Third Person's POV Aysel might never have retaliated this fiercely- not if things had stopped earlier, not if the bonds of childhood between her and Damon had not been ground into dust. They had once grown up side by side, their scents familiar, their spirits twined like young wolves destined to run the same trails. Even later, when Damon lost himself in Celestine and followed Dariusz into foolishness, Aysel-by her nature, by her understanding of his heart-would have simply ended the bond and walked away. And had that been all, she would never have allowed Magnus to bare his fangs on the Blackwood Pack. She would have held Rafe's wrath back out of respect for the boy who once shielded her from the storms. But Damon and Celestine had pressed her- again and again- until she could no longer yield. Now, there was no affection left. No shared past. No pack warmth. Nothing but severed ties and scorched earth. Luna Blackwood looked at her son-face reddened from her earlier slap, silent as stone-and her heart twisted with pain. "This is not the time to chase love," she growled, voice edged like a wolf's warning. "Even if you managed to drag her back into your arms-could you keep her?" Damon's eyes flickered, a tremor running through his aura. His mother's verdict was cold as winter frost. "Celestine Ward is already in the dungeons. Even if she emerges, she cannot help you-she is a broken fang, useless to the Blackwood Pack. We did what mercy required when we didn't sever ties with her immediately." She leaned closer, claws tapping the table. "What you need now is a powerful alliance."Alpha Blackwood himself-already furious at Damon's reckless defense of Celestine Ward-had watched the Blackwood Pack bleed resources, lose partnerships, and face the silent threat of Magnus Sanchez's looming shadow. Every wolf in the corporation lived with their tails tucked, uncertain when the Shadowbane Alpha might strike. His disappointment in Damon grew by the day. His mother saw it all too clearly. "If you do not fight, what will you use to challenge your father? And what will you use to compete with the other offspring he's placed outside the den?" Damon stiffened, refusing the fate of political mating. "That pup-" he said through gritted teeth, "I will not let it be born." He remembered the last hospital visit-his father standing protectively beside another she-wolf during a prenatal examination. Rage, disbelief, and humiliation tangled inside him. A single unborn cub? How could it possibly threaten him? His mother laughed-sharp, humorless. "You think there is only one? One cub you can erase? What about the next? And the next after that? And the ones he keeps abroad-already grown, already wolves of age? Will you take a blade and hunt them down one by one?" Damon's head snapped up, shock widening his eyes. He had believed- naively- that any new cubs came after his father had lost faith in him. He had believed his parents were the model mated pair, united, harmonious. But Luna Blackwood offered no space for sentiment. "Nothing in this world is owed to you," she said, voice low with dominance. "You had a perfect den because you were exceptional. You had resources laid before your paws because you had earned them. You stood at the top because you deserved to." Her next words struck like claws. "You made mistakes. Now you bear the price."She touched his shoulder-firm, heavy, a gesture of both admonishment and reluctant comfort. "Your situation is not beyond saving. Your record in the pack's industries is not disastrous. You are still the rightful heir. Alpha Blackwood has only placed you under observation-he has not cast you out." She held his gaze. "You should not waste time competing with the illegitimate pups. You already have the advantage. Strengthen it. A formidable mate would give you the power you lack." After a pause, she added: "Even if you desire something... you must first possess dominance before you attempt to seize it." Damon's shoulders sagged as though the weight of the entire pack had been set upon them. Every word she spoke pierced him because they were the truth he had run from- the truth he didn't want to face. The reunion invitation in his hand was crushed into wrinkles as his fingers tightened. His eyes reddened, his voice hoarse. "Mother... I only want to try again. Just once more. I love her. I have loved her for so many years. I cannot imagine a life without her." He loved her so deeply that he believed they were reflections of each other- two shadows cast by the same moon. Because he was certain she would always stay, he was careless, he wandered, and he lost her entirely. How was he supposed to let go? How could he give up either the Blackwood legacy or Aysel? "Mother, please..." Luna Blackwood exhaled slowly.A sigh filled not with softness, but with the resignation of a wolf who knows the battle is already lost. "If you had known this earlier," she murmured, "why didn't you stop before the damage was done?"