Chapter 42 The Mate’s Claim
"There has to be something." Derek's voice cracked. More raw than it had ever been. The sound of a heart splitting open. Desperation hung in the air, thick and suffocating, like a storm cloud refusing to break. "Anything."
Moira did not speak at first. The silence between them stretched. Heavy with something ancient and painful.
When she finally did speak, her tone was grave. The low, worn-out voice of someone who had seen too much of life and not nearly enough mercy. Her eyes, pale and almost translucent, held a depth of knowledge that felt endless. As if she were peering through time itself.
"There may be a way. But it's dangerous. For both of you."
Derek's entire being sharpened at that. His posture, though exhausted, straightened. His wolf stirred beneath his skin. Claws scraping desperately. He stepped closer.
"I don't care about danger. Tell me."
Moira exhaled. Her fingers brushing against the roots of the old elderwood tree beside her. A silent prayer perhaps.
"The mate bond. If claimed fully, it can share life force. Transfer essence from one to another."
For a heartbeat, Derek did not react. Then his head snapped up. His eyes burned with sudden, blazing hope. It hit him like lightning.
"Then that's what we do."
Moira shook her head. The faintest tremor in her hands as she reached out and clasped his shoulder. Her touch was surprisingly firm.
"It's forbidden. An Alpha's essence is not meant to be shared. It is the core of your power, Derek. Your strength. Your leadership. Giving it away could weaken you permanently."
She paused. Barely above a breath. "Or kill you both."
But Derek didn't flinch. Didn't even blink. His answer was immediate. Solid, unbreakable steel.
"I don't care. Tell me how."
Beside him, Victor stirred. The older Alpha was pale. Beads of sweat clinging to his skin. The silver poison still worked through his veins like acid.
But the moment he heard their voices, heard the weight in them, he fought through the pain just to speak. His voice was rough. But strong.
"Do it, son."
Derek's expression wavered. His composure cracked for a moment as he knelt closer.
"Father, you need rest."
Victor's hand, weak but steady, found his arm. His fingers tightened. Fueled by nothing but love and urgency.
"And you need to save her." He rasped it. "She's your true mate. Not because of politics or prophecy. Because you chose each other. Destiny has already spoken."
Those words settled deep into Derek's chest. His heart clenched. He turned his gaze toward Amanda.
She looked so still. Too still. Her skin was pale in the soft dawn light. Her hair was matted with dirt and blood. Her chest rose only barely. So faintly it made him ache to look at her.
This was the woman who had given everything. Who had pushed past her limits again and again to stand beside him. To save him. To believe in him when he'd stopped believing in himself.
Love, sacrifice, courage. She had given it all.
And he had nothing left to offer but everything.
"What do I do?" He asked. Voice barely audible. Every word was pain. Every breath an effort.
Moira stepped closer. Her presence commanding the space.
"The claiming ritual is ancient. Older than the packs themselves. It requires the purest act of devotion. You must offer your blood. Your essence. Your very life force. And she must accept it."
Derek looked sharply at Amanda. His heart pulled tight.
"She's unconscious. How can she accept it?"
"Her wolf will know. The bond will recognize. If she truly is your mate, her soul will respond."
That was all Derek needed.
He didn't hesitate. Didn't let fear even whisper in his mind. He brought his wrist to his lips. His fangs extended. Sharp as moonlight, dangerous as prophecy.
His wolf surged forward as he bit down. Drawing blood. Warm, rich, and pulsing with Alpha power.
Drop by drop, his blood fell onto Amanda's lips.
Her mouth remained still. Lifeless. But something in him refused to believe she couldn't hear him.
"By blood, I bind us." His voice was quiet, but every word seemed to echo. Vibrating through the grove like a spell. "By will, I claim you. By heart, I choose you."
His free hand hovered, then lowered to her chest. His fingers spread over the spot where her birthmark hid beneath her skin. Where her power had once burned like a sun.
"You are not my burden." The words came from somewhere deep inside him. A place older than himself. Older than his wolf. "You are my destiny. I claim you, now and forever. My Luna. My mate. My everything."
And then it happened.
The world seemed to stop.
Power flared between them like the sun bursting into existence. A pulse of blinding golden light erupted from their joined hands. So bright it chased shadows away like cowards. Heat followed. Hot enough to sear through the air. To burn the soil beneath them. To scorch the memory of death from her body.
The mate bond snapped into place with a force that stole Derek's breath.
It struck like lightning. Sudden and absolute.
From that moment, they were no longer two souls separated by flesh and fate.
They were one.
Derek felt the connection slam through him. He felt her heartbeat. Weak but persistent. Felt her pain, her fear. Her lingering spark of life clinging stubbornly to existence.
He closed his eyes and reached deeper. Pouring into her everything he had. His strength. His power. His essence.
His life.
The grove fell silent. Not a single warrior dared to move. The silence was reverent. Sacred. Every eye witnessed something that had not happened in generations. Perhaps had not happened at all in living memory.
"More." Moira murmured. Her voice trembling. Tears glistened in her eyes. "Give more. She needs everything you have."
Derek's body shook. His heartbeat faltered. His lungs burned. But he did not stop. Could not stop.
He dug deep. Deep into the bond. Into his power as the silver wolf. The ancient Alpha blood that had awakened, roaring like a storm through his veins. Every shred of it he offered willingly. He gave to her now.
His breathing grew ragged. The edges of his vision blurred.
He was dying.
"Derek, stop!" Riley's voice broke. Sharp and terrified. "You'll kill yourself!"
He barely heard her. His voice was a breath. A vow.
"Then I die. Better than living without her."
And then everything changed.
The light grew brighter. So bright that even the sun would've seemed pale in comparison. It pulsed like a heartbeat. Like the heartbeat of the world. The power was ancient. Primal. It recognized something in them. The forgotten bloodline meeting the silver wolf. History shifting itself in real time.
And Amanda reacted.
Her back arched. Her body lifting off the earth as if pulled by invisible threads of power. Light burst through her skin. From her birthmark. Her chest. The tips of her fingers. It wasn't just power.
It was rebirth.
Victor watched. Tears streaming down his face.
"Catherine." He whispered through broken breath. "I wish you could see this."
Riley gripped Owen's hand so tightly her knuckles were white.
"Come on, Luna." Owen whispered. Tears shining in his eyes. "Come back to us."
Moira's lips moved in quiet prayer. Words so ancient they didn't exist in any written language. A blessing, perhaps. Maybe a plea.
The light reached its peak. Blinding, holy, devastating in its beauty. Every tree in the grove bent toward it. Drawn like worshippers to their goddess.
And then Amanda gasped.
Air filled her lungs in a desperate, shuddering breath. Her heart hammered back to life. Powerful. Renewed. Unstoppable.
Her eyes flew open.
Not brown. Not human.
Gold.
Pure. Radiant. Divine.
She sat up. Power rolling off her in visible waves. It crackled in the air. Danced across her skin. Every inch of her glowed with strength. Not just restored. Transformed.
Derek collapsed.
The last of his strength gone. His essence given. His purpose fulfilled.
But he was alive.
Amanda caught him before he hit the ground. Her arms wrapped around him. Trembling, but strong. It was the first time she had ever held him like this since they were forced into marriage. A union they had both once resented.
She pulled him close. Cradling him against her chest as if he had always belonged there.
Her lips brushed his forehead. Their foreheads pressed together. Their breaths mingled in the quiet between them.
They didn't need words. The mate bond between them was no longer a distant tension or an unspoken truce.
It was real.
It was everything.
A shiver ran through him. He pressed closer. Their connection thrumming like a heartbeat that belonged to both of them.
"I can feel you," she whispered. Awe threading every syllable.
He lifted a trembling hand to her cheek. Eyes locking with hers. No words could capture what they shared. They were one.
But even in that perfect closeness, an unspoken truth lingered at the edge of their hearts. Waiting to test them.