45. Decisions

Mia Miller

I couldn’t close my eyes all night. Every time I felt like I might finally fall asleep, Lorenzo came to my mind.

When the sun rose, my stomach turned. I hadn’t been able to eat anything since that damned kidnapping.

A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts.

“Miss Mia,” the middle-aged woman entered the room with a breakfast tray. “Alpha Darius asked me to bring this to you.”

“I don’t want to eat, thank you.”

“Miss, those are your father’s orders. Please, eat something,” she said, looking at me.

I stared at her. Her eyes seemed sincere. And if I wanted to escape this place, I had to eat. I needed to be strong.

“Thank you.”

“Claire,” she said with a smile. “That’s my name. If you need anything, just call me.”

She seemed like a good person.

I devoured the breakfast tray. I was starving.

Then I heard footsteps coming toward the room I was in.

It was him. The Alpha of Silverclaw. Darius—my biological father.

He was tall, with brown hair and tanned skin. His body was ripped, like he spent every day training for battle. I have to admit—he had my eyes. Or maybe, I had his.

Damn. I was his copy, and that only made me angrier.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt your breakfast, daughter,” he said as he approached.

Daughter...

The way he said it so naturally. His coldness scared me.

He never looked for me. Never helped with anything. He didn’t see my first steps, my graduation, or the birth of my son. He was nothing to me. And no matter how many excuses he made to justify his absence, nothing would change how I felt—or how much of a jerk he was.

“I’m done,” I said coldly.

“Come with me, Mia. There’s a place—and someone—I want you to meet.”

I got up calmly and followed as he ordered. I couldn’t question anything. Even if he was my father, he had kidnapped me, and I didn’t trust him.

I followed Darius through the wide, cold hallways of the house—or rather, the mansion—my heart pounding, a mix of anger and fear consuming me. With every step, my mind analyzed possible escape routes. But as much as I hated to admit it, curiosity about what he wanted to show me started gnawing at me.

When we reached an open area, I was speechless. In front of us was a clearing surrounded by tall trees. At the center stood a simple, almost hidden cabin. At the door, a man waited for us. Tall, strong… but what caught my attention were his eyes. They were just like mine.

A chill ran down my spine.

“This is Caleb,” Darius said, his voice strangely calm. “Your brother.”

I froze in place. Brother.

“I don’t need this,” I murmured, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. “I just want to leave.”

Seeing my brother—standing there in front of me—I didn’t even know I had one. He looked so much like me, it was almost frightening. And knowing that he, unlike me, wasn’t rejected—it hurt.

Darius, however, stayed cold as ever. “You’re not leaving until you understand what’s really at stake. A power that, if not controlled, can destroy everything around you. I brought you here to learn, to understand your true nature.”

Caleb took a step toward me, his gaze serious, but curious. “I know it’s hard to accept, Mia,” he said softly. “But it’s what we are—wolves. I’m glad I finally got to meet the sister Dad always talked about.”

I crossed my arms, refusing to show any weakness. “None of this changes who I am. I have a life. A son. You weren’t there. You don’t get to show up now and expect me to just accept all of this.”

Darius took a deep breath, his voice firmer. “I’m not asking you to accept it. I’m asking you to understand it. If you don’t learn to control the power you inherited, you’ll be putting yourself, Lorenzo, and everyone around you in danger.”

I wanted to resist. I wanted to scream that none of it mattered. But there was something in the way he spoke, in the way Caleb looked at me… like they knew something I didn’t.

Darius led us into the cabin. It was simple, but in the center was a large wooden table, covered in old books and objects that looked like they came out of a dark fairytale. In the middle of everything sat a small, weathered wooden box.

“This belonged to your mother,” Darius said, placing the box in front of me. “She kept secrets that not even I could protect on my own.”

I looked at the box, feeling something stir inside me, as if a deep connection was forming. “My mother… what really happened to her?”

Darius sighed, and for the first time, his eyes looked sad. “She was hunted, Mia. Your mother and I... we were young. She was human, I was a wolf. At the time, I didn’t consider the consequences of my actions. I knew I carried this power in my blood, but I didn’t know you’d be born with it.”

Caleb, who had been silent until then, stepped closer. “She ran away from here so you could live in safety.”

“Wolves are ambitious creatures. When they found out I had gotten a human pregnant—and that the child could control any wolf or transformation— the hunt began.”

“And him…” I glanced at Caleb.

“He’s my son with my Luna. She passed away. But he didn’t inherit the power. Only you, Mia.”

My chest tightened. My mother… she had sacrificed herself for me. And now, they wanted me to take on the same fate? To embrace a power I didn’t even know I had?

“I never abandoned you, daughter. I just couldn’t get close. But in the end, it didn’t matter.”

Darius opened the box, revealing a small, silver amulet—ancient, almost mystical. “This is the key to unlocking your power, Mia. But it’s also a curse, if you don’t learn to control it.”

I stepped back. “I don’t want this. I just want my son.”

Darius’ eyes narrowed again, his voice cold. “If you don’t learn to control what’s inside you, Lorenzo will be in danger. They’ll hunt him, just like they hunted your mother.”

At the mention of Lorenzo, it felt like an iron fist gripped my heart. As much as I wanted to deny everything, deep down, I knew he was right. I didn’t trust him. I didn’t trust Caleb. But if Lorenzo was in danger… I had to think twice.

“You brought me here as a prisoner,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “You don’t want to protect me—you want to use me.”

Darius didn’t flinch. “If I wanted to use you, I would’ve done it already. But your power isn’t something that can just be ignored. You’ll have to choose—learn to control it, or put everyone you love at risk. And now that I’ve found you, I can’t lose you.”

I took a deep breath, trying to process it all. I was caught between two worlds—between the need to protect my son and the urge to run from this place. But one thing was clear: I didn’t trust him. And I would find a way out of here.

When they took me to the place where the wolves ran freely, I didn’t expect what I’d feel. The fresh forest breeze, the scent of damp earth, and the sound of paws hitting the ground stirred something in me that I couldn’t explain. Those creatures, with their white, gray, and brown fur, seemed so free, so wild—but at the same time, there was something about them that touched me deeply. It was as if a part of me—a part I never knew—instantly connected to this world.

The smell… it was magnificent. The air was filled with something ancient, something primal. The people around me, the wolves running... everything felt familiar. As if, somehow, this was my place. My world. But I didn’t want to admit that. I didn’t want to accept that deep down, my body recognized something my mind refused to.

I wanted to hate Darius. I wanted to hate all of it. But at the same time, there was a strange sense of belonging. And that scared me more than anything.

Beside me, Darius watched in silence, maybe waiting for my reaction. His eyes shone with a calmness that contrasted the storm inside me.

“It’s magnificent, isn’t it?” he murmured, as if reading my thoughts.

I couldn’t answer right away. My eyes were locked on the wolves running, leaping between the trees with such grace and power that it left me mesmerized. Every fiber of my being seemed to respond. I could feel the wolf inside me—this part I never knew—awakening, wanting to join them.

But at the same time, my heart ached. This wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want to be part of a world of wolves and secrets. I wanted to be with Lorenzo. He was my world. Not these wild creatures, no matter how fascinating they were.

“I don’t want this,” I said, breaking the silence. My voice was low, almost a whisper. “I just want to see Ethan. I want Lorenzo. This… might be beautiful, but it’s not my life.”

Darius didn’t reply right away. He kept watching the wolves for a few more seconds before speaking again. “You may want another life, Mia. But this is the one you have. You belong to this world, whether you like it or not. I will bring my grandson here. But that wolf doesn’t love you—if he did, he wouldn’t be marrying someone else.”

I looked at him, my eyes burning with frustration and confusion.

I couldn’t deny he was right. Ethan didn’t love me.

“I’m not giving up my life,” I said firmly. “And I won’t let you—or this place—take it from me.”

Darius sighed, though he didn’t seem surprised. “I don’t expect you to give it up. But you’ll have to face who you really are. You’ll become a wolf—the strongest this pack has ever seen.”

My heart clenched at the thought of Lorenzo and Ethan. I knew he was right, no matter how much I hated to admit it. The danger was real, and if I wanted to save my family, I’d have to learn how to handle the power inside me.

But that didn’t mean I’d accept everything so easily. It didn’t mean I’d accept the fate my father wanted to impose on me.

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” I said, looking him straight in the eye. “But only for Lorenzo. Not for you. Not for this pack.”

Darius nodded—and for the first time, I saw a flicker of something like respect in his eyes.