Garrett Cole POV
Garrett checks on her recovery three times before noon.
He tells himself it's necessary. She's healing and he needs to make sure there are no complications. That's what an alpha does. That's what a responsible leader does. That's completely different from what he's actually doing which is finding any excuse to be in the same room as her.
The first time he brings her breakfast. He tells himself it's because she needs to eat protein for healing. The second time he brings her fresh water. Essential for recovery. The third time he just shows up and stands there watching her read a book Maya brought, and he can't even pretend to himself that it's about medical reasons.
She's breaking down every wall he's spent a lifetime building.
When she laughs at something in the book, the sound hits him in the chest like a physical blow. Real laughter. Not the careful, controlled sounds of wolves in pack meetings. Just a woman finding something funny and letting herself enjoy it. That laugh makes Garrett want to burn down everything he's built as long as it means hearing her laugh again.
Later that afternoon, he walks with her through the compound.
Everyone sees them. He knows they do. He can feel the stares. Can feel the questions spreading through the pack like poison. The Luna of a rival pack walking beside their alpha like she belongs there. Like she's under his protection. Like maybe she's more than just a refugee.
Riley touches his arm while pointing at the training grounds and explaining something she sort of remembers about wolves fighting. The touch is innocent. Just her fingers on his sleeve. But Garrett goes rigid like someone shocked him. His entire body tenses. His wolf rises up and demands he claim her right here in front of everyone.
He forces himself to keep walking. Forces himself to keep breathing. Forces himself to remember that he's the alpha and alphas don't lose control.
Even when the woman they're obsessed with is walking beside them like she's theirs.
Victor finds him in his office an hour later. One look at his second-in-command's face tells Garrett that something's wrong. Something bigger than his inability to stay away from Riley.
"The scouts are reporting movement on the borders," Victor says without preamble. "Silvermoon is mobilizing. They're moving warriors. They're positioning forces. And Garrett, they know she's here."
The words land like bullets.
Garrett sets down his pen carefully. He doesn't trust himself to move too quickly. Doesn't trust the alpha in him not to take over and make decisions based on rage instead of strategy.
"How do they know?" he asks quietly.
"Someone told them. One of our people or one of theirs. It doesn't matter. What matters is Erik Blackwell knows his Luna is in our territory. What matters is he's preparing to come get her."
Garrett stands and walks to the window. From here he can see part of the medical wing. He can't see her but he knows exactly where she is. Knows she's probably reading that book. Knows she's safe. For now.
"He'll come in force," Victor continues. "You know he will. He won't negotiate. He won't settle for anything less than having her back or having her dead. And Garrett, this ends now or it ends in war."
The choice hangs in the air between them.
Give her back. End this. Stop the bleeding before it gets worse. Send Riley back to Silvermoon with a message that she was never a prisoner. That Blackthorn was honorable. That they have no intention of starting a territorial war over one wolf.
That's the smart move. That's what Victor is asking him to do.
Garrett turns to face his second-in-command. He stares at him for a long moment and watches Victor's expression shift. Watches him realize that this choice has already been made. That there was never really a choice at all.
"Then it ends in war," Garrett says coldly. "Because I'm not giving her back."
Victor takes a step back. His eyes go wide like he's seeing something he didn't want to see. Something he was hoping wasn't true.
"You love her," Victor says. It's not a question.
Garrett doesn't deny it. He's past denial. He's past pretending. He's past all the lies he's been telling himself about protection and possession and responsibility.
"Yes," he says simply.
"You've known her for ten days, Garrett. Ten days. And you're willing to burn everything for her."
"Yes."
Victor's expression hardens with understanding. And it's not anger. It's something worse. It's the look of someone watching a friend walk toward destruction and being unable to stop him.
"Love makes alphas do desperate things," Victor says quietly. "Desperate things that get people killed. Desperate things that destroy packs. I've seen it before. I watched my father destroy his entire territory because he was obsessed with a woman. And I'm watching you do the same thing."
"This is different," Garrett says.
"How? How is this different from him?"
Garrett doesn't have a good answer. But he knows it's different because when he looks at Riley, he doesn't see someone to possess. He sees someone he wants to protect. Someone he wants to make strong. Someone he wants to give choices to instead of taking them away.
His father never wanted that. His father just wanted control.
"Because I would let her go if she asked me to," Garrett says. "My father never let anything go."
Victor shakes his head. "That doesn't matter. What matters is that Erik is coming. What matters is that your pack is going to be caught in the middle of a war that started because you couldn't stay away from an enemy Luna. And worst of all, when she remembers everything, when she realizes that loving you has cost her pack and her life and her entire identity, she might hate you for it."
The words cut deeper than any blade.
Because Victor is right. Riley might remember. Might realize what her presence here has done. Might decide that Garrett isn't worth it. Might choose to go back to her old life and leave him alone with the destruction he's created.
And Garrett would deserve it.
But he's not letting her go anyway. Not now. Not ever. Not as long as she's willing to stay.
"Get the pack ready for war," Garrett tells Victor. "Send scouts to the borders. Prepare the warriors. Contact our allies. Erik Blackwell wants his Luna back, he's going to have to burn Blackthorn to the ground to take her."
Victor stares at him. "You're really doing this."
"I really am."
"And when she remembers? When she realizes what you've done?"
Garrett thinks about Riley. About the way she laughed. About the way she touched his arm. About the way she looked at him like he was real and broken and worth saving anyway.
"Then I'll deal with that when it comes," he says. "But right now, she's mine to protect. And nothing is going to change that."
Victor turns to leave but stops at the door.
"Your father thought the same thing," he says quietly. "He thought love justified everything. He thought being obsessed with someone meant he was strong instead of weak. And it destroyed him. I'm watching it destroy you too."
Then he's gone and Garrett is alone with the truth.
He's falling in love with Riley. Not slowly. Not carefully. All at once. Complete. Consuming. The kind of love that makes you choose her over your pack. The kind of love that starts wars. The kind of love that destroys alphas.
And he's not stopping it.