Dominic POV
I wake up screaming.
Pain rips through my chest—not physical pain, but something worse. The mate bond is on fire, burning like someone's tearing it apart from the inside.
Maya. Something's wrong with Maya.
I try to sit up but my body won't obey. I'm strapped to a bed. Hospital restraints. Tubes in my arms. Machines beeping furiously around me.
"Mr. Kane, please stay calm—" A nurse runs in.
I shift. Can't help it. My wolf takes over, ripping through the limits like paper. The nurse screams and runs. Alarms blare.
But I don't care. I have to get to Maya. NOW.
I follow the bond like a beacon pointing north. It pulls me through the hospital, down three floors, into the parking garage. I'm still half-shifted—claws, fangs, eyes glowing—and hospital staff scatter when they see me.
The bond leads me to a black car speeding out of the garage.
Maya is inside. And she's scared. I can feel her fear through the link like it's my own.
I chase the car on foot, my wolf form making me fast enough to almost keep up. But "almost" isn't good enough. The car turns a bend and I lose sight of it.
Then I smell him. My father's smell, fresh and close.
He's in that car. With my friend.
Rage floods through me so strong I can barely think. My wolf wants blood. Wants to rip Richard apart for everything he's done. The tests. The manipulation. The drug.
Trying to take Maya.
A motorbike roars up beside me. Seris is driving, her real face showing now—no more disguises.
"Get on!" she yells. "I know where he's taking her!"
I jump onto the back of the bike. Seris guns the engine and we tear through the city streets, dodging between cars. The link pulls tighter with every second, more painful, more desperate.
"Where?" I growl.
"Pier 9. The old building. " Seris takes a corner so sharp I have to grab her to stay on. " Richard's been using it as his base. That's where he's been keeping the real Lucas."
My heart stops. "Lucas is alive?"
"Barely. Richard's been removing his blood for weeks. Using it to make copies, shift into his form. Lucas is weak but living." Her voice is grim. "Richard wanted you separated. Wanted to be the only family you had left so he could control you totally."
Everything clicks into place. The weird behavior. The times "Lucas" said things the real Lucas would never say. The constant pushing for me to take Maya.
It wasn't Lucas. It was never Lucas.
"How long?" My voice is barely human.
"Since your mother's death date. Two months." Seris looks back at me. "I only figured it out three days ago. That's why I impersonated Victoria—to get close enough to Richard's plan to find proof. But he's always three steps ahead."
"He has Maya."
"I know. But Dominic—" She hesitates. "The stone. If Richard gets the alpha stone and your mate at the same time, he can perform a rite. Transfer your alpha power to himself and bind Maya as his own mate. It would kill you both and make him the strongest alpha in history."
My claws dig into her shoulders. "Drive faster."
We reach Pier 9 in eight minutes that feel like eight hours. The building looms ahead, old and abandoned, perfect for hiding terrible things.
I'm off the bike before it stops moving, charging toward the building. The bond screams at me to hurry, hurry, HURRY.
I crash through the warehouse door and freeze.
The room is huge, lit by industrial lights. And in the middle, standing in a circle of symbols drawn in blood, is Richard.
He's holding Maya by the throat. Her feet hang off the ground. She's holding something in her hand—the alpha stone, glowing faintly.
"Hello, son," Richard says cheerfully. "Right on time. The ritual needs the alpha to be present for the transfer. Thank you for making this easy."
"Let. Her. Go." Each word is a growl.
"Or what? You'll attack your own father?" Richard squeezes tighter. Maya gasps, her face going red. "She's stronger than she looks, this little person. She fought off one of my best guards. Used the stone's power without any training. Impressive."
Through the bond, I feel Maya's fear. Her pain. Her urgent need for air.
"The stone chose her," Richard continues. "Just like it picked your mother. That's how I knew you'd found your mate. The stone only reacts to an alpha's true mate. And once I finish this ritual, she'll be MY mate. Your power will be mine. Everything you are will belong to me."
"You're insane," I snarl.
"I'm practical. You've been weak since your mother died. Refusing to claim your mate. Refusing to accept your wolf. Hiding in that business tower like a human." Richard's eyes flash gold. "I made you alpha. I can unmake you too."
"You didn't make me anything. The pack picked me."
"The pack chose you because I killed every other candidate!" Richard laughs. "Did you really think Marcus Vale killed your mother? He was my friend. I ordered the hit. Needed to remove your weak human-loving mother and make you strong through sadness."
The world stops.
My mother. He killed my mother. "You—" I can't find words. Can't understand this. "You killed your own mate?"
"She was my second mate. Replaceable." Richard shrugs. "And her death made you the best alpha candidate. Cold. Ruthless. Powerful. Everything worked wonderfully until you refused to complete the transformation by claiming your mate."
Maya makes a choking sound. The stone in her hand pulses brighter.
"So I arranged everything," Richard adds. "Hired Marcus to attack Maya and force your hand. Had Seris mimic Victoria to push you together. Poisoned you so she'd have to finish the bond. Every step was carefully planned to make you do what you should have done eight months ago."
"You manipulated everything," I whisper.
"I did. And now we finish it." Richard raises his right hand. Claws extend. "The process is simple. I kill you. Take your power. Bind your mate to me. The stone recognizes her link to an alpha—it won't care which alpha once you're dead."
He moves to strike.
I jump forward, shifting fully mid-air. Seven feet of pure alpha wolf, teeth bared, ready to kill my own father.
But I'm not fast enough.
Richard's claws cut my chest before I can reach him. Pain bursts through me. I crash to the ground, blood pooled underneath me.
"Dominic!" Maya's scream tears through the building.
Through blurred vision, I see Richard drop Maya. See her scramble to her feet, the stone clutched tight. See her run toward me instead of away.
Stupid, brave, perfect mate.
"Don't," I try to say, but blood fills my mouth.
Maya drops to her knees beside me, putting her hands to my chest wound. "No no no, stay with me, stay with me—"
"The ritual is complete," Richard says from behind her. "The alpha is dying. The stone is in play. And the mate is vulnerable." He grabs Maya's hair and yanks her backward. "Time for you to choose, little Luna. Bond with me and live. Or die with him."
Maya looks at Richard. Then at me. Then at the stone in her blood-covered hand.
And she smiles.
"I choose option three," she says.
She slams the alpha stone against my chest wound.
Power bursts outward like a nuclear bomb. White light fills the warehouse, blinding and burning. I feel it rushing into me through the stone, through Maya's touch, through the mate bond connecting us.
Not just my power returning. MORE power. Ancient power. The power of every Kane alpha who ever held the stone, flowing into me all at once.
I'm not just healing. I'm transforming.
When the light fades, I'm standing. My cut is gone. My wolf is bigger, stronger, more than I've ever been.
And Richard is looking at me with fear in his eyes for the first time in my life.
"That's not possible," he whispers. "The stone can't—you can't—"
"You wanted a strong alpha?" My voice rings with power, with the weight of generations. "You got one."
I move.
Richard tries to run but I'm on him in a moment. My jaws close around his throat. One bite. One shake. It's over.
His body hits the ground and doesn't move.
I shift back to human, looking at my father's corpse. Feeling nothing. No pain. No sadness. Just cold relief that the threat is gone.
Then Maya's hand touches my shoulder.
"Dominic?" Her voice is soft. Scared. "Are you okay?"
I turn to face her. My mate. My Luna. The woman who just saved my life.
"I'm—" I start to say.
A slow clap rings through the warehouse.
We both spin toward the sound.
Standing at the entrance, very much living, is Marcus Vale.
"Excellent show," he says, grinning. "But you forgot something important, Kane."
He steps away.
Behind him, tied to the wall, beaten and bloody, is the real Lucas.
"Your father was never the mastermind," Marcus adds. "He was just a good pawn. Someone to take the fall while I got what I really wanted."
He pulls out a gun and points it at Lucas's head.
"The stone. Now. Or your real brother dies."