Caspian's POV
I smell Linnea's scent the second I step into the forest.
Honey and vanilla mixed with fear and determination. She's out here. Alone. In the middle of the night.
"Idiot," I growl, breaking into a run. "Reckless, stubborn, idiotic—"
My wolf is going insane. MATE IN DANGER. PROTECT. FIND HER NOW.
I left my phone in her room on purpose—needed distance, needed to think, needed to figure out how to reject her tomorrow without dying inside. But now she's in the forest at midnight and I'm too far away.
I shift mid-run, letting my wolf take over. Faster this way. Stronger.
Her scent leads me deeper into the trees. Toward the old territory border. Toward—
I skid to a stop.
Linnea stands in a clearing, facing a she-wolf I recognize immediately. Selene Ravenstrike. Daughter of the Ravenstrike Alpha. Beautiful, powerful, and absolutely not someone Linnea should trust.
"There you are!" Selene's voice is too cheerful. "I was starting to think you wouldn't show."
"You said you could help," Linnea says nervously. "That there's a way to break the mate bond without rejection."
Ice floods my veins. I shift back to human, stepping into the clearing.
"There is no way," I say coldly. "And Selene knows that."
Both women spin toward me. Linnea's eyes go wide.
"Caspian? What are you doing here?"
"Saving you from making a huge mistake." I move between her and Selene. "Go back to the house, Linnea. Now."
"But she said—"
"She lied." I bare my teeth at Selene. "Didn't you?"
Selene smiles, not even pretending to be innocent. "Caught me. There's no magical way to break a mate bond. Once it forms, it's permanent." She looks at Linnea with false sympathy. "Sorry, sweetheart. You're stuck with the stepbrother situation."
"Then why did you tell me to come here?" Linnea demands.
"Because I wanted to meet the human who stole Caspian Silvercrest's heart." Selene circles us like a predator. "See, my father and Daemon had an arrangement. I was supposed to mate with Caspian. Unite our packs. Become the most powerful werewolf couple in the region."
My stomach sinks. "Dad never agreed to that."
"He was considering it. Before he met Roslyn. Before YOU met your human mate." Selene's eyes flash gold. "You ruined everything, Linnea. So I thought I'd return the favor."
She whistles. Sharp and loud.
Wolves emerge from the trees. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty. All from the Ravenstrike pack. All surrounding us.
"You brought an entire pack into our territory?" I step in front of Linnea. "That's an act of war."
"It's an act of claiming what should've been mine." Selene shifts into her wolf form—a beautiful gray she-wolf with ice-blue eyes. Kill the human. Then Caspian will be free to mate with me.
"Over my dead body," I snarl.
"That can be arranged." She lunges.
I shift and meet her head-on. We collide in a tangle of teeth and claws. She's strong—trained for combat her whole life. But I'm fighting for my mate. That makes me unstoppable.
Linnea screams. I glance over and see three wolves circling her.
NO!
I throw Selene off and race toward Linnea. She backs up against a tree, hands raised defensively. She doesn't know how to fight. Doesn't know how to shift on command yet.
The first wolf lunges at her throat.
Linnea's eyes flash gold. She shifts—pure instinct, pure survival. Her white wolf tackles the attacker, smaller but fierce.
My mate is fighting. My pregnant mate is fighting three wolves alone.
Rage explodes through me. I tear into the wolves around Linnea, ripping them away from her. Blood sprays. Bones crack. They retreat, whimpering.
But Selene isn't done. She attacks Linnea from behind, claws aimed at her belly. At the baby.
I don't think. Just react.
I throw myself between them. Selene's claws rake across my chest instead of Linnea's stomach. Pain explodes but I don't care.
"Touch my mate again and I'll kill you," I growl.
Selene backs off, eyes wide. "Your mate? You're claiming her? But she's your stepsister—"
"I don't care." The words come out as a roar. "She's MINE. Mate bond, stepsibling bond, I don't care about any of it. She's mine and I will slaughter anyone who tries to hurt her."
The forest goes silent.
Linnea shifts back to human, breathing hard. "Caspian..."
"I'm done pretending," I say, not taking my eyes off Selene. "Done lying. Done trying to fight this bond. You're my mate, Linnea. And I'm claiming you. Right here. Right now. Consequences be damned."
"But the pack—"
"The pack can accept it or leave." I finally look at her. "I choose you. Over duty. Over tradition. Over everything. I choose you."
Tears stream down her face. "I choose you too."
Selene laughs bitterly. "How romantic. Too bad it won't matter when the pack exiles you both. When hunters find you without protection. When you're forced to watch each other die."
"Then we die together," I say simply. "Better than living apart."
Howls echo through the forest. Not Ravenstrike wolves. Silvercrest wolves. My pack, responding to the threat.
Selene's ears flatten. "This isn't over." She shifts and runs, her pack following.
The moment they're gone, I pull Linnea into my arms. She's shaking. Crying. But alive. Safe.
"You scared me," I breathe into her hair. "Don't ever do that again. Don't ever meet strange she-wolves in the forest at midnight."
"You left your phone. I thought—" She hiccups. "I thought maybe she could really help us."
"The only thing that helps us is this." I tilt her chin up and kiss her. Deep. Claiming. Pouring everything I feel into it.
She kisses me back like she's drowning and I'm air.
When we finally break apart, we're both breathing hard.
"What happens now?" she whispers.
"Now we face the consequences." I help her stand. "Tomorrow at the wedding, I'm telling everyone. About the mate bond. About us. About my choice to claim you."
"Your dad will lose his position as Alpha—"
"I'll challenge him for it if I have to." I cup her face. "Linnea, I'm not losing you. I don't care what it costs. You and that baby are my family now. My pack. My everything."
She opens her mouth to respond but freezes. Her eyes go wide, staring past me at something in the trees.
I turn. My blood runs cold.
Daemon stands at the edge of the clearing with half the pack behind him. He heard everything. The claim. The choice. The defiance.
His eyes glow pure gold—Alpha rage.
"Caspian," he says quietly. Too quietly. "Step away from the girl."
"No." I pull Linnea behind me. "I already told you. I'm claiming her. I choose her."
"Then you choose exile." His voice echoes through the forest. "Pack law is clear. Mating with a stepsister—even a fated mate—is forbidden. You claim her, you both leave. Tonight. No protection. No resources. No pack."
Murmurs ripple through the assembled wolves. Some sound sympathetic. Most sound angry.
"Dad, please—"
"I'm not your father right now. I'm your Alpha." He takes a step forward. "And as Alpha, I'm giving you one final choice. Reject the mate bond, let Roslyn and I marry tomorrow, live as siblings and pack members in safety. Or claim her now and lose everything."
Linnea's hand slips into mine. "We'll lose everything," she whispers.
"Not everything." I squeeze her hand. "We'll have each other."
I look at my father. My Alpha. The man who raised me to put pack before self. Duty before desire.
"I'm sorry, Dad." My voice doesn't shake. "But I choose her."
Gasps from the pack. Daemon's face goes pale.
"Then you're exiled. Both of you. You have until sunrise to leave pack territory." He turns away. "And may the Moon Goddess have mercy on you both. Because I can't."
The pack disperses, leaving us alone in the clearing.
Linnea is crying again. "Caspian, what did we just do?"
"We chose each other." I pull her close. "Now we run. Together. And we survive. Together."
"But the hunters—"
A twig snaps behind us. We both spin.
A man steps out of the shadows. Older. Scarred. Wearing all black with weapons strapped across his chest.
A hunter.
"Well, well," he drawls. "Two exiled wolves with a mate bond and a baby on the way. This is my lucky night."
He raises a gun.
"Run," I tell Linnea.
"I'm not leaving you—"
"RUN!"
The hunter fires.