Roman's POV
One hour.
I stand on the pack house balcony, looking down at the fifty warriors surrounding my territory. Alpha Dominic Blackthorn stands at the front, radiating the kind of power that comes from years of stolen authority. Beside him, Celeste Thorne looks like an angel—blonde, beautiful, perfectly composed.
But I've learned that the prettiest faces often hide the ugliest souls.
"Forty-five minutes, Alpha Roman," Dominic calls up, his voice carrying across the distance. "Hand over the girl, and we leave peacefully. Refuse, and your pack pays the price."
My pack. Twenty-three wolves, counting the pups. Maya, who helped raise me after my parents died. Old Thomas, who's too arthritic to fight but refuses to leave. The teenagers who came here because other packs rejected them for being "too weak" or "too different."
All of them will die if I refuse to surrender Isla.
All of them will hate me if I do.
Some choice, my wolf snarls. Surrender an innocent girl to murderers or watch our family burn.
Behind me, Isla sits in my office with Kieran hovering nearby like a guilty shadow. She's been silent since Maya delivered Dominic's ultimatum, her golden eyes distant.
She's calculating. I can see it in her face. She's going to offer to surrender herself to save my pack.
Over my dead body.
"Alpha Roman?" Maya appears at my side, her expression grim. "The pack is gathering. They want to know what we're going to do."
"We fight," I say immediately.
"Against fifty warriors?" Maya's voice drops. "Roman, I love you like a son, but that's suicide. We're outnumbered two to one."
"Then we die protecting what's right." I turn to face her. "I built this pack on one principle, Maya. We protect those who can't protect themselves. The moment we hand over a terrified girl to save our own skins, we become everything I swore we'd never be."
Maya's eyes shine with tears, but she nods. "Then we fight."
She leaves to prepare the pack, and I hear Isla's voice from inside the office: "I won't let them die for me."
I turn to find her standing in the doorway, her chin raised despite the fear in her eyes. Kieran stands behind her, looking torn between pride and terror.
"You don't have a choice," I tell her gently.
"Yes, I do." Isla's voice is steady, but her hands shake. "I'll go with them. I'll—"
"You'll die," Kieran interrupts harshly. "My father doesn't want to talk, Isla. He wants you dead. If you surrender, he'll kill you the moment you're in his custody."
"At least your pack survives!" Isla's composure cracks. "At least innocent people don't die because of me!"
"You're an innocent person too," I remind her. "Or do you think you matter less than everyone else?"
Isla flinches like I've struck her. Eighteen years of being treated as worthless have left scars that won't heal overnight.
"I just got a wolf today," she whispers. "This morning, I was nobody. Now people are going to die because of who my parents were? Because of a throne I never asked for?"
"That's not your fault," Kieran says fiercely. "That's my father's fault. My fault for helping him without knowing the truth."
"Knowing the truth wouldn't have changed anything," Isla says bitterly. "You would have hurt me anyway. You would have—"
"Thirty minutes!" Dominic's shout interrupts. "Time's running out, Alpha Roman!"
I look at Isla—this girl who's been broken and rejected and hunted, who still wants to sacrifice herself to save strangers. Something in my chest tightens painfully.
I've protected a lot of wolves in my years as Alpha. But none of them have ever made my heart race quite like this.
Dangerous, my wolf warns. She's someone else's mate. Rejected or not, the bond existed. Don't get involved.
Too late. I'm already involved the moment I decided to protect her.
"There might be another option," Kieran says suddenly, his face pale. "It's risky. Dangerous. But it could work."
"What option?" I demand.
Kieran looks at Isla, something unreadable in his expression. "The mate bond. Even rejected, there's still a connection between us. If Isla accepted it—accepted me—it would tie her to Crimson Hollow Pack legally. My father couldn't touch her without violating pack law."
Isla's face goes white. "You want me to accept the bond? To become your mate after everything you've done?"
"I know what I'm asking." Kieran's voice is raw. "I know I don't deserve it. But it would protect you. My father can't kill the future Luna without the pack turning on him."
"That's insane," I say flatly. "She rejected you hours ago. You can't just undo that."
"Actually," Maya says from behind me, "he's right. Rejection isn't permanent until both parties accept it. If Isla changes her mind within twenty-four hours, the bond can be reinstated."
Isla looks between us, horror and desperation warring on her face. "So my choices are: die, let your pack die, or become the mate of my bully?"
When she puts it like that, all three options sound terrible.
"There's a fourth option," I hear myself say, and even I'm surprised by the words. "Accept me as your mate instead."
Everyone stares at me.
"What?" Kieran's face goes dark with fury. "She's MY mate!"
"A bond she rejected," I point out. "Which means she's free to choose someone else. If Isla accepts me, she becomes Silverpine's future Luna. Protected by our pack laws instead of Dominic's corruption."
It's a terrible plan. Selfish, even. But looking at Isla's terrified face, I realize I'll do anything—even steal another Alpha's mate—to keep her safe.
"You'd really do that?" Isla whispers. "Let me tie myself to you just to escape Dominic?"
"I'd do more than that," I admit. "I'd fight for you. Die for you if necessary. Because that's what Alphas do for wolves under their protection."
And because you're already falling for her, my traitorous wolf adds. Admit it.
I ignore him.
"Fifteen minutes!" Dominic shouts.
Isla closes her eyes, and I see tears sliding down her cheeks. "This is insane. All of it. This morning I was just trying to survive until midnight. Now I have to choose between two mates I barely know to avoid being murdered?"
"I know it's not fair," I say gently. "None of this is fair. But you have to choose something, Isla. You have to—"
"Wait." Kieran's voice cuts through, sharp and urgent. He's staring at his phone, his face going from pale to absolutely bloodless. "Oh god. Oh no."
"What?" I demand.
"My father's other warriors." Kieran's hand shakes as he shows me his phone—a message from someone named Tyler. "The fifty wolves here are just a distraction. He sent another group to attack the human town nearby. He's going to slaughter civilians if we don't surrender Isla."
The words hit like ice water.
Innocents. Human families who have nothing to do with pack politics.
"He's bluffing," Maya says, but she doesn't sound convinced.
"He's not." Kieran's voice is dead. "I know my father. He'll do it. He'll burn that entire town to prove a point."
Isla makes a sound like a wounded animal. "How many people?"
"Three hundred," I say quietly. "Give or take."
Three hundred human lives versus one wolf's freedom.
"I'll go." Isla's voice is hollow. "Tell him I'll surrender. Just... please, stop him from hurting those people."
"Isla, no—" I start.
"It's done!" she screams, power flaring around her in golden waves. "I'm not letting three hundred people die because of me! Tell him I'll come peacefully!"
"Five minutes!" Dominic's voice is gleeful now. He knows he's won.
I want to argue. Want to fight. Want to find some magical solution that saves everyone.
But there isn't one.
Sometimes there are no good choices. Only impossible ones.
"Roman, don't," Kieran says desperately. "There has to be another way. If she goes out there—"
The explosion cuts him off.
The entire front wall of the pack house detonates inward in a shower of debris and flames. Warriors pour through—not Dominic's wolves, but others. Rogues with red eyes and dark magic radiating from their skin.
More assassins.
"It's a trap!" Maya screams. "The ultimatum was a trap! They're attacking anyway!"
Chaos erupts. My pack members scramble to fight, but we're caught off guard. Unprepared. The assassins move like shadows, cutting down anyone in their path.
I shift mid-leap, crashing into the nearest attacker. Beside me, Kieran does the same. For the first time in our lives, two rival Alphas fight side by side.
Because of her. For her.
Through the smoke and screams, I see Isla standing frozen in shock. Golden light builds around her—the same power from before, but stronger now. Desperate.
An assassin lunges at her from behind.
"ISLA!" Kieran and I scream simultaneously.
But we're too far away. Too slow.
The assassin's claws reach for Isla's throat—
And Celeste appears from nowhere, slamming into her sister with supernatural speed.
They both crash through the broken wall and tumble outside, landing in front of Dominic's army.
I race after them, but Dominic's warriors form a wall, blocking my path.
Through the mass of bodies, I see Celeste standing over Isla, magic crackling around her hands. Dark magic. The same magic that marked the assassins.
"Did you really think I'd let you live?" Celeste's voice carries across the battlefield, sweet and poisonous. "After I spent eighteen years making sure you'd never discover what you are?"
Isla stares up at her sister in horror. "You knew? This whole time, you KNEW?"
"Of course I knew." Celeste's smile is cruel. "Father Dominic told our family everything when he placed you with us as a baby. Keep her weak. Keep her broken. Keep her from ever becoming a threat."
"You suppressed my wolf," Isla whispers. "The dark magic. That was you."
"Every single day since you turned thirteen." Celeste's eyes glow with malevolent power. "Do you have any idea how exhausting it was, maintaining that spell? But it was worth it. Because as long as you were wolfless, you were nobody. And I was everything."
Dominic laughs—a cold, heartless sound. "Excellent work, Celeste. Your payment, as promised."
He tosses something to Celeste. She catches it, and my blood runs cold.
It's a crown. Ancient, powerful, radiating magic.
The Royal Moon Pack crown.
"With the true heir dead," Dominic continues, "you'll become my son's mate as planned. Together, you'll rule with the legitimate royal bloodline behind you—through your mother's side."
Wait. Celeste has royal blood too?
"We're sisters," Isla gasps, clearly thinking the same thing. "If you're royal, then I'm—"
"You're nothing," Celeste interrupts. "Father Dominic has decreed it. And now, dear sister, you die."
Dark magic explodes from Celeste's hands, aimed directly at Isla's heart.
And I'm still too far away to stop it.