Chapter 4

Weston

The preliminary report should have been impossible.

I stood inside the small antechamber adjoining Blackridge’s Council chamber, reading the same paragraph for the third time.

The doctor had worked quickly. Too quickly for certainty, according to the first line. Not quickly enough to make the rest any less disturbing.

Blood sample demonstrates abnormal resistance to silver. Preliminary comparison indicates possible markers associated with extinct lunar bloodlines. Further testing required. Primordial ancestry cannot be confirmed or excluded.

Those words should have made me feel better.

They didn’t.

Dominic closed the door behind him. “Well?”

I folded the report. “How much did the doctor tell you?”

He sighed. “He contacted the royal archive after we left the clinic. There are records of similar blood reactions.”

“How many?”

“Three.”

I looked at him.

“In nearly four hundred years,” he added.

Nox went still beneath my skin.

“And all three were Primordials?”

“Descendants,” Dominic corrected. “Or suspected descendants. The records are incomplete.”

The restricted archives stated that Primordial blood had been considered dangerous, yet coveted. Entire families had disappeared because powerful Alphas wanted what ran through their veins.

I looked again at the folded report.

“What happens if the Council learns?” Dominic asked quietly.

“They won’t.”

Rumors traveled faster than armies.

One whisper that Alexandra Delacroix carried Primordial blood, and every Alpha with ambition would suddenly become very interested in the lost Lunar Crest heiress.

Some would want an alliance. Some would want her power. Some would decide she was too dangerous to be allowed to exist.

Nox pressed against my chest. Take her home.

Soon.

Now.

I slipped the folded report inside my coat.

“Add two more royal guards outside Alexandra’s room.”

His mouth twitched. “Planning to station the entire royal army outside her bedroom?”

“If necessary.”

Dominic did not bother arguing.

The Council doors opened.

The Elder stood on the other side. “Prince Weston.” His gaze shifted briefly toward Dominic before returning to me. “The Council is ready.”

So was I.

***

The council chamber was already full when we arrived. Twelve Alphas circled the long table, half watching me with measured curiosity, half bristling with hostility. They all knew what my decision meant. I wasn’t just the Alpha of Mooncrest—I was heir to the King of Alphas. My nod could steady Blackridge; my refusal could shatter it.

The Elder cleared his throat. “Alpha Weston. Your decision?”

I walked slowly to my seat, letting the hush stretch until it hurt. Then I looked straight at Darius Thorne.

“No.”

The single syllable echoed off stone. Several Alphas shifted in their seats. The Elder inclined his head. “Explain.”

I pressed both hands on the table’s polished surface. “I refuse to support Blackridge.”

A ripple of murmurs. Darius’s lip curled. “You’d abandon an alliance over personal feelings?”

“Personal feelings?” My laugh was hollow. “You call this personal because admitting the truth makes you responsible.”

He leaned forward, eyes narrowed. “Careful.”

“No.” My voice sharpened. “I’ve spent seven years being careful—careful not to accuse you without proof, careful not to interfere in another pack’s lands, careful not to breach Council rules. But I will not be careful anymore.”

The Elder’s gaze sharpened. “Is this about Alex?”

The name dropped like a stone. Everyone knew her story now. I met the Elder’s eyes. “Partly.” Then I turned back to Darius. “But mostly, it’s about what your pack did to her.”

Darius scoffed. “Justice? You are engaged.”

A hush fell. He sneered, “You flip sides whenever it suits you.”

My wolf growled deep in my chest, but I held still. “This is different.”

Darius laughed. “No, it isn’t. You just found a new woman worth fighting for.”

My hand tightened into a fist. “Alex is not a possession.” That cut him off. “She is not a prize I won. She is a person you failed.”

His face darkened. “You think you understand Lunar Crest?”

“I understand enough.” I stepped forward. “You erased an entire bloodline.”

Darius’s jaw snapped shut. “You don’t know the circumstances.”

“You hid the heir.” I saw the flicker in his eyes—surprise, guilt, something he’d hoped to bury. “You let everyone believe she was dead.”

He opened his mouth but could not speak.

I leveled my gaze at Cal Thorne, the future Alpha of Blackridge. The man who, before hundreds of wolves, had dismissed this same girl—weak, broken, a servant in that stiff dress—knowing exactly who she was and what she’d endured. “And you,” I said.

Cal’s jaw flexed. He met my eyes, expression controlled but raw. “Careful, Alpha.”

I didn’t flinch. “You knew what your family did. And still, when everyone was watching…” I paused. “…you chose to break her.”

A tense beat. Then, unexpectedly, Alpha Ramsey rose. “I withdraw my support from Blackridge.”

Alpha Maximus stood next. “So do I.”

One by one, seven of twelve shifted allegiance—not out of compassion for Alex, but out of fear of what Blackridge represented.

Darius’s face drained. The Elder looked between us. “This is madness.”

“No,” I said, turning away. “This is consequences.”

I signaled Dominic. “Pack up.” He nodded.

“How long?” he asked.

I checked my watch. “Fifteen minutes.”

I moved toward the door—but paused as a tremor ran through me. My wolf went deadly still: alert. A scent pulsed through our bond—fear. Alex.

I didn’t think. I ran.

The moment my wolf smelled Alex’s fear, everything else vanished. All that mattered was getting to her. I burst from the council room and thundered down the stone stairs, two at a time. Halfway down, their voices echoed from the landing below.

“…saving the pack from you… and Cal!” The words were sharp, venomous. Hailey’s.

I rounded the last turn as Hailey shoved Alex with all her might. My feet froze to the stone. The servants’ staircase—a steep, narrow flight—yawned right behind her.

Alex tumbled over the railing.

Time seemed to slow. I lunged, claws retracting as my heart leaped into my throat, but I was too far away.