Filed to story: Diana Nightshade and Alpha Talon Ravenwood Book PDF Free
Because Willow could feel it now, clearer than ever.
Hazel wasn’t just jealous.
She was unraveling.
And in her obsession to claim a throne that was never meant for her, Hazel was willing to burn everything-herself included-to ash.
‘And you truly think he would choose you over her?’ Willow asked quietly, disbelief threading through her voice. ‘That he would abandon his mate for you?’
Hazel laughed-a soft, lilting sound filled with confidence so absolute it bordered on madness. She lifted her chin, turning slightly so she could admire her own reflection in the mirror, fingers trailing along her collarbone as if reminding the world and herself of what she was.
“Of course he will,” she said without hesitation. “Why would an Alpha King choose a wolfless wolf over me?”
She gestured to herself, eyes glittering. “Look at me, Willow. I am beautiful. I am desirable. I carry power, grace, and ambition. And I have you-a strong wolf, a true Luna’s wolf.”
Her smile widened, slow and indulgent, as her thoughts drifted further from reason.
“I can offer him so much more than she ever could,” Hazel continued, her voice lowering, turning almost reverent. “Strength. Pleasure. Fire. A bond that would excite him, challenge him, make him want more.”
Willow stirred uneasily. ‘Hazel… he is bound to her. She is his fated mate.’
Hazel waved the words away like they were nothing more than an inconvenience.
“Fate is overrated,” she scoffed. “Alphas choose what benefits them. And I would benefit him far more than that quiet, stubborn warrior ever could.”
Her expression softened, eyes unfocusing as her imagination took hold. A faint flush rose to her cheeks.
“I can feel it already,” Hazel murmured dreamily. “The pull. The intensity. Being claimed by the Alpha King himself… standing beside him while the world bows.” She closed her eyes briefly, savoring the fantasy. “I know it. I know he would be a better lover than Asher ever was.”
Willow flinched at the comparison, pain tightening around her heart.
‘Hazel, she warned, ‘this is dangerous thinking.’
But Hazel wasn’t listening.
“He was powerful,” Hazel continued, voice hushed and almost breathless. “Commanding. Dominant. Everything an Alpha should be. I could almost taste the passion-the thrill of being chosen by the strongest wolf alive.”
She opened her eyes again, now burning with conviction.
“She doesn’t deserve him,” Hazel said sharply. “She doesn’t even understand what she’s been given. No wolf. No ambition. Just brute strength and silence.”
Hazel leaned closer to the mirror, smiling at her own reflection like a promise.
“But I do,” she whispered. “And once he sees that… once she’s gone…”
Her smile turned razor-sharp. “He won’t even remember her name.”
Inside her mind, Willow curled inward, fear settling deep in her chest. Because she could feel the truth Hazel refused to see-
This wasn’t confidence.
It was obsession.
And it was spiraling fast.
‘I want to see our mate.’
Fenrir’s voice thundered through Talon’s mind, raw and restless, carrying a hunger that had nothing to do with blood or battle.
‘I want to smell her again, Fenrir growled. ‘Taste her scent on the wind. Feel her presence. Let’s go find her.’
Talon’s jaw tightened as he resisted the pull-not because he didn’t want the same thing, but because he knew Fenrir was seconds away from breaking loose.
‘Do not waste time with this Alpha and his pathetic drama with his Luna, Fenrir snarled.
‘None of this matters. Only mate matters.’
‘I know,’ Talon answered quietly, his own control straining. ‘We will find her.’
He turned back once more, fixing Asher with a gaze that held neither pity nor mercy-only finality.
“Alpha Asher,” Talon said coldly, his voice carrying across the clearing like a verdict. “I suggest you fix your mating with your Luna and stop concerning yourself with mine.”
Asher stiffened.
“My mate and I do not concern you,” Talon continued. “You lost that right the moment you rejected her.”
The words struck like a blade.
Without waiting for a response, Talon turned away and strode toward the forest, Fenrir surging eagerly beneath his skin. Every step pulled him closer to her-to the one who belonged to him by fate and bond.
Behind him, Asher stood frozen. His face contorted with pain, regret clawing openly across his features. He wanted to shout, to argue, to chase after Talon and demand what he believed was stolen from him.
But Talon was right. He had lost Diana the moment he rejected her.
Cedar had warned him.
‘You will regret this, his wolf had said.
Asher hadn’t believed him then.
Now, the truth sat heavy in his chest.
Cedar had been silent ever since the rejection. Withdrawn. Distant. Asher could still shift. He could still fight. His strength remained, but the bond that once anchored him felt hollow.
Cedar no longer spoke to him freely. Especially not when Hazel was near.
Asher swallowed as memories surfaced-moments he had tried to ignore.
He tolerated Hazel.
That was the truth.
When they mated, Cedar retreated deep into his mind, leaving his body to act without connection. When it came time to mark her, he had forced Cedar to partially shift, just enough to complete the bond.
Even that had come at a cost.
The strain had widened the fracture between man and wolf.
Now, finally, Cedar spoke.
‘I am glad our mate found her second chance, Cedar said quietly, his voice heavy with something that sounded dangerously close to relief. ‘And from the looks of it, she has found someone who can accept her. Protect her.’
‘It’s been a long time since you’ve spoken to me, Asher’s fists clenched, and he snapped. ‘And that’s all you have to say?’
He paced angrily, frustration boiling over. ‘We can fight for her. We can take her back. She was ours.’
‘Fight with you?’ Cedar’s response was sharp, unyielding. ‘Against the Alpha King?’
A pause, then venom.
‘Should I die for your stupidity?’
Asher froze.
‘I warned you,’ Cedar continued. ‘Our mate was special. Even without her wolf, we should have accepted her. But you chose power over fate. Status over bond.’
The words cut deep.
‘And look where we are now, Cedar went on coldly. ‘Trapped with a chosen mate who flirts with anything that has a pulse and a-‘
‘Enough, Asher muttered, shame burning his throat.
But Cedar wasn’t finished.
Asher could see him now in his mind-his massive wolf lying on the cold ground, head resting on his paws, eyes dull. Withdrawn. Broken.
‘I have no fight left in me for this, Cedar said quietly. ‘Not for her. Not for the mess you created.’
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Asher stood alone in the clearing, the forest swallowing Talon’s retreating presence, the truth settling like a crushing weight on his chest.
He had chosen wrong.
And now, fate was moving on without him.
“Alpha,” Rafe said as he approached, his voice steady but cautious, “what are your orders?”
The clearing still smelled of blood and damp earth, the aftermath of battle clinging to the air. Broken branches and scorched ground bore witness to the fight that had just ended.
“The rogues have gone,” Rafe continued. “We did a full sweep of the perimeter. No trace of them anywhere near our borders.”
Asher exhaled slowly, nodding once. The danger had passed, yet his chest felt heavier than it had during the fight.
“You and Tyler,” Asher said, his tone slipping back into command, “make sure everyone is safe. Check the injured. Let the pack know the threat is over and they can return to their homes.”
Rafe inclined his head. “Yes, Alpha.”
He hesitated, eyes flicking briefly toward the tree line where the Alpha King had disappeared moments earlier. When he spoke again, his voice was measured-careful not to cross a line. “Alpha… what about Alpha King Talon finding his mate? Do you want that information shared with the pack? And… to whom?”
The question landed heavier than Rafe likely intended.
Asher’s jaw tightened. For a moment, he said nothing, staring out into the forest as if expecting fate itself to answer for him.
“No,” he finally said, his voice controlled. “That is Alpha Talon’s decision. If he wishes it known, he will make it known himself.”
Rafe nodded again, reading the tension in his Alpha’s posture.
“Understood,” he said, then turned to carry out the orders.
Left alone, Asher allowed the mask to slip just slightly.
Hope-foolish and stubborn-coiled tightly in his chest.
Maybe when Talon spoke to Diana… when the reality sinks in that Diana had no wolf. Maybe… Just maybe.
Asher clenched his fists.
Surely even the Alpha King would hesitate. Surely he would see what Asher had once seen- that a Luna without a wolf was a weakness. That duty sometimes required rejection.
Surely, Talon would choose the same path.
The thought gave Asher a fragile sense of comfort, thin as glass.
Then Cedar’s voice cut through his mind, sharp and merciless. ‘I think you will be hoping for a very long time for that to happen.’
Asher winced, and he muttered under his breath. ‘Enough,’
‘You still don’t understand; Cedar did not soften. ‘He is not you. And she is not what you convinced yourself she was.’
The silence that followed was heavy with truth.
Asher stared into the forest, watching the shadows swallow the path Talon had taken- knowing, deep down, that hope was already slipping through his fingers.
And this time, there would be no one left to blame but himself.
Fenrir ran back to where he had last seen her, paws striking the forest floor with controlled power. Every snapped twig, every crushed leaf told a story, and he followed it instinctively. He remembered how fast she had been-how impossibly swift she moved even without her wolf. Talon knew Fenrir was faster, stronger, born for the hunt… but their mate had something else entirely.
She had the forest.
This land knew her as intimately as it knew the wind. She had been born beneath these trees, learned to walk on this soil, trained among these shadows. Every creek bend, every fallen log, every hidden rise and dip in the terrain belonged to her memory. She didn’t just run through the forest-she breathed with it. And that made her dangerous in ways brute strength could never match.
Fenrir slowed, nostrils flaring as he skidded to a halt. He lowered his massive head and dragged in a deep breath, forcing the world to narrow to one thing.
Her.
The scent hit him all at once-warm, wild, intoxicating. Sweet like rain-soaked earth and moonlight tangled together. It made his mouth water, his instincts surge, his chest tighten with a possessive ache that bordered on painful.
‘When I find mate, Fenrir growled with savage satisfaction, ‘I will lick and taste her all over her body.’
Talon sighed internally, already regretting engaging.
“Fenrir, just settle down,” he said firmly. “When you licked her earlier, what did she do? She ran. Maybe she doesn’t want to be licked by a giant dog like you.”
Fenrir snorted loudly, clearly offended.
‘That is not because of me. My mate likes me,’ he insisted. ‘Maybe she doesn’t like you.’
Talon nearly laughed despite the tension coiled in his chest.
“She hasn’t even seen me yet,” he argued. “She only saw you. How can she not like me?”
‘I don’t know, Fenrir replied stubbornly, pacing in a tight circle. ‘But it is not me she doesn’t like. I like mate. I like her scent. So she must like my scent too.’
That-Talon knew-was the end of the discussion. There was no winning against Fenrir when it came to his logic. His belief in himself was absolute, unshakeable, and completely immune to reason.
Still, Talon forced himself to try.
“Fenrir, remember-we agreed that finding our mate right now is not a good time,” Talon said carefully. “We have many enemies. And if what Alpha Asher said is true, if she truly doesn’t have her wolf, it will be harder to protect her.”
Fenrir’s steps stopped abruptly. His presence surged, fierce and defiant.
‘I want mate. I never said I don’t want mate,’ he snapped. ‘I can protect her. And mate is strong. Her wolf is strong. That stupid Alpha is wrong.’
Power rippled through their bond, raw and burning.
‘We are strong,’ Fenrir continued. ‘And we will protect our mate.’
Talon exhaled slowly, grounding himself. Fenrir’s certainty stirred something dangerous in him-hope mixed with fury.
“We will have to bring her back to our pack lands as soon as possible,” Talon said. “Outside our territory, our enemies have too many places to hide.”
‘I will rip apart anyone who tries to hurt my mate, Fenrir promised, voice low and lethal. ‘They will die painfully.’
Before Talon could respond, Enzo’s voice cut through the mind link.
