Dax’s POV
The wind howled through the Ironfang stronghold, a bitter wail that carried whispers—soft, cutting, relentless. Dax Ironfang, the alpha who lost his mate. I strode through the courtyard, my boots crunching on frost-kissed gravel, and felt the weight of every stare, every muttered word. The pack moved around me, their eyes darting away when I looked, but I heard them. How could he let her be taken? Weak, caught unawares. What kind of alpha fails like that? My jaw clenched, teeth grinding, the cold biting my face as I pushed past, my black cloak snapping behind me like a tattered flag. The shame burned hotter than any fire, a coal lodged in my chest, fueled by their judgment, their doubt.
The attack had been a blade in the dark—swift, silent, unyielding. Selene, my mate-to-be, stolen from the altar before the vows could bind us, her silk veil left crumpled in the dirt, the scent of lilies crushed under bloodied boots. I’d roared, shifted, torn through the woods after them, bu
