Third Person's POV In the imperial city, not everyone found sleep that night. Within the Blackwood household, tension hung thick like winter fog. Luna Blackwood stormed into the room, slamming her satchel onto the divan. "What a cursed night!" she barked. Even the Moonvale Pack could be exasperatingly unreliable. A simple gathering had spiraled into chaos. The engagement, meant to be a celebration of alliances, now felt like mockery. Her sharp gaze found Damon, her heir, slumped and disoriented. "Tell me," she demanded, voice low and dangerous, "how did you manage to entangle yourself with Celestine Ward again tonight?" Damon's dark eyes flickered with the memory, restless and storming, but the circumstances had been... unusual. The Tylors had intervened, her pack threatening his movements. Though he understood the trap, he hadn't anticipated the full scale of the disruption. Luna Blackwood's hand slammed the table. "They called you, and you went? Do you not understand the weight of this night? Your engagement to Aysel, which you fought tooth and claw to secure, has been undermined-and you've been caught flagrantly elsewhere!" "Could Celestine have been saved by no one? Were the Moonvale guards, the city watch, her own kin all dead, leaving only me?" Damon retorted, teeth clenched. The fury in his pack-voice was palpable. Luna Blackwood's mind reeled. Had everything unfolded as per Magnus Sanchez's designs? She could almost believe the Shadowbane Alpha had orchestrated the entire chain of events. Damon's impulsive flight to aid Celestine, abandoning his intended fiancée, was reckless-but it had been entirely his choice. Her husband, Alpha Blackwood, dark as a storm, weighed the implications. The family had already compensated the Ward pack for past incidents. Any lingering debts were their concern, not Damon's. Yet, the thought of potential losses-prestige, influence, resources-tightened his chest. He could not shake the suspicion that the chaos had been engineered. He fixed his son with a shadowed glare. "Remember this: the one who saved you from the sea was Dariusz, not Celestine. You owe her nothing. If you continue to be clouded by confusion, do not think of the Blackwood Alpha seat as yours." Damon's gaze hardened, reflecting his mother's anger and his father's weight. Dariusz's family had been paid; the rest was a game he could no longer control. They had been hired to play a role, yet manipulated mid-script. If only they knew they were stepping onto a path marked for ruin from the first howl.Luna Blackwood's mind shifted to another player in this deadly game: Celestine. Once, the girl's wit and poise had been a source of admiration, even tolerance. Now her cunning had entangled the Blackwoods, stained the engagement, and left the family scrambling. Deep in her chest, a pang of resentment toward the young wolf lingered. Celestine was calculating, far too clever, and now her schemes affected others. Yet, the engagement was sealed. The future, once imagined harmonious between future matron and daughter-in-law, now carried the weight of silent fissures. Luna Blackwood glanced at her husband, then at her son, and finally at the shadowed horizon of the city, imagining Magnus's presence, the Alpha of Shadowbane, standing like a dark sentinel over Aysel. Magnus had supported Aysel, bolstering her freedom from Moonvale's subtle chains. Would that influence one day reach Celestine, dragging the Blackwoods into the ripples of another pack's wrath? "Aysel will not marry into Shadowbane," Damon said suddenly, voice sharp, his expression as cold and hard as an iron fang. Luna Blackwood's concern pivoted. Her focus was not on Damon's declarations of loyalty but on the possible future entanglements. She wanted to protect the Blackwood lineage, ensuring that no wolf outside their pack could leverage her son's decisions. Damon drew in a slow, steady breath. His hands clenched into fists. "I know Aysel. She does not discard her affections lightly. What occurred tonight was likely cooperation-mutual understanding between her and Magnus to break Moonvale's control. Magnus supports her, yes-but only to ensure she remains free. Beyond that, their paths will diverge. A bridge here, a boundary there. Aysel is no threat to me, nor am I hers." His parents exhaled, tension easing. No romance had bloomed between Aysel and Magnus-at least, not in the way they feared. Tonight's display had been a mere show of power, a calculated maneuver by Magnus to assert dominance and protect his chosen wolf. Relieved, Luna Blackwood and Alpha Blackwood shifted their focus. If the image of Damon remained untarnished, the family could repair their standing. All else could be managed-alliances, prestige, and reputation would be reclaimed, one careful howl at a time.