---- They exchanged a glance. "He is Alpha David's half-brother," Grandfather revealed. My breath hitched. "Alpha David's blood?" "His mother was the Luna-in-shadow-the Alpha's secret mate," Grandmother said. " Though never fully accepted, Alpha Michael was their most gifted son... until the accident." I clenched my jaw. The threads of fate were tighter than I'd imagined. When we arrived, the Greenbrook estate loomed ahead-a fortress of stone and ivy, draped in silence. We were led into a chamber where moonlight filtered through stained glass. The air tasted of old magic and something feral. "We're here to see Alpha Michael," Grandfather said. ---- Asound echoed through the halls-metal wheels against marble, accompanied by the low growl of an unseen guardian. Then I saw him. Alpha Michael Greenbrook. His black hair brushed his collar, and his once- proud jaw was hidden beneath a few days of stubble. But it was his eyes-void, unreadable, wild-that struck me. He let out a high-pitched, inhuman sound-a cry or a warning, I couldn't tell. He rocked gently in the wheelchair, his hands flexing and curling like a wolf preparing to shift. This was the male I was to bond with. Awhisper of doubt slid through my mind like a cold wind. Had I made the right choice? ---- Or had I just bound myself to a ghost of an Alpha... with a beast that might never return?