Knotting His Rejected Breeder

The hallway stayed packed tight, nobody moving, nobody backing off. The air smelled like wet dirt and sweat.

Sorin wiped mud off his cheek with his sleeve. He pointed at Destiny.

"Is it worth money?" he asked. "That stone. Is it worth enough to buy off a territory, or a house, or whatever you’re hiding here for? Because if you’re keeping it out of greed, say it."

"It’s not about money," Destiny said.

"Then give it to them," a woman by the door said. Her eyes were swollen, her hands shaking against her apron. "Eren is dead, Destiny. He was twenty-one. His mother is sitting on the steps outside because she can’t go inside an empty house. Give them the stone so they leave us alone."

"I can’t just hand it over," Destiny said. "The stone is cursed. The people who want it don’t just want to hold it. To break the curse, they have to kill me. That’s the ritual. If I give them the stone, I die."

Nobody spoke for a second. The space went quiet.

Sorin let out a breath through his nose. "So what if you die?"

Marcus stepped in front of her, fists balled, but Destiny pulled him back by his belt.

"You think you’re the only one in danger?" Sorin asked her, stepping right up to Ramon’s arm. "Four of our men are dead. They pinned a piece of Eren’s skin to his shirt with a note. They’re hitting the outer farms next. Tonight."

"Sorin," Sonia said. "Back off."

"No," Sorin said. He stared straight at Destiny. "She took the mark. She wears the crest. She walks around here like she belongs. If you’re really our Luna, why aren’t you putting your life on the line for the pack? Why are four of our boys dead so you can stay breathing?"

Destiny looked at him. She had nothing to say to that.

"You want the title," Sorin said, his voice flat now. "You want our walls and our men. But when the threat shows up, our sons pay for it. If your life is what stops them from burning the farms, then go hand yourself over."

"She didn’t ask for your mark!" Marcus shouted, shoving Sorin back. "She didn’t ask for any of this!"

"Then she shouldn’t have stayed!" Sorin shoved Marcus back into the wall. "She should have kept running!"

Ramon grabbed Sorin by the shoulder and threw him back into the corridor.

"Out! All of you, step back!"

"Are you going to protect her while they burn the farms?" Sorin yelled at Ramon. "Is that what Dane told you to do?"

Ramon didn’t answer. He stood in the doorway, blocking the hall, but he didn’t look back at Destiny.

Down in the yard, the noise didn’t stop.

Ramon didn’t flinch. He reached out and slammed a heavy hand onto Sorin’s shoulder, digging his fingers in until the younger wolf winced.

"You heard her, Sorin," Ramon said, his voice low and dangerous, dropping every trace of hesitation. "They’re cursed. You think we’re dealing with normal border raiders? You think if we hand Destiny over, they just pack up and walk away?!"

Sorin opened his mouth, but Ramon tightened his grip, leaning right into his face.

"What guarantee do you have that they’ll break the curse?" Ramon growled. "What happens if they don’t? What happens if that blood magic spreads to us? That’s the end of this entire pack. As long as we hold the stone, we control what happens next. Not them."

The hallway went completely silent. Nobody moved.

Ramon pressed harder into Sorin’s shoulder, his eyes burning gold.

"Not nearly enough blood has been spilled for what was done to Eren and the others, Sorin. Not nearly enough. We will figure out a way to make them pay a thousandfold. But we don’t do it by throwing our own to the dogs because we’re rattled."

Sorin stared at him, his breath coming in ragged hitches. He didn’t pull away from Ramon’s hand, but the fight in his shoulders gave way to raw, unadulterated fear.

Destiny stepped past her father, walking straight to the doorway until she was standing right beside Ramon. She didn’t look at Sorin, or the grieving mother, or the farm owners crowding the hall. She looked down the corridor toward the heavy doors leading out to the courtyard.

"Where are they?" Destiny asked.

Ramon turned his head slightly.

"Destiny, go back inside."

"Where are the bodies?" she repeated, her voice dead steady.

"In the lower shed by the gate," Sorin muttered, looking down at the stone floor. "Wrapped in tarp. They haven’t brought Eren’s mother in to see him yet. Nobody knows how to tell her his chest was laid open."

Destiny felt the cold weight of the Heartstone resting beneath her collarbone. It felt heavier than it ever had—a lump of ice sitting over her lungs.

"Take me to them," she said.

"No," Marcus barked from behind her, reaching out to grab her arm. "Destiny, no. Look at these people. They’ll tear you apart the second you step out those doors."

"They won’t touch me," Destiny said, pulling her arm free.

She looked her father in the eye, seeing the familiar, suffocating panic that had ruled their entire lives on the road.

"You spent ten years telling me to hide, Dad. Every time someone knocked, we ran. Look where it got us. They found us anyway, and four men are dead in a shed."

She turned back to Sorin.

"I’m not running, and I’m not hiding in this room while you scream at my parents," she said, her voice dropping into a hard, cold register. "You want to know if I’m your Luna? Walk down to that shed with me. Show me what they did to Eren."

Sonia stepped up beside Ramon, her hand resting on her belt.

"Destiny, if you go out there, they’re going to demand answers. They want someone to hold responsible."

"Good," Destiny said, pulling her jacket straight. "Then they can look at me while I look at Eren."

She didn’t wait for Ramon, or Sonia, or her father. She walked past Sorin, her shoulder brushing his as she pushed into the hallway.

The wolves crammed in the corridor parted slowly, their faces tight with anger and fear, but none of them reached out to stop her.

She opened the heavy oak doors at the end of the hall and stepped out onto the upper terrace.

The cold mountain air hit her face. Below her, in the cobblestone yard, nearly sixty people were gathered in tight, frantic clusters. Lanterns flickered in the mist, casting long shadows against the stone walls.

The moment the heavy doors slammed shut behind her, the noise in the yard died.

Sixty pairs of eyes snapped up toward the terrace.

Destiny stood on the top step, completely alone, looking down at the pack.

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