The war drums stopped as suddenly as they had begun.
Asha's heart hammered in her chest as she stared at the empty space where Lyra had disappeared. Sister? The word burned in her mind like acid. How could Lyra be her sister? Selene was dead. She had watched her little sister drown in the river ten years ago.
"Alpha!" A scout ran up, breathing hard. "False alarm. It was just the Thunder Creek Pack moving through our territory. They showed white flags when we challenged them."
Damon's shoulders relaxed, but his eyes stayed cold. "Double the border patrols anyway. I don't trust anyone right now."
The scout nodded and ran off. Other pack members started to drift away, but they kept throwing curious looks at Asha. She heard whispers following her like shadows.
"Is she really his mate?"
"Look how dirty she is."
"Why would the Moon Goddess curse our Alpha with her?"
Each whisper felt like a knife between her ribs. Asha wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling very small and very alone.
Damon turned to face her, his expression carved from stone. "You're still here."
"You're still my mate," Asha replied, lifting her chin.
"No." The word came out flat and final. "I reject you."
The mate bond screamed in protest. Pain shot through Asha's chest like lightning, but she forced herself to stay standing.
"You can't just reject me," she said, her voice shaking. "The Moon Goddess chose us for each other."
Damon stepped closer, his power pressing down on her like a weight. "The Moon Goddess made a mistake. Look at yourself, Asha. You're weak, broken, and pathetic. You smell like the wild places. Your clothes are rags. You have no pack, no family, no value."
Each word hit like a physical blow, but Asha didn't back down. "I'm still your mate."
"I already have a Luna." Damon's voice was ice-cold. "Lyra is everything you're not. Beautiful, elegant, strong. She's worthy of standing beside me."
"But she's not your mate," Asha whispered.
"She's better than a mate. She's my choice."
The bond between them pulsed with agony, but underneath the pain, Asha felt something else. The same fear she had noticed before, wrapped in layers of hurt so deep it took her breath away.
"Fine," she said quietly. "Reject me then. Say the words that will break our bond forever."
Damon's eyes flashed with something that might have been surprise. Most wolves would beg and plead. They would fight the rejection with everything they had.
But Asha just stood there, waiting.
"I, Damon Thorn, Alpha of the Ashen Moon Pack, reject you, Asha..." He paused. "What's your last name?"
"Blackwood," Asha said softly.
Damon went completely still. The color drained from his face like someone had pulled a plug. "What did you say?"
"Blackwood. My name is Asha Blackwood."
"No." Damon shook his head slowly. "That's impossible."
"Why?" Asha frowned. "What's wrong with my name?"
But Damon was already backing away from her, his eyes wide with something that looked like terror. "You can't be a Blackwood. They're all dead. I made sure of that."
The words hit Asha like a slap. "What do you mean, you made sure of that?"
Damon's mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. For the first time since she had met him, the great Alpha looked completely lost.
"Damon?" Lyra's voice called from the house. "Is everything alright?"
Damon spun toward the sound of her voice, and Asha saw something flicker across his face. Guilt? Fear? She couldn't tell.
"Go to your room, Lyra," he called back. "I'll be there soon."
"But Damon—"
"Now!" His Alpha power cracked like a whip, and Lyra fell silent.
When Damon turned back to Asha, his mask was firmly in place again. But she had seen behind it now. Whatever her last name meant to him, it terrified him.
"Get off my land," he said, but the command lacked its earlier force.
"Not until you tell me what you know about my family."
"I know nothing."
"Liar." Asha stepped closer, and Damon actually took a step back. "You went pale when I said Blackwood. You said you made sure they were all dead. What does that mean?"
"It means nothing."
"Then why are you so scared?"
Damon's control snapped. Power exploded from him in waves, driving Asha to her knees. But this time, she fought back. Something deep inside her answered his challenge with power of her own.
The air between them crackled with energy. Asha's vision went white at the edges, but she pushed harder. She had spent ten years believing she was weak and worthless. But the power flowing through her now was anything but weak.
Damon staggered backward, his eyes wide with shock. "Impossible," he breathed.
Asha climbed to her feet, power still flowing through her veins like liquid fire. "Still think I'm pathetic?"
For a moment, they stood frozen, staring at each other. Then footsteps pounded across the yard, and Rowan appeared with three other pack members.
"Alpha!" Rowan's eyes darted between Damon and Asha. "We felt the power surge. Are you under attack?"
Damon straightened, his mask sliding back into place. "False alarm. Take the rogue to the guest house. Lock her in."
"Wait," Asha protested. "You can't just—"
"I can do whatever I want. This is my territory." Damon's voice was steady again, but Asha could see his hands shaking. "You'll stay there until I decide what to do with you."
Rowan grabbed Asha's arm, but she jerked away. "Don't touch me."
"It's either the guest house or the dungeon," Damon said coldly. "Your choice."
Asha looked around at the pack members surrounding her. Their faces were hostile, suspicious. She was outnumbered and alone.
"Fine," she said. "But this isn't over."
"Yes, it is," Damon replied. "It's been over for ten years."
As Rowan led her away, Asha heard him mutter under his breath, "Should have stayed dead like the rest of them."
The words hit her like a physical blow. Should have stayed dead. What did that mean? How could she have stayed dead when she had never died in the first place?
The guest house was small but clean, with a bed, a chair, and a tiny bathroom. Rowan pushed her inside and locked the door from the outside.
"Food will come at sunset," he said through the wood. "Don't try to break out. The windows are barred, and there are guards posted outside."
Asha waited until his footsteps faded away, then sank onto the bed. Her whole body was shaking now that the adrenaline was wearing off.
What did Damon know about her family? Why had her name terrified him? And what had Rowan meant about staying dead?
She closed her eyes and tried to make sense of everything. Lyra calling her sister. Damon's reaction to her last name. The power that had surged through her when he had tried to dominate her.
None of it made sense. But one thing was clear – there were secrets here. Big ones. And somehow, she was at the center of all of them.
A soft knock on the window made her look up. A young woman stood outside, holding a tray of food. She had short dark hair and kind brown eyes.
"I'm Maya," she said through the glass. "Rowan's sister. I brought you something to eat."
"Thank you," Asha said. "But I'm locked in."
Maya smiled and pulled a key from her pocket. "Rowan always forgets I'm better at picking locks than he is."
She opened the window and passed the tray through. "Listen, most of the pack thinks you're just some crazy rogue. But I felt that power surge earlier. That wasn't rogue power."
"What do you mean?"
Maya glanced around nervously. "That was Alpha power. Pure, strong Alpha power. The kind that only comes from royal bloodlines."
Asha's heart stopped. "Royal bloodlines?"
"The Blackwoods were the original royal family of all werewolves," Maya whispered. "But they were wiped out in a war ten years ago. Every last one of them."
"That's impossible," Asha breathed. "I'm a Blackwood, and I'm not dead."
Maya's eyes went wide. "Then that means..." She grabbed Asha's arm. "You need to get out of here. Tonight. If Damon realizes who you really are, he'll kill you."
"Why would he kill me?"
But Maya was already backing away from the window, her face pale with terror.
"Because," she whispered, "Damon Thorn is the one who destroyed your family. And if you're really a Blackwood, then you're the one person in the world who has the power to destroy him."