Chapter 2

Alex

“I, Alexandra Delacroix, daughter of Alpha Lucien Delacroix and sole surviving heir to the Lunar Crest Pack, accept your rejection.”

The words had barely left my lips when the broken bond shattered, and raw, unbearable pain surged through my body.

A deafening scream tore from my lungs as silver-white power exploded out of me in a violent wave.

Every chandelier in the hall shattered at once, glass raining from the ceiling. The marble floor cracked beneath my feet. Stained-glass windows burst outward, scattering colored shards into the night.

Gasps and screams filled the grand hall. Guards dropped to their knees. Even the strongest Alphas in the room staggered beneath the pressure, some bracing themselves against tables and pillars to remain standing.

Inside me, Calista roared—untamed and furious.

Silver light crawled beneath my skin, blazing along my arms and gathering in my palms. My blood felt molten. Every breath scraped against my ribs, and the room tilted dangerously around me.

Alexandra, pull it back, Calista warned.

I don’t know how.

The force surged again.

Callahan stumbled away from the dais, one arm raised against the silver glare. His newly claimed Alpha aura was swallowed by mine as if the ceremony had never happened.

For the first time in his life, he looked afraid of me.

Afraid of understanding what he had rejected.

“Alexandra,” he breathed.

Hearing my real name from his mouth for the first time made something vicious curl inside me.

Too late.

Alexandra, Calista called me again, but her voice seemed too distant.

My vision blurred.

The force inside me was too large, too old, too furious to control.

My knees buckled.

I tried to catch myself, but my body no longer obeyed me.

Before I struck the shattered floor, strong arms caught me around the waist and pulled me against a solid chest.

A sharp scent cut through the smoke and marble dust.

Sea air. Citrus. Night-blooming flowers.

The contact sent sparks racing across my skin, heat spreading wherever his body touched mine.

Calista went completely still.

Then one word rolled through my mind with terrifying certainty.

Mate.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

No.

Callahan had rejected me only seconds ago. The severed bond still burned through my chest like an open wound.

I slowly lifted my head, and dark, storm-tossed eyes met mine.

Calista stirred inside me. This time, her voice was lower. Fiercer.

Mine.

There was no fear in his eyes. No pity. No disgust.

For one disorienting second, I forgot the pain. Forgot Callahan. Forgot the hundreds of wolves staring at us.

Then recognition hit me.

The Alpha King’s son was holding me against his chest.

Weston Kingsley.

Of all the wolves in the hall, it had to be him.

He was even more intimidating up close—towering, broad-shouldered, with dark ink covering his forearms before disappearing beneath the sleeves of his black formal coat.

His aura pressed against the ruined hall like a gathering storm.

His gaze stopped on my split lip. Then my bruised cheek. Then the butchered remains of my hair.

Something lethal entered his expression.

“Who did this to you?”

I opened my mouth, but no answer came.

“Alex!” Callahan snapped. He came down from the dais, desperation breaking through the cold mask he had worn during the rejection.

His gaze dropped to the arms holding me. Jealousy flashed across his face.

The hypocrisy almost made me laugh.

He had condemned me to the Rogue wastes just a few moments ago, but another man touching me was apparently unacceptable.

“Take your hands off her!” Callahan ordered, reaching for me.

Weston glanced at him, completely unbothered. “You just rejected her.”

Callahan’s hands curled into fists. “She is still under Blackridge authority until sunrise.”

“Not anymore.”

Callahan snarled. “I said take your fucking hands off her!”

“Enough!”

Alpha Darius’s voice thundered through the hall as he descended from the dais. He reached us in a few strides and bowed his head toward Weston.

“Forgive him, Your Highness. My son is overwhelmed by the rejection.” His politeness was so false it made my stomach turn. “This is clearly a misunderstanding. Put the girl down and allow our physician to examine her.”

Weston’s arms tightened almost imperceptibly.

“No.”

Callahan’s jaw flexed. “Prince Weston, with respect, this is a Blackridge matter.”

Weston turned toward him. “You rejected her before the Royal Court,” he said. “This is no longer a Blackridge matter.”

Callahan’s eyes flashed. “The bond isn’t gone. I can still feel her.”

I could still feel him, too. Like broken glass beneath my ribs. Some wounds took time to stop bleeding.

“No,” I managed.

His gaze snapped toward me.

Pain tore through my chest, but I forced the words out.

“I accepted your rejection. The bond is broken.”

Callahan stared at me as though I had struck him.

Darius stepped between us before he could answer.

“Your Highness, whatever she believes, you saw what happened.” His eyes flicked toward the shattered chandeliers and cracked marble. “The girl is unstable. Whatever power she released could be dangerous.”

My stomach went cold.

“She should be confined until we understand what she is.”

Weston’s grip tightened.

“No one is confining her.”

Before Darius could answer, the Elder stepped forward, avoiding the broken glass.

“Alpha Darius.”

The hall went quiet again.

“The rejection was witnessed and accepted before the Royal Court. Whatever bond remained between them is no longer grounds for Blackridge authority over Alexandra Delacroix.”

Darius’s jaw tightened. “Elder—”

“She is not your servant anymore,” he said. “And she is certainly not your prisoner.”

Then he looked at me. “Alexandra Delacroix… the bloodline was believed extinct…” His voice trailed off.

The Elder turned toward the King. “Your Majesty, if her identity is verified, Alexandra Delacroix may hold a legal claim to Lunar Crest. This matter must be brought before the Council.”

Alpha King Roland rose from his chair. The hall seemed to shrink around him. Every wolf lowered their heads. Darius bowed immediately. Callahan followed a moment later.

The King stopped in front of me. “What is your name, child?”

“Alex—” The old lie came automatically. I swallowed. “Alexandra Delacroix.”

“Daughter of Alpha Lucien Delacroix?”

“Yes.”

Something changed in his expression.

“I knew your parents.”

My throat tightened.

His gaze lingered on my face. “You have your mother’s eyes.”

Darius stepped forward. “Your Majesty, resemblance proves nothing.”

“Then you should have no objection to an investigation.”

Silence fell.

The King looked at me again. “How did you come to Blackridge?”

“My mother hid me beneath the nursery floor when Lunar Crest was attacked. Darius found me afterward. I gave him a false name.”

“And you have remained here since?”

“As a servant.”

Darius went pale.

“Your Majesty, I had no idea who she was.”

The King turned toward him. “You knew where you found her.”

Darius’s jaw tightened.

“Until her identity is verified,” Roland declared, “Alexandra Delacroix is under royal protection. A formal investigation will begin immediately. No member of Blackridge is to prevent her from leaving, question her without a royal representative present, or interfere with that investigation.”

For the first time, fear showed on the Thornes’ faces.

I should have felt victorious. Instead, exhaustion pulled at every part of me. The effect of the power surge was catching up with me.

Weston noticed. “Alexandra? Can you walk?” he asked with concern in his eyes.

I wanted to say yes. I wanted to cross the hall on my own feet and show every Thorne that they had failed to break me.

I tried to shift out of his arms. Pain tore through my ribs. The hall spun violently, and black spots spread across my vision.

“No,” I managed to choke out as my legs gave way completely.

Weston caught me before I touched the floor. One arm slid behind my back, the other beneath my knees, and suddenly I was pressed against his chest.

Callahan took a step toward us. Weston’s gaze snapped to him.

“Don’t.”

One word.

Callahan stopped.

My head fell against Weston’s shoulder as he carried me toward the doors. Each step took me farther from the family that had imprisoned me.

At the threshold, I forced my eyes open.

“Your Highness…” I started.

“Weston. Call me Weston.”

The simplicity of it settled strangely inside my chest.

Beneath my ear, his heartbeat remained steady.

Calista curled contentedly inside my mind.

Safe, she whispered.

I had forgotten what that word meant.

Darkness was already closing around me. The last thing I heard was Callahan calling my name.

Then the grand hall disappeared.

***

Unknown

I felt it the moment she released her power.

Not a tremor. A detonation. It moved through me like a blade through water—clean, sharp, and absolute. After years of silence, the Delacroix magic had returned.

I opened my eyes.

The candles burned low in their iron holders. The cold stone walls remained unchanged, but somewhere beyond them, the world had just cracked wide open.

She was alive. The last Delacroix.

They had hidden her well. Perhaps they believed concealing her name would keep her safe.

Fools.

Power like hers could never remain buried. The moment she released it, every creature old enough to recognize that blood would have felt it.

And they would come.

Hunters. Enemies. Those who remembered what the Delacroix line had once been capable of.

I rose and smoothed the front of my coat. Then I pressed two fingers against the nearest candle flame until it hissed and died beneath my skin.

Let them search.

They would not reach her first.

I would.