Filed to story: Diana Nightshade and Alpha Talon Ravenwood Book PDF Free
‘No,’ Talon said firmly, his voice calm but edged with iron. ‘We eliminate the threat first. Once the danger is gone, our mate will be safe.’
Fenrir snarled inside him, a violent surge of instinct slamming against Talon’s control. ‘You are wrong! Danger is already here. I can feel it. Mate is close. Mate is vulnerable. We protect first-hunt later!’
Talon clenched his jaw, boots planted solidly against the stone floor. He felt Fenrir pacing inside his mind, claws scraping against his restraint, desperate and furious.
‘We cannot abandon the pack during an active attack,’ He replied. ‘Chaos attracts bloodshed. And bloodshed attracts rogues. If we end this quickly, we secure everyone, including her.’
Fenrir growled but did not retreat. ‘If she is harmed because we hesitated-‘
‘She won’t be,’ Talon cut in sharply. ‘Not while I breathe.’
The doors to the hall stood open, warriors rushing past in disciplined lines. Talon’s gaze shifted to Alpha Asher, who stood still.
Watching.
Not issuing commands.
Not shifting.
Not moving toward the fight.
Talon’s eyes narrowed.
“Alpha Asher,” Talon said, his voice deceptively even. “Which part of your territory is under attack?”
Asher straightened slightly under the Alpha King’s attention.
“The southern border,” he answered. “But there’s no need for us to go there.”
Talon’s brow furrowed.
“My warriors are already mobilized,” Asher continued quickly. “They will intercept the rogues. If the enemy breaks through them, my deltas will take over. Then-if needed, we will step in.”
Silence followed his words.
A dangerous, heavy silence.
Talon stared at him, disbelief flashing across his expression before hardening into something far colder.
An alpha who did not lead his warriors into battle.
An alpha who waited while others bled.
An alpha who hid behind ranks and titles.
‘Coward!’ Fenrir howled, fury shaking Talon’s core. ‘He dares call himself alpha? He lets others die while he waits? Mate is not safe here-not with this weak, useless leader! Let me out. I will tear him apart and take our mate far from this place!’
Talon’s fists curled slowly at his sides, and he stepped forward.
The air changed.
His alpha aura surged outward-ancient, crushing, undeniable. Power rolled through the hall like a living force, slamming into every wolf present. Warriors froze mid-stride. Deltas dropped to one knee without realizing why.
Asher’s breath hitched, and his knees buckled.
“That,” Talon said, his voice resonating with command and judgment, “is not how this will proceed.”
“You will lead me to the site of the attack.” He stopped directly in front of Asher, towering over him, eyes glowing faintly with restrained dominance. “We will intercept the rogues at the southern border. We will eliminate the threat swiftly and decisively.”
Fenrir’s voice rumbled with savage approval. ‘As alphas should.’
Talon leaned in slightly, his gaze piercing. “An alpha does not wait behind his warriors. He does not gamble with his pack’s blood. He stands at the front. He protects his land. His people. His future.”
Asher trembled visibly now, sweat beading at his temples as Talon’s presence crushed down on him like a mountain.
“Yes,” Asher whispered, voice shaking. “Yes… Alpha King.”
He lowered his head fully in submission.
“Yes, Alpha King,” Asher said again, louder this time, so all could hear.
Talon turned toward the exit, already moving.
“Mobilize,” Talon commanded. “Now.”
Fenrir surged forward eagerly within him, teeth bared, senses sharpened.
‘Find mate after,’ Fenrir growled. ‘But if she is even scratched-‘
‘They won’t get that far,’ Talon said grimly as he strode into the night, the howls of warriors rising behind him.
Because whether by claw or crown, no one threatened his mate.
‘I can smell mate,’ Fenrir growled, his voice vibrating through Talon’s bones. ‘Mate is here. Mate is in danger.’
Talon’s breath hitched as Fenrir surged forward, forcing their legs to move faster, harder. Every instinct screamed toward the battlefield, toward the metallic tang of blood and the unmistakable pull that burned in his chest.
Fenrir’s teeth bared instinctively, lips pulling back in a silent snarl as their stride lengthened. Trees blurred past them. The ground shook beneath their feet as they tore through the forest like a living storm.
‘Slow down,’ Talon warned, though his own heart pounded in rhythm with Fenrir’s urgency.
‘No,’ Fenrir snarled. ‘She is fighting. She should not be fighting alone.’
The clash of steel and claws reached them before the clearing did-snarls, screams, the sickening sound of bone breaking. Then they broke through the tree line.
And Talon froze.
So did Fenrir.
The battlefield lay before them, but not as expected.
At the center of the c*****e stood a single woman.
She was human-fully human in form. No fur. No claws. No glowing eyes. Just swords in both of her hands. Yet she stood unmoving, unbroken, her stance grounded and unyielding, as if the earth itself bent to her will. Blood stained the ground at her feet-not hers, but that of the rogues sprawled around her.
Behind her stood wolves-pack members-injured, exhausted, alive only because she stood between them and death.
Fenrir’s breath caught.
‘There.’ His voice dropped to a reverent growl. ‘Mate.’
Talon could feel her power now-raw, contained, restrained by sheer force of will. Her wolf pressed against the edges of her soul, massive and fierce.
And yet-
‘Why, Fenrir murmured, confusion threading his fury, ‘is her wolf not out? I can feel her. She is not a weak wolf.’
Before Talon could respond, another presence arrived.
“Diana is here?” Asher said, disbelief coloring his voice as he reached Talon’s side.
Talon didn’t answer. His eyes never left the woman.
“Alpha,” one of the warriors said urgently to Asher, voice strained. “Diana was already here when the rogues attacked. She was training near the border. When the attack began, she intercepted them.”
Asher’s jaw tightened.
“Who is she?” Enzo asked, shifting smoothly from his wolf, River, back into his human form. His gaze was sharp, curious, calculating.
“She is Diana,” Asher said quietly. “She was our strongest warrior.”
Enzo’s brow lifted slightly. “Was?”
Asher swallowed. “Yes. She was the warrior whose parents perished in the last rogue attack. The one who resigned.”
Enzo’s eyes flicked back to the battlefield-back to the woman still standing unshifted, still unbowed.
“Then why,” Enzo asked slowly, “is she not transforming?”
“Because,” Asher said, voice heavy, “she is wolfless.”
The words barely left his mouth before Fenrir erupted.
‘LIES.’ Fenrir roared inside Talon, his fury shaking the very core of his being. ‘My mate’s wolf is powerful-ancient-stronger than this so-called alpha standing beside us!’
Talon clenched his fists as Fenrir pushed forward, every instinct screaming to claim, to protect, to stand at her side.
“She does not look like she needs protection,” Enzo said lightly, glancing sideways at Talon. There was mischief in his eyes now. Testing. Provoking.
Fenrir snarled viciously.
‘I do not care.’ His voice was feral, possessive, and absolute. ‘I will protect mate. That is my right. That is my duty!’
Talon took a single step forward, power rippling beneath his skin.
Because wolfless or not-
That woman was his mate.
And no one-rogue, alpha, or fate itself-would stand between him and her.
‘There are too many; Diana muttered through clenched teeth, boots skidding slightly on blood-slick ground as she twisted away from a clawed swipe. ‘Too many, Artemis. And the warriors are getting tired.’
Inside her mind, her wolf lifted her head, her starlight eyes sharp and unforgiving.
‘Tired?’ Artemis scoffed. ‘What kind of training have they been doing since we resigned? It has only been a few months. This level of sloppiness is embarrassing.’
Diana ducked under another strike, her swords flashing as she crossed them, metal singing as it met bone. ‘They relied too much on numbers. On hierarchy. On believing the Alpha would always save them.’
‘And now he isn’t, Artemis replied coldly. ‘So they falter.’
A rogue lunged. Diana pivoted, blade slicing cleanly through its shoulder before she kicked it back into another attacker. Her breathing remained steady, controlled-years of discipline refusing to break even as the battlefield descended further into chaos.
‘At this rate, Diana said, voice tight, ‘we won’t have any choice but to reveal you.’
There was a pause inside her.
Then a low, amused chuckle echoed through her mind.
‘Oh?’ Artemis said lightly. ‘And what would that ridiculous Luna say if she found out you have me? What would she do when she realizes the power she’s been trying-and failing-to control has been right here all along?’
Another rogue fell at Diana’s feet.
‘And our useless Alpha ex-mate?’ Artemis added with clear disdain. ‘I would love to see his face.’
Diana grimaced, spinning her blade to deflect a blow aimed at her ribs. ‘We’ll deal with that if we get there. What I won’t allow is for us to be used as some kind of guard wolf. A weapon chained to this pack because they suddenly remember my worth!
Artemis’s tone sharpened. ‘Or worse, if the Alpha tries to force us to be his mate.’
A deep growl rolled through Diana’s chest.
‘That will never happen,’ she said with absolute certainty. ‘Never.’
The next wave hit hard. Rogues poured in from the treeline, eyes wild, movements erratic but vicious. Diana surged forward to meet them, swords an extension of her arms, her body flowing from strike to strike with lethal precision. She did not fight like the others-there was no wasted motion, no panic.
To the watching wolves, she looked like she was dancing. Steel flashed. Blood sprayed.
Bodies fell.
Two rogues pressed her from the front, coordinating their attacks. Diana parried the first, ducked the second, and drove her blade upward into a ribcage. She yanked it free just in time to block another strike–and froze.
Her instincts screamed.
Behind her, two more rogues. Closing fast.
Too fast.
‘Artemis!’ Diana shouted inside her mind, already shifting her stance, already calculating angles that didn’t exist.
‘We cannot avoid them, Artemis said, voice suddenly serious. ‘There is no space. No time. We do not have a choice.’
Diana’s pulse thundered. ‘You mean-‘
‘We shift, Artemis said. ‘Let me take control.’
Power surged, wild and burning, clawing at Diana’s skin, her bones humming with restrained force. The shift pressed against her like a storm desperate to break free.
They braced-
And then, a massive blur of black exploded into the fight.
The ground shook.
A wolf larger than any Diana had ever seen tore through the rogues behind her, jaws snapping shut with bone-crushing force. One rogue didn’t even have time to scream before it was flung aside like a rag doll.
The wolf was enormous. His fur was midnight black, eyes glowing with lethal intelligence. Power radiated from him in waves-raw, dominant, undeniable.
An Alpha.
He moved with terrifying efficiency, claws slashing, teeth ripping, dismantling the brutal precision. In seconds, the threat at Diana’s back was gone.
She stared, momentarily frozen, and then her chest tightened.
Her wolf went utterly still.
‘Mate.’
The word was not spoken. It was howled inside her, filled with awe, shock, and something dangerously close to reverence.
“Mate?” Diana echoed, breath hitching as she watched the massive black wolf turn toward her.
‘Yes, Artemis whispered, her voice trembling now. ‘He is ours.’
The Alpha’s gaze locked onto Diana.
Time slowed. The noise of battle faded into nothing but the pounding of her heart. The world narrowed to the space between them, to the pull that slammed into her with undeniable force.
