Ash's POV
Damon was missing.
I stared at my phone for the hundredth time, reading his last message: Going to meet her. If I'm not back in an hour, something's wrong.
That was three hours ago.
"He's not answering," Kade said, pacing our suite like a caged wolf. "Neither is Ryker. Where the hell are they?"
"She separated us." My mind raced through possibilities. "Four different locations, four different times. Classic divide and conquer."
"We need to find them."
"We need to be smart." I grabbed my jacket. "If this is a trap, walking into it helps no one. We go to the formal dinner, we act normal, and we watch her. When she makes a move, we'll be ready."
"And if she's already killed them?"
The question hung in the air like poison.
"She won't kill them," I said with more confidence than I felt. "If she wanted us dead, we'd be dead already. She wants us to suffer. That means keeping us alive."
Kade's ice-blue eyes met mine. "Since when did you become the optimist?"
"Since we lost two of the Four in one night." I straightened my collar. "Come on. Let's go see what game she's playing now."
The Formal Dinner
The ballroom glittered with crystal and candlelight. Alpha families mingled, making deals and alliances while servers circulated with champagne. I scanned the crowd, looking for silver-white hair and violet eyes.
There.
Nyx stood near the far wall, talking to an omega server—the same one she'd defended on her first night. She smiled at something the girl said, and for just a second, she looked almost normal. Almost like the girl we'd known at the academy.
Then she turned and saw me watching. The smile vanished, replaced by something harder, colder.
She excused herself and walked toward the balcony.
An invitation.
"I'm going after her," I told Kade.
"Ash—"
"If she wanted me dead, I'd be dead." I repeated my own words. "Besides, you know me. I'm better at talking than fighting."
I followed her outside before Kade could argue.
The balcony was empty except for Nyx, leaning against the railing, her silver hair catching moonlight. She didn't turn when I approached.
"Where are they?" I asked.
"Who?"
"Damon. Ryker. What did you do with them?"
Now she turned, one eyebrow raised. "You think I kidnapped your friends? That's quite an accusation."
"They went to meet you. Now they're gone." I stepped closer, using every manipulation trick I'd ever learned. Keep the voice calm. Maintain eye contact. Show concern, not aggression. "If something happened to them—"
"You'll what?" She pushed off the railing. "Torture me? Oh wait, you already did that for three years."
"I know what I did. I'm not here to make excuses."
"Then why are you here?"
Good question. Why was I here? To find my friends? To understand this woman who'd turned our world upside down? Or because the mate bond was screaming at me to get closer, to touch her, to claim what was mine?
"I want to understand you," I said honestly.
She laughed—cold and bitter. "Now you want to understand me? Where was that curiosity when you were spreading rumors that I'd sleep with anyone for protection?"
The accusation hit like a slap. I'd forgotten about that—or tried to. Junior year at the academy, I'd started a rumor that Nyx was offering herself to senior alphas. It wasn't true, but it had spread like wildfire. By the end of the week, she couldn't walk down a hallway without being propositioned.
"That was cruel," I admitted. "I made you untouchable. Made sure no one would help you."
"Why?" Her violet eyes pinned me. "What did I ever do to you?"
"Nothing. You did absolutely nothing." The truth tasted like ash in my mouth. "I was engaged to a woman I'd never met. My family sold me just like yours sold you. And instead of dealing with it, I took my rage out on someone weaker." I met her gaze. "You were convenient. And I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't fix three years of hell."
"I know." I stepped closer, using the tactics that had always worked on everyone else. Lower the voice. Soften the expression. Show vulnerability. "But I need you to know something. Every cruel word I said? Every rumor I spread? It was because I couldn't stand seeing you accept your fate. You just... took it. You never fought back. Never screamed. Never broke."
"So you broke me yourself?"
"I wanted you to fight!" The words burst out. "I wanted you to show them all that they couldn't crush you. But instead, you just kept serving dinner and cleaning floors and letting us destroy you."
"I was surviving."
"You were giving up." I grabbed her arms—not rough, but desperate. "And it drove me crazy because I was giving up too. Accepting my engagement. Accepting my family's control. Accepting that I'd never have a choice." I pulled her closer. "We were the same, Nyx. Trapped by other people's decisions. And I hated you for reminding me of that."
For the first time, uncertainty flickered across her face. "You're good at this. Making it sound reasonable. Making yourself the victim."
"I'm not the victim. You are. I just want you to understand that I see you now." I touched her face gently, feeling the mate bond surge. "I see the girl who survived us. The woman who came back stronger. The omega who makes alphas kneel." My thumb brushed her cheek. "I see all of you, Ash Silvercrest. And you're magnificent."
She froze. "What did you call me?"
"Ash—" I stopped, realizing my mistake. "I meant Nyx. I meant—"
"You called me by your name." Her eyes narrowed. "Why?"
Because in that moment, looking at her, I'd seen myself. Seen the mask we both wore. Seen the pain we both hid behind pretty faces and careful words.
"Because we're the same," I whispered. "Both of us pretending to be something we're not. Both of us trapped. Both of us scared that if anyone sees the real us, they'll realize we're not worth loving."
A single tear slid down her cheek. Just one. But it was enough to shatter my heart.
"You don't know me," she said quietly.
"Don't I?" I wiped the tear away. "The charm, the confidence, the power—it's all armor. Just like mine. Because underneath, you're just as scared as I am."
"Scared of what?"
"That the mate bond is real. That we could actually be what we're supposed to be to each other. That maybe, despite everything, there's a chance we could—"
She kissed me.
Not like Damon described—desperate and angry. This was soft, testing, like she was trying to figure out if I was real. I kissed her back gently, letting her control it, letting her decide.
When she pulled away, we were both shaking.
"I hate you," she whispered.
"I know."
"I hate that I feel this bond. I hate that my wolf wants you. I hate that when you talk, part of me wants to believe you."
"I know."
"And I hate that you're right." She touched my face, mirroring my earlier gesture. "We are the same. Trapped. Pretending. Scared."
For once in my life, I had nothing to say. No manipulation, no charm, no carefully crafted words. Just raw honesty that stripped me bare.
"I see you too, Ash Silvercrest," she said softly. "The real you. The one who hides behind silver tongues and pretty smiles. The one who's drowning in expectations and can't figure out how to breathe." Her thumb traced my bottom lip. "And you're right. You are magnificent. Which makes this so much harder."
"Makes what harder?"
She stepped back, and the loss of contact physically hurt.
"Everything." She headed for the door. "Your friends are alive. For now. But Ash? Stay away from me. Because the next time we're alone, I might do something we'll both regret."
She left me standing there, my mind spinning, my wolf howling, my heart doing something I'd thought impossible.
Feeling.
Actually feeling something real for the first time in my life.
I pulled out my phone to text Kade, then stopped.
A new message from an unknown number: Your sister has your friends. Come to the old chapel alone if you want them back. Tell anyone and they die. –M
Morgana.
My sister had kidnapped Damon and Ryker.
Ice flooded my veins. Morgana worked for the Shadow Council. The same organization that had trained Nyx. Which meant...
"This was never about simple revenge," I breathed.
"No," a voice said behind me. "It wasn't."
I spun. Cain Valdis stood in the shadows, his grey eyes cold.
"Morgana has your friends. Nyx doesn't know—we kept this from her. The Council has other plans." He stepped into the moonlight. "Plans that require the Four to be eliminated. Permanently."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because Nyx is making choices we didn't anticipate. Getting attached when she should be destroying you." His expression hardened. "Consider this a courtesy warning. Get your friends and run. Or stay and watch everything burn. Either way, the Council gets what it wants."
He vanished back into the shadows, leaving me alone with an impossible choice.
Save my friends and abandon Nyx to the Council's manipulation.
Or stay and risk losing everyone.