Ch. I Refuse to Be Your Luna 196 I Refuse to Be Your Luna 196

Chapter 196 The Wolf Inside Me

Alpha Damian’s POV

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The moment the hidden voice filled the study, my wolf took control of my body before I could consciously decide to shift, and my claws pushed through my fingertips as I stepped between Flourish and every possible entrance.

The scent in the room changed immediately, carrying the faint trace of wolfsbane and another unfamiliar smell that made the back of my neck tighten.

“Who are you?” I demanded.

No answer came.

Flourish looked toward the ceiling. “Come out.”

The speakers crackled. “You’ve inherited your mother’s courage.”

My wolf growled. “Show yourself.”

A low laugh followed. “Not yet.”

I moved toward the door, but the handle would not turn. Flourish walked toward me. “Damian.”

I raised one hand. “Stay behind me.”

She stopped, but her wolf pushed against our bond, making it clear she had no intention of hiding while someone threatened us.

I understood that reaction, because I had watched her change since entering the Voss archive, and the woman who once tried to solve every danger through careful planning was no longer willing to stand quietly while other people decided her fate.

The hidden speaker crackled again. “Your wolf has changed.”

I glanced at Flourish. “How do you know that?”

“I have been watching her for a long time.”

My claws extended further. “Watching her from where?”

“Everywhere.”

Flourish’s eyes narrowed. “You were behind the messages.”

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Chapter 196 The Wolf Inside Me

“Yes.”

“Then tell me who you are.”

The voice turned colder. “Someone your mother trusted.”

Flourish went still. “That isn’t possible.”

“It is.”

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Her breathing changed, and I felt the disturbance through our bond immediately. I moved closer until my shoulder touched hers. “Don’t listen to anything he says without proof.”

She nodded, and the room suddenly grew colder. A section of the bookshelf shifted, and my wolf reacted before my eyes could register the movement. I pulled Flourish against me as three armed men stepped out from the hidden passage behind it.

They were wolves, their eyes glowing gold, their scent carrying the same strange mark I had smelled inside the archive.

“Blood hunters,” I said.

Flourish’s claws emerged. “How did they get inside the house?”

I didn’t answer, because the men were already attacking. I shifted fully, and the first wolf came straight for my throat, but I caught his arm and drove him into the wall. Another came from my left, forcing me to twist away before his claws reached my ribs.

Flourish shifted beside me, and her wolf collided with the third attacker. She was faster than I expected, ducking beneath his claws, catching his wrist, and driving her knee into his stomach before throwing him clear across the study.

Her wolf had changed. She wasn’t simply stronger now. She was more aware, sensing their movements before they happened.

The first wolf charged again, and I caught him hard. He snarled through his teeth. “She’s coming with us.”

“Not happening.”

I slammed him against the desk, and then Flourish shouted behind me. “Damian!”

I turned. The second wolf had grabbed her from behind, and my wolf reacted violently at the sight. I lunged toward them, but before I reached her, Flourish’s eyes flashed gold.

“Release me,” she said quietly.

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Chapter 196 The Wolf Inside Me

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The wolf froze instantly, his claws loosening on their own. Flourish stepped away from him, and the man dropped to his knees, gasping as though his own wolf had abandoned him completely.

I stared at her. She stared down at her own hands. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

I walked toward her. “You didn’t hurt him.”

“But I controlled him.”

Her voice shook, and I took her face gently between my hands. “Look at me.”

She did.

“You are not them.”

Her eyes softened. “You don’t know what I’ll become.”

“I know what you’ve chosen to become,” I said, kissing her forehead. “And I’ll remind time you forget.”

Her fingers closed around my wrist. “Don’t leave me.”

“I won’t.”

The hidden voice laughed again. “That is exactly why you’re useful to me, Damian.”

you every

My body went rigid. Flourish looked toward the speaker. “What do you want with him?”

“His blood.”

I frowned. “What?”

“The Voss ability requires a compatible Alpha bond to reach its full potential,” the voice continued.

Flourish’s expression changed. “You need Damian.”

“No,” the voice said, sounding almost amused. “We need what his wolf carries.”

My wolf snarled, and at that moment the remaining blood hunter collapsed on the floor. A black mark spread across his neck.

Flourish stepped backward. “What happened?”

I crouched beside him. He was dead, and there was no wound, no scent of poison anywhere on him. Only the same strange smell from the archive lingered in the air.

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Chapter 196 The Wolf Inside Me

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“He was silenced,” I said.

The speaker crackled once more. “Your mother made the same mistake.”

Flourish froze. “What mistake?”

“She trusted the wrong Alpha.”

Her eyes moved slowly toward Garret, who had been standing silently near the desk this whole time. I noticed the change in his face at once. He looked terrified.

Flourish saw it too. “Dad.”

Garret didn’t answer.

“Look at me,” she said.

His eyes lifted slowly, and her voice firmed. “What did she mean?”

Garret swallowed hard. “Your mother trusted someone who was supposed to protect you.”

“Who?”

He looked at me instead of her, and my wolf went still at the weight of that look. Garret’s lips parted to answer.

But before he could speak, the study window shattered behind him. A silver tipped arrow flew across the room and struck Garret square in the chest. He collapsed.

Flourish screamed. “Dad!”

I caught her before she could run toward him. “Don’t touch the arrow!”

Garret’s eyes were already losing focus on the floor. Flourish struggled hard against my arms. “Let me go!”

“It’s silver.”

“I don’t care!”

Her wolf erupted, and the entire house shook with the force of her power. Every wolf outside dropped to the ground at once, overwhelmed by whatever had just moved through her.

Then the hidden voice spoke one final time. “Now you understand.”

Flourish stopped moving. “What?”

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Chapter 196 The Wolf Inside Me

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The voice turned almost gentle. “Your mother wasn’t killed because she knew too much.” A pause followed. “She was killed because she discovered who your real enemy was.”

The speakers went silent, and Garret whispered from the floor. “It was…”

His eyes closed before he could finish.

I looked toward the shattered window. A single black wolf stood out on the lawn, its golden eyes fixed directly on Flourish. Then it turned and disappeared into the darkness beyond the trees.

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