The carriage was too small for this. No, that wasn’t it. Damien was just too much.

We had been travelling for nearly an hour now, winding deeper into Nightclaw’s inner territory. I had expected the ride to be shorter, but I hadn’t accounted for the sheer size of the pack’s domain. Damien’s private residence wasn’t within walking distance. It wasn’t even close. It was out past the main compound, tucked away where few ever ventured, a place meant to keep him apart.

His warmth pressed into my space, his presence a quiet force that thickened the air, crowded my senses, settled beneath my skin. He was seated beside me now, not across from me where he had been before.

What the hell was he doing?

I should have said something. Should have shoved him away, or made some sarcastic remark about his complete disregard for personal boundaries. But my tongue felt heavy, my pulse unsteady, and all I could do was stare at him.

“Why are you doing this?” I managed, my voice quieter than I intended.

Damien didn’t answer immediately. He just watched me, eyes searching, scrutinizing, my soul like he had some right to it.

“You tell me,” he murmured.

I let out a sharp breath, tearing my gaze away from his. This was absurd.

“This is ridiculous.”

“You always do that,” he said way too calmly.

I frowned. “Do what?”

“Deflect.”

I scoffed, arms crossing tight. “And you don’t?”

He didn’t react. Of course he didn’t. Just sat there, unreadable as ever, while I was coming apart at the seams.

Frustration curled through me, twisting tight. “This doesn’t make sense,” I muttered, more to myself than to him. “We—this isn’t’” I stopped, shaking my head. “You don’t even like me.”

Damien’s brow lifted slightly, like that statement amused him. “I don’t?”

I exhaled sharply, running a hand through my damp hair. “You’ve spent years acting like I’m just some reckless obligation you got stuck with.”

“I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to. Actions, Damien.”

His jaw tightened, and for a second, I thought he was going to let it go like he always did—stay distant, stay untouchable, leave things unsaid. But instead, he surprised me.

“You think I don’t care about you?” he asked.

I hesitated. I knew how to handle Damien when he was cold, dismissive, silent. But this? This I didn’t know what to do with.

Suddenly, all the things I had imagined I would say to him in a moment like this vanished completely. I didn’t even know where to begin. Like, what that was with Kael and Marrick back in City Hall, if they knew, if he knew. Had Damien always known? Had he known how I felt this whole time and just ignored it?

I swallowed hard. “I don’t know what to think.”

His fingers twitched. “You do,” he said. “You’ve always known.”

Something about that assumption irritated me. How the hell was I supposed to know something he never said? What did he think I was, a mind reader?

The way he was looking at me now, the way his voice had dropped just enough to sound like a confession”

No, I couldn’t do this. Not here or right now. Not with him so damn close, and me completely off balance.

The carriage hit a dip in the road, jolting us slightly, but I barely felt it over the thunder in my veins.

Outside, the rain had slowed to a drizzle as we neared his private estate. The road had wound through the dense forest, secluded, quiet and familiar. We weren’t far now.

I needed to get out of here. Needed air that wasn’t thick with his scent, air that didn’t feel like him. I needed to clear my head, to put some distance between us before I did something reckless.

Like kissing him.

The thought alone made my pulse stutter.

I shifted, moving away from him to the seat he’d abandoned on the other side. My fingers curled around the carriage door handle. We were still moving, but I could make it.

Damien noticed instantly. His eyes darkened. “Luna.” His voice carried a warning.

But I ignored him, and he should have seen that coming. The moment the carriage slowed for the turn, I shoved the door open and jumped.

The ground was slick from the rain. My boots skidded, my balance nearly lost. I hit the earth in a crouch, knees stinging from the impact. I didn’t pause. I straightened, inhaled sharply, and ran.

Behind me, the carriage screeched to a halt.

“Luna!” Damien’s voice tore through the trees, but I didn’t stop.

I bolted into the woods, feet pounding against wet earth, the trees blurring past in streaks of shadow and rain. The darkness swallowed me whole.

I knew exactly where I was going. My brooding neck of the woods close to the east wall.

The small stretch of woods behind the Nightclaw compound. A place where the stars peeked through the canopy and everything felt quieter.

Shifting was effortless. My wolf took over in a rush of silver rey fur, claws digging into the mud, muscles stretching with newfound freedom. My paws hit the ground with a satisfying thud as I surged forward.

The rain was a welcome distraction.

It soaked into my fur, dripping from my ears, my snout. It felt good in a way I hadn’t expected, like a cleansing. As if I could wash away everything, if only I ran fast enough.

Eventually, I slowed, my breath steadying, the storm quieting into a steady rhythm against the leaves.

“Smooth getaway.”

I flinched. Spinning sharply, I found Lyra leaning against a tree a few feet away, arms crossed, her smirk damn near infuriating.

I shifted back into human form, wiping soaked strands of hair from my face.

She looked unbothered. Effortless, even in this downpour. Her dark brown skin glowed in the muted light, and her long red hair, drenched and tangled, still managed to look deliberately styled rather than messy. Somehow, Lyra always made chaos look chic.

Her golden eyes watched me with that coolness about her that made people instantly trust and confide in her. It was why she and Marrick worked. Her patience to balance his temper. Lyra was calm where he was rage. Steady where he was impulsive. That was not to say she didn’t have a temper or was not impulsive.

I groaned, dragging a hand down my face. “Not now, Lyra.”

“Oh, absolutely now.” She stepped closer, grin widening. “I just watched you launch yourself out of a moving carriage to escape Damien, so forgive me if I’d like some context.”

Her black leather jacket was drenched, rain cascading off it in sleek rivulets. And yet, somehow, she still looked effortlessly put together.

I, on the other hand, was standing there like a half-drowned idiot. I exhaled sharply, shaking my head. “It’s not’”

I stopped, because hell if I even knew what it was.

My jaw clenched. My thoughts tangled. “I don’t know what it is.”

Lyra’s smirk faded slightly, curiosity flickering behind her sharp, golden eyes. “Luna.”

I shot her a glare. “What?”

Her gaze narrowed in on me. “Did you tell him how you feel? Did you kiss him?”

I snorted. “That’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever said.”

She arched a brow. “Oh? So, you casually fling yourself into a storm every time a man sits too close?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Were you watching us?”

“I had to make sure you got to his place in one piece, or Marrick would have died of worry,” Lyra huffed. “So, tell me, did he reject you?”

I scowled, kicking at the soaked ground, the rain dripping from my hair, my clothes, my damn soul at this point. “Shut up.”

Lyra only grinned, stepping beside me, nudging my shoulder. “Come on. Spill.”

I let out a slow, exhausted breath. This night had already drained me dry, and now I was standing in the middle of a storm, having this conversation of all things.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted, rolling my shoulders back, “but I think” Damien’s suddenly acting like he does have feelings for me, which is quite confusing.” I hesitated, my pulse ticking up slightly. “It could either be because I blurted out something about my own feelings or because they know I found my mate.”

Lyra gasped, stepping closer. “You did?”

I tensed.

“When?” she asked.

I blinked. “When what? You have to be specific.”

She grabbed my hands, her fingers icy cold from the storm. “Your mate, Luna. Who is it?”

I hesitated. Kael had ordered me not to tell anyone else. And Lyra” she might have been Marrick’s mate, but she was still someone I wasn’t supposed to tell. My chest tightened, and I swallowed as I considered it.

“I can’t tell you that yet,” I admitted, my voice lower now, almost regretful. “But it’s not because I don’t want to. You were the first person I’”

Lyra gasped again, eyes going wide. “It’s one of the witches, isn’t it?” she whispered, as if saying it too loud would make it more real.

I sighed, feeling the last bit of resistance crumble, then gave a small, exhausted nod.

Lyra reeled back like I’d just slapped her.

“Oh, hell no.”

I sighed, running a hand through my soaked hair, water dripping down my back. “Lyra’”

“One of the witches?” she repeated, like she needed to hear it again to confirm I’d completely lost my mind. “The same witches who just tried to kill you?”

I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Technically, they didn’t try to kill me.”

She stared at me like I had grown two heads.

“Oh. Oh, okay.” She threw her hands up. “Well, that’s fine then. No big deal that one of the witches who kidnapped you and tried to get you to kill yourself is your fated mate! You’re definitely not cursed.”

I shot her a dry glare. “Your sarcasm is so helpful right now.”

She folded her arms, shifting her weight onto one foot, staring me down. “You are cursed.”

“I’m not cursed.”

“You might be cursed.”

“Lyra.”

She huffed, pacing now, muttering to herself. “Kael is going to lose his mind. And Damien’” She stopped abruptly, eyes narrowing. “Does he know?”

I hesitated, and that was all the answer she needed.

She let out a low whistle, shaking her head. “Well. That certainly explains why you threw yourself out of a moving carriage.”

I scowled. “I didn’t throw myself—I left, strategically.”

Lyra shot me a look, and I exhaled sharply, shifting against the rough bark of the tree. The storm was raging again, pounding the earth, soaking through my clothes, but I barely felt it now.

“You should have seen him,” I muttered, shaking my head. “Damien doesn’t, he’s never like that. He never’” I trailed off, trying to find the words for something I didn’t even understand. “He doesn’t get close like that, or look at me like that. And now suddenly, he’s’”

“Acting like a jealous lover who’s afraid of losing you?” Lyra supplied.

I snapped my gaze to hers. “Don’t.”

She smirked, too pleased with herself.

“Oh, I will,” she teased. “Because this is hilarious. You, the most oblivious wolf alive, are finally realizing that Damien has been wrapped around your finger since we were kids.”

I rolled my eyes so hard I saw stars. “That is not what’s happening.”

Lyra shrugged, feigning indifference. “Sure. Keep telling yourself that.” She stepped closer, gripping my shoulders, suddenly serious. “Luna, listen to me.”

I sighed. “Gods, what now?”

“You need to figure this out before it’s too late,” she said, her voice lacking its usual playfulness. “Whatever this thing with Damien is, whatever this mate bond means, you can’t run from it.”

I exhaled slowly, my chest tightening. “I don’t know what I feel.”

“Yes, you do.”

I glared. “I don’t.”

She tilted her head. “Then why did you run?”

I opened my mouth. Then closed it again.

Lyra just smirked, stepping back. “See? You do know.”

I groaned, dragging my hands down my rain-soaked face. “I hate you.”

She grinned. “Love you too.”

Then something Lyra had said seared into my mind, cutting through the chaos like a blade.

I snapped my gaze to her. “Hang on,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “What do you mean Damien has been wrapped around my finger since we were kids?” I scoffed, shaking my head. “You mean Kael.”

Lyra gave me a flat look, like she was questioning my entire existence. “No, Damien.”

I blinked. “That’s not’”

“Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes. “Like I said, you’re the most oblivious moron I know, and I know a lot. Damien has always had a thing for you. Way before you turned sixteen and into a smoke show and caught Kael’s attention.”

I stared at her, unmoving, mind racing, because—what the hell was she talking about?

Lyra shrugged, completely unbothered, like she had just pointed out the most obvious fact in the world. “He never pursued you because Kael staked his claim right after Marrick marked me.”

Something cold and sharp settled in my chest. I took a slow step forward. “Marrick never told me that.”

Lyra gave me a knowing look. “Maybe because he thought you’d already figured it out.”

My heart lurched, because I hadn’t.

Not even a little bit.