CHAPTER 20
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The fortress gates closed behind Daniel with a groan of iron.
Michael waited in the torchlit courtyard, armor streaked with blood and rain.
He dropped to one knee; eyes fixed on the object in Daniel's hand.
"What is that?" he asked, voice low.
Daniel uncurled his fingers to reveal the broken talisman.
Even in death, the black stone throbbed with a faint, unnatural light.
"It gave him Lycan strength," Daniel said.
"No Alpha should have matched me, not even under the Dual Moon."
Michael's eyes narrowed. "Then someone wanted this attack to happen. Someone who knew tonight's moon would thin the barrier."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Someone inside this packs."
The words hung heavy in the damp air.
A traitor.
Only an insider could have smuggled such a relic through the wards and opened the gates for the Black Bloods and rouges.
Michael bowed his head.
"I'll start the search."
"Discreetly," Daniel ordered.
"No one outside this room knows of this. Not yet."
Through the bond, Mia stirred, her worry a soft pressure at the edge of his mind.
Daniel turned toward the inner hall, every instinct driving him back to her.
But even as he moved, the talisman's faint glow pulsed again,
as if whispering that the true enemy was already closer than any of them could see.
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The fortress doors shut behind him with a grinding echo.
Rain dripped from his hair, streaking down the dark lines of blood on his chest.
The talisman in his fist pulsed weakly, its dying glow throwing ghostly shadows across the stone corridor.
His senses locked onto a single thread of scent - vanilla, warm earth, and the unmistakable thrum of the mate bond.
Mia.
He took the stairs two at a time.
The room doors flew open under his hand.
Mia stood near the central table, maps scattered around her, moonlight catching the silver in her dark hair.
Guards flanked the walls but fell back as Daniel entered, the weight of his presence clearing the room in seconds.
The door slammed shut behind him.
For a heartbeat neither of them spoke.
Her eyes swept over him - soaked clothes, streaks of blood not all his own, the faint shimmer of the broken talisman in his grasp.
Her breath caught.
"You're hurt...."
"Not mine," he said roughly, crossing the distance in three strides.
Mia's hands lifted instinctively, palms pressing to his chest.
Heat radiated through the damp fabric, her touch a sharp counter to the cold storm still clinging to his skin.
The twins stirred beneath her hand as if answering the surge of his heartbeat.
"You fought them," she whispered.
"I felt it. Every strike."
Daniel caught her wrists, not to push her away but to steady himself.
Her pulse thundered against his palms, fierce and alive.
"You felt me because the bond won't let me hide," he said, voice low and raw.
"Their Alpha carried this."
He opened his hand.
The shattered talisman glowed faintly, runes flickering like dying embers.
Mia's eyes widened. "What is it?"
"Something no Alpha should wield," Daniel said.
"It gave him Lycan strength. He should never have stood against me; and yet he nearly did."
Her fingers brushed the black stone, recoiling at the faint hum of dark energy.
"Who would dare....."
"Someone who knew tonight's moon would thin the barrier," he finished grimly.
"Someone inside our borders."
The room seemed to tighten around them, the distant storm muffled by the pounding of their hearts.
Mia searched his face.
Beneath the blood and battle scars, she saw more than fury—she saw fear.
Not of the enemy outside, but of a shadow closer than either of them could name.
He drew her against him, one hand sliding to the curve of her back, the other cradling the swell of her stomach.
The twins kicked, strong and insistent, a living proof of everything the prophecy feared.
"They fought for this," he murmured against her hair.
"For you. For them."
Mia rested her forehead against his chest, feeling the steady thrum of his heart.
"They won't win," she whispered.
"Not while we stand together."
Daniel's golden eyes locked with hers, fierce and unyielding.
The storm outside faded to nothing.
Without a word, he cupped her face, his thumb tracing the curve of her cheek.
Mia leaned into the touch, the mate bond humming like a live wire between them.
He lowered his forehead to hers, their breaths mingling in the tense quiet.
Then his lips found hers - slow at first, a soft press that spoke of promise more than passion.
The kiss deepened as her fingers slid into his hair, answering his silent vow with one of her own.
For a heartbeat the world was only heat and heartbeats, their strength drawn from each other.
When they finally parted, Daniel's voice was a low growl against her lips.
His grip tightened; possessive, protective, unyielding.
"Then let any Alpha who dreams otherwise come for us," he growled softly.
"They'll learn what it means to challenge me."
The talisman flickered one last time in his open palm before its light finally died.
But the unease it carried lingered, a silent promise that tonight's victory was only the beginning.