Chapter 21 The Rogue's Offer (Ember's POV)
"You were sleepwalking." The words tumbled out as I stared at Trey's confused face. "Or sleep-talking. Or something. Your eyes were blank and you were saying things about blood and ash and..." I stopped, my voice breaking.
"What did I say?" He looked terrified. "Em, what did I say?"
"The father comes. The witch falls. The wolf kills what she loves." I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly cold despite the warm room. "You said death and birth, shadow and light. That I have to choose which world burns."
"Em." He reached for me, but I pulled back slightly.
"Your hand went to my stomach. Like you knew something was there." I touched the spot where his palm had pressed. "What does it mean?"
He ran his hands through his hair, looking rattled. "You're reading too much into this. It was probably just a dream. Stress from everything that's happening."
"Your eyes were open. You were sitting up. That's not how dreams work."
"Maybe I was having a nightmare and it bled through while I was half-awake." He stood, moving toward the window. "You're exhausted, I'm exhausted. We're both under incredible pressure. Our minds are playing tricks."
"Trey..."
"I should go." He glanced at his phone. "It's late, and if Knox finds out I snuck out again, he'll have my head. Plus you need rest."
"We need to talk about what you said."
"There's nothing to talk about." His voice was firmer now, almost dismissive. "It was just a stress dream. Don't let it freak you out, okay?"
He kissed my forehead quickly, then climbed back out the window before I could protest further. I watched him drop to the ground below and disappear into the darkness, leaving me alone with prophecies that apparently meant nothing.
Except they didn't mean nothing. I'd seen his face when I told him what he'd said. He'd been terrified before he shoved it down and pretended everything was fine.
I lay back on my bed, staring at the ceiling, replaying his words over and over.
The father comes. The witch falls. The wolf kills what she loves.
Sleep didn't come easy.
Saturday morning arrived with bright sunlight streaming through the window. Sage returned around eight, looking sheepish and still refusing to make eye contact when she mentioned Trey.
"I'm never getting over that," she muttered, pulling on jeans. "Every time I see him, I'm going to picture... nope. Not thinking about it."
"He feels terrible," I offered.
"Good. He should." But her lips twitched in an almost-smile. "Come on. Breakfast. I'm starving, and you need to eat something that isn't vending machine junk food."
The dining hall buzzed with typical Saturday morning energy. Students shuffled in wearing pajamas and hoodies, loading up on pancakes and coffee before settling in for weekend study sessions or heading home for the weekend.
Sage and I grabbed trays and found our usual table near the windows. Mika and Jessica were conspicuously absent, probably still angry about yesterday's game.
"So." Sage speared a piece of melon. "Want to talk about why you looked like you hadn't slept when I got back this morning?"
"Trey had a weird dream. Said some creepy stuff in his sleep."
"What kind of creepy stuff?"
Before I could answer, the dining hall went quiet.
Not the gradual hush of people noticing something interesting. The immediate, total silence of everyone sensing danger.
I looked up and my stomach dropped.
A man stood in the doorway. Early twenties, tall and lean with dark hair that fell across his forehead. He wore all black; jeans, t-shirt, leather jacket, and moved with the kind of confidence that didn't need to announce itself.
Handsome in a way that felt dangerous. Sharp cheekbones, full lips, and eyes so dark they looked black from a distance.
"Who is that?" Sage whispered.
"Trouble." I watched him scan the room.
Then his eyes found mine, and he smiled.
It wasn't a friendly smile. It was the smile of a wolf who'd finally cornered his prey.
He walked toward our table, and students scattered out of his path like he was carrying a disease. The few supernatural students who didn't move looked torn between challenging him and submitting.
"Ember Thorne." His voice was smooth, cultured. Not what I expected from a rogue wolf. "I've been wanting to meet you."
"I don't know you." I kept my voice steady despite my racing heart.
"Grimm Ashworth." He gestured to the empty chair across from me. "May I?"
"No."
He sat anyway, his smile widening. "I admire the spirit. Most wolves would have bared their throat by now."
"I'm not most wolves."
"No, you're not." His dark eyes studied me with unsettling intensity. "You're the Silver Wolf. The prophesied one. The girl who's going to change everything."
Sage shifted beside me, and I felt her power crackling just beneath the surface. Ready.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"To make you an offer." Grimm leaned back, completely at ease despite being surrounded by potential hostiles. "You're caught between packs that want to use you. Ravencrest wants you controlled. Silvermoon wants you to restore their dying bloodline. Your mate's family is giving him ultimatums, and eventually, they'll come for you too."
"How do you know that?"
"I make it my business to know things." He pulled an apple from his jacket pocket, biting into it casually. "The question is, what are you going to do about it?"
"That's my business."
"Not when it affects the entire supernatural world." He set down the apple, leaning forward. "Here's what I'm offering: join my pack. No prophecies, no politics. Just wolves living free. Your children would be gods among men, not pawns for bitter old men to manipulate."
"I'm not interested."
"You haven't heard the whole offer." His smile turned sharp. "I can protect you. Keep you safe from hunters, rival packs, and your mate's family when they inevitably decide you're too dangerous to live. All I ask in return is your loyalty."
"And what does loyalty mean to you?"
"Following my lead. Accepting me as your Alpha." He paused, and something hungry flashed in his eyes. "Eventually, bearing my children instead of Trey Jarred's."
Sage gasped. "You can't be serious."
"Perfectly serious." Grimm didn't take his eyes off me. "The mate bond is new. Breakable. Especially if the male in question is about to be exiled from his pack. Why tie yourself to a wolf who's losing everything when you could have one who's building something new?"
Movement near the entrance caught my eye. Trey stood frozen in the doorway, his expression murderous.
"I have a mate." I kept my voice level. "That's not negotiable."
"Everything's negotiable." Grimm followed my gaze, spotting Trey. "Ah. The Ravencrest heir himself. Come to defend your claim?"
Trey started forward, but stopped abruptly. I followed his gaze and my blood ran cold.
Throughout the dining hall, faces I'd barely noticed were standing. Twenty of them at least, scattered among the regular breakfast crowd. All wearing the same subtle marker, a silver bracelet on their right wrist.
Grimm's rogues. They'd been here the whole time, hidden in plain sight.
"I wouldn't." Grimm's voice was pleasant, but the threat underneath was clear. "My pack outnumbers yours here. Any violence would end badly for everyone."
"Get away from her." Trey's voice was pure Alpha command, but Grimm just laughed.
"Or what? You'll fight me? Here? In front of all these human witnesses?" He gestured around the dining hall, where confused human students watched the supernatural standoff without understanding it. "I don't think so."
Two of Grimm's rogues moved to block Trey's path. Not threateningly, just standing in his way with crossed arms and flat expressions.
"This is insane." Sage stood up. "You can't just walk into a school and recruit students for your pack."
"I'm not recruiting students." Grimm's eyes never left mine. "I'm offering the Silver Wolf a choice. Something no one else has bothered to give her."
"I don't want your choice."
He leaned closer, and I forced myself not to pull back. "You're trapped, Ember. Between prophecies that paint you as either savior or destroyer. Between packs that see you as property. Between a mate who loves you and a family that wants you dead. I'm offering freedom from all of that."
"By making me your pet wolf instead? That's not freedom."
"No." His expression turned serious, almost earnest. "By making you my equal. My partner in building something new. The old packs are dying, clinging to traditions that don't serve anyone. But we could create something better. A pack where power matters more than bloodlines. Where wolves choose their own path instead of following prophecies written by dead witches."
The words were seductive. I could feel them pulling at something deep inside me—the part that was tired of being everyone's weapon or prize or prophesied destroyer.
But I also felt the wrongness underneath. The manipulation dressed up as liberation.
"I'm not interested," I repeated.
"Think about it." Grimm reached across the table, and before I could pull away, his fingers brushed my cheek.
The contact sent a shock through me. Not the warm, right feeling of touching Trey. Something else entirely.
Power recognizing power.
My wolf surged forward, responding to the challenge in his touch. Wanting to submit. Wanting to fuck.
I jerked back, and Grimm smiled like he'd proven his point.
"You feel it too." His voice dropped to something intimate, private. "That pull. Not a mate bond, but something just as strong. We're the same, Ember. Wolves who don't fit in the boxes others have built for us. Wolves who could tear down the old order and build something better."
"I'm nothing like you."
"You're exactly like me. You just haven't admitted it yet." He stood, pulling a silver card from his jacket pocket. "When you're ready to stop being everyone's pawn, call me. I'll give you a world where you don't have to choose between love and survival. Where you can have both."
He set the card on the table in front of me. An address was embossed on it, nothing else.
"My pack moves frequently, but that location is always monitored. Come alone or bring your mate, I don't care. Just come before the prophecy eats you alive." He glanced at Trey, who was still blocked by two rogues. "And Jarred? When your family makes you choose between her and them, remember who offered her safety first."
Grimm walked toward the exit, and his rogues fell into step around him. They moved as a unit, coordinated and dangerous, filtering out of the dining hall like smoke dissipating.
The moment they were gone, the dining hall erupted in whispers.
Trey crossed the room in seconds, sliding into the chair Grimm had vacated. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"
"I'm fine." But my hand shook as I picked up the silver card, studying the embossed address. "He just made his offer."
"What kind of offer?"
"Join his pack. Leave everything behind. Let him protect me from everyone who wants to use me." I met Trey's eyes. "He said my children would be gods instead of pawns."
"Your children are already spoken for." Trey's voice was tight, controlled. "By me. By our bond."
"He said mate bonds can be broken."
"Not without killing one or both parties involved." Trey grabbed my hand. "Em, you're not seriously considering this?"
"No." The answer came automatically. "Of course not. He's manipulative and dangerous and probably crazy."
"But?"
I looked at the card again, feeling the weight of Grimm's offer. "But he's right about one thing. I am trapped. And everyone does see me as either a weapon or a prize. At least he's honest about wanting to use me."
"I don't want to use you."
"You want to save your pack from me. That's its own kind of using." I softened my tone at his hurt expression. "I'm not blaming you, Trey. But he's not wrong about the situation we're in."
Sage reached across the table, taking the card from my hand. "This is a trap. Everything about him screams manipulation."
"I know." I watched her turn the card over, examining it. "But what if he's the only one offering me actual choices instead of ultimatums?"
"Then he's a very good liar." She handed the card back. "Em, please tell me you're not going to go to this address."
I stared at the embossed letters, feeling the pull of Grimm's words. The promise of freedom. The seduction of power without prophecies.
"I don't know," I admitted. "I honestly don't know."
Through the windows, I caught a glimpse of Grimm and his rogues loading into vehicles. He looked back at the dining hall one more time, his dark eyes finding mine even from a distance.
Then he smiled, got in his car, and drove away.
Leaving me holding his offer and wondering if refusing it was the right choice or just the expected one.