THESSALY POV
I left Thaddeus in the forest.
He'd followed me for maybe ten minutes, matching my wolf's pace easily, trying to talk to me through the mind-link that White Wolves apparently shared. When I didn't answer, he finally stopped.
"I'll find you again, my queen," he'd called after me. "When you're ready to claim your true destiny."
I didn't look back.
Right now, I just needed someone normal. Someone safe. Someone who wouldn't call me "queen" or "mate" or look at me like I was a prize to be won.
I needed Senna.
Her little house sat at the edge of pack territory, near the healing center where her mom worked. I shifted back to human behind a tree, grabbed a blanket from someone's clothesline (sorry, random pack member), and wrapped it around myself.
Then I started pounding on Senna's door.
"Senna! Please be home, please be home, please—"
The door flew open. Senna stood there in pajamas, her orange hair sticking up in all directions, holding a frying pan like a weapon.
She took one look at me—naked except for a stolen blanket, soaking wet, shaking like a leaf—and yanked me inside.
"What happened?" she demanded, slamming the door. "Who do I need to kill?"
I opened my mouth to explain. Nothing came out except a sob.
Senna's fierce expression melted. She pulled me into a hug that smelled like cinnamon and safety. "Hey, hey. It's okay. You're safe now. Whatever happened, we'll fix it."
"I'm not human," I blurted against her shoulder.
Senna pulled back, blinking. "What?"
"I'm not human. I never was. I have a wolf. I shifted tonight. And I'm—Senna, I'm some kind of royalty? White Wolf? Lunaris bloodline? I don't even know what that MEANS—"
"Slow down!" Senna grabbed my shoulders. "You shifted? You have a WOLF?"
I nodded frantically.
"Show me."
I let my wolf surface just a little. Just enough that my eyes started glowing white.
Senna stumbled backward, eyes huge. "Holy Moon Goddess. You're—that's—Thessaly, White Wolves are LEGENDS. They're the ancient royal family. They ruled all packs before they went extinct three hundred years ago!"
"Well, apparently we're not extinct," I said, my voice cracking. "And it gets worse."
"How could it possibly get worse?"
"I have five mates."
Silence.
Then Senna started laughing. Not just giggling—full-on hysterical laughter, bent over, tears streaming down her face.
"It's not funny!" I protested.
"It's HILARIOUS!" She gasped for air. "You're telling me the Moon Goddess gave you FIVE mates? That's not even possible!"
"Apparently it is for White Wolves. And four of them are—" My throat closed up.
Senna's laughter died. "No."
I nodded miserably.
"Not the twins."
Another nod.
"Not Dax and Kieran too."
"All four of them," I whispered. "The same four jerks who made my life a nightmare. They're my mates."
Senna sat down hard on her couch. "The Moon Goddess has the most twisted sense of humor in the entire universe."
"What do I do?" I sat beside her, pulling the blanket tighter. "They were on their knees in the creek, begging for forgiveness. And I just—I can't, Senna. I can't forget seventeen years of cruelty because some magical bond says we're supposed to be together."
"You shouldn't," Senna said firmly. "Mate bond or not, they were horrible to you. They don't deserve automatic forgiveness."
"But my wolf WANTS them." I pressed my hands against my chest, where the bond pulled like a fishhook in my heart. "She keeps saying they're ours, we should give them a chance, they're trying—"
"Your wolf didn't spend seventeen years getting bullied by them," Senna interrupted. "You did. Your human heart gets a vote too."
I loved her so much in that moment.
"And the fifth mate?" Senna asked. "Please tell me he's not also a jerk."
"He's... different. His name is Thaddeus. He's ancient. Like, three-hundred-years-old ancient. Another White Wolf. He says I'm his queen and we're supposed to rebuild our bloodline together."
Senna's eyes went even wider. "This is insane. Your life went from scrubbing floors to supernatural royalty with five mates in ONE NIGHT."
"I know."
"So what are you going to do?"
I opened my mouth to answer—
BANG BANG BANG.
Someone hammered on Senna's door hard enough to rattle the frame.
"SENNA WILDE!" Luna Rowena's voice screamed from outside. "Open this door RIGHT NOW!"
My blood turned to ice.
Senna jumped up, putting herself between me and the door. "Stay behind me."
"SENNA! I know the freak is in there! I can smell her!"
"She's under healer protection!" Senna shouted back. "My mother gave her sanctuary. You can't touch her!"
Rowena laughed, cold and cruel. "Your mother has no authority over me, little omega. And that THING in your house is dangerous. She attacked pack members. She needs to be contained."
"I didn't attack anyone!" I yelled.
"You SHIFTED in sacred pack territory without permission!" Rowena snarled. "You caused a massive power surge that injured wolves. You're a threat to Silvercrest, and I'm taking you in!"
That was a lie. I hadn't hurt anyone. But arguing wouldn't help.
"We have ten seconds to open this door," Rowena said, her voice dropping to something deadly. "Or I burn this house down with both of you inside. TEN. NINE. EIGHT—"
"You wouldn't dare," Senna said, but I heard fear in her voice.
"SEVEN. SIX. FIVE—"
I smelled smoke. She wasn't bluffing. She'd actually set the house on fire.
"Stop!" I grabbed Senna's arm. "I won't let her hurt you because of me."
"Thessaly, no—"
"It's okay." I squeezed her hand. "I'm not the scared servant girl anymore. I'm something else now."
I walked to the door before Senna could stop me.
My wolf rose up inside me, eager and furious. Ready to show everyone exactly what happened when you threatened a queen.
I threw the door open.
Luna Rowena stood there with six warrior guards. One of them held a torch. Actual flames.
She really would have burned us alive.
Rowena's smile was vicious. "There you are, freak. Did you really think—"
I let my wolf surface.
Not fully. I didn't shift. But I let her power flood through me. Let my eyes blaze white. Let the ancient royal magic that lived in my blood pour out like a tidal wave.
Every single wolf except Rowena dropped to their knees.
Just DROPPED, like their legs stopped working. The six warriors fell hard, heads bowed, necks bared in automatic submission. They couldn't help it. Royal bloodline DEMANDED obedience from common wolves.
Rowena stumbled but stayed standing, her face going pale.
"What—how—"
"I'm Lunaris," I said quietly. Power thrummed in my voice, making the air vibrate. "Ancient bloodline. Royal family. The wolves who ruled before your pack even existed."
The warriors on the ground whimpered.
"You're LYING," Rowena hissed, but she took a step back.
"Touch my friend," I said, letting my wolf's growl leak into my words, "and I will rip your throat out with my bare hands. Do you understand me, LUNA?"
I put so much contempt in that last word that Rowena flinched.
"The Alpha will hear about this," she spat. "You can't—"
"The Alpha already knows." A new voice cut through the night.
We all turned.
Alpha Thorne stood at the edge of Senna's yard. And he wasn't alone.
Caspian and Lucien flanked him, both looking furious. Behind them, Dax and Kieran stood with weapons drawn.
But they weren't looking at me.
They were looking past me. At something in the forest behind Senna's house.
"Everyone get inside," Alpha Thorne said, his voice deadly calm. "RIGHT NOW."
"Father, what—" Caspian started.
"MOVE!" the Alpha roared.
That's when I smelled it.
Blood. Smoke. And something else. Something wrong and rotten and—
A howl split the night. Not a wolf howl. Something worse. Something that made my skin crawl and my wolf whimper in fear.
"Rogues," Kieran breathed. "At least twenty. And they're not normal."
Red eyes appeared in the forest. Dozens of them. Glowing like coals in the darkness.
And they were all staring straight at me.
"They're here for the White Wolf," Dax said grimly, raising his sword. "They're here for Thessaly."
The rogues attacked.