Ch. I Refuse to Be Your Luna 227 I Refuse to Be Your Luna 227

Chapter 227 Before Midnight

Lady Flourish’s POV

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The photograph stayed on Damian’s phone, and I couldn’t look away from Harold’s bloodied face. My wolf had gone rigid beneath my skin, the bond inside me reacting to the sight of another Alpha in danger.

“Harold,” Damian said, his voice low but edged with anger. He zoomed in on the image, studying every detail. Harold was being dragged through the entrance of Midnight Society, hands restrained, blood running from his temple.

“Can you track where this was taken?”

I looked at Rhys’s contact on the screen. “Call him.”

Damian dialed, and Rhys answered instantly. “Alpha.”

“Find Midnight Society.”

“I already am. There’s a club with that name in the eastern district, but the ownership records are private and the security system isn’t on the public network.”

“Send me the location.”

A notification came through. The map showed a building surrounded by smaller properties, in a district I recognized. “That’s outside Stonehedge territory.”

Elara nodded. “That is why they chose it.”

“Who are they?” Damian asked her.

“People who have been waiting for your mate to awaken.”

My wolf reacted violently to the word mate, and Damian’s eyes flicked to me. I hated the fear rising in my chest.

“Why would they take Harold?”

“Because they know he matters to you,” Elara said.

Damian’s jaw tightened. “They’re using him to control me,”

“They’re using him to make you choose.”

I looked at the message beneath the photo. Come before midnight, or the Alpha dies.

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“Then we go,” I said.

“No,” Damian said immediately.

“What?”

“You stay here.”

My wolf snarled. “Absolutely not.”

“Flourish.”

“You just said they took Harold because he matters to me.”

“Exactly.”

“And you still expect me to sit here while you walk into their territory?”

“I expect you to stay alive.”

“You don’t get to make that decision alone.”

His eyes flashed gold. “I am your Alpha.”

“And I am your mate.”

That silenced him. Elara watched us without a word, though something in her expression unsettled me. Damian looked away first. “We don’t know what they’re planning.”

“Neither do they know what we’re bringing.” I lifted my phone. “Drones, thermal cameras, warriors, vehicles, surveillance, communications. They may have planned for werewolves. They haven’t planned for everything.”

A faint smile touched his mouth. “You’re learning.”

“I had a good teacher.”

He stepped closer, fingers closing around mine. “Stay beside me.”

“I will.”

His phone rang again. Rhys.

“Talk.”

“I found something. Midnight Society isn’t operating alone. There are three vehicles registered

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to shell companies outside the building, but two of them were seen near Stonehedge earlier tonight.”

My stomach tightened. “How long ago?”

“Less than an hour.”

Damian looked at Elara, already pale. “Those vehicles belong to them?”

“Not exactly,” Rhys said. “The registration records were altered.”

“Can

you trace the original owners?”

“I traced one.” A pause. “Alpha Garret.”

The room went silent. Elara lowered her gaze.

“Elara,” Damian said. “Why would Garret’s vehicle be connected to Midnight Society?”

Her lips parted, but nothing came out. I stepped toward her. “Mom.”

She finally looked at me. “I told you your father sealed your memories. He didn’t do it alone.”

My heart stopped. “Who helped him?”

“Ragnar.”

Damian went completely still. “My father?”

“Your father knew what was inside Flourish’s blood.”

His wolf surged hard enough that his claws pushed through his fingertips. “You knew this?”

“I knew he was afraid.”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

“Yes,” Elara said.

Damian turned away, breathing hard, fighting to keep his Alpha under control. I touched his arm. He looked at me. “Not now.”

“I know. We have Harold to save.”

His eyes softened. “You’re right.”

Rhys spoke again through the phone. “Alpha, there’s another problem. The army surrounding

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Chapter 227 Before Midnight

Stonehedge has started moving.”

My heart dropped. “Where?”

“Toward the eastern district.”

“How many?”

“Thousands.”

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The distant howls outside had grown louder. The pack already knew something was happening.

Damian turned to Marwin. “Wake every available warrior.”

Marwin bowed. “Yes, Alpha.”

“Hailey stays with the civilians.” He spoke to Rhys again. “Keep the drones in the air, monitor the army.”

“Understood.”

He ended the call, and I looked at him. “You can’t fight thousands and save Harold at the same

time.”

“I don’t intend to. I’ll take a strike team to Midnight Society.”

“And the army?”

“Magnus handles the territory.”

“They want me.”

“Yes.”

“And they expect you to come after me.”

“That’s why you’re staying behind.”

“No,” I said, stepping closer. “If I stay, they use Harold to draw you away while the army attacks Stonehedge. If I go with you, we control the situation.”

His jaw tightened. I placed my hand against his chest. “You told me to stay beside you.”

His hand covered mine. “I meant it.”

“Then let me.”

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For several seconds neither of us moved. Then he pressed his forehead against mine. “If anything happens to you, I won’t forgive myself.”

My throat tightened. “Then don’t let anything happen to me.”

“I’ll protect you,” he said quietly, and my wolf settled at the sound of his voice.

The peace lasted only seconds. A violent howl tore through the estate, and every wolf in the building reacted at once. Another howl followed, then another, and I felt the bond inside me burn.

Rhys’s voice came through the phone again, urgent. “Alpha!”

“What happened?”

“The eastern security line just collapsed.”

“How?”

“They didn’t breach the wall.” A pause. “The army disappeared from the thermal cameras.”

“All of them?”

“Yes.”

Cold spread through my body.

“They’re no longer outside Stonehedge,” Rhys said.

Damian’s wolf rose inside him. “Where are they?”

“Inside the territory.”

At that exact moment, every light in the estate went out. Darkness swallowed the room.

And from somewhere beneath our feet, a deep wolf’s growl answered.

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