DAXION POV
I throw my phone across my office so hard it cracks the wall.
"WHAT?" Korrin's voice booms from the doorway. My brother storms in, his amber eyes already flashing with rage. He can feel my anger through our pack bond—we all can. "What happened?"
I point at my phone lying in pieces on the floor. "Father got married."
Korrin freezes. "What?"
"Read it yourself."
He picks up the phone, and I watch his face turn dark as he reads the text. "Married Mirela Thorne. She has a daughter. Be civil." He looks up at me. "Who the hell is Mirela Thorne?"
"No idea." I stand and start pacing. My wolf is clawing inside my chest, furious. "He didn't tell us. Didn't ask the pack elders. Just married some random woman and now expects us to—"
"Be CIVIL?" Korrin crushes my phone in his fist. "He brings a stranger into our home and tells US to be civil?"
The door slams open again. Thayer walks in with Jove and Lysander right behind him. They all look angry.
"Emergency pack bond alert," Thayer says, dropping into a chair. "What's going on?"
"Father got married," I say flatly.
Lysander's violet eyes go wide. "To who?"
"Some woman named Mirela Thorne. She has a daughter." I look at each of my brothers. "They're moving in today."
The silence is deadly.
Then Jove speaks, his voice cold and analytical. "He married without consulting us. Without informing the pack elders. Without any investigation into her background." He pulls out his tablet. "That's not just disrespectful. It's dangerous."
"She's obviously a gold-digger," Thayer says, anger replacing his usual charm. "Dad's been lonely since Mom died. Someone finally saw an opportunity and took it."
"And she has a daughter." Korrin's hands are shaking with rage. "Some brat who's going to waltz into our home and think she belongs here."
I slam my fist on the desk. "No. She does NOT belong here. None of them do."
Lysander, my youngest brother, speaks quietly from the corner. "What if Father actually cares about this woman?"
"Then he's an idiot," I snap. "You don't marry someone without telling your sons. Your pack. Your HEIRS." I look at my brothers. "This Mirela woman sees dollar signs. And her daughter? She's probably just as bad."
Jove is typing on his tablet. "I'm running background checks now. Mirela Thorne... registered Omega wolf, low-ranking, moved six times in three years. Employment history: waitress, cleaner, bartender. Current residence: subsidized housing in the slums." He looks up. "Definitely a gold-digger."
"And the daughter?" I ask.
Jove's fingers fly across the screen. Then he stops. His expression changes to something I can't read. "Seren Thorne. Age nineteen. Attends Lunar Peak Academy on scholarship." He pauses. "Status: wolfless."
The room goes silent.
"Wolfless?" Thayer leans forward. "She doesn't have a wolf at all?"
"According to her registration paperwork, no." Jove keeps reading. "Medical records show multiple unexplained injuries over the years. Works three jobs. Grades are actually excellent despite—"
"I don't care about her grades," I interrupt. "She's wolfless. That means she's weak. Useless. And now she's going to be living under OUR roof?"
Korrin stands up, his whole body vibrating with anger. "This is insane. A wolfless girl? In the home of the Alpha Supreme? We'll be a laughingstock!"
"Exactly." I look at each of my brothers. "So here's what we do. We make it clear from day one that she is NOT our sister. She's an intruder. A temporary problem."
"How?" Lysander asks.
"We freeze her out," I say. "Completely. No kindness. No welcome. We make her so uncomfortable she'll BEG her mother to leave."
Thayer grins, but it's not friendly. "I like it. The cold shoulder treatment. Make her feel invisible."
"She won't last a week," Korrin agrees.
Jove nods slowly. "Psychological warfare. It's effective."
Only Lysander looks uncertain. "But what if—"
"What if nothing," I cut him off. "Father made this choice without us. Now he gets to watch it fall apart." I stand. "Agreed?"
"Agreed," they all say.
An hour later, I'm standing outside the guest room that's been prepared for her. The maids just finished. Fresh sheets. Clean towels. A vase of flowers on the dresser.
I grab the vase and throw it in the trash.
She doesn't deserve flowers. She doesn't deserve anything.
My phone buzzes—a new one, since Korrin destroyed my last one. It's from Thayer.
"I sent her a little welcome message. Want to see her squirm."
I smile coldly. Good. Let her know what she's walking into.
But then something weird happens.
A scent hits me. Faint, like it's coming through the air vents. Sweet and wild, like moonlight and winter flowers.
My wolf perks up for the first time in hours.
MATE, he whispers.
I freeze.
No. That's impossible. My mate can't be—
The scent gets stronger, and my wolf starts clawing at my chest, trying to get out.
MATE. FIND MATE. NOW.
I stumble backward, slamming into the wall. My heart is racing. Every instinct is screaming at me to follow that scent, to find her, to—
No.
NO.
I close my eyes and force my wolf down. It takes everything I have.
When I open my eyes, the scent is gone. But my hands are shaking.
It can't be her. It CAN'T be. The universe wouldn't be that cruel.
My phone buzzes again. Another text from Thayer.
"She responded to my message. Want to know what she said?"
I don't answer. I'm staring at the guest room door, my mind racing.
If that scent belongs to who I think it does...
If the wolfless girl is my mate...
Our mate...
Then everything just got a lot more complicated.
And a lot more dangerous.