The sunlight filtered through the sheer curtains, casting pale gold across the floor.
I hadn't slept.
Not really.
Not when my mind was still stuck in the space between his lips and mine. Between his confession and Xavier's scathing voice dragging us both back to reality.
I sat up slowly, groggy, heart heavy.
But something felt… different.
The air was thick. Warmer. Buzzing, almost.
I slid off the bed and padded across the room, reaching for the water pitcher on the small table. My fingers brushed the glass—
It shattered.
Without warning. Without touch.
I jerked back as the shards exploded outward, crashing into the walls and skidding across the floor. My heart jumped straight to my throat.
"What the hell...?"
My hands were trembling.
The room was quiet again, unnaturally so.
I looked down—and the water was still floating in the air. Not all of it. Just a thin stream, suspended midair for a second longer before it splashed onto the floor like nothing had happened.
No wind. No earthquakes. Just… me.
I swallowed hard.
Still shaken from what had just happened, I bent down and quickly gathered the largest glass shards with trembling fingers. My heart wouldn't stop racing, the echo of the floating water still flashing in my mind like a warning—or a promise.
Before I could clean up the rest, another knock came. Lighter this time.
"Eva?" A servant's voice filtered through the door.
I pulled it open an inch.
The girl standing there looked young, nervous, and a little pale. "The Former Alpha and Luna have requested your presence in the Grand Hall."
I blinked. "What?"
"They said… you are to join them for morning tea." Her gaze dropped to the floor, unsure whether to look me in the eye. "They've summoned you personally."
I stood there for a second, unable to respond.
Summoned?
No one—no outsider, no guest, no one—joined the Alpha family unless they were part of the Alpha family. It was an unspoken law in the Shadowfang Pack. And I? I was the outsider. The girl everyone suspected. The one they wanted gone.
"Are you sure they asked for me?"
"Yes." The servant nodded. "Lady Elara said, and I quote, 'Bring her. I want to see her for myself.'"
I swallowed, fingers curling at my sides.
Whatever this was, it wasn't just a casual breakfast invite.
It was a test.
Or worse… a trap.
–––⸻✧⸻–––
I walked into the Grand Hall with careful steps, my heart knocking louder with each one.
The space was as intimidating as I'd imagined—high-vaulted ceilings, stone pillars etched with the old sigils of Shadowfang, and windows that bathed the room in a pale, golden light.
At the long obsidian table sat the power couple themselves.
The Former Alpha and Luna of the pack.
Alpha Alaric looked every bit the legend the stories whispered about—silver-streaked hair, sharp, commanding eyes, a body that hadn't softened despite age.
Beside him sat Lady Elara, elegant as ever, draped in soft grey silk with a strand of pearls that screamed royalty more than beauty.
And yet, they smiled at me.
"Eva," Lady Elara purred, motioning to the seat across from them. "Thank you for joining us."
I bowed, as expected, though every cell in my body resisted. "You summoned me. I couldn't say no."
Alpha Alaric chuckled—deep, amused, but cold. "Smart girl."
I took the seat slowly, careful to meet their eyes without flinching.
Tea was already set. Scones, fruit, delicate cups too fragile to be trusted in a place like this. Elara poured with a grace that didn't falter.
"We've heard much about you."
"I'm sure," I murmured.
"Damien speaks of you often," she added, tone light, testing. "You've left quite an impression."
I fought the urge to ask what kind of impression.
Instead, I gave a neutral nod. "It's been… eventful."
Alpha Alaric leaned forward slightly. "You've adjusted well, considering. I imagine it hasn't been easy."
"No, it hasn't," I said honestly.
His brow twitched at my bluntness. "Yet here you are. Still breathing."
That wasn't a compliment. It was a statement.
A warning.
Lady Elara smiled wider, but her eyes were all ice. "And now that we're here… let us speak plainly, shall we?"
My hands tightened slightly in my lap.
"You're not like the others, Eva," she continued. "Your name wasn't on any treaty, nor were you part of any alliance. Yet Damien brought you in. Unexpectedly. Quietly. And protected you like…"
"Like I'm one of his," I said before I could stop myself.
Alaric's jaw twitched. Elara's cup paused mid-air.
"Yes," she said finally. "Exactly that."
There it was. The reason I was sitting here.
Not to sip tea.
But to be measured.
"You don't trust me," I said, keeping my voice steady.
"We don't know you," Alaric said simply. "And yet our son—our future Alpha—does."
I glanced between them. Their faces hadn't changed. Their smiles stayed painted. But the air had shifted.
Something tightened.
Then Lady Elara set her cup down.
"We've seen what happens when powerful wolves fall for dangerous women. The consequences last for generations."
My throat tightened.
"What are you saying?" I asked slowly.
"I'm saying," she said, folding her hands, "that you are not here to be a Luna. Nor a mate. Nor a weakness."
Alaric didn't stop her.
They weren't warning me.
They were threatening me.
But before I could react, Elara leaned back and dropped the twist like poison in a glass.
"And yet, despite our expectations—Selene isn't the one Damien marked during his last full shift."
My world tipped slightly.
"What?" I whispered.
Lady Elara's smile was sharp now. Pleased. "His scent. The change. His wolf… is restless. Tethered."
Alaric added, "We suspect he's already chosen. Even if he hasn't realized it."
The words stabbed deeper than I wanted them to.
Because I had felt it too. That pull. That heat.
But I wasn't stupid.
"If you're trying to scare me, it's working. If you're trying to manipulate me…" I leaned forward now, my voice steady, calm, "don't underestimate how much I already see through you."
Elara blinked, surprised. Alaric's expression shifted just slightly—interest? Caution?
"We don't hate you, Eva," she said smoothly.
"But you don't like me either," I finished for her. "And now you think I'm the reason Selene cries and Damien rebels."
"I think," she said softly, "that you're the reason our son is forgetting what duty feels like."
Silence fell.
I stood slowly, pulse thrumming in my ears. "Then maybe he needed to forget it."
As I turned to leave, Elara's voice followed like a ghost.
"We'll be watching."
I didn't look back and walked with my head down all of a sudden, I saw a pair of glassy shoes in front of me that made me stop.
"Are you leaving already? The fun is just about to begin."