ “let him try.”