Dacian's POV
"Your new mates?" Sloane's voice cracks. "Dacian, what are you talking about?"
I watch her face go from confused to angry to terrified in seconds. Outside, Theron and Calix are still standing frozen in the driveway, staring at my wife like she's the sun and they've been living in darkness.
I knew this would happen. I've known for three weeks, ever since I called them and asked them to come. I just didn't know it would hit this hard, this fast.
"Let me explain—" I start, but Sloane cuts me off.
"Explain what? That you invited strange men to our house? That you just told me they're my mates? I have a mate, Dacian. You!" Her eyes flash gold again. "Or have you forgotten that?"
The words hit like a punch to the gut. "I haven't forgotten anything."
"Then why—"
"Because you're dying!" I shout.
The silence that follows is awful. Sloane steps back like I slapped her.
I take a breath and force myself to speak calmer. "You're dying, Sloane. The broken bond is killing you. I see it every single day and there's nothing I can do to stop it."
"That's not true," she whispers, but we both know it is.
"Your eyes were gold this morning. They stayed gold for over an hour. The doctor said—"
"I don't care what the doctor said!"
"He said you have six months!" The words explode out of me. "Six months before the broken bond drives you completely feral. Six months before you lose your mind and I have to watch the woman I love turn into something that doesn't even recognize me anymore."
Sloane's hands are shaking. "So your solution is to... what? Give me to them? Like I'm some kind of pet you're rehoming?"
"No." I move closer to her. "My solution is to save your life the only way I know how."
"I don't understand."
Neither did I at first. It took me weeks of research, digging through ancient pack archives, calling every elder I could find who might know about rare bonds. But I found the answer.
"When a mate bond breaks," I explain carefully, "the she-wolf's survival instinct activates. Her wolf starts searching for another mate—someone who can keep her alive. It's called a secondary bond."
"I never searched for anyone else," Sloane says.
"Your wolf did. She's been searching for months, you just didn't know it." I glance outside at Theron and Calix. "And she found them."
Sloane follows my gaze. "I've never met those men before in my life."
"Yes, you have. That's Theron—my Beta. You met him at our wedding six years ago. And Calix is my Gamma. He was there too."
Her eyes widen. "Those are your best friends?"
"Since we were kids." And that's exactly why I called them. If Sloane has to bond with other males, I need them to be wolves I trust completely. Wolves who will protect her, honor her, treat her like the precious gift she is.
Wolves who won't try to take her from me completely.
"This is insane," Sloane breathes. "Pack law doesn't allow multiple mates."
"Pack law also doesn't allow she-wolves to die when there's a way to save them." I take her hand. She doesn't pull away. "Three weeks ago, I called Theron and Calix. I told them about your condition. I asked them to come here and... see if the bond would form."
"You planned this?" Now she does pull away. "You've been planning to give me away for three weeks and didn't tell me?"
"I wasn't giving you away. I was trying to save you."
"Without asking me first!"
She's right. I should have told her. But I was scared she'd say no, and then I'd have to watch her die knowing I could have prevented it.
"I'm sorry," I say quietly. "But Sloane, please. Just talk to them. See if—"
A knock on the door interrupts us.
We both turn. Through the window, I can see Theron standing on the porch. He looks nervous, which is weird because Theron is never nervous.
"Can I come in?" he calls. "I think we need to talk about this. All of us."
Sloane looks at me, her eyes full of betrayal and confusion and fear. "Did you tell them to bond with me? Is that why they're here?"
"I asked them to try," I admit. "But I didn't know it would actually work. Secondary bonds are rare. I thought maybe there was a chance, but—"
"But you gambled with my life without telling me."
"I gambled to save your life." I move closer. "Sloane, I love you. I will always love you. But love isn't enough to keep you alive anymore. The bond is."
Tears stream down her face. "I don't want them. I want you."
Those words break something inside me that was already cracked. "I know. And if I could be what you need, I would. But I can't shift. I can't complete the bond. I can't keep you safe from the madness that's coming."
Another knock, harder this time. Calix's voice joins Theron's: "Dacian, we can smell her distress from out here. Either let us in or we're breaking down the door."
Sloane's eyes go wide. "Why do they care if I'm upset?"
"Because the bond goes both ways," I tell her. "You can feel them now. They can feel you too."
She wraps her arms around herself. "This is too much. I can't—"
A howl cuts through the air.
Not from outside. From upstairs.
We both freeze. That howl came from inside the house. But we're the only ones here.
No. Not the only ones.
"The guest room," I breathe. "I forgot—"
The howl comes again, louder this time. Closer. And it's followed by a voice I don't recognize, speaking in a language I don't understand.
Sloane grabs my arm. "Dacian, what is that?"
Before I can answer, the upstairs window explodes. Glass rains down on the porch. Theron and Calix dive out of the way.
And through the broken window jumps a wolf I've never seen before.
It's massive—bigger than any wolf should be. Its fur is pure white, glowing in the morning sun. But its eyes...
Its eyes are blood red.
The wolf lands in our front yard and turns to stare directly at Sloane through the window. When it opens its mouth, that strange language pours out again. But this time, I understand one word.
"Mine."
Sloane gasps. Her whole body goes rigid. "Dacian," she whispers. "That wolf. I know that wolf."
"That's impossible. You've never—"
"No." She's trembling now. "Not me. My wolf knows that wolf. She's known it her whole life."
The white wolf takes a step toward the house.
Theron and Calix shift instantly, their clothes tearing as they transform into their wolf forms—one black, one gray. They place themselves between the white wolf and the house, growling warnings.
But the white wolf doesn't even look at them. It only has eyes for Sloane.
"Mine," it says again in that impossible voice. "You were always mine."
Sloane's eyes flash gold, then silver, then gold again. When she speaks, her voice sounds different. Older. Ancient.
"I remember you," she says. "From before. From the beginning."
My blood runs cold.
"Sloane, what are you talking about?"
She turns to me, and I barely recognize her. The woman I married is gone. In her place is something older, something powerful, something that makes every wolf instinct I have left scream in terror.
"My name," she says in that ancient voice, "has never been Sloane."