THEA'S POV
I watch Magnus's home explode from ten miles away.
Orange flames shoot into the night sky. The boom echoes through the mountains seconds later, rattling my bones. Smoke billows up like a massive black cloud, blocking out the stars.
I just killed everyone.
"No," I whisper, my legs giving out. Magnus catches me before I hit the ground. "No, no, no—I was supposed to save them, not—"
"Look." Magnus turns my face toward the forest below the burning mansion. "LOOK, Thea."
Through my tears, I see movement. Dozens of people running from the building—carrying children, helping the injured, stumbling into the safety of the trees. They're far enough away that the explosion didn't reach them.
They're alive.
"You saved them," Magnus says quietly. "Your warning gave them just enough time."
"But your home—everything you own—"
"Can be rebuilt." His silver eyes meet mine, and for the first time since I met him, they're not cold. "People can't. You did good, little wolf."
Little wolf. The nickname makes something warm bloom in my chest despite everything.
Then I realize I'm still naked except for his jacket, and he's completely naked, and we're standing in a forest while his house burns down because of a crazy woman claiming to be my father's widow.
"This is insane," I say. "This whole night is completely insane."
"Welcome to my world." Magnus finally looks away, jaw tight. "We need to move. Vesper's people will be searching for us soon."
"Who IS she? Really?"
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out." He pulls his phone from... somewhere. I don't ask where. "Cade? You alive?"
I can barely hear the response, but Magnus's shoulders relax slightly.
"Good. Take the pack to the northern safe house. Medical supplies are already there." He pauses. "No, you can't come with me. I need you keeping everyone safe while I figure out what the hell is going on." Another pause. "Because she's MY responsibility, that's why. Just—trust me, brother. I'll explain everything later."
He hangs up and starts walking deeper into the forest. I follow, struggling to keep up on shaky legs.
"Where are we going?"
"Somewhere Vesper doesn't know about. An old cabin my father built before he died. It's been abandoned for fifteen years."
"Will it be safe?"
"Safer than anywhere else right now." He glances back at me. "Can you walk faster?"
"Can you slow down? I just shifted into a wolf and back for the first time in my life, nearly died multiple times, and watched your house explode. So no, I can't walk faster!"
Magnus actually stops. Looks at me—really looks at me. I'm shaking. Cold. Exhausted. Probably in shock.
"You're right," he says, surprising me. "I'm sorry."
Then he does something even more surprising: he picks me up again, cradling me against his bare chest like I weigh nothing.
"Put me down," I protest weakly.
"No." He starts walking at that inhuman speed again, this time carrying me. "You're exhausted and injured. I'm neither. Stop arguing."
I should feel embarrassed. Should demand he put me down. But I'm so tired and scared and overwhelmed that I just press my face against his shoulder and let him carry me.
He smells like pine trees and smoke and something wild I can't name. Something that makes my wolf—I have a WOLF now—purr contentedly.
"Magnus?" I whisper after a few minutes.
"Hmm?"
"That woman said she's my father's widow. Is that possible? Could he have been married without telling me?"
His arms tighten around me. "Dorian loved you more than anything in this world. If he kept a marriage secret, he had a good reason."
"Or she's lying."
"That too."
We walk in silence until we reach a small cabin hidden in thick trees. It's old and worn, but the door's still solid. Magnus kicks it open and carries me inside.
There's no electricity, but Magnus lights candles he finds in a drawer. The flickering light reveals one room with a fireplace, a small kitchen area, and a bed covered in dusty blankets.
One bed.
"I'll sleep on the floor," Magnus says immediately, like he's reading my mind. He sets me down gently on the bed. "There should be some of my mother's old clothes in the closet. They'll be big on you, but better than nothing."
"Your mother lived here?"
"Before she was Luna—before she was my father's mate. This was her safe place." His expression goes distant. Sad. "She brought me here once when I was nine. Told me that everyone needs a place where they can hide when the world gets too scary."
"What happened to her?"
"She died. Along with my father. Rival pack ambushed them when I was nineteen." His voice is flat, emotionless. "I became Alpha that day. Been fighting to keep my pack safe ever since."
And now his home is destroyed because he chose to protect me instead of them.
"I'm sorry," I whisper. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't—"
"Stop." Magnus kneels in front of me, and his silver eyes are fierce. "None of this is your fault. Vesper targeted you because of what you are, not because of anything you did. Your father died protecting you. I'm protecting you. And I'd make the same choice again."
"Why?" The question bursts out. "Why do you care so much? You barely know me."
Something flickers in his eyes. Something he won't say.
"Because I made your father a promise," he finally answers. "Now get some rest. We have a lot to figure out tomorrow."
He turns away before I can argue, busying himself with starting a fire.
I find clothes in the closet—soft sweaters that smell like lavender and cedar. Pull them on, grateful for the warmth. When I turn back, Magnus has his back to me, staring into the fire.
"Magnus?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you. For saving my life. For... everything."
His shoulders tense. "Get some sleep, Thea."
I crawl under the dusty blankets, exhaustion crashing over me. But my mind won't stop racing. Father is dead. My home is gone. I'm a werewolf. People want to kill me. And Magnus...
Magnus is hiding something. I can feel it.
I'm almost asleep when his phone buzzes. He checks it, and I see his entire body go rigid.
"What?" I mumble sleepily. "What is it?"
He doesn't answer for a long moment. Then: "Text from Cade. They did a headcount of the pack."
"And?"
"Someone's missing. One of my wolves didn't make it out before the explosion."
My heart sinks. "Who?"
"Nobody." His voice is strange. Tight. "The problem isn't that someone died. It's that the body count is wrong."
"I don't understand."
Magnus turns to face me, and his expression makes my blood run cold.
"There's one extra body in the wreckage. Someone who wasn't part of my pack. Someone burned beyond recognition, but..." He shows me a photo on his phone—a close-up of a charred hand wearing a distinctive ring.
A ring I recognize.
Father's wedding ring.
"That's impossible," I breathe. "Father's body is at the morgue. They did an autopsy. We're supposed to have a funeral—"
"Thea." Magnus's voice is gentle but firm. "Did you actually see your father's body? Or did someone just tell you he was dead?"
My stomach drops.
No. I didn't see the body. Magnus told me about the accident. Told me Father was dead. I just... believed him.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that's your father's ring on a burned body at Thornhaven. Which means either someone stole it, or..." He pauses. "Or your father's death was faked. And the real body we need to find is somewhere else."
The room spins.
"But why would anyone fake—"
Magnus's phone rings, interrupting me. Unknown number. Again.
He answers on speaker. "What?"
Vesper's cold voice fills the cabin: "Still alive, Alpha? I'm impressed. Most people can't outrun an explosion."
"What do you want?"
"Simple. Give me the girl, and I'll tell you where Dorian Corvain really is." She laughs. "Oh yes, Magnus. Her precious father isn't dead. Not yet, anyway. But he will be if Thea doesn't come with me by sunrise."
My heart stops.
"You're lying," Magnus snarls.
"Am I?" There's a sound in the background—a man groaning in pain. A man whose voice I'd know anywhere.
"Thea?" Father's voice, weak and broken. "Baby, don't listen to her. Don't come. Don't—"
The sound of something hitting flesh. Father cries out.
"Dad!" I scream.
"Sunrise, Thea," Vesper purrs. "The old mill on Riverside Road. Come alone, or Daddy dies. And this time, it'll be real."
She hangs up.
I stare at Magnus, my whole world crumbling again.
"He's alive," I whisper. "My father is alive."
"It could be a trap."
"I don't CARE!" I'm on my feet now, fury and hope warring in my chest. "That was his voice! He's alive and she's torturing him and I have to—"
"You have to think," Magnus interrupts. "This is exactly what she wants. You walk into that mill, and she's got both of you."
"So what do I do? Let her kill him?"
Magnus is quiet for a long moment. Then he looks at me with an expression I can't read.
"No," he says finally. "We go get him. Together."
"She said come alone."
"Since when do we follow her rules?" A dangerous smile crosses his face. "She wants to play games? Fine. But she's about to learn why you don't threaten an Alpha's—" He stops himself. "Why you don't threaten my pack."
"What were you going to say?" I ask.
But he's already turning away, making phone calls, planning.
And I'm left wondering: what was Magnus about to call me?