Chapter 4
984words
I walked back to the manor, Maya's concerned chatter fading into background noise. My mind was already three steps ahead, calculating possibilities.
The mysterious figure from Shadowfang hadn't followed the crowd's exodus.
I could sense him lingering at the edge of the courtyard, his presence like a steady pulse against my consciousness.
"Sienna, what was that about?" Maya grabbed my arm. "You can't seriously be planning to—"
"Leave me alone for a while," I said quietly. "I need some air."
Maya hesitated, then squeezed my hand. "Be careful."
I waited until her footsteps faded before turning back toward the courtyard.
He was still there.
Standing beneath the ancient oak where shadows gathered thickest, he watched me approach with those intelligent eyes that seemed to see too much.
Up close, he was taller than I'd realized. Broader. There was something about the way he held himself—controlled power, like a blade kept carefully sheathed.
"You handled that well," he said when I stopped a few feet away.
His voice was deep, steady. Not the polished tones of Pack nobility, but something more honest.
"Did I?" I tilted my head, studying him. "Most people would say I was cruel."
"Most people are fools."
The blunt assessment surprised a laugh out of me. "And you're not?"
"I try not to be." He stepped closer, and I caught his scent—pine, rain, something wild that made my wolf stir restlessly. "Though standing here talking to you might qualify."
"Why?"
"Because you're dangerous."
I felt my lips curve upward. "Am I?"
"You know you are." His gaze never wavered. "The question is whether you're dangerous to the right people."
Interesting. Very interesting.
"You're Damon Blackwood," I said. It wasn't a question.
He nodded once. "And you're Sienna Sterling. Though I suspect there's more to you than most people realize."
"What makes you say that?"
"The way you looked at Cassandra tonight. Like you knew exactly what game she was playing."
Smart. Observant. And clearly not fooled by surface appearances.
"Maybe I did," I said carefully.
"Maybe." He paused. "Or maybe you've seen that particular performance before."
My breath caught. There was something in his tone, a weight that suggested he understood more than he was saying.
"Have you been watching me?" I asked.
"For a while now." No hesitation, no shame. "You fascinate me, Sienna."
"Why?"
He was quiet for a long moment, his gaze searching my face. When he spoke again, his voice was softer.
"Because when I look at you, I feel... awake. Like I've been sleepwalking for years and you're the first thing that's felt real."
The words hit me like lightning.
This was it. The mate bond connection I'd never experienced in my previous life.
"Tomorrow's ceremony," I said carefully. "Things might get... complicated."
"I assumed they would." He smiled with a dimple on his right cheek, and it transformed his entire face. "What do you need?"
The simple offer, made without questions or conditions, nearly undid me.
"Help," I admitted. "There are things happening that most people can't see. Dark things."
"I know."
Two words that changed everything.
"You know?"
"About the magic around Cassandra? The wrongness that clings to her like smoke?" His expression hardened. "I've been tracking it for days."
"You can sense magic?" I asked, surprised.
"It's... a family trait," he said quietly. "One of the reasons they call me cursed. I see things others can't."
Relief flooded through me. Finally, someone who could see what I saw.
"Then you know what tomorrow really is," I said.
"A trap." His voice was grim. "The question is who's walking into it."
I smiled, feeling predatory and sharp. "That depends on how well we prepare."
"We?"
"Unless you have somewhere better to be tonight."
He studied my face for a heartbeat, then nodded slowly.
"Lead the way."
Together, we walked toward the Recognition Stone. The sacred site where tomorrow's ceremony would unfold lay bathed in moonlight, ancient power humming in the air.
"Tell me what you know about detection runes," I said quietly.
"Enough." He glanced at me sideways. "You?"
"More than I should." I knelt beside the great stone circle, running my fingers over symbols carved by pack founders centuries ago. "My grandmother taught me things before she died. Old magic. Forgotten magic."
"The kind that reveals truth?"
"Among other things."
I began tracing new patterns into the dirt, weaving them between the existing ceremonial marks. Damon knelt beside me, his presence steady and calming.
"This will show everyone exactly what kind of magic is being used tomorrow," I explained. "No hiding. No deception."
"And if any accident happens?"
I looked up, meeting his dark eyes. "That's where you come in."
Understanding flickered across his features. "You want me to be your insurance."
"I want you to be my partner."
The words hung between us, loaded with meaning that went far beyond tomorrow's ceremony.
He reached out slowly, his fingers brushing mine where they rested on the stone.
The moment our skin touched, the world exploded into sensation.
Power. Pure, overwhelming power that sang in our blood and set every nerve ending on fire.
The mate bond.
Not the twisted, artificial thing Cassandra had created with Ethan, but something ancient and real and absolutely right.
"Sienna," he breathed, his eyes wide with wonder.
"I know." My voice was shaky. "I feel it too."
The recognition settled into my bones like coming home after a lifetime of wandering.
This was why nothing had ever felt quite right before. This was what I'd been missing.
"Tomorrow," I said, forcing myself to focus. "After we expose them, they'll fight back."
"Let them." His hand tightened over mine. "We'll be ready."
I looked down at our joined hands, then at the runes taking shape beneath them.
Tomorrow, everything would change.
Again.
But this time, I wouldn't be facing it alone.
