Blake’s POV

The carved oak carriage bearing the Silverpeak crest raced through the night, moonlight gleaming off its polished surface. Tyler handled the reins with practiced ease, occasionally glancing through the small window at me. I hadn’t spoken since we left Moonlight Lodge, my mind racing with what had just happened.

“So,” Tyler broke the silence, “are you gonna tell me what happened, or are we just riding in dead silence all the way back?”

“She told Jackson I touched her mark,” I replied, my voice low.

Tyler nearly yanked the reins to a stop. “Wait, what? She actually told him?”

I nodded, remembering the scene on the terrace. “More than told him. She used me as a weapon against him.”

“Ballsy. I like her style,” Tyler said with a hint of admiration.

“It’s dangerous,” I countered without humor. “A male wolf can accept being abandoned, but not being replaced. Especially when the replacement is his future father-in-law.”

Jackson’s anger could put Ava in danger. And if Sophia heard anything about this… my daughter’s happiness was just one more complication I didn’t need.

“About that…” Tyler ventured, “her mark actually changed, didn’t it?”

I tensed up. “How’d you know?”

“I saw it. Golden threads, same color as your Alpha mark. You know what that means.”

I turned to look out the window, watching the trees rush by in the moonlight.

“It can’t be,” I muttered.

“The old books mention a few cases like this. A wolf whose mark starts responding to someone new. The elders call it a ‘Mark Summoning.’”

My fingers tapped against the window frame as I remembered those dusty werewolf texts from my training days. The Moon Goddess had a twisted sense of humor sometimes.

I closed my eyes, and Elizabeth’s face appeared in my mind—her last moments after Lucas was born. I’d been young and hopeful then, holding her hand while she struggled to breathe.

“Promise me…” she’d whispered, “you’ll find happiness again…”

I’d promised to raise our kids and keep Silverpeak safe. Never thought I’d meet someone who made my heart race again.

“Can’t go there,” I whispered, mostly to myself.

A gray pigeon swooped through the window, landing on Tyler’s shoulder with a tiny scroll tied to its leg. He read it and let out a huff.

“Wilson says Lucas chucked his training gear into the lake again. Third time this month.”

I rubbed my face, the father in me pushing aside the Alpha for a moment. “Every teacher I find lasts about a week before quitting.”

“Maybe it’s not the teachers that’s the problem,” Tyler suggested. “Maybe it’s what you’re expecting from them.”

“The kid partially shifted at seven,” I said flatly. “That kind of power showing up so early is trouble waiting to happen. He needs someone to teach him control.”

I felt proud of Lucas’s gift but scared for him too. If he couldn’t handle it, he might end up like others in Elizabeth’s family.

“His wolf blood is waking up,” I continued. “Without control, he’ll fully change before he’s ready for it.”

Tyler went quiet for a second. “The last kid who changed that early was Elizabeth’s great-grandfather. Didn’t end well for him.”

I clenched my fist. “Not happening to my son.”

“You need someone special,” Tyler said carefully. “Not just good at fighting, but someone who gets what it’s like to be angry at the world.”

An idea hit me like a lightning bolt.