Truth and Consequences

Selene's heart hammered against her ribs as Dante's grip tightened on her arm. The mate bond buzzed between them like electricity, impossible to ignore.

"I don't know anything about rogues attacking your pack," she insisted, meeting his icy blue stare. "Why would I bring trouble to a place I just found?"

Dante's jaw clenched. "You expect me to believe you appeared on my territory the same night as an attack by coincidence?"

"Yes! I followed the pull—the mate bond—that's all!"

His eyes flashed dangerously. "Stop saying that."

Jace cleared his throat from the doorway. "Alpha, perhaps we should question her properly. In your office."

Dante released her arm but pointed at her face. "One chance. That's all you get."

Minutes later, Selene sat in a large office in the main house. The walls were lined with books and maps. A massive desk dominated the room, with a single photo frame turned away from visitors.

Dante paced like a caged animal while Jace leaned against the wall, arms crossed.

"Start talking," Dante ordered.

Selene took a deep breath. "I've been alone for ten years, since I left the Blackthorn Pack. Yesterday was my eighteenth birthday. I felt this... pull. Something I'd never experienced before. My wolf took over and followed it straight here."

"And the rogues?" Jace asked, his tone gentler than Dante's.

"I don't know them. I've avoided other wolves for years." She lifted her chin. "Who are they? What did they say about me?"

Dante and Jace exchanged a look.

"They mentioned a white wolf," Jace explained. "Said their leader wanted her alive."

A chill ran down Selene's spine. "Who's their leader?"

"They wouldn't say," Dante replied, studying her face carefully. "But three of my pack members are fighting for their lives because of you."

"That's not fair!" Selene stood up, fists clenched. "I didn't ask for any of this—not the attack, not being a rogue, not even..." She stopped herself.

"Not even what?" Dante challenged, stepping closer.

"Not even being your mate," she finished quietly.

The air between them crackled with tension. Dante's eyes darkened, and for a split second, Selene thought she saw longing flash across his face before the cold mask returned.

A knock interrupted them. Lyra entered, her face grim.

"The injured are stabilized," she reported. "But there's something else. A child was found wandering near the border."

"A child?" Dante frowned. "Human?"

"Wolf. A little girl, about seven years old." Lyra glanced at Selene. "She's asking for her sister."

Selene's blood turned to ice. "That's impossible," she whispered.

"She says her name is Ivy," Lyra continued. "Ivy Blackthorn."

The room spun around Selene. She gripped the desk to stay upright.

"My sister drowned ten years ago," she said, her voice breaking. "I watched her die."

"Yet she's sitting in my infirmary," Dante replied coldly. "Looking exactly as she did a decade ago. Care to explain that?"

Before Selene could answer, a commotion erupted outside. Shouts and growls filled the air.

Dante rushed to the window. "Another attack!"

Just then, the office door burst open. A small girl with tangled dark hair and haunted eyes stood there, flanked by two worried-looking pack members.

"She wouldn't stay put—" one began, but Dante silenced him with a look.

The little girl's eyes locked on Selene. "You left me," she said, her voice chillingly adult despite her small frame. "You left me to die, Selene."

Selene couldn't breathe. It was Ivy—exactly as she remembered her, not a day older. The same heart-shaped face, the same uneven pigtails she'd worn that fateful day by the river.

"Ivy?" she whispered, taking a step forward. "How is this possible? I saw you drown."

Ivy's eyes narrowed. "You let go of my hand. You let the water take me."

Guilt and confusion warred inside Selene. "I tried to save you. I dove in after you!"

"LIAR!" Ivy shrieked, her small body trembling with rage. "You ran away! You left me!"

Outside, the sounds of fighting grew louder. Dante turned to Jace. "Secure the perimeter. I want every available fighter at the north border."

Jace nodded and rushed out. Dante looked between the sisters, clearly torn between dealing with the attack and the strange reunion happening in his office.

"This isn't over," he warned Selene before turning to the pack members at the door. "Watch them both. Neither leaves this room."

As Dante strode out, Selene sank to her knees before her little sister. "Ivy, please," she begged. "Tell me what happened. How are you alive? How are you still—"

"Seven?" Ivy finished, a cruel smile on her childish face. "Magic, sister dear. Dark, powerful magic that kept me trapped while you built a new life."

Selene shook her head. "No, I never moved on. I've been alone, haunted by your death every day for ten years."

Something flickered in Ivy's eyes—doubt, perhaps. But it vanished quickly.

"He said you wouldn't want me anymore," Ivy said. "That you were happier without me."

"Who said that?" Selene asked. "Who's been keeping you?"

Before Ivy could answer, the windows exploded inward. Glass showered the room as dark shapes leaped through the openings. Three massive wolves, larger than any Selene had seen before, landed on the office floor.

The pack members guarding the door shifted instantly, lunging to protect Selene and Ivy, but they were quickly overwhelmed. One fell with a yelp, blood staining his fur.

Selene grabbed Ivy, pulling her behind the desk. "Stay down!"

One of the attacking wolves shifted into human form—a man with a scarred face and cold eyes. "Found you at last, little snowflake," he said, grinning at Selene. "Our Alpha will be pleased."

"What do you want with me?" Selene demanded, positioning herself in front of Ivy.

"You? Nothing." The man laughed. "It's the child we've come for. She belongs to us."

Ivy whimpered, clinging to Selene's leg. Whatever anger she'd shown moments before had vanished, replaced by terror.

"You can't have her," Selene growled, feeling her wolf rising to the surface, ready to protect her sister despite everything.

The man took a step closer. "We have orders to bring her back. Alive, preferably. You, however, are expendable."

One of the wolves circled around the desk, blocking their escape route. Selene felt trapped, her options disappearing by the second.

Suddenly, a familiar scent hit her nose—pine and winter frost. Dante.

A black blur crashed through the doorway, slamming into the scarred man with devastating force. Dante had returned, his wolf form massive and terrifying as he tore into the intruder.

The other rogues rushed to help their leader, giving Selene an opening.

"Run!" she shouted to Ivy, pushing her toward the door. But Ivy stood frozen, her eyes wide with fear.

As Selene turned back to the fight, she saw one of the rogues break away from Dante, lunging straight for Ivy with jaws open.

Without thinking, Selene threw herself in front of her sister.

Pain exploded across her shoulder as fangs sank into her flesh. She screamed, falling to the floor, blood spreading across her borrowed shirt.

Through blurring vision, she saw Dante tear into the wolf that had bitten her. The room filled with snarls and the copper scent of blood.

As darkness crept in from the edges of her sight, Selene felt small hands on her face.

"Selene?" Ivy's voice trembled. "Selene, don't leave me again."

Selene tried to answer, but nothing came out. The last thing she saw before consciousness slipped away was Dante's wolf standing over her protectively, blood dripping from his muzzle as he faced down the remaining rogues.

And in that moment, despite his denial of their bond, she knew one thing for certain—her mate had chosen to protect her.