Chapter 18
Damien
We’ve spent the entire day in my room. Fucking and sleeping.
We’ve claimed each other in every sense.
Karina’s scent has seeped into every inch of the room—into me, too.
Wolf and man both satisfied but never sated.
Over and over again until her body couldn’t take it anymore.
She fell asleep hours ago in my arms just as the sun began to set.
For hours, I lie awake. Unable to close my eyes for even a single second for fear that she will just disappear.
That the last few days were a daydream. Afraid that I will wake up and none of this was real.
Even now, watching the sunrise paint gold across Karina's sleeping face, I’m unable to look away, The world could be ending around us, and I would not notice. Maybe it is.
I brush a strand of dark hair from her cheek, my fingers trembling slightly.
Even this small touch sends ripples through our connection, echoing back to me in waves of contentment that aren't entirely mine.
The silver mark on her neck gleams in the early light—proof that the impossible has happened. True mates.
My wolf paces beneath my skin, no longer restless but watchful, protective. He's finally at peace after a lifetime of searching for something I didn't even know was missing.
“I will burn the fucking world down before I let anyone touch you,” I whisper, though she can't hear me.
But she can feel me. Even in sleep, I sense her consciousness brushing against mine—a feather-light touch that makes my chest ache with something I've never felt before. Is this what it means to be whole? This certainty that part of my soul now lives outside my body, wrapped in her skin?
Karina sighs in her sleep, turning toward me like a flower seeking the sun.
The sheet slips down, revealing the curve of her shoulder, the gentle slope of her breast. My body responds instantly, hardening with want, but I make no move to wake her.
She needs the rest after everything her body has endured.
A soft knock at my door breaks the morning quiet. I'm up instantly, my body moving with predatory silence as I slip from the bed without disturbing her. The knock comes again, more insistent this time.
I pull on a pair of jeans and pad barefoot to the door, cracking it open just wide enough to see Gabriel standing in the hallway. His expression is carefully neutral, but I catch the tension in his shoulders.
“What?” I growl.
“Your father requests your presence. Immediately.” Gabriel tries to peer past me into the room, but I block his view with my body. “There's been a development.”
Ice floods my veins. “What kind of development?”
“Lockhart's people were spotted at the southern border an hour ago. They're requesting a meeting.”
My wolf snarls beneath my skin, every protective instinct flaring to life. “Tell my father I'll be there in ten minutes.”
Gabriel nods and disappears down the hallway. I close the door and turn back to find Karina awake, watching me with sleepy concern.
“What's wrong?” she asks, her voice husky from sleep.
I cross back to the bed, sitting on the edge beside her, my hand finding her bare thigh beneath the sheet.
“Lockhart's people are at our border,” I tell her, watching her face carefully. “They want to meet.”
“They found us.”
“They found the territory. That doesn't mean they found you.” I lean down, pressing my forehead against hers. Through our connection, I push waves of calm toward her, trying to ease the panic I feel building in her chest. “You're safe here. This compound has defenses Lockhart can't breach.”
“Then why do you look terrified?”
Because I am. The admission sits heavy in my throat, but I can't lie to her.
“Because my father will want to use this as an opportunity,” I say finally. “He'll want to parade you in front of Lockhart, show him what he can't have.”
Karina sits up, the sheet pooling around her waist. I'm momentarily distracted by how beautiful she looks in the morning light.
“Maybe that's not such a bad idea,” she says quietly.
My wolf snarls at the thought. “Absolutely fucking not.”
“Think about it, Dam—”
I cut her off before she can finish that line of thinking, my hand sliding up to cup her face. “No. Whatever you're about to suggest, the answer is no.”
“I want to help.”
“You can. By staying here. By staying safe while I deal with this.”
I shift away from her, trudging toward my closet. I quickly pull on a pair of pants and grab a shirt, only to return to find Karina perched on the side of the bed.
“Where are you going?”
“To tell my father that his political games end now.” I pull a black shirt over my head, the fabric stretching across muscles still tender from our lovemaking. “Lockhart can request all the meetings he wants. He's not getting within a mile of you.”
When I turn, she's standing beside the bed, the sheet wrapped around her like armor. “He’s here for me. I’m involved whether you like it or not.” She moves toward me, her bare feet silent on the carpet. “He can’t take me by force.”
I want to argue, but she's right.
“That doesn't mean I'm letting you anywhere near him.”
She reaches me, her free hand coming up to rest against my chest.
“You're not letting me do anything,” she says quietly. “I'm choosing.”
My wolf rages against her idea, desperate to lock her away somewhere safe where no one can find her. The dormant alpha inside of her is waking up. Gods help me.
“This isn't about being allowed. This is about keeping you safe.”
“I know.” Her fingers trace the tattoo peeking from beneath my collar. “But I can't hide forever, Damien. Not from who I am. Not from what I am.”
“I need to get dressed,” she says, glancing down at the sheet wrapped around her body.
“Wear something of mine.” The possessive request slips out before I can stop it. I want Lockhart's people to see her draped in my scent.
She nods, understanding the strategy without me having to explain. The sheet falls away as she moves toward my closet, and I force myself to look away. If I watch her naked form any longer, we won't make it to my father's office, and Lockhart's people will be the least of our problems.
“Ten minutes,” I remind her. “I'll be back to escort you.”
I slip out before she can respond, closing the door firmly behind me. The hallway feels cold after the warmth of her presence. My wolf hates every step that takes me away from her.
The compound buzzes with activity as I make my way toward my father's study.
Pack members move with purpose, weapons visible at their sides.
My father's elite guard stands at attention near every entrance, their faces grim with anticipation.
Word travels fast in wolf packs—everyone knows something is about to happen.
Gabriel waits outside my father's door, his expression carefully neutral as I approach. “He's been asking for you.”
I shove through the heavy oak doors without waiting for permission. My father sits behind his desk, maps spread across its surface like battle plans.
“Damien.” He doesn't look surprised by my entrance, though his jaw tightens at my lack of protocol. “I trust you've heard about our...visitors.”
“I've heard.” I don't sit, preferring to loom over his desk with my hands braced against the polished wood. “And I'm telling you now—Karina doesn't leave this compound.”
Hudson’s laugh is sharp, humorless. “You forget yourself, boy. This is still my territory. My pack. My decisions.”
“She’s mine. Decisions where she’s concerned are not yours to question.”
“Is she?” His stare pins me, heavy with challenge. “The full moon is still—”
“It’s done.” The words drop like a blade. “Claimed and recognized by the Moon Goddess herself.”
The air tightens between us. I watch my father’s face shift—shock hardening into disbelief, then twisting into a hunger that sets my wolf on edge.
“Prove it.”
I tug the collar of my shirt down, exposing the raw symbol burning against my skin. It’s changed since yesterday—darker, more defined, alive with a faint glow that declares exactly what I’ve become. For the first time in my life, my father doesn’t look unshakable. He looks afraid.
I let the fabric fall back into place, hiding the evidence from his lingering stare. “Is that enough for you?” My voice comes out low, steady. “She’s under my protection now. Not yours. Not the pack’s. Mine.”
He circles his desk with deliberate steps. I can almost see the wheels turning—how this changes his plans, his ambitions, his schemes to use Karina to reclaim Rosewood territory. Always moving pieces into place. But that ends here.
“This is… unexpected,” he admits. “But it changes nothing about our current situation. Lockhart’s demanding to see her.”
“And you’re going to tell him to fuck off.”
His laugh cuts sharp as a whip. “You think it’s that simple?”
“Make it that simple or lose your only heir and everything that comes with him.”
“You insolent child,” he snarls.
“Threaten me again,” I growl, stepping closer, “and see what happens.”
“You forget who you’re speaking to.”
“No. You forget who you’re speaking to. I’m not the boy you sent away to be broken and rebuilt. I’m the Reaper. I’ve killed for less.”
His nostrils flare, catching the shift in my scent—the transformation from son to predator. For a heartbeat, he wavers. Then his Alpha nature rises, rigid and unyielding.
“You would challenge me? In my own territory?”
“If you come for her again, I won’t just challenge you. I’ll put you down and burn this legacy to the ground.”
The study door creaks open behind me, her scent rushing in before her words.
“That won’t be necessary.”
I turn, breath catching despite the fury in my veins. Karina stands in the doorway, wrapped in one of my black shirts. The fabric hangs loose, but the slip from her shoulder bares the silver mark glowing against her skin.
“I told you to wait in my room,” I growl, but she doesn’t even glance my way.