Chapter 105 The Offer
Lia
I woke to an empty bed.
For a moment, panic seized me, had Kai left? Had last night been a dream, that fragile reconnection already shattered?
Then I heard voices from the adjacent room. Low, tense, arguing.
I pulled on clothes and moved to the door, pressing my ear against the wood.
“…insane if you think I'm letting her anywhere near him after yesterday." Kai's voice, raw with barely controlled fury.
"You don't get to let her do anything." Theron's response was ice. "She's not your property, despite how hard you've tried to make her one."
My hand was on the doorknob before I consciously decided to intervene.
They stood facing each other across Kai's private study, close enough that one wrong word would turn this into another brawl. Viktor stood between them, hands raised in a peacekeeping gesture that looked increasingly futile.
"Gentlemen," I said, and all three heads snapped toward me. "Either kill each other or explain what the hell is going on. I'm too tired for the posturing."
Theron's expression shifted when he saw me, something hungry and desperate that made my skin prickle with awareness. "Lia. Thank god. I need to speak with you. Privately."
"No fucking way," Kai started.
"Yes," I cut him off, watching his face transform with betrayal. "Five minutes, Theron. In the hallway. Kai and Viktor can stand guard if it makes everyone feel safer."
"Lia…"
"Five minutes," I repeated, my voice hard. "I'm not fragile glass that breaks from a conversation."
Kai's jaw worked, but he nodded stiffly.
The hallway was cold, pre-dawn light barely filtering through narrow windows. I crossed my arms, putting physical distance between Theron and myself.
"Talk. Fast."
"The Circle isn't waiting three days." Theron's words came rapid-fire. "My scouts just confirmed…they're mobilizing now. They'll hit Silvercrest by nightfall instead of later this week."
My stomach dropped. "How many?"
"Every estimate we had? Double it. They've called in allies we didn't know existed. We're looking at five hundred warriors, maybe more." His silver eyes held mine. "Silvercrest falls tonight unless we do something drastic."
"Define drastic."
"Come with me. Now. We evacuate civilians, set traps, use your power to…"
"To what, Theron? Break five hundred bonds and die in the process?" I shook my head. "We've been over this."
"Not like this." He stepped closer, and I forced myself not to retreat. "I'm not asking you to sacrifice yourself. I'm asking you to let me help you survive what's coming. Because Lia, it's not just Silvercrest anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"The Circle sent a message. They're offering terms." His voice went hollow. "Surrender yourself for 'study' and they spare Silvercrest. Refuse, and they kill every hybrid in my territory. Men, women, children…everyone."
The world tilted. "They're using your pack to get to me."
"Yes."
"And you came here to ask me to turn myself in."
"No." Theron's hands clenched into fists. "I came here to ask you to run. With me. Disappear so completely the Circle loses their leverage. Silvercrest evacuates, we scatter to the winds, and we all survive to fight another day."
"That's not running." I studied his face. "That's you asking me to leave Kai. Permanently."
"I'm asking you to save yourself instead of letting two Alphas' egos destroy you." His voice dropped to something intimate, urgent. "You felt it yesterday. That kiss. The possibility of something easier. Lia, I can give you a life where you're not constantly fighting for scraps of autonomy. Where your power is celebrated, not feared. Where…"
"Where I betray my mate and my pack to run away with you?" I stepped back. "You're delusional."
"Am I? Or am I the only one being honest about what you need?" Theron's expression hardened. "Kai will cage you again. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but the moment he gets scared enough, he'll choose control over trust. And you'll let him because you've convinced yourself that suffering for love makes it more real."
"Get out."
"Lia…"
"I said get out!" My wolf surged, and I felt my eyes flash silver. "You don't get to kiss me, then demand I abandon everything I've built here. You don't get to use your pack as emotional blackmail. And you sure as hell don't get to tell me what I need."
"I'm trying to save your life."
"No. You're trying to steal it." I moved to the door. "You have until dawn to leave Feril territory. After that, guards have orders to treat you as an enemy combatant."
His face went cold. "You're making a mistake."
"Then it's mine to make." I yanked open the door. "Goodbye, Theron."
I stepped into the study before he could respond. Kai stood there, and from his expression, he'd heard everything.
"You told him to leave," Kai said, something like wonder in his voice.
"Of course I did. He was trying to manipulate me into running away with him while using his pack's danger as leverage." I crossed to Kai. "Did you really think I'd go?"
"I..." He swallowed hard. "I don't know anymore. Part of me keeps waiting for you to realize he's the better option."
"He's not." I took Kai's hands. "He's the easier option. There's a difference."
Before Kai could respond, Viktor's radio crackled to life.
"All units to the western border. NOW. We have incoming."
Kai and I exchanged a look.
"How many?" Kai demanded into his own radio.
The response made my blood turn to ice.
"All of them, Alpha. The Circle's entire force. They're not hitting Silvercrest."
"They're hitting us."
The western border was chaos.
Hundreds of wolves poured from the forest, not in organized ranks but in a frenzied swarm. The Circle had sent everything they had, and they weren't aiming for territory or resources.
They were coming for me.
"DEFENSIVE POSITIONS!" Kai roared, already shifting. "Protect the pack house!"
But there were too many. Even with every warrior we had, we were outnumbered three to one.
I watched wolves fall. Watched our lines break. Watched the enemy surge forward like a tide.
And I felt it—that terrible choice crystallizing.
Run, and my pack died.
Stay and fight normally, and my pack died.
Or use my power. All of it. Every bit of Silvermane ability I'd been holding back.
"Lia, fall back!" Viktor grabbed my arm. "Get to the safe room!"
"No." I pulled free, my decision made. "Get everyone behind me. Now."
"What are you…"
"DO IT!"
Something in my voice made him obey. He started pulling warriors back, creating a corridor between me and the approaching army.
Kai's wolf appeared at my side, bloodied but alive. Through the bond, I felt his question, his fear, his desperate desire to protect me.
"Trust me," I whispered. "Please. Just trust me."
Then I let my wolf fully emerge.
Not the hybrid form. Not the controlled transformation. This was something older, deeper, the full power of a Silvermane Luna who'd stopped apologizing for what she was.