*Chapter 2: Three Claims*

Derek's voice cut through the chamber like a blade.

"That's my daughter."

Selene's blood went cold. She'd spent five years making sure he never found her. Now he stood in the doorway, rain dripping from his coat, staring at Mira like she was a ghost come back to haunt him.

Rowan's wolf snarled, low in his chest. The sound made the Council members shift back in their seats.

"She's not yours," Selene said, stepping back until her shoulders hit the cold stone wall. "You left. You chose your job over us."

"I didn't know," Derek said. His eyes didn't leave Mira. "You disappeared, Selene. No note. No call. I thought-" He stopped, swallowing hard. "I thought you didn't want me."

"Lies," Mara snapped. "She's a rogue. The child is a mongrel. The Council will not be swayed by human sentiment."

Rowan turned his head, gold eyes fixing on Mara. One look and she sat down.

"The child has my scent," Rowan said. His voice was still rough with the change. "Test her if you doubt me. But until then, no one touches her."

Selene felt Mira stir in her arms. The baby's eyes fluttered open, dark blue-Rowan's eyes. Not Derek's brown. Not hers.

Derek saw it too. His face fell.

"Then why did you hide her?" he asked Selene, quieter now. "Why run?"

"Because I knew what would happen," she said. "The Council would call her impure. Humans would call her a freak. And you... you would have tried to take her from me to raise her 'normal.'"

Derek flinched like she'd struck him.

Before he could answer, the doors shook.

A sharp, guttural howl echoed through the stone halls-not one of the Council's wolves. Rogue. Multiple rogues.

Rowan's head snapped up.

"Pack House under attack," he said. "Northern gate."

Mara stood, fear overriding protocol. "Evacuate the chamber. Now."

"Not the child," Rowan said. He stepped forward and shifted back to human in one fluid motion, grabbing a blade from the wall. Naked, blood-slicked, and unashamed. "Selene, stay behind me. Derek-" He paused, jaw tightening. "If you want to prove you're her father, protect her."

Derek didn't hesitate. He moved to Selene's side.

The first rogue burst through the doors.

It was massive, mangy, eyes wild with the feral madness that came from rejecting the pack bond. It lunged straight for Mira.

Selene moved on instinct, throwing herself over the cradle.

A blade flashed.

Rowan's sword took the rogue's head clean off before it could reach her.

Two more followed.

Derek grabbed a fallen guard's spear and drove it through the second rogue's chest. His hands shook, but he didn't run.

Selene didn't have time to be surprised. She grabbed the sword from the dead guard at her feet. She'd never used one before, but her wolf knew.

The third rogue came for her.

She ducked, rolled, and drove the blade up through its jaw. It dropped with a wet choking sound.

Silence fell again.

Rowan was breathing hard, blood streaking his chest. He looked at her-really looked-and something in his expression shifted.

"You can fight," he said.

"I can protect my daughter," she corrected.

Mara was already at the comms panel, voice shaking. "All packs, this is Elder Mara. Code Black. Rogues have breached Blackwood. I repeat-"

"Code Black is for Council assassination," Rowan cut her off. "Not for a rogue breach."

Mara's eyes narrowed. "You think this is a coincidence? On the night you claim a half-breed as heir?"

Selene's stomach dropped.

She was right to be suspicious.

Rogues didn't attack a fortified Pack House during a Council meeting unless someone let them in.

And only one person in the room had the authority to override the wards.

Rowan turned slowly to face Mara.

"Did you let them in, Elder?"

Mara smiled. It didn't reach her eyes.

"The Council protects the bloodline, Alpha. Even from you."

The lights cut out.

And from the darkness, more howls answered.

---

*Chapter 3: Blood on the Stone*

Darkness fell like a blade.

The chamber lights died, and the air filled with the wet, ragged breathing of rogues. Selene's wolf surged forward, senses sharpening. She could smell blood, old iron, and fear.

"Stay down," Rowan muttered, already moving.

He didn't wait for an answer. In one motion he grabbed Mira from Selene's arms and pressed her into Derek's chest. "If I fall, you run. North corridor. Service tunnels. Don't stop."

Derek looked like he wanted to argue. He didn't. He held Mira tighter instead.

The first rogue dropped from the ceiling.

Rowan met it mid-air. Flesh tore. Bone cracked. He fought like a man who'd spent five years burying rage and finally had a reason to use it.

Selene didn't wait to be protected.

She drove her stolen sword into the second rogue's knee, crippling it before it reached Derek. Her wolf snarled in her throat, furious and alive. Five years of running, hiding, and she was done.

"Selene!"

It was Mara's voice. Cold, calm, even in the chaos.

When Selene looked up, the Elder stood in the doorway with two Council guards. Neither guard looked injured. The wards outside were still down.

"You planned this," Selene said. It wasn't a question.

Mara smiled. "The Council doesn't negotiate with half-breeds, Selene. But we do remove problems efficiently."

She lifted her hand.

The guards raised crossbows. Silver-tipped bolts. Lethal to werewolves.

Rowan saw it too. He broke the neck of the rogue in his hands and threw himself between Mara and Selene. The first bolt took him in the shoulder. He didn't make a sound.

"Rowan!" Selene moved before she could think.

She slammed into Mara, driving the Elder back against the stone. Her sword came up, but Mara caught her wrist with inhuman speed.

"You're strong," Mara said, impressed despite herself. "Pity. You should have kept running."

Selene headbutted her.

Mara staggered. The second bolt fired wide, embedding itself in the wall next to Derek's head.

Derek cursed and shoved Mira into Selene's arms. "Go! I'll hold them!"

He grabbed a broken bench leg and charged the guards. He was human, outmatched, and he knew it. But he didn't stop.

Selene's chest ached.

Rowan was on his knees, blood soaking his shirt, still staring at Mara like she'd already lost.

"Take her," he said to Selene. His voice was raw. "Get to the tunnels. I'll hold the gate."

"No," Selene said.

She didn't run.

She drove her sword into the floor between Mara's feet, making the Elder jump back. Then she grabbed Rowan's arm and hauled him up. He was heavier than she remembered. Still warm. Still fighting.

The alarm changed pitch. Three short blasts.

Pack reinforcements.

Mara's face twisted. "You'll pay for this, Rowan. All of you."

She vanished through the side door before the first guard arrived.

The chamber exploded into noise-boots, shouts, the scent of pack wolves flooding in.

Selene collapsed against the wall, Mira clutched to her chest, crying now.

Rowan slid down beside her, one hand pressed to his bleeding shoulder.

"You didn't run," he said.

"Neither did you," she said back.

Derek sagged against the wall opposite them, breathing hard. He looked at Mira, then at Rowan, then at Selene.

"She looks like you," he said to Rowan. No anger left. Just resignation. "I can't deny it now."

Rowan nodded once. "She's yours too, Derek. If you want her."

Derek looked at Selene. "Do you?"

Selene didn't answer right away.

She looked at the man who'd left her, at the Alpha who'd lied to protect her, and at the daughter who had both their eyes.

"I want her safe," she said finally. "That's it."

Footsteps echoed. Captain Kael of the North Guard knelt beside Rowan, eyes wide at the blood.

"Alpha. We've secured the perimeter. Mara's gone."

Rowan closed his eyes for half a second. When he opened them, they were Alpha-gold again.

"Seal the Council wing. No one in or out. And send for the healer."

Kael hesitated, looking at Mira, then at Selene.

"She's the heir," Rowan said quietly. "Act like it."

Kael bowed his head. "Yes, Alpha."

As the guards moved, Rowan turned to Selene.

"I kept silent because I thought it would keep you safe," he said. "I was wrong."

Selene met his gaze.

"Then don't be wrong again."

Outside, the Blood Moon crested the mountains.

And for the first time in five years, Selene wasn't running.

---