Double Trouble, Triple Heat

Chapter 16

Sera’s POV

The hunter news spreads through the pack like wildfire.

Within hours, everyone knows. Strangers at the eastern border. Armed. Asking questions about a woman named Sera Mitchell.

Joseph. It has to be Joseph. He found me again.

The morning after the best night of my life—still feeling the phantom touch of their hands, still glowing from the way they loved me—and reality comes crashing back with teeth.

Dominic leaves before dawn to meet with the scouts, pressing a fierce kiss to my forehead before he goes. "Stay in the lodge. Don't go anywhere alone." His golden eyes burn with protective fury. "I mean it, Sera."

"I love you," I whisper against his lips.

"I love you too. Both of you." He looks at Caspian over my shoulder. "Keep her safe."

"With my life," Caspian says, and means it.

Caspian stays with me, but even his silver-bright humor can't cut through the fear coiling in my stomach. We sit in the lodge's main room, pretending to eat breakfast, while wolves pass by the windows with grim expressions.

"He won't get to you," Caspian says quietly. "We won't let him."

But Joseph isn't the only threat.

Marcus is using the fear, and he's doing it brilliantly.

I hear the whispers when I walk through the lodge. See the sidelong glances. Marcus moves through the pack like poison, speaking to anyone who'll listen.

"The alpha brought hunters to our doorstep," he tells a group of young wolves. "His human mate is a liability. How long before they come for all of us?"

Pack tensions rise visibly. Wolves who accepted me at the integration ceremony now avoid my eyes. Some of Marcus's supporters don't bother hiding their contempt anymore.

Inside me, my wolf stirs restlessly—not yet awake, but aware. Angry. She doesn't like being seen as weak. Neither do I.

Luna finds me in the lodge's kitchen, pouring my third cup of tea I won't drink. Her expression is grim, her ice-blue eyes troubled.

"He approached me," she says without preamble. "Marcus. Wanted me to spy on you."

My hands tighten on the mug. "What did you say?"

"I told him no." She pours herself coffee, and I notice her hands are shaking. Luna—fierce, controlled Luna—is rattled. "Maybe because you remind me of who I wanted to be before I became this bitter. Or maybe I just hate being told what to do."

Something fragile strengthens between us. Not friendship—not yet. But something.

"What do you know?" I ask.

Luna glances toward the door, checking we're alone. "Marcus has allies. More than Dominic realizes. He's been building support for months, waiting for the right moment."

"And the hunters gave him that moment."

"Exactly." She sets down her coffee, meets my eyes. "He's planning to force the challenge early. Before you deliver. Before the pack gets attached to the alpha's pups."

My hand moves instinctively to my belly. "He can't do that. The pack agreed to wait—"

"The pack agreed because you announced your pregnancy in front of everyone and Eldric called it prophecy. But fear is a powerful thing." Luna's voice is bitter. "Marcus is telling people the baby is a weakness. That Dominic will be distracted, vulnerable. That the pack needs a leader who puts wolves first."

"And people believe him?"

"Some do. Enough." She hesitates, then adds: "There's something else. Marcus has been in contact with someone outside pack territory. I don't know who. But the timing feels wrong."

"Connected to the hunters?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Her jaw tightens. "But if Marcus is working with hunters against his own pack..."

She doesn't finish. She doesn't need to. The implications are clear—and horrifying.

"I need to tell Dominic," I say, already moving toward the door.

"Sera." Luna catches my arm. "Be careful. Marcus has eyes everywhere. And if he knows you're onto him..."

I nod, throat tight. "Thank you. For warning me."

She releases my arm. "Don't make me regret it."

I find Dominic in the clearing behind the lodge—our clearing, where the integration ceremony happened, where I became the pack member. But he's not alone.

Marcus stands across from him, flanked by a dozen supporters. Their body language screams aggression—shoulders squared, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

I freeze at the tree line.

Caspian appears beside me, having followed from the lodge. His hand finds mine, squeezes tight. "This isn't good," he murmurs.

Dominic's voice carries across the clearing, tight with barely controlled fury. "The challenge was set for after the birth. You agreed to the terms."

"Terms change." Marcus rolls his shoulders, a predator warming up for a kill. "The pack is in danger. Hunters at our borders. A human liability in our alpha's bed. We can't afford to wait."

"The pack is not in danger from Sera."

"No?" Marcus gestures at me without looking. I realize he knew I was there—could probably smell me the moment I arrived. "She's been here weeks. Hunters follow. Coincidence?"

Murmurs ripple through his supporters. Through the bond, I feel Dominic's rage—hot and barely leashed.

"The hunters aren't her fault," Dominic growls. "They're following her stalker. A human problem, not a pack one."

"A human problem that followed your human mate to our territory." Marcus takes a step forward. "Face it, Dominic. Your judgment is compromised. You're thinking with your knot instead of your head."

Several wolves don’t hesitate to show their laughing faces. Others look uncomfortable. But no one challenges Marcus directly.

I should stay quiet. Should let Dominic handle this, the way he's handled pack politics for thirteen years.

But my wolf is stirring, and she's furious.

I step out of the tree line. Every eye turns to me.

"You want to talk about compromised judgment?" My voice comes out steadier than I feel. "You're the one sneaking around making deals outside pack territory. What are you so afraid of, Marcus? That Dominic might actually succeed? That the pack might thrive under a tri-bond you can't control?"

Marcus's face twists. "The human speaks."

"The human is pack." I walk toward them, Caspian at my shoulder, until I'm standing beside Dominic. "I went through the ceremony. My blood is on that altar. So whatever problem you have with me, you have with the entire Blackwood pack."

Dominic's hand finds the small of my back—warm, grounding, proud.

Marcus's eyes flicker between us. Something shifts in his expression—calculation, then decision.

"You're right," he says softly. "This isn't about you at all."

He turns to face Dominic fully.

"I, Marcus Blackclaw, challenge you for the position of alpha." His voice rings across the clearing. "Not in a fortnight. Not after the birth. Now."

The words hang in the air like a death sentence.

Dominic doesn't flinch. "I accept."

"Dominic—" I grab his arm.

He looks at me, golden eyes fierce. "It was always going to come to this. Better now, while I'm strong." His hand covers mine, squeezes. "Trust me."

Marcus smiles, showing too many teeth.

"Sunset," he says. "The whole pack will witness. And when I tear out your throat, I'll make sure your human watches."

He turns and walks away, supporters falling in behind him.

Caspian moves to my other side, and we stand there—the three of us—watching our enemy disappear into the trees.

"He's going to try to kill you," I whisper.

"He's going to try." Dominic's jaw is set, his body thrumming with tension. "He's not going to succeed."

But I see the fear he's trying to hide. Feel it through the bond. Not fear for himself—fear for us. For what happens to me and Caspian and our baby if he loses.

"Dom." Caspian's voice is rough. "If this goes wrong—"

"It won't."

"But if it does—"

Dominic turns, grabs Caspian by the back of the neck, pulls him close until their foreheads touch. "It won't. I have too much to live for now." His other hand reaches for me, pulls me into the embrace. "Both of you. I'm not leaving either of you."

We stand there, the three of us tangled together, while the sun climbs higher and the hours until sunset slip away.

Marcus has been planning this for months. And we have until sunset to prepare