Filed to story: Diana Nightshade and Alpha Talon Ravenwood Book PDF Free
Talon turned slightly. “Beta Enzo.”
Enzo stepped forward immediately, his posture sharp, his expression unreadable.
He faced the royal guards stationed at the edge of the courtyard and then ordered, “Bring them in.”
The royal guards moved as one.
Moments later, two wolves were escorted into the open space-an older woman and man. They were shaken, eyes wide with fear, but unharmed. No chains. No blood. Just terror.
The crowd erupted.
Before anyone could react-
“Mom! Dad!”
A young woman burst from the crowd, shoving past wolves without hesitation. She ran straight toward the couple, her face pale, eyes wide with disbelief.
Enzo froze. The moment his eyes landed on her, something slammed into his chest.
His breath hitched.
The world tilted.
‘Mate!’ River’s howl thundered through his mind, raw and undeniable. ‘She is ours.
Enzo swallowed hard, and he stepped forward instinctively. “Mate-“
The woman turned sharply-
SLAP.
The sound cracked across the courtyard.
A collective gasp followed.
The royal beta staggered half a step, stunned-not by pain, but by shock.
“How dare you!” the woman shouted, fury blazing in her eyes. “How dare you call me your mate, you baboon! How dare you accuse my parents of being traitors!” Her voice shook with rage and heartbreak.
Enzo touched his cheek slowly, then looked at her-really looked at her.
Strong. Fearless. Furious.
‘Mine,’ River rumbled in awe.
“I never accused them,” Enzo said calmly.
She laughed bitterly. “Then why are royal guards dragging them in front of the entire pack?!”
Enzo met her gaze steadily. “Did you hear me call them traitors?”
She hesitated. “But the Alpha King-“
“Said there is a traitor in this pack,” Enzo interrupted gently. “He never said it was your parents.”
She faltered, confusion breaking through her anger. “But… then why?” her voice cracked. “Why are they here? I’ve been looking for them for days. They just disappeared. I thought something happened to them…”
She rushed back to her parents, clinging to them as if afraid they might vanish again. Tears streamed freely now.
Enzo’s chest tightened.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I caused you grief.”
Her head snapped up.
“I hid them,” Enzo continued, “to protect them.”
Her brows furrowed. “Protect them from what?”
“They witnessed something,” Enzo said, voice firm, “that made them targets.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” she said, shaking her head. “My parents never leave the pack. If they saw something, I would’ve known.”
Enzo met her eyes. “Not this particular scenario.”
“Leah,” her mother said softly, reaching for her daughter’s hand, “you weren’t here when it happened.”
‘Leah… Our mate’s name is Leah! River’s voice reverberated through Enzo’s mind, thick with awe and reverence. ‘Beautiful. She is ours. My mate.’
His body vibrated with barely contained joy, the bond roaring to life.
Leah froze.
“When?” she whispered.
“Couple of months ago, during the first rogue attack,” her father said.
“During the first attack?” Diana’s breath caught, stepped forward slowly. “That’s when my parents were murdered? Attacked by the rogues.”
The courtyard went deathly still.
“Yes, Luna Diana,” Enzo said solemnly. “They witnessed what truly happened that night.”
Shock ripped through the crowd.
“They were ordered into silence,” Enzo continued. “Threatened. Watched. When I began investigating inconsistencies in the original reports, their story stood out.”
He turned to the crowd. “I used my authority as royal beta and ordered them to speak the truth.”
Leah’s knees weakened.
“They didn’t betray the pack,” Enzo said loudly. “They were forced into silence.”
Talon stepped forward beside Diana, his arm protective around her shoulders.
“Tonight,” Talon declared, “the truth will come out.”
“And when it does,” His gaze swept the pack, cold and unyielding. “the traitor hiding among you will wish the Moon Goddess herself had claimed them first.”
The crowd trembled.
And Diana knew-the past was finally about to bleed into the present.
“Alpha Kiny.”
Enzo’s voice cut through the thick air, low but steady, as he turned toward Talon. The crowd silenced instinctively as the Alpha King stepped forward, his presence alone enough to still the restless murmurs spreading through the pack grounds.
Talon moved with deliberate calm, every step measured, every breath controlled. But those closest to him -Enzo especially could feel the barely restrained fury coiled beneath his composed exterior.
In front of him stood Leah’s parents.
Leah was pressed tightly against them, her arms wrapped around her mother and father as if letting go might cause them to vanish again. Her fingers were buried in her mother’s clothes, knuckles white, her entire body trembling despite her effort to stand tall.
Enzo could feel it.
Her fear.
It rolled off her in waves-sharp, frantic, raw. He could smell it, hear the uneven beat of her heart, feel the tremor through their bond. Her eyes flicked toward Talon and then away just as quickly, her instincts screaming at her to protect what she had just gotten back.
Enzo stepped closer to her, careful not to crowd her, his voice dropping into their private bond.
‘Mate,’ he said gently, anchoring her with his presence, ‘The Alpha King will never hurt them. I swear it to you. I swear it on my life, on our bond. I will never let anything happen to you or your parents.
Leah’s eyes lifted to his, conflicted and shining. She wanted-desperately-to believe him. Enzo could feel how badly she needed that reassurance, how much she wanted to trust the man fate had bound her to.
But then the memories crashed in.
The panic.
The emptiness.
The way her parents had simply… disappeared.
She remembered searching everywhere. Running through pack lands until her lungs burned. Trying to scent them, trying to feel them, even reaching out blindly through the mind link-only to find nothing. No trace. No echo. Just silence.
And Enzo had known where they were.
He was the one who hid them. Hid them from her.
Her grip tightened around her parents as doubt clawed up her spine.
‘I don’t know,’ she whispered back. ‘I want to believe you… but I was so scared, Beta Enzo. They were gone.
I couldn’t feel them. I couldn’t find them. And you… you were the one who hid them from me.’
Before Enzo could respond, another voice stirred within her.
‘He is our mate. We can trust him. Tara’s voice was calm but firm, steady as bedrock. Leah could see her wolf clearly in their shared mind-standing tall, ears alert, eyes bright with certainty.
‘Look at him, Tara continued, nudging Leah’s awareness toward Enzo. He is strong. He is loyal to his Alpha. And he is fiercely protective of our parents and us. What more could we ask for?’
Leah swallowed hard. ‘He hid them, Tara, she shot back, pain sharpening her thoughts. ‘We were looking everywhere. We couldn’t smell them. We couldn’t feel them. I couldn’t even reach them through the link. We didn’t know what he did to them.
‘He already explained that, Tara replied, irritation creeping into her tone. He hid them to protect them. You are being hard on our mate.’
Leah didn’t answer because part of her knew Tara was right. And part of her couldn’t forget the terror of thinking she had lost her parents forever.
Talon stopped directly in front of Leah’s parents.
The moment he did, the entire pack seemed to hold its breath.
He studied them carefully-not as a king, not as an Alpha asserting dominance, but as a man seeking truth. His gaze lingered on their faces, searching for fear, deceit, hesitation.
Then he turned slowly, his eyes sweeping across the gathered crowd.
“To avoid any doubt,” Talon said, his voice carrying effortlessly, “I will use my authority as Alpha King and compel the truth.”
A ripple of unease moved through the pack.
“I will order them to speak only what they know to be true,” he continued, power threading every word. “So that whatever is said here today will not be rumor, not speculation, but truth.”
Panic flared.
“You cannot do that!” Luna Hazel’s voice rang out, shrill and sharp. She stepped forward, her composure cracking. “This is not your pack. This is our pack. You do not have authority here!”
Talon turned to her slowly.
The air thickened.
“That,” he said coolly, “is where you are wrong, Luna.” The title dripped with cold formality. “As Alpha King, I hold authority over every pack within my kingdom. This pack may have its own Alpha and Luna-but both of you stand under my rule.”
Hazel faltered, color draining from her face.
“And because my mate is the one who was attacked,” Talon continued, his voice darkening, “I will use that authority to seek justice for her.”
A shiver ran through the crowd.
Talon turned back to Leah’s parents.
“Robert. Pel.” His voice lowered, but the power behind it intensified. “You will tell the truth. Only what you witnessed with your own eyes. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
The command settled over them like a weight.
“Yes, Alpha King,” Robert and Pei answered together, their voices steady but solemn.
Talon nodded once. “Begin.”
“When the rogue attack happened,” Robert took a breath, his hands trembling slightly. “My wife and I were in our home. We heard the mind link ordering all pack members to move to the bunker immediately.”
“We ran toward the bunker,” Pei squeezed his hand before continuing, “and on the way, we saw Erwin and Carla. They were running too.”
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.
Whispers broke out instantly.
Everyone had believed the same thing that Diana’s parents had disobeyed orders, that they had fled toward the forest instead of following protocol. But this…
This meant Diana had been right all along.
Her parents had obeyed.
They had trusted their pack.
“Continue,” Talon said calmly, though fury simmered beneath his restraint.
“When we reached the bunker,” Robert continued, “the four of us entered and waited for further instructions. We were scared. I remember telling Erwin and Carla that I feared the rogues because they were relentless.”
His voice softened. “But Carla… she wasn’t afraid. She told me not to worry. She said her daughter-Diana -was out there fighting for us. She said Diana was the strongest warrior in this pack and that she would never let anything happen to any of us.”
Talon felt the bond flare violently.
Pain.
Raw, suffocating pain.
He felt it tear through his mate-her grief, her guilt, her heartbreak crashing into him all at once. The knowledge that her parents had believed in her until the very end… and that she still blamed herself for not saving them.
His jaw clenched.
“We were talking about our daughters,” Robert continued quietly, “just trying to pass the time… when a warrior came into the bunker.”
Pei’s hands trembled as she took over “He said the Luna wanted to speak with Erwin and Carla.”
The crowd went silent.
“Not long after,” Percontinued, voice breaking, “the Luna herself arrived. She ordered Erwin and Carla to leave the bunker.”
