Chapter 57 CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR PART TWO
Daemon rubs his throat, a small smile playing at his lips. "You're stronger than you look, little Luna. Good. You'll need to be."
"Why are you really here?" Marcus asks, his hand on his weapon. "Blood-wolves don't exactly advertise their presence. Yet you came straight to our territory the moment Alora stopped hiding."
"Because unmated blood-wolves can sense each other," Daemon says. "It's instinctive. Biological. Our kind is so rare that we're drawn together—" He pauses, his eyes on me. "Or we were. Until she bonded."
Through the bond, I feel Alex's understanding dawn. And his renewed rage.
"You felt her when she was unmated," Alex says slowly. "You were coming for her anyway. To claim her for yourself."
"To offer partnership," Daemon corrects. "Blood-wolves bonding with each other is far more stable than bonding with regular Alphas. No possessive madness. No isolation instinct. True equality." He looks at me with something like regret. "But you bonded before I could reach you. And now we're both paying the price."
"There is no 'we,'" I say firmly. "I'm bonded to Alex. That's not changing."
"Not even if the bond destroys you both?" Daemon tilts his head. "Not even if his possessive instincts escalate? Not even if the next crisis makes him lock you away completely?" He moves closer, and Alex tenses. "I can teach you how to maintain your independence within the bond. How to keep him from suffocating you with his need to protect. How to be partners instead of prisoner and jailer."
"Get out," Alex says, his voice deadly quiet. "Get out of my territory before I forget we're in front of our pack."
"I'll leave." Daemon pulls a card from his pocket, offering it to me. "But when his instincts overwhelm his reason again—and they will—call me. I'm staying at the neutral territory lodge, ten miles east." His crimson eyes hold mine. "You deserve to know what you're truly capable of, Alora. What you could be without a bond trying to diminish you."
"She's not diminished—" Alex starts.
"Isn't she?" Daemon gestures around the assembly hall. "Two days ago, she defied your direct command to heal these warriors. You forbade her from using her gifts, and she had to break your authority to save lives." He looks at Alex. "That's not partnership, Alpha Stone. That's control. And if you can't see the difference, you're already lost."
He leaves before Alex can respond, his guards escorting him out. The assembly hall erupts in whispers.
Through the bond, I feel Alex's turmoil. Rage at Daemon's presence. Fear that he might be right. And underneath it all, the possessive need to prove Daemon wrong.
To prove he's not controlling me.
Even though part of him knows he has been.
"Assembly dismissed," Elder Margaret says quickly. "We'll reconvene tomorrow to discuss training protocols for the Luna."
The pack files out, casting uncertain glances at us. When we're finally alone except for Marcus and Elder Margaret, Alex turns to me.
"Tell me you're not considering his offer," he says, and I hear the desperation underneath.
"I'm not." I move closer to him. "But Alex, he wasn't entirely wrong. You did try to control me. You did forbid me from healing—"
"And I've admitted that was a mistake—"
"Two days ago. After reading Sera's journal." I place my hand on his chest, feeling his heart race. "What happens next crisis? When your instincts tell you to lock me away for my own safety? Can you promise you won't try again?"
He's quiet, and through the bond, I feel his honest uncertainty.
"I can promise I'll try," he says finally. "I can promise I'll remember what the journal said. But my instincts..." His hands frame my face. "My instincts are always going to scream at me to protect you. That's not going away."
"I know." I cover his hands with mine. "And I'm not asking you to ignore your instincts. I'm asking you to trust that I can protect myself. That we're stronger fighting together than we are with you trying to keep me safe."
"I do trust that. Now. After seeing you heal those warriors." His forehead rests against mine. "But Daemon was right about one thing. The next crisis will test that trust. And I don't know if I'll be strong enough to let you face danger."
"Then we'll figure it out together," I say. "But Alex, I'm not calling Daemon. I'm not looking for an escape from our bond. I'm looking for a way to make it work."
"Even if it's harder than bonding with another blood-wolf would have been?"
"Even then." I kiss him softly. "Because I chose you. I choose you. And that's not changing just because some other blood-wolf shows up and suggests there's an easier way."
Through the bond, I feel his relief. His love. And underneath it, his lingering fear that Daemon might be right.
That the bond might still destroy us.
Even with Sera's guidance and the best intentions.
"We should see those other journals," Marcus says quietly. "If Daemon has more of Sera's writings, we need them."
"Which means dealing with him again," Alex says, his jaw tight.
"Which means I deal with him," I correct. "He came here for me. He'll talk to me."
"Absolutely not. You're not meeting with him alone—"
"See?" Elder Margaret's voice is gentle but firm. "This is exactly what Daemon was talking about, Alpha Stone. Your instinct to control who she sees, who she talks to. You need to fight that."
Alex's hands clench into fists, and through the bond I feel his struggle. He knows they're right. But every instinct is raging against it.
"I'll go with her," Marcus offers. "As protection, not control. Daemon won't try anything with me there."
"And I'll go too," Elder Margaret adds. "As council witness. We need those journals, Alpha Stone. Even if getting them means letting your mate negotiate with another blood-wolf."
Through the bond, I feel Alex's agony. This is exactly what Daemon predicted—a situation where his protective instincts war with what's best for the pack.
"Fine," he says finally, the word torn from him. "But if he so much as looks at you wrong—"
"You'll hear about it through the bond," I finish. "And then you can tear him apart. But Alex, we need this information. We need to understand what we're facing in three weeks when six packs attack."
"I know." He pulls me against his chest, and I feel him shaking. "I know. But every instinct I have is screaming that this is a trap. That letting you near him is dangerous."
"Then trust me to handle the danger," I say against his chest. "Trust that I'm strong enough to deal with one smug blood-wolf who thinks he knows better than us."
"I do trust you." His arms tighten. "It's him I don't trust. And it's my instincts I don't trust. Because right now, they're telling me to lock you in our room and never let another male near you again."
"But you won't," I say firmly. "Because you're stronger than your instincts. Because you choose to be my partner, not my jailer."
Through the bond, I feel his determination. His choice to trust me even when it tears him apart.
But I also feel his doubt.
His fear that next time, his instincts might win.
And we both know Daemon is right about one thing—there will be a next time.
The question is whether Alex can keep choosing partnership over possession when that time comes.
Whether our bond is strong enough to survive not just external threats, but the internal war raging inside my mate.
A war between the man who loves me and the wolf who needs to control me.
And I have no idea which side will win.