The grand ballroom glittered with golden light, but I could barely see it. All I could think about was what came after tonight. I was about to become Damen’s bride, and then we would disappear forever, leaving behind everyone I had ever known. Damen had known about the secret for two weeks now.
Draining my werewolf blood would make him mortal, human, able to age. A death sentence for a vampire, a dream come true for him. I had no idea he struggled with the urge to feed so constantly. “I wouldn’t have pushed you to drink from me so much if I had known,” I told him when Ian, his grandfather, had revealed the truth.
“That was insensitive of me. I’m sorry. ”
Damen looked at me like I was absurd and turned to Ian with a smile. “She is the one apologizing,” he said.
“You see why I can’t lose her? ”
But Ian wasn’t convinced. He warned me about the danger of my blood bond with the vampire heir. If Damen started aging, someone would notice, and war could break out between the packs and the vampire covens.
The secret had to be kept. “If you two insist on bonding,” Ian suggested, “do it tonight, pretend she’s human, and then disappear forever. I’ll make sure you’re never found. ”
Damen didn’t hesitate.
He was fine leaving his cold world behind as long as I came with him. And I agreed. I would have followed that man to the ends of the earth. Except one thing kept gnawing me: my real secret.
I was still mated to Nate. A fact that already condemned me to a packless life. In an ideal world, I’d be free of Nate without paying the ultimate price. I’d have Damen and my pack.
But life never works like that. Damen found me lost in thought in the ballroom. “You look upset again,” he whispered into my ear. “I’m fine.
”
He touched my cheek. “If this is too much, we’ll find another way. You just need to say the word. ”
“It’s not too much,” I confessed.
“It’s me. I’m not enough. I’ve been hiding things from my pack, from you. You deserve better.
”
“I promise you that I could live a hundred lives, and the only thing worth sticking around for in any of them would always be you. You’re more than enough. You’re everything. ”
How was I supposed to respond to that?
I stood there, deflecting with “you barely know me,” and I regretted it instantly. I wished I’d told him what he meant to me instead. He smiled like he could read my heart. “I do know you, my Chloe,” he said.
“I only hope that when you get to know me, you won’t hate what you discover. ”
Then I saw them. Harry, flanked by Vivien and Jake. My pack.
Here, at a vampire ball. Panic clawed my throat. Why were they here? Did they know?
Were they here to haul me away? “My Alpha is here,” I choked out, nails digging into Damen’s sleeve. “Chloe, calm down. Werewolves sometimes attend these events for diplomacy.
” He scanned the room. “Is there really not one of them you trust? No one who will stand by you no matter what? ”
“Emma,” I breathed.
“But she’s not here. ”
And then Damen did something I hadn’t expected. He walked right over to Harry and led him away to a private balcony. They only spoke for a couple minutes before Harry walked back inside, calm and indifferent.
Damen came back to me wearing a mysterious look. “What did you tell him? ”
“Nothing important,” he said. “I asked him to relay a message to your friend Emma for me.
”
My gut told me he was lying. But then he was yanked away from me. Someone had grabbed Damen and thrown him against the wall like he weighed nothing. I looked up to find Nate standing in Damen’s place.
“Hello, baby,” he said with a thunderous expression. Nate’s freckles and the green tint of his eyes used to bring me joy. Now I felt nothing but profound fear. “What are you doing here?
” I asked, panic rising as Damen got back to his feet. “What am I doing here? ” Nate scoffed, grabbing my wrist and twisting it painfully. “What are you doing here?
Don’t even think about lying to me. ”
“Get away from her,” Damen ordered. Nate ignored him, pulling me closer. Damen grabbed his shoulder, forcing him back.
Nate surprised everyone by going along, and I remembered too late why: Damen could compel people. I thought it would work. “Stop! ” I yelled, trying to pry Nate off the man I loved.
“Get off him! ”
But Nate was stronger in moments like this. His eyes flashed with fury, and he pinned Damen to the wall. “Is that who you’ve been ignoring me for?
” he spat. “A vampire, Chloe? Really? ”
Before I could scream, Nate grabbed Damen by the neck, bit right into him, and pushed him off the balcony.
The look of shock on Damen’s face as he fell will haunt me forever. Rage blinded me. I flung myself at Nate’s back, encircling his neck with my arms, squeezing with every bit of strength I had. “I’m going to kill you,” I murmured into his ear, meaning every word.
He’d taken everything from me. He was ruining my life for years. And now he killed the person I loved most. “Chloe, stop!
” Harry’s voice thundered behind me, laced with Alpha command. My wolf reacted on instinct, and my arms loosened, sending Nate to his knees. “Harry, he killed him! He killed Damian!
” I screamed. “Chloe! ” Harry grabbed me, worry painting his features. “What’s happening?
”
I gasped, kicking off my shoes and leaping over the railing into the moonlit garden below. I ran until my heart felt like it would burst, until I found the small crowd clustered around a broken figure on the stone. Damen’s eyes were closed. Blood still dripped from the wound on his neck.
“No! ” I gasped, falling to my knees, shaking him, begging him to wake up. “Werewolf bite,” someone whispered. My blood ran cold.
Werewolf bite. If he drank from me, he’d become mortal. I made him mortal. I killed him.
I killed my own mate by making him human, by letting my wolf blood turn his body into one that could die. Ian Cromwell’s face appeared above me. “What’s the meaning of this? ” His voice thundered with accusation.
“Nate killed him! ” I sobbed. “Nate killed Daman! ”
“Nate?
” Ian looked confused. “You mean… your mate is here? ”
My blood turned to ice.
I saw Nate, Jake, and Vivien being dragged toward us. They looked dazed. “This man should face justice for killing my son! ” Alexandra shrieked.
She grabbed me by the arms. “And she knew him. She knew that wolf. She planned this!
”
“No,” I choked as Ian Cromwell recoiled in horror. “I did not know he was coming. I did not plan this. I never meant to hurt Daman.
He was my everything. ”
But Ian’s face had turned cold. When he spoke, his voice was the sound of my death sentence. “Take her away.
She will stand trial. ”
A scream caught in my throat. “You hired me! You know who I am!
” I turned to him. “Mr. Cromwell, you know who I am. You hired me.
”
“I know who you are,” he said, looking at me like I was worthless. “A werewolf who manipulated my grandson into a blood bond to make him mortal. And then her mate delivered the final blow. Take her away.
”
“No! ” I screamed as the guards grabbed me. “You know who I am! I was working for you!
”
But when I searched his eyes, I knew the truth. There was no recognition there. It was as if he had never seen me before in his life. The cold certainty in his gaze was more terrifying than anything else I had experienced.
Something was very, very wrong. In the dark cell, time blurred into a sequence of dripping water and hollow memories. Nate was in the cell next to mine, his voice bitter. “We’re as good as dead here,” he said.
“No way Harry and the others will let anything happen to you. ”
“Just shut up,” I snapped. The truth was, I’d been hoping for the relief of death. The grief was crushing me.
And then I remembered. In the weeks since I’d been there, I had started to remember things I should not be able to recall. How I had first met Cromwell months ago, under the effect of heavy compulsion magic. Two vampires had brought me to a dark room.
Cromwell asked about my pack, my mate, my secrets. He’d suggested that working for his grandson as a secret bodyguard would solve all my problems. He’d made me receptive to his orders. He was going to use me.
He always was. He was the one who made me come to the mansion. He was the one who made me guard Daman and, in turn, made me fall for him. He forced me to condemn him to death.
Why hadn’t I remembered any of this until now? Flashes of his orders came back: seduce him. Let him drink from you. Be that bridge that makes him human.
It was never about protecting Damen. It was about destroying him. Two of Cromwell’s guards came to fetch us. As we were dragged through a massive gothic church, every eye in the room punctured me.
This was the trial. Emma was sitting in the crowd, and Harry, Vivien, and Jake were nearby. Ian Cromwell stood at the altar like a prosecutor. His voice boomed as he laid out his case.
“Two months ago this woman manipulated her way into my grandson’s life and convinced him to take her as his bride. We all saw what his fate was because of that. She lied to him and never told him she was a werewolf. ”
“She couldn’t have known what her blood would do to him,” Harry objected.
“The Accords clearly state we’re not allowed to tell other wolves about that. ”
Cromwell’s eyes flashed with annoyance. “No doubt you’ve shared the information with her. ”
“Are you implying I’ve betrayed the Accords?
” Harry asked, calm as stone. “I’m happy for you to use your powers on me to force me to tell the truth. I have nothing to hide. ”
I watched this display of political maneuvering with growing disgust.
Cromwell stepped back from that challenge. He didn’t want to interrogate Harry; he just wanted me gone. When they asked me how I met Damen, I told the truth. “You introduced us.
You hired me to be his bodyguard to protect him from the attempts on his life. ”
A collective gasp filled the church. “I did no such thing,” Cromwell insisted. “You’re a bodyguard?
You are the most unconvincing bodyguard I’ve ever seen. A young, untrained wolf who cannot even protect herself? ”
“You used your powers on me,” I snapped. “You made me unable to remember that you hired me.
”
Cromwell looked stunned for a fraction of a second, and I realized his compulsion was failing. Why? It should have worked. He was the most powerful vampire king.
I had no answer. “When your grandfather died, the night your blood-bond ceremony was supposed to take place,” I said, “you believe I played a part in his death. You loved him, yet you never told him you were a werewolf. You lied to him.
You let him drink your blood. ”
My hands trembled. “You know I did. You know I loved him.
We came to you together to tell you. You made me lie! You used your powers on me! ”
Cromwell looked at me with pure hatred.
“Enough,” he said, calling Nate forward. “You are his mate, is that not so? ”
Nate stood heavy, eyes dark. “Yes.
”
“Tell them why you bit my grandson. ”
I watched in horror as Nate’s eyes glazed over. He spoke like he was reading from a script. “I’ve been rejected from my pack.
I thought if I could convince Lord Cromwell to stop the increase in attacks, it would get me back into my Alpha’s good graces. And I thought that harming his grandson would pressure him into helping me. ”
“You thought harming my grandson would get you a reward? ” Cromwell sneered.
“I didn’t mean to kill him. That was accidental. I only meant to scare you. ”
Cromwell basked in the gasps of his audience.
He was a brilliant actor. “Did Chloe know about your intentions? ” he pressed. “She did.
She didn’t like it, because she cared about Damian. But Khloe’s my mate. Our bond will always come first, no matter what. ”
I screamed, launching myself at him.
Strong arms held me back. “He’s lying! ” I screamed. “He’s saying what Cromwell wants him to say!
He’s a puppet! ”
“I loved him,” I cried out, turning to face the frozen mass of the room. “I loved him more than I have ever loved anyone. And if I could give your life to get him back, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second!
”
The room broke into pandemonium. Cromwell’s voice cut through it all like a blade. “This trial is over! I demand that the werewolves make amends by allowing Nate’s execution and Khloe’s lifelong imprisonment.
”
Take me instead, I thought, closing my eyes. I don’t want to do this anymore. But then a voice objecting cut through the room. “Um, I object.
”
Emma. My best friend, standing among the crowd with a determined look on her face, ignoring Jake and Vivien’s frantic attempts to shuffle her out of the room. She waved a hand around the room. “To what exactly?
” Cromwell laughed, genuinely stunned. “To all of this. ”
“I’m sorry, who are you? ”
“Emma,” she introduced herself, pointing at me.
“Chloe’s best friend. ”
Alexandra scoffed. “Nobody cares who you are. My son is dead.
”
“About that,” Emma said, looking at her nails. “Is he, though? ”
I froze, my heart stop-started. What was she doing?
“Are you questioning the death of my grandson? ” Cromwell snarled. “I’m saying who’s to say you vampires haven’t faked the guy’s death to stir up trouble with us? ” Emma crossed her arms.
“You’re the ones that have been attacking humans for months and breaking the Accords. Suspiciously convenient that in the middle of all that, your vampire prince dies. Sounds like the perfect excuse to get you all off the hook. ”
“You are mad,” Cromwell bellowed.
“In the famous words of Taylor Swift,” Emma declared, “no body, no crime! I demand you show us the body! ”
The room roared with angry agreement from the werewolf side. Cromwell rolled his eyes and signalled.
“Bring Damian’s body here. ”
The heavy doors opened, and two servants carried an open coffin to the altar. Damen lay there, so still, so pale, eyes closed. He was beautiful even in death.
Seeing him undid every bit of courage I had felt. Damen, I choked silently. I’m sorry. “Satisfied?
” Cromwell asked. “May I check the body from up close? ” Emma batted her eyelashes innocently. “Fine.
Proceed. ”
Emma practically skipped up to the coffin. “Wow, that is one attractive-looking man. Good on you, Chloe.
” She winked at me before leaning over, poking Damen with her finger. “You can always tell if someone’s faking sleep by tickling them, you know. ”
“Are you quite done? ” Cromwell snapped.
“Of course not, I haven’t even tickled him yet. ”
And then, with her back to the crowd, Emma did something. She pulled a small vial from her sleeve and poured its contents between Damen’s parted lips. “What did you just give him?!
” Cromwell shrieked as a smile crossed Emma’s face. “If I know,” she said, stepping back, “you’ll find out any second. ”
Her gaze snapped down to Damen. And he gasped, sitting upright in the coffin.
His eyes found mine, blazing with love, stealing the breath from my lungs. “Chloe,” he whispered as cries of shock erupted across the church. Cromwell was speechless, staring at his grandson. Emma rolled up her sleeve.
“Oh, it was nothing,” she said, before slamming her fist into Damen’s jaw. Everyone froze. And then Damen grinned as he held his jaw, looking at me with pure adoration. “You used your powers on Harry?
” I demanded later, putting the pieces together as he pulled me into his arms. “You knew this would happen? ”
“I kind of had to make him let Emma come here today,” Damen confessed sheepishly. “I couldn’t reveal myself early.
I needed everyone to believe I was dead. ”
“It was you,” I whispered, staring at him. “You knew about the trap, and you still went through with it? ”
“When Khloe’s mate attacked her,” Damen told me, his voice dropping to a whisper in the middle of our reunion, “my powers weren’t working.
It wasn’t long before I figured out a werewolf’s blood could make me mortal. That was when I knew Ian’s plan. ” He turned to face the crowd, pulling me to his side. “He set this whole thing up.
He hired Chloe to be my bodyguard, set us up to fall for each other, and then planned to have her mate kill me while she took the blame. He wanted me dead because he couldn’t stand the idea of me having powers as strong as his own. My own grandfather, plotting my downfall. ”
The room erupted.
As vampire and werewolf voices turned against Cromwell, the vampire king stood there, backing away. “You think you’ve won, boy? ” Cromwell seethed. “I am your grandfather.
You are still bound to me. ”
“All I’m telling you,” Damen said, looking calmly at the silent crowd, “is that this man tried to kill me. And he’s going to pay for it. ”
With a flick of his wrist, Damen commanded the room: “Court dismissed.
”
It was over. Two weeks later, I found myself standing in the forest behind our pack house. Damen stood by my side, and Nate was back in my life, one last time. “I have something to ask you,” I said as he emerged from the trees.
“Then why would I do anything for you? ” Nate scoffed. “It’s a simple request. You don’t have to grant it, though I’d prefer it if you did.
But keep in mind that I intend to live my life far away from you even if you don’t. ”
“You mean you want to be with him? ” Nate sneered, disgust painting his features. “I do want to be with Daman,” I said truthfully.
“But he isn’t the reason why I want things to be over between us. I want nothing to do with you, even if it wasn’t for Daman. ”
Nate rolled his eyes in disbelief. “I would like you to reject our bond,” I told him.
“No. You don’t. ”
“I don’t think that’s because I still have feelings for you. I can’t break a mating bond because the separation will make you go feral, and you’ll end up killing me, and more importantly, anyone who stands in your way.
”
Nate blinked. “I wouldn’t kill you. Not you. ”
“Yeah, you would.
I’ve seen it happen with magic, and deep down, you know you would. Last time I broke our bond, you went so insane you were willing to go after Harry and Emma. ”
“Harry and Emma aren’t—”
“But you already hurt me. Multiple times.
And frankly, Nate, I’m done telling myself I deserve it. I don’t. Your issues aren’t mine to bear. You’re the one responsible for them.
”
He opened his mouth, ready to argue, but I cut him off. “And don’t try to bring up Eevee. I’m sorry about Eevee, I’ll never forgive myself for it, but me hurting her doesn’t earn you the right to hurt me for the rest of our lives. If that’s how you feel, then surely you understand why we can’t be together.
”
“Please reject our bond. I’m asking you to. Whether you do or don’t, this is the last time I’m ever speaking to you again. I’ll leave the choice up to you.
”
I turned and walked away without looking back, Damen’s hand sliding into mine. “Do you think he’ll do it? ” Damen asked, squeezing my hand. “I hope so,” I said uncertainly.
“But I meant what I said. If he doesn’t, it won’t change a thing. ”
Then I saw a familiar figure lingering near the woods, waiting passively: Iris, the witch who’d granted my wish weeks ago. She wasn’t paying attention to me, but she didn’t seem surprised as I appeared in her field of vision.
“Hello, Chloe,” she said. “Are you here to see me? ”
“No,” she replied, looking like she wasn’t going to add anything else. But because I remained in my place, she looked at me again and smiled.
“You’re still alive. That’s good. ”
“Maybe this is why I wanted to speak with you,” I confessed, the need to hear the words pulsing through me. “I think I may have found a loophole to escape my fate.
”
“Fate cannot be changed,” Iris shrugged, indifferent. “Though if you’re worried about your mate killing you, you shouldn’t be. It already happened. You simply don’t remember it.
”
I went rigid. “What? ”
“When do you think your redhead friend is going to make her wish? ” she asked, eyes on the horizon.
“If she doesn’t do it soon, I’m going to have to take drastic measures. ”
“Wait, what are you talking about? ” I asked, heart pounding. “You remember,” Iris said, turning to look me over.
“I’m sorry, but your friend is taking too long. I’m going to grant something she desires strongly enough without waiting for her to ask. I’m being rather pressured into it, you see. ”
“Please, don’t do anything rash.
I’ll speak to her, I promise,” I said, a cold sense of dread washing over me as I walked back towards the house. Damen noticed my haunted expression. “What was that about? ” he asked, patient concern painting his features.
I opened my mouth, but no words came. So I settled on the simplest thing I could: “I love you, you know? ”
A genuine smile graced his features. “I do know.
But it’s nice to hear it. ”
And then, a heavy weight lifted from my soul, making me feel dizzy and light, confused about just what happened before it clicked into place. “What just happened? ” I asked breathlessly, looking inward.
“I think Nate just rejected our bond,” Damen said, realization dawning across his face. I paused, waiting for the ache to come. For the grief of having a bond severed. But Damen pulled me into his arms, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
“You’re free, my Chloe,” he breathed against my skin. And to my amazement, the pain never came.
