Chapter 5 The Rogue's Demand

*Maya's POV*

The big dining room was now set up for war talks. Maps laid on the dark table, and pack fighters stood by the walls, still like stone. I sat with my dad and Kane, my hands tight together in my lap to keep from shaking. Across, Cyrus Drakemoor sat easy, as if he owned the spot.

He was not what I thought he'd be. I thought he'd look wild, with scars, but Cyrus was smooth as silk, deadly as a blade. His silver hair was neat, his clothes costly, his smile sharp. Only his eyes showed he was ruthless-old, cold, and no pity at all.

"Maya," he said, my name soft from him. "You are fair. Your mom would be proud."

A cold hit me. "Don't. Don't talk about her."

"But I must. You see, she and I were close." His smile grew as my dad's anger filled the room. "Not like that, Alpha Marcus. Elena and I were tied by something more than touch. We shared blood."

Kane's hand met mine below the table, his touch firm. His wolf was near the skin, set to hit Cyrus at any hint of danger.

"The blood pact," I pushed out, voice steady. "Show me."

Cyrus took out a folder from his coat. Old magic and dried blood came from it as he laid it out on the table. Inside was a paper full of neat writing and dark spots.

I stopped short. My mom's hand was clear-the loops and lines just like in her old books. But the words shook my core.

*"I, Elena Blackwood, lead woman of the Silverstone Pack, do give my first girl, Maya Rose Blackwood, to Cyrus Drakemoor in a sacred blood tie. For six months of life, I say that Maya Rose Blackwood will be his mate when she turns twenty-two. This tie is done in blood and held by old magic. Only death can end what is set."*

In the end, dried blood was my mom's sign.

"Twenty-two," I said slowly. "That's in three weeks."

"True." Cyrus sat back, eyeing me like prey. "Your mom was clear on the time. She wanted you ready, worth what I can give."

"What can you give?" Kane's voice was cold. "You are a rogue. You bring only the end and mess."

"Hard words from the Alpha of the Shadowmere Pack." Cyrus looked at Kane, and I saw a flash in his eye-maybe knowing, maybe awe. "You've made a strong pack, Kane Shadowmere. Your land is big, your name known, your pack feared. But you're still young from what I've seen."

"And what is that?" my dad asked, his voice making it clear he wanted an answer.

"Empires rise and fall. Families start and end. The Moonborn came." Cyrus looked at me again. "Elena didn't just give me a mate, men. She gave me the key to all power."

The room felt colder. My wolf moved uneasy, feeling something dark in Cyrus's words.

"The Moonborn words," I started slowly. "You know them."

"Know them?" Cyrus laughed, a sound like ice breaking. "My child, I was part of writing them."

All got quiet. Even my dad looked shocked.

"Can't be," Kane said. "The words are old. Older than any wolf alive."

"Does it?" Cyrus got up and began to walk around the table. "Or is that just what they told you? Winners write history, you know. And I have won for a very long time."

He stopped by me, so close that I felt his breath on my neck. "The prophecy says a child born under the blood moon, with the power of the first wolves, will come. This child may bring all supernatural beings together or end them all. What it doesn't tell is that this power needs a true mate."

"You're crazy," I said softly.

"Am I? Your powers are showing up, right? The visions, feeling others' sadness, the world changing when you're mad." His hand moved near my shoulder, not quite touching. "Without help, that power will eat you up. You'll turn into a monster, just like"

"Just like who?" My father's voice was sharp.

Cyrus smiled. "Like the last Moonborn. The one who set half of Europe on fire before they stopped her."

My heart raced. "There was another?"

"Yes. Your great-grandmother, Isadora Blackwood. Beautiful, strong, completely lost by the end." He sat back down, looking pleased. "She died alone, yelling, left by those she loved. Know why?"

I couldn't talk. Kane held my hand tight.

"Because she said no to her fate. She picked love over power, softness over might. And at last, her wild powers wrecked everything."

"That won't happen to Maya," Kane said strongly.

"Will it not? You see the signs, right? How she pulls back when the visions hit, the fear in her eyes when she looks at her hands. She's scared of what she's turning into."

He was right. I was scared. Each day, new strange powers came that I didn't know, couldn't tame. The visions were stronger, more often. And sometimes, when I was mad or scared, I felt something dark wake inside me.

"Maya." My dad's voice was gentle. "You don't need to hear this."

"Yes, she does." Cyrus's eyes shone. "I'm the only one who can show her how to use it. I'm the only one who gets what she's facing."

"And in return?" I asked, though I knew the answer.

"In return, you do what your mom swore. You become my mate, my partner, my equal. Together, we'll change the supernatural world."

"Never." Kane stood up, his power clear. "She's mine."

"Is she?" Cyrus also stood, and the room felt too full for two leaders. "Show me the mating mark, Kane Shadowmere. Show me the tie that makes her yours."

Kane's jaw tightened. We hadn't done the mating rite yet, not made the real tie that would join us. In the eyes of supernatural law, I was still free.

"The blood vow is older than any deal you made," Cyrus went on. "It's older, stricter than any new rule. Maya is mine, and I'm here to take what's mine."

"I am no one," I said, standing slowly. My wolf inside was mad, anger filling me. "I choose for myself."

"Then choose." Cyrus opened his arms wide. "Back your mom's choice and take up your fate, or watch as all you love is lost. Because trust me, Maya if you say no to me, I will take what's mine by force. Your pack, your dad, your dear Kane will stand my fury."

The threat was in the air like a sharp knife. I felt the pack's fear, their doubt. They looked to me for what to do, for power, for the guide they sought from an Alpha's child.

"You have until the blood moon," Cyrus said, heading to the door. "Three weeks to say bye and get ready. After that, I'll come to take my bride."

He stopped at the door, looking back with that awful smile. "And Maya? Don't run. I've hunted for ages, and I've never lost a hunt."

The door shut with a soft click, leaving us in thick silence.

"He can't mean that," Kane said at last. "A blood pact can't beat free choice."

"Blood magic is different," my dad said slowly. "It's older than our rules, tighter than our ways. If Elena really signed this..." He stopped, unable to go on.

"She did it to save her life," I said. "She was dying, and she was alone. She might have thought she could find a way out."

"But she didn't," Kane said. "She died before she could break the vow."

"That means it still holds." I sat back down, the weight of my mom's choice pressing on me. "I'm stuck."

"No." Kane knelt by my chair, holding my hands. "We'll find a way. There's always a way."

"Is there? He's lived for centuries, Kane. He's had time to perfect his magic, to grow his power. And he's right about one thing: my powers are stronger. I can feel them changing me, turning me into something I don't know."

"We'll face it together," Kane said strongly. "Whatever comes, we'll face it together."

But as I looked into his eyes, full of will, I still felt that some fights might not be won by love alone. And deep down, I felt the blood moon pull, dragging me to a fate I didn't pick but couldn't avoid.

The worst was the small voice in my mind hinting Cyrus might be right that maybe I really was turning into a monster, and maybe he was the only one who could show me how to manage it before I hurt everyone I loved.

My phone shook on the wood. I looked to see a text from a number I did not know: *The blood remembers, little wolf. Three weeks, and then you come home.*