It shatters around me, tiny shards catching moonlight as I crash boots-first into the room. The curtains whip back in a dramatic flourish, and a scream pierces the air—sharp and startled—but it barely registers.
I land in a crouch, breath controlled, eyes already scanning. One heartbeat, then two.
There she is.
But it’s not her who greets me first.
Iris, the old woman who has run this manor for far too many years, stands there in a robe, looking every bit as pathetic as I believe her to be.
She holds a crossbow to her shoulder, the silver-tipped arrow aimed at my heart.
I take a step forward, but stop cold as I make the mistake of meeting the stare of the hybrid.
Mate.
The word isn’t mine. It’s my wolf’s, rasping through me with quiet devastation.
Time slows. Her scent—wild jasmine and summer rain—hits me like a memory I never lived. My knees nearly give out. Every instinct I’ve buried roars to the surface, not with lust, but with something worse: need.
And just as quickly, revulsion crashes in. Because this isn’t fate. This is a curse with a name.
And just like that, my entire world fractures.
This is so much worse than I could have imagined because, as furious as I might be, I know one absolute truth.
I’ll never let anyone harm her. Prophecy be damned.
My chest burns as I take rapid, painful breaths. My gaze remains locked on my mate, and it takes every ounce of strength I have to stay upright.
She stands there, wide-eyed and far too beautiful for someone who is supposed to be a walking curse. Golden-brown hair spills loose around her shoulders, wild and untamed, catching the dim light like strands of fire. Her bluish-green eyes are fierce and vulnerable all at once. There’s a stubborn tilt to her chin, a defiance that makes her seem taller than she is, like she’d challenge the world itself before bowing to it.
Power radiates from her skin, subtle and raw, clinging to her like the scent of rain before a storm. My chest tightens painfully as her presence wraps around me like a noose.
And still, even in that moment, with fear and confusion etched across her face, I can’t stop thinking—she is the most devastating thing I’ve ever seen.
Thehybrid.
The prophecy.
The Ashmark.
She’s all I’ve hated for so long.
“You didn’t make a reservation, Cade.” Iris’s voice slices through the static in my skull. “I think it’s time you leave.”
“Mine.” I don’t mean to say the word out loud, but I also don’t regret it.
“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Iris doesn’t even blink as she shifts her stance, placing herself firmly between me and the girl I came to eliminate. “Rowan doesn’t understand this world yet. Give me an hour—just one damn hour to explain?—”
I blink, and just like that, my fury is back. What does she mean this woman doesn’t understand what she is? I can sense her wolf even now.
This isn’t right. Everything about this iswrong. The roar that bursts from deep within me shakes the entire room. Damn it, how can this be real?
“What did you do, Iris?” I snarl. “The prophecy?—”
“You don’t think I realize that, furball?” Iris’s eyes turn to fire as she faces me without an ounce of fear pulsing from her. “She’s my granddaughter, and I’ll protect her with everything I have left. Even from you. Prophecies and death threats be damned. Now get the hell out before you break every law we have left.”
“I don’t give a damn about our laws.” There’s an ache in my voice I don’t mean to let slip through. “They’ve neverservedme.”
