Chapter 23

Chapter

Twenty-Three

Lana

I couldn't do this. Not by myself. It wasn't selfishness, it wasn't using my newfound power to get what I wanted. I had been tasked with building a pack, with hunting down the other relics, and the only way I'd found the book was with Destin's help.

All my life I'd believed alphas were the strength of the pack, but I'd had it all wrong. The pack was the strength of the alpha.

"Lana, what are you doing." Destin's breath came quickly. I would make this quick.

"You don't want a pack. You don't want an alpha, I know this. But you have a Shadow Pack heart." Destin frowned. He opened his mouth, but I placed a finger over his lips. "You didn't want to take me to the stone, but you did."

"You forced me?—"

I pressed harder against his mouth. "You stayed in the shadow realm, you were the reason I completed the challenges, and we were still able to help your wolves."

The three warriors stepped forward. Their eyes, sharp and discerning, scanned over Destin. "He's not Shadow Pack," the tallest warrior stated, his voice deep and authoritative.

Lana dropped her finger. "You don't know that."

The second warrior, with a scar running down his cheek, crossed his arms over his chest. "We can sense it. His blood doesn't carry the mark."

Lana's voice trembled with intensity. "And yet I've seen him. I know his heart." Lana held up a hand to silence them from another retort, never breaking her gaze with mine. "Where I'm going, you can't follow unless you're Shadow Pack."

My wolf pressed against my consciousness, the pressure so intense, I blinked to clear my vision.

Lana lifted a hand to my jaw. "Would you follow me? Would you let me be your pack?"

Destin's fists clenched, and he pressed his lips together. His jaw tightened, the muscles in his neck straining. "I can't leave my wolves."

I nodded. "I know. They're your family." I took another step closer, my heart pounding in my chest. "But if you could. If you could have both. Your wolves and me, would you?" I swallowed hard. "Would you let me be your alpha? Your mate?"

There was a flicker of something in his eyes. A glimmer of hope, or maybe it was desperation. The same desperation I felt. I couldn't do this by myself.

I dropped my hand to his chest, then closed my eyes and tried to feel. To sense the energy flowing through him, just like he'd shown me. It was like standing on the edge of a river, the current rushing past, just out of my reach. I needed to step in, to let the water flow over my skin. I took a deep breath and imagined myself wading into that river, feeling the icy coldn seep into my bones.

Then it was there. All of it. His pain, his fear. I was plunged into the storm. I didn't know exactly what I was trying to do, but I listened. Floated. I thought of the river flowing through me, and I pictured it merging with his. Like two tributaries coming together to form a single, more powerful current.

"Lana, what are you doing?" Destin gasped.

I took a deep breath and tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come. I was too full.

His breath was ragged, and I could feel his heartbeat under my palm. "You don't want to see that part of me. It's not?—"

I pushed harder, and his eyes widened. He was afraid. Not of me, but of what I would find. Of the darkness lurking beneath the surface. His wild, untamed parts that I already loved.

The rivers linked, and while I knew he could feel me, I flooded every piece of my own emotions into him. The way my heart ached every time I saw him, the way my skin tingled when he touched me. The way I needed him more than air.

I felt his resistance, the walls he'd built around himself, and my wolf surged through me, searching, longing for his. You don't have to be alone. Neither of us have to do this alone.

"Yes." Destin panted, gripping my hand with his. "Yes, Lana. I would be your mate."

My eyes flew open, and before I understood what I was doing, I lifted the dagger and turned Destin's hand in mine.

"Lana, wait!" Callista stepped forward, her eyes wide.

My eyes snapped to hers, and Evelyn startled. I don't know what she saw there, but the blood drained from her face. "Trust me, Callie."

She nodded once and stepped back. I dropped the blade to my hand, and it cut easily through my skin, releasing a crimson stream that coated the metal. Destin hissed as I did the same over his palm.

Instantly, the dagger vibrated, surging forward like it had at the pools the first time I'd let it taste my blood. I wrenched my arm back, then turned my hand and slammed my bloody palm against his.