Chapter 41 - Trinity POV
The sun hadn’t risen yet when I opened my eyes.
For a long moment, I didn’t move. My body still hummed with the echo of what we’d done in the dream—the heat of his skin, the weight of his breath, the way his voice had sounded when he said my name. Every inch of me still ached for him.
Zuri stretched inside me, lazy and sated. “That was... unexpected,” she murmured, her tone equal parts amused and tender.
“Unexpected?” I whispered back. “It felt real.”
“It was real,” she corrected softly. “Just not here.”
The smell of earth and pine reached me first. Malik’s scent lingered near the lake’s edge. I pushed myself up—and there he was.
Irune.
Shifted back, damp with dew, staring at the water like it held answers he couldn’t find.
“Couldn’t sleep?” I asked quietly.
He turned to me, and for a heartbeat, I saw the man from the dream—the same hunger, the same softness—but it vanished as quickly as it came. The Alpha was back behind his armor.
“Trinity,” he said, voice low. “We need to talk.”
I nodded and sat up, noticing a blanket folded near the tree. I reached for it and wrapped it around myself. He must’ve had someone bring it. “About the dream walking?”
“About everything.” He hesitated before sitting beside me. “When I left the packhouse... I left without telling you where I was going. Your mother dropped some heavy information on me, and I needed answers—from my mother.”
My stomach tightened. “Don’t tell me you went to your father’s pack lands.”
He nodded.
I swore under my breath. “Are you insane? That was suicide.”
He didn’t flinch. “We made it in and out without detection. Thanks to your mother, I now know that man is not my father. He killed my father. His lies run deeper than I ever imagined.” His jaw tightened, the muscle jumping. “Everything I thought I knew about my family—it’s poisoned.”
My heart twisted for him. I wanted to reach for his hand, but we were back in the real world now—no dream to blur the lines. “You did what you had to do.”
He looked at me then—really looked—and his voice dropped, rough with regret. “I should’ve told you where I was going. But I couldn’t risk you following me. My father’s spies are everywhere.”
“Like maybe Simone?” I said before I could stop myself.
His eyes darkened. “That seems to be everyone’s thought.”
“You disagree?” My pulse quickened. “She’s not who she pretends to be. She set me up to be attacked by rogues. I watched her give the signal.”
Irune’s eyes flashed, and for a heartbeat, Malik surfaced—furious and feral. “What do you mean she gave a signal?”
“They were waiting in the tree line the moment we stepped out of the packhouse. And that smirk on her face when she raised her hand? I’ll never forget it.” My blood burned just remembering it. “I should’ve snapped her neck and been done with it.”
He inhaled sharply. “She’s been close to me for years…” His voice turned bitter. “If she’s working for him, that means he already knows about you.”
He stared back at the water, jaw clenched. “That makes you leverage. My weakness. And he knows it.”
Silence settled between us, heavy and raw.
“What did your mother say?” I finally asked. “Did she have any insight?”
He hesitated, eyes shadowed. “Now more than ever, I don’t believe this curse is random, Trinity. My father—my uncle—didn’t just want power. He wanted control. He fears the prophecy. He fears my mark. He fears you. That’s why he hunts me. That’s why he wants me dead.”
His voice cracked on the last word, and for the first time, I saw not just the Alpha—but the man beneath.
“He’ll realize my mother is gone soon,” he continued. “Then he’ll come for her... and for us. He wants to rule over all supernaturals—with wolves at the top and everyone else as slaves. And I—” His throat bobbed. “I don’t know what to do.”
The hopelessness in his eyes broke something inside me. I stand before I could stop myself, my hands waving in the air. “We fight,” I said firmly. “We know who’s bringing the war. If my dreams are any warning, it’s coming here. So we prepare. We rally the packs. We bring in the witches, the vampires—anyone willing to stand against him.”
He looked up at me, something fierce and dangerous flickering behind his grief.
I look deep into his eyes, “But first, we find a way to break this curse, that is the only way we will be at full strength. And when it’s done—we fight for our future.”