Chapter 1 - Damian
Present
“Round up a group of soldiers. I won’t be traveling to Fort Smit alone.”
Roxanne nods at my instruction, taking notes on her tablet. “That is a wise decision, Alpha. We have yet to hear from Alpha Dorian about what exactly they found in Nightclaw territory.”
I nod thoughtfully. “Perhaps it is classified information. For now, make no mention of this to the pack. We don’t need unnecessary panic. We’ve just had a moment to breathe; let’s not disrupt their peace for now.”
“Got it, Alpha.”
“Where is my beta?”
Roxanne looks up and takes a deep breath before saying, “Beta Killian is on his way back to Cedar Valley with the special ops troop. They’ve just scanned the mountains, and it’s been cleared for travel.”
“Good.” I nod once, swiveling my chair toward the window that overlooks the Valley Walker territory. “Make sure they’re ready to leave before sunset.”
Roxanne doesn’t respond, but her footsteps leading out of my study are enough indication that she’s going straight to work putting together a team to visit Fort Smit.
I rise to my feet and slowly wander toward the window, running a hand through my curls and sighing wistfully as I stare at the valley below.
The Valley Walker Pack.
My pack.
Even after ten years as the alpha, I still have moments when I don’t feel worthy enough to sit in that chair, like a throne of thorns that reminds me that it was never my birthright.
I was born as the second son of the alpha and luna of Valley Walker, and that meant that my older brother was supposed to take the mantle from our father.
But ten years ago, when Finch Lycoan died, suspicious eyes turned on Dorian, and he walked away from our pack, forcing me to step in as the alpha when our father retired.
I always knew Dorian wasn’t behind Finch’s death, and it was his guilt that consumed him—guilt that he didn’t do enough to save the future alpha of Blood Moon—but in doing so, he left me to shoulder responsibilities that shouldn’t have been mine to carry.
A decade later, I have tried to make peace with my lot in life. Especially after Dorian was captured by rogue wolves and I was faced with a much worse possibility.
Losing my brother altogether.
When I saved Dorian with the help of the members of the Rosethorn Alpha Council and their soldiers, I realized that I had to put the past behind me.
He was returned to Nightclaw safely, only to learn that he’d been mated to the rogue wolf leader Jackson’s human sister, Amelia, who bore Dorian’s child.
After Jackson was killed when he abducted Damita, my niece, Amelia remained as the luna of Nightclaw and stepped in as a mediator between my brother and me.
Though I appreciated her attempts to mend our relationship, even agreeing to bury the past, especially for Damita’s sake, there was an uneasiness that lingered. One I can’t speak about to anyone.
Every time I sit behind that desk in this study, I’m reminded that becoming the alpha of Valley Walker meant losing something else.
Officiating Dorian and Amelia’s mating ceremony two months ago felt like the right thing to do, another step toward leaving the past behind us. But it only served as another reminder of what I lost in exchange for becoming the alpha, and that’s something I cannot forgive Dorian for.
I take a deep breath to compose myself, knowing I must push aside my grievances for the sake of the alliance, for Damita’s sake, for the sake of my mother, who finally wears a smile on her face because her sons can see eye to eye and we can be a family again.
I don’t want to hang on to my resentment, but every time I’m near my brother, I’m forced to remember a face I haven’t seen in a decade.
I squeeze my eyes shut and force the image out of my mind, but it’s impossible to forget. The only thing that’s helped me over the years is distracting myself, and that’s exactly what I’ll do today when I visit Dorian’s pack for the meeting.
***
There’s a cloud of dread hanging over the boardroom in Fort Smit, where the Rosethorn Alpha Council has gathered for the meeting Dorian called. He just explained what his patrol wolves had discovered this morning on their northern borders, and it’s unsettling.
“I think we should visit the northern borders.” Alpha Cyrus from the Moon Shine Pack in Little Rock stands up as soon as he makes the suggestion.
“Agreed,” Alpha Flynn Lycoan—Finch’s younger brother, now the leader of Blood Moon—nods as he follows and gets to his feet.
“Good idea,” Dorian concedes, and the rest of the council stands. “You need to see what was found. Maybe one of you has seen this before, and might know what we’re dealing with.”
As the room empties, I join Dorian as he leads us toward the north side of the Nightclaw territory. Within the silence stretched between us, I can see the worry etched on his face, the dark circles framing his eyes.
Of course, he’s worried about this anomaly they’ve found on their borders. It’s only been a few months since he was saved from the rogue leader’s clutches, and we believed the threat was dealt with when Jackson and the rogues were ended.
Whatever they found on their borders has Dorian worried that a new threat has manifested, and that his family is still in danger. Damita hasn’t even reached a year old yet, and Amelia is already pregnant with their second child.
“Do you think someone is after Damita?” I ask him quietly, my knuckles cracking as I curl my hands into fists at my sides. No matter how I feel about the past, his daughter is my niece, and as her uncle, I will do whatever I can to protect her.
“I’m not sure,” Dorian replies ruefully, shivering into himself at the mere thought. I can only imagine how he feels as her father, when I feel so protective over her as an uncle.
“We have dealt with the rogues, and this doesn’t look anything like their doing,” he admits. “My only worry is that there’s something out there that knows she’s half human and half wolf. A hybrid. What if someone or something else wants her this time?”
I place a hand on my brother’s shoulder, quickly realizing that despite the past, I still feel a sense of duty toward him because he’s my family, and because little Damita is family, too.
After all, the only reason I feel like I’m hanging on to any resentment is that Dorian’s abandonment of Valley Walker is the reason I lost the woman I love.
“Whatever is coming, we will deal with it, just like we dealt with Jackson and the rogues. We’re family, after all. And family sticks together.”
Dorian nods, meeting my eyes with the same kind of sadness I saw there when he and I spoke about things a few months ago, and he asked for my forgiveness. Those were his words, with the addition that he was sorry he didn’t stick around and wallowed in his guilt by running away like a coward.
Of course, I forgave him, because he’s my brother, and I understood that he left Valley Walker because he felt weighed down by his guilt.
He also acknowledged that he didn’t mean for me to shoulder the responsibilities that became mine when he left.
He knew it was unfair, but at the same time, he revealed that he was proud of me for stepping up.
I was doing a great job of holding down the fort. “A distinguished, capable alpha,” he called me. And while that may be true, there is something Dorian doesn’t know. No one does…
“Thanks, brother.” He smiles as he pats my shoulder. He turns forward and points ahead to where the border has a distinct line across it.
I frown as I notice the clear difference between the two sides of the ground. The imaginary line adjacent to the trees is bright green and rich with blooming flowers, while the tree line itself is charred and withered, dark and void of the colors of spring.
It’s almost as if the earth has been burnt, except there’s no ash to indicate the aftermath of a fire. Bushes are barren, tree trunks are blackened, and the flower petals have withered and died as if they’d been hit by the coldest winter frost.
Alpha Theodore Volkov of the Blackmaw Pack is the first to crouch near the blackened grass, and he reaches for a withered flower.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he frowns, glancing over his shoulder as the Misty Creek alpha joins him.
“What could have done this?” Alpha Simon mutters, his voice as horrified as we’re all feeling.
“This makes no sense,” Alpha Flynn says, turning to Dorian. “Have you found any tracks?”
Dorian’s beta, Connor, shrugs. “Not a track in sight. We swept the area, thinking it was some kind of animal or creature that could be traced if there were any tracks. But there was nothing.”
“It’s definitely not an animal, or anything with physical form,” Dorian grunts. “We took care of Jackson and the rogues. I don’t want to believe that we’re being hunted by something else.”
Flynn nods, crossing his arms. “Judging by the way the ground out here reacted to whatever this is, it’s dark.”
“Magic?” Simon offers, narrowing his eyes.
A shiver courses down my spine when he says the word, that unsettling feeling returning to the pit of my stomach. “It’s unlikely,” I say thoughtfully. “Witches are not known to be in our state. Magic does not exist in these parts. And they sure as hell have no business out here.”
Dorian nods. “Damita… Amelia… They are human.”
“Exactly,” Flynn says. “It could be coincidental.”
“We’re not taking any chances,” I growl, stepping forward with fists curled tightly. “We should get a sample of the ground, try to run some tests on it. Figure out what we’re dealing with before dismissing it as a personal threat.”
Dorian agrees with a nod, turning to the alpha of Misty Creek. “Simon?”
“Already have it,” Simon replies, lifting a plastic bag filled with blackened sand and a wilted flower. “I’ll get the research department on it. At least we’ll know what we’re dealing with.”
Dorian nods, then hangs his head with a sigh. “I just hope whatever it is isn’t coming for my family. Amelia is about to give birth. This is added stress she doesn’t need.”