If there were a way to throttle his mother without becoming the villain in every whispered legend about the family, he would have done it. She'd drugged him—her own son.
For years, he had severed conversation with the wolf, coexisting in the same flesh but denying its voice. Now, its instincts surged.
He zipped his pants with one hand and moved out. Outside, the morning shimmered but Eric's vision narrowed, honed on one target. His mother had arrived. She stepped from the car, the butler Benedict poised beside her.
Every nerve fired. Rage coated his teeth and tongue with bitterness. The wolf's growl hummed deep in his chest. He charged down the stairs and ignored the guests in the foyer.
His mother entered.
The day was already out of control.
"I swear to the goddess, Mum!" he thundered.
Claudia's smile never wavered. "You should be thanking me," she said. Eric's pulse hammered in his throat.
"Thanking you? Thanking you for what exactly?" he spat. "For trying to make another generation of the cursed shadow wolf? It's not going to happen — not if I have to kill the child myself."
"I know you," she said then, soft, searching his eyes as if trying to buy the truth. "Even with your so-called cursed wolf, in your right senses, you wouldn't hurt your own child."
Eric laughed — a harsh, humorless sound. "Do you want to bet the child's life on that?" He said it to dare her.
A throat cleared behind him and, on reflex, every muscle in Eric tensed. He turned around to find Mrs. Thorne. At her side was the girl: barely more than twenty, cheeks flushed, eyes wide.
"Is this her?" he demanded, stepping forward. "Were you the one in my bed?"
"Mr. Blackwood—" Mrs. Thorne started.
"I wasn't speaking to you!" Eric snapped, cutting her off. "Was it you?" he asked.
"Eric, you are frightening the girl." Claudia said.
"I don't care. You did this! Why can you not respect my wishes?"
Claudia's face shifted. "Why wouldn't I? What do you think will become of us?" she shot back. "We do not have an alpha. We are almost human because of that. If you end the Blackwood bloodline, then there is no hope for us. We might as well be ordinary people."
"What's wrong with being human, Mum? I wish to the Moon Goddess I were human. I pray every day she takes this thing from me. Generations of bloodlust — how many more people will die?"
Benedict inclined his head at Eric's curt order. "Take the girl and lock her in a room," Eric said.
"Aunt Viv!" Delilah cried, clutching Mrs. Thorne's sleeve, as if she could hold herself upright through sheer panic.
"If there's even a sign of a pup inside you," Eric said evenly, "I will rip it out myself and offer it to the goddess."
"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Mrs. Thorne interjected, stepping forward. "She wasn't in the room with you. Someone else was. And locking her up is far too small a punishment."
Eric's mother's head snapped up. "What?" Claudia demanded.
"Your maid," Mrs. Thorne said, "let an impostor into Mr. Blackwood's bed."
The color drained from Claudia's elegant face.
"Where is she?" Eric asked.
"The maid has her tied down somewhere in the house."
"Benedict," Eric said, "find her and lock her in the room opposite mine. She doesn't leave until we confirm she isn't pregnant."
"Yes, Mr. Blackwood." The butler bowed slightly but before he could move, Claudia's hand brushed his sleeve.
"Be careful with her," she murmured.
Eric turned his head. Be careful with her?
"Be careful?" he repeated. "Did you think I was joking, Mother?"
"I need everyone to get out," Eric said. "Get out now."
Mrs. Thorne scoffed, lifting her chin and gathered her trembling niece. "We'll come see you and your father, sweetie," Claudia called after her.
"What are you doing, Mum? Cushioning the sting of not fucking your son's life up any further?"
"Eric," she said softly.
He turned, reluctant.
"Not now, Mother."
"No. Now." She stepped forward, her hand rising to his face.
"My sweet boy," she murmured, fingertips brushing his cheek as if he were still the child who once brought her flowers from the garden.
"Mum…" he exhaled.
"Baby, I know you have a good heart," she whispered, thumb stroking his jaw. "You want to end the Shadow Wolf's madness. I know that."
"But the longer we go without an Alpha," she continued, "the more we lose ourselves. The pack fractures. Baby, sweetie… please. I promise you, I'll find a way to break this curse."
"You've been saying that for years," he said. "You promised before Father lost himself too."
"I won't fail you like I did him," she whispered.
Eric studied her face. The faint lines around her eyes, the perfect composure cracked in small places, the grief she hid behind beauty and legacy. He saw a woman terrified of extinction.
"Mum…What way can you possibly find? Father didn't find it. His father's father didn't find it. What makes you think you can?"
Claudia's eyes shimmered. "I was informed of a High Priestess," she said softly, "one who can speak directly with the Moon Goddess—"
"God, Mum! Another phony? Another desperate woman in a white robe who'll take your money and whisper fake blessings?" He raked both hands through his dark hair, pacing again. "How much this time, hmm? How much money until you accept there's no miracle left for us?"
"I will not stop," she said, "until I find even the tiniest shred of hope for you. For all of us."
He stared at her—the silver flecks in her eyes, the way her lips trembled when she tried to hold herself together.
"Well, I'm done," he said finally. "No child of mine will be brought into this cursed world."
Her mouth parted, her hand reaching for him, but he was already gone—taking the stairs two at a time, leaving her standing alone.
*****
In another wing of the house, Seraphina blinked hard against the dizziness pressing at her skull.