Chapter 80
Elizabeth
The woman outside the gates smiles at me like she already owns me.
Lightning flashes again, illuminating the storm for half a second, and I finally see her clearly.
Tall.
Dark hair whipping wildly in the wind.
Black coat dripping rainwater onto the stone path beneath her boots.
And her eyes—
Gold.
Not human gold.
Not warm.
Predatory.
Ancient.
Dangerous.
A shiver crawls down my spine.
Beside her stand at least six others, all motionless in the rain like soldiers waiting for a command.
The wolves.
No one in the library moves.
The tension in the room becomes suffocating so quickly it feels hard to breathe.
Chloe slowly lowers the blanket from around her shoulders.
“Well,” she whispers nervously, “that looks horrifying.”
Damon’s face hardens into something cold enough to freeze the entire room.
“They found her too quickly.”
Adam steps closer to the window, jaw tight.
“The ritual exposed her energy.”
Vanessa looks sick beside me.
“This is my fault.”
“No,” Damon says sharply.
Everyone goes quiet.
Because his tone leaves no room for argument.
The storm outside intensifies, rain slamming violently against the mansion windows.
The woman at the gate still hasn’t looked away from me.
Not once.
Like she can already smell fear on me from across the grounds.
I hate that it works.
My pulse pounds harder.
“Who is she?” I ask quietly.
Damon’s expression darkens further.
“Trouble.”
Helpful.
Very informative.
Adam answers instead.
“Her name is Selene.”
Something about the way he says it makes my stomach tighten.
Even Chloe notices.
“Oh, that’s definitely a bad sign voice.”
Adam ignores her.
“She’s one of the wolf alphas.”
Vanessa’s eyes widen slightly.
“One of?”
Adam nods once.
“The wolves fractured into different packs decades ago. Selene leads one of the strongest.”
Outside, Selene slowly tilts her head.
Still staring at me.
The symbol on my hand suddenly burns beneath my sleeve.
Pain shoots through my wrist sharply enough to make me flinch.
Damon notices immediately.
His gaze snaps to me.
“She can sense the mark.”
Fear curls tightly in my chest.
“The key mark?”
“Yes.”
Fantastic.
Love that my body is apparently a supernatural GPS now.
Selene suddenly begins walking toward the gates slowly, boots splashing through puddles.
The wolves follow behind her instantly.
Not one of them speaks.
Not one of them hesitates.
Pure predator energy.
Chloe stands quickly.
“Okay, are we prepared for a wolf war situation because I personally am not emotionally ready.”
Damon closes the ancient book in his hands calmly.
Too calmly.
“No one is fighting tonight.”
The words surprise me.
Adam too, apparently.
His brows pull together slightly.
“She came here for a reason.”
“Yes,” Damon says coldly. “And I’d rather know what that reason is before blood starts covering my floors.”
The casual way he says that should not affect me as much as it does.
But there’s something terrifyingly attractive about how dangerous he sounds when he’s calm.
I hate it.
Truly.
Outside, the massive iron gates suddenly creak open on their own.
My stomach drops.
Nobody in the room moves.
Nobody breathes.
The wolves begin walking up the long stone path toward the mansion.
The atmosphere shifts instantly.
Like the house itself senses enemies approaching.
The candles flicker.
The ward symbols glow faintly beneath the walls.
Vanessa steps closer to me unconsciously.
“You okay?” I whisper.
She gives me a look.
“Absolutely not.”
Fair.
Very fair.
A loud knock echoes through the mansion moments later.
Three slow hits against the front doors.
Confident.
Deliberate.
Not the knock of someone asking permission to enter.
The knock of someone announcing their arrival.
Damon looks toward Adam.
“Stay with them.”
Then he walks out of the library.
And against every intelligent survival instinct I possess—
I follow him.
“Elizabeth,” Adam warns immediately.
Too late.
I’m already halfway into the hallway.
Because if supernatural politics are about to happen involving me, I refuse to sit in another room like a child while everyone hides information.
Damon reaches the foyer just as I do.
He glances back at me once.
Annoyed.
“You never listen.”
“Not when people keep secrets.”
His jaw tightens slightly.
Then the knocking comes again.
Damon opens the front doors.
Cold rain-scented wind rushes into the mansion instantly.
Selene stands there.
Closer now.
Much scarier now.
She’s beautiful in the same dangerous way Damon is beautiful—like something sharp pretending to wear human skin.
Her gold eyes slide past Damon immediately.
Straight to me.
A slow smile curves onto her lips.
“There she is.”
My stomach twists.
Damon shifts slightly in front of me.
Protective.
Subtle.
But definitely intentional.
Selene notices too.
Amusement flashes across her face.
“Well,” she says smoothly, stepping inside without invitation, “this is interesting.”
The wolves remain outside.
Watching.
Waiting.
Rain drips from Selene’s dark coat onto the marble floors as she slowly looks around the mansion.
“Still dramatic as ever, Damon.”
Damon closes the doors behind her quietly.
“What do you want?”
Straight to the point.
No friendliness.
No fake politeness.
Just tension.
Selene turns toward him slowly.
“News travels quickly in our world,” she says. “Especially when forbidden magic explodes across an entire city.”
Vanessa pales behind me.
Selene notices immediately.
Her eyes narrow slightly.
“Oh,” she murmurs. “So the witch is the one who cast it.”
Vanessa stiffens.
Chloe immediately moves beside her protectively.
Selene’s gaze returns to me.
“But she…” Her smile deepens faintly. “She’s something much more important.”
Every muscle in Damon’s body tightens.
“You will not speak about things you do not understand.”
Selene laughs softly.
“And you do?”
The temperature in the room seems to drop instantly.
Danger crackles between them like electricity.
Ancient hatred.
Ancient rivalry.
Selene steps closer.
Not to Damon.
To me.
My pulse spikes immediately.
Damon catches my wrist before she can reach me.
The contact sends heat rushing up my arm instantly.
His silver eyes flash dangerously.
“Careful.”
Selene’s gaze drops briefly to where Damon’s hand grips my wrist.
Then slowly lifts back to his face.
And suddenly—
She smiles.
Not amused.
Not mocking.
Knowing.
Oh no.
“You’ve bonded already,” she says softly.
Silence slams into the foyer.
Damon’s expression becomes deadly still.
I blink rapidly.
“What does that mean?”
Nobody answers me.
Which is getting incredibly irritating.
Selene laughs quietly at my frustration.
“He hasn’t told you?”
Damon’s voice turns razor sharp.
“Enough.”
But she ignores him completely.
Her golden eyes lock onto mine.
“You should ask him what happens to vampire mates during war.”
The word crashes into me.
Mate.
Again.
My heartbeat stumbles.
Damon’s jaw clenches so hard I can hear it.
Selene steps back finally, satisfaction flickering across her face.
“I didn’t come here to fight,” she says calmly. “I came to warn you.”
Adam appears in the hallway behind us now, tense and ready.
Damon doesn’t take his eyes off Selene.
“Warn us about what?”
For the first time since entering the mansion—
Selene’s expression loses its amusement.
Now she looks serious.
Almost concerned.
“The shadows weren’t the beginning,” she says quietly.
Fear slides coldly through my stomach.
“What do you mean?” I whisper.
Selene looks directly at me.
“The prison is weakening.”
Every nerve in my body goes still.
Rain pounds harder outside.
Thunder shakes the mansion windows.
And then Selene says the one thing that makes real terror settle into the room.
“They know the key has awakened.”