Rowan sleeps, her breaths shallow but steady, and I sit in the chair beside her bed like a sentry carved from stone. I should move. I should pace the perimeter, snarl at Elias, and drag answers out of Iris with my bare hands. But I don’t. I can’t. Not when my mate looks like this—fragile, mortal, breakable in ways she doesn’t yet understand.
We let her get hurt.
My wolf’s growl vibrates through me, bitter and sharp.
I know.The admission scrapes out of me, rough even in my own mind.
This afternoon plays back in my mind—the moment she shoved me. Raw power bleeding through her veins, untamed and unchecked. She doesn’t grasp what that means yet, but I do. Energy like hers is both a gift and a curse. It can shield her, or destroy her, and I’ll be damned if the council gets their claws on it before she learnsthe difference.
For hours, I could barely speak, but taking care of her, keeping watch over her form while she rests without this weight over her, has helped to give me clarity.
She’s right about one thing. This is her choice, and I can’t make it for her, but I can prepare her. Pushing her so hard wasn’t easy on me, but knowing that this isn’t just about defending herself alleviates some of the guilt.
Rowan needs to know her strength. Until then, the chances of her losing control remains high. And if that happens…the prophecy might not just come true. It could consume us all.
Looking down at her, I know that changes very little for me. I’ll be by her side for as long as she’ll have me, no matter what choices she makes. I have none.
She’s my North Star now.
I rake a hand through my hair, staring at the window where dusk begins to edge the horizon. The other wolves are already restless. I can feel it in my bones. Especially Solara, my pack, splintered after I abandoned not only my seat on the council, but them as well. They deserved better from me, even when I thought I wasn’t good enough.
If I couldn’t protect my own mother, how the hell was I supposed to lead an entire pack? And working with the people I blamed for that loss? It was an impossible feat. But now there’s no outrunning it.
It’s time to do whatever it takes to keep Rowan safe.
Including becoming the alpha they’ve been waiting for.
She could be more than that,my wolf murmurs, histone softened to something close to reverence.She might be ours, but she’s also theirs, if this plays out the right way.
I grit my teeth. I know he’s trying to make me feel better, but I hesitate to accept all of this as easily as he has. Not because I don’t want her, but because more than anything, I do. Too much, in fact. It’s enough to make mistakes that could cost me more than I’m willing to sacrifice.
What do you mean,theirs?I press, though part of me already knows.
The prophecy states: For cursed and crowned she’ll ever be, until she chooses what to be,he replies.I’ve felt it since her first shift—her power isn’t just strong. It’s sovereign. She could be the Alpha Queen. Not just of Solara. Of them all.
The words land like steel in my chest. I close my eyes, fists clenching as the weight of it drags me down. This isn’t what I wanted to hear. But if the only alternative is her falling into darkness, I can’t deny this path for her.
Which makes me more certain than ever that training her isn’t just about survival. It’s about preparing her to carry the kind of responsibility that reshapes entire existences.
My gaze drifts back to her, bruised but still burning bright with that fire no prophecy, no council, no fate will ever be able to snuff out. She doesn’t see it yet. Not fully. But I do.
I only hope she’ll still let me stand beside her when it finally breaks free.
Because that truth is coming and soon.
Chapter 24
ROWAN
Waking is slow, like trying to swim through molasses. My body aches in ways I didn’t think possible, but nothing hurts like I expected after being used as a chew toy. Instead of teeth and terror, the first thing that hits me when I think back on yesterday isn’t the attack.
It’s Cade.
The way his whole body shook with rage. How he carried me like I mattered more than air. How he locked the world out and refused to let anyone near me.
So when I blink awake and findIrisof all people sitting beside me instead of him, my brain does a little crash-and-burn.
“Good morning, sugarplum,” she says, her grin wrinkling her entire face like a mischievous raisin. “How are you feeling?”
