Chapter 20
Karina
Istare at my reflection in Damien's mirror, barely recognizing the woman looking back at me. Twenty-four hours ago, I was hiding from my wolf. Now I'm deliberately walking into the den of the man who wants to breed me for my bloodline.
“Everything’s set in motion,” Damien says, ending the call with Elias. His phone lands on the bed with a dull thud. “Crimson Howl is ours for tonight.”
My stomach lurches. “Elias agreed?”
“He secured it, but at a cost. He didn’t explain, just said our fathers struck an arrangement.”
A chill runs through me. “That sounds ominous.”
“With those two, it always is.” He steps behind me, broad hands settling on my shoulders, his warmth bleeding through the fabric of my shirt. “Are you certain about this, kitten? There’s still time to walk away.”
“I’m certain,” I answer, though the first attempt falters, thin as paper. I draw in a breath, steadying myself before saying it again, stronger. “I’m certain.”
His hands tighten on my shoulders, his thumb tracing the mark that brands me as his. Even through the mirror, I can see the war playing out across his features. The man who wants to protect me battling with the one who knows I need to face this.
“Walk me through it again,” I say, needing the repetition to calm my racing thoughts. “Every detail.”
Damien’s reflection nods grimly. “We arrive separately. You’ll go in first with Gabriel—my father insisted on that detail. You’ll be wearing the same mask as before.”
“I still can’t believe you actually agreed to this.” My voice comes out sharper than I intend, a mix of disbelief and adrenaline. “I said I’d do it, but I didn’t think you’d let me.”
His jaw tightens, the muscle in his cheek working. “It’s not what I want, but it’s what has to happen to end Lockhart’s hunt.”
I blink at him in the mirror. “You’re really letting me walk in there alone?”
“This is your plan, Karina,” he responds, voice low, almost pained. “And I swore I’d treat you as my equal. If I drag you out now, if I take away your choice, then I’m no better than my father.”
I stare at him, searching for some crack in his calm. “You’re not going to change your mind when we get there?”
He exhales through his nose. “No. Your plan, as much as it infuriates me, is the right one. Lockhart needs to think you’ve defied me or are looking for a better option—if he thinks you’re unprotected—he’ll make a mistake. And when he does, I’ll be there to rip out his fucking throat.”
I bite my lip, but the fire in my chest is real now. “You’re trusting me to do this.”
“I’m trusting you,” he confirms, meeting my eyes in the glass. The wolf flickers behind his gaze. “I hate it, but you asked me to let you fight, and I’m doing it.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet, kitten. We still have to survive this. Thank me after.” He takes a deep breath. “You’ll need your mask.”
Damien steps away from me and over to his dresser in the far corner of the room. He tugs open a drawer and pulls something out. It’s not until he’s closer that I realize it’s the mask I wore the night we met.
“I thought I lost this when I shifted that night and ran.”
“I found it,” he shrugs.
“And you kept it?” I fire back.
“At the time, I was trying to hunt you down, kitten. It had your scent on it.”
I take the mask from his hands. How could something so simple as wearing this mask brought me to the place I am now?
It’s ironic, really. A night out to nurse the wounds from a bad breakup brought me into this world.
It brought me a mate, and a backstory I never knew existed, no thanks to my parents.
There’s so much about my life I still don’t understand, but maybe after all of this is said and done, Anselm or Hudson will be willing to help fill in those blanks that my parents no longer can.
“Gabriel will escort you to the VIP section,” Damien continues. “You'll be visible but protected. Lockhart won't be able to reach you without going through pack security.”
“And then?”
“Then we wait. Let him see you, let him think he has a chance. When he makes his move—and he will—we'll be ready.”
“What if he doesn't take the bait?”
“Then we improvise.”
“That's not very reassuring.”
“Nothing about this is reassuring, kitten.” His voice is low, almost rough.
He steps closer, his hands framing my face with surprising gentleness, thumbs brushing just beneath my eyes.
“I can feel it. Your heartbeat, your fear. It’s bleeding through the bond like it’s my own.
” His eyes flicker, wolf-bright for a heartbeat.
“I hate that I’m sending you in there like this. ”
He leans in until his forehead nearly touches mine. “But I’ll be there. Every second. If anything goes wrong, anything at all, you get out. No heroics. No trying to save the day. You shift and run. Do you understand?”
His words settle deep, the steadiness in his voice anchoring the chaos in my chest. It isn’t a command. It’s a promise.
I want to argue, to tell him I won’t leave him if things fall apart. The words burn on my tongue, sharp and ready. But through the bond I feel it. The tight coil beneath his skin, the dread he’s hiding under that calm voice. It presses against my chest, heavy and alive, not mine but his.
And I see it too. In the way his eyes burn, in the way his jaw clenches as if he’s holding himself back from pulling me against him and refusing to let me go. The wolf inside him is pacing, furious and afraid, and I can taste it in the back of my throat.
The intensity in his eyes stops me. It’s too raw, too honest. Instead of fighting him, I swallow the words and lift my chin. I force a smile, small and wry, trying to lighten the mood even as my stomach twists.
“Don’t worry so much. I’ll be fine. I took self-defense in high school,” I say, forcing a grin. “Pretty sure I still remember how to knee someone where it counts.”
Damien doesn’t even blink. Not a hint of amusement.
“This isn’t a schoolyard bully we’re talking about, Karina.”
I swallow hard, the smile slipping. My joke hangs awkwardly between us, heavy in the air.
“I know,” I say quietly. “I was just trying to make this feel a little less terrifying.”
His expression softens slightly as he pulls me against his chest. I breathe in his scent—pine and smoke and something uniquely him—trying to calm my racing heart.
“Nothing about this will be easy, but I need you to understand what we're walking into. These aren't humans with human rules. If Lockhart gets his hands on you, there won't be a chance to use those self-defense moves. He’s bigger, faster, and has decades of fighting experience, kitten. So, if it comes down to it. Shift as fast as you can, run, and don’t fucking look back.”
His warning chills me to the bone, but it's not myself I'm worried about—it's him.
The thought of Damien throwing himself into danger for me makes my stomach twist into knots.
I shift from the mirror, spinning on my heels to face him, placing my palms against his chest, feeling his heartbeat beneath my fingers.
“What about you? If things go wrong, what's your plan?”
He doesn't answer immediately, and that terrifies me more than anything else.
“Damien,” I press, gripping his shirt. “Promise me you won't do anything stupid.”
“Define stupid.” His attempt at humor falls flat.
“You know exactly what I mean.” I pull back to look up at him. “I can feel it through the bond. You're planning something you don't want me to know about.”
It's strange how quickly I've come to rely on this connection between us. Just days ago, I was fighting it with everything I had. Now, I can't imagine not feeling his emotions alongside my own, this second heartbeat that tells me things his words don't.
“My priority is keeping you safe,” he says, which isn't an answer at all.
I study his face—the hard angles, the stubbled jaw. When did this happen? When did this terrifying man become someone I can't bear the thought of losing?
“When I agreed to be your mate, I didn't do it so you could throw your life away playing hero.”
Something flickers across his features—surprise, maybe. Like he wasn't expecting me to push back.
“This isn't about playing hero,” he says, but I can feel the lie through our connection. The way his emotions shift, walls slamming up to block me out.
“Don't.” I shake my head, stepping back. “Don't shut me out. Not now.”
He runs a hand through his hair, frustration radiating off him in waves. “You don't understand—”
“Then make me understand.” I cross my arms, channeling every ounce of stubborn determination I possess. “We're supposed to be partners in this, Damien. That means you don't get to make unilateral decisions about our lives.”
The silence stretches between us, heavy with unspoken truths.
“If Lockhart realizes it's a trap,” he says finally, “if things go sideways and there's no other choice...I'll make sure you get out. Whatever it takes. If it’s a choice between me or you making it out safely, my choice will always be you, kitten.”
“No.” The word tears from my throat with such force it surprises us both. “Absolutely not.”
He grips my arms, not hard, but enough to make me look at him.
His eyes burn like silver caught in moonlight, his wolf right there beneath the surface.
“Even if I could find a way to keep breathing without you, my wolf would never allow it. That’s not how this bond works.
You’re not just in my life — you’re in my blood, my bones, every breath I take.
If you die, so do I. There’s no part of me that survives losing you. ”
He draws a shuddering breath, thumb brushing along my jaw.
“I’m not saying this to scare you. I’m saying it because you keep talking about sacrifice like it’s an option.
It’s not. Not for us. The Moon’s bond isn’t some pretty story.
It’s a promise written into our souls. True mates don’t bury each other. If one falls, the other follows.”