Chapter 2

Warmth woke me.

I opened my eyes to a timber ceiling and the soft spill of moonlight through a window.

This wasn’t the Blackmoor manor.

"You’re awake.”

A low voice came from beside me. I turned my head and saw Lucian Torrino sitting at the edge of the bed.

He wore a black hunting jacket, sleeves rolled to his forearms, watching me with gentle eyes.

Everyone called him Enzo.

I’d seen him a few times at pack gatherings. He always watched me from a distance, never once approaching.

I’d assumed he belonged to one of Blackmoor’s vassal factions. I never imagined—

"You rescued me?” My voice came out hoarse.

He nodded and handed me a cup of warm water. “I’ve been watching over you in secret for a while now. I almost didn’t make it this time.”

I took the cup. My fingers wouldn’t stop trembling. The cold chamber had left my limbs frozen even now.

"Why?”

Why protect me?

He was quiet for a moment, then rose and walked to the window, his back to me. “Because you don’t belong to the Blackmoor pack. You belong to the faction I truly serve.”

My stomach dropped. “What do you mean?”

"Seraphina.” He turned to face me, his gaze steady. “I recently received word about your true bloodline. You are Nightbane.”

The cup slipped from my hand, water soaking the sheets.

Nightbane.

The Blackmoor pack’s ancestral enemy.

The blood feud between the two packs stretched back a hundred years. Countless wolves had died in the slaughter.

If I was Nightbane blood…

"You’re lying.” My voice shook.

Lucian came closer and set a folder on the nightstand. “Twenty-one years ago, the Nightbane pack’s youngest daughter went missing in the chaos. The timing, the location, the blood type—it all matches.”

I stared at the file, my heart hammering so hard I thought my ribs would crack.

"Why are you telling me this?”

"Because you deserve to know the truth. Because your real parents are waiting for you to come home.” He held my gaze, his voice low and steady. “And because you need a way out.”

A distant rumble cut through the air—the pack’s broadcast network echoing across the territory.

"The Blackmoor pack and the Ashcroft pack announce their alliance. Heir Kael Blackmoor and Ashcroft heiress Selene Ashcroft will undergo the Marking Ceremony…”

I turned toward the window. On the massive broadcast screen used for territory-wide announcements, the Blackmoor pack’s sacred grounds were on display—the site of the Marking Ceremony.

Kael stood in a black ceremonial suit, a striking she-wolf at his side, the two of them exchanging pack tokens.

His face was blank. Cold and detached.

This was how wolf packs forged alliances—a transaction of interests, an expansion of power.

Love had nothing to do with it.

"You see?” Lucian’s voice came from beside me. “Kael already has a new mate. He’s lost his memory. If you stay in Blackmoor territory, all that’s waiting for you is humiliation.”

I lowered my eyes, my fingers twisting the sheets.

He was right.

The Kael of today was no longer the man who’d been mad for me. Staying in Blackmoor territory meant nothing but endless torment.

And if I truly was Nightbane…

My head snapped up. “If I go back to the Nightbane pack, even if Kael recovers his memory, he can’t reach me.”

"Exactly.” A glimmer of approval lit Lucian’s eyes. “Blackmoor and Nightbane are blood enemies. As a member of a rival pack, Kael would never be allowed to set foot in Nightbane territory. The moment you return to your true pack, he can never touch you again.”

My heart pounded.

It was a possibility I’d never dared to imagine.

All this time, I’d thought my only option was to run—run to the ends of the earth, somewhere he’d never find me.

But did the ends of the earth even exist?

Six months ago, he’d made it perfectly clear: “You could run to the ends of the earth and I’d still find you.”

I believed him. Because he was Kael Blackmoor, heir to the Blackmoor pack.

Nowhere was safe—except enemy territory.

Before, fleeing to a rival pack would have been a death sentence.

But now…

"Can you help me? He has people watching me.” I looked at Lucian, and there was a plea in my voice I hadn’t meant to let through.

"Of course.” He leaned closer, his gaze warm. “Give me three days. I’ll arrange everything.”

Three days.

Just three days.

That night, Lucian brought me back to the Blackmoor territory.

He said leaving too soon would raise suspicion. What I needed was a perfect vanishing act—one that wouldn’t give the pack’s watchers time to react.

The carriage stopped at a side gate. He reached over to smooth my hair, disheveled from my injuries, and was about to say something when—

"What are you doing?”

An icy voice from behind.

I turned and saw Kael standing a few yards away, his gaze locked on Lucian’s hand in my hair.

I opened my mouth to explain, then swallowed the words.

Explain what? He didn’t remember me. To him, I was just a maid.

"Alpha.” I lowered my eyes. “I wasn’t feeling well. This gentleman gave me a ride back.”

Kael studied me in silence for several seconds, then turned and walked into the territory.

"Go make tea in the study.”

His voice was flat. Emotionless.

I answered with a quiet “yes” and followed him inside.

Behind us, Lucian’s carriage rolled slowly away.

Three days.

I repeated it in my head like a prayer.

Just three more days.