LOGINCaldenThe dirt and rogue blood on my skin are dried stiff by the time I walk back into the pack house. I ignore the anxious looks from the guards at the entrance and walk up the stairs toward my study. My boots feel like lead, my hands are still stained dark, and my head throbs with a heavy, relentless rhythm. Every step feels meaningless. The image of that stranger's face in the cage keeps flashing behind my eyes, reminding me that Jodie is still out there somewhere, or worse, gone forever.I push the study door open, ready to sink into my chair and pour a glass of whiskey to shut my brain down.Instead, I stop dead in my tracks.Magnus Thornwell is sitting comfortably in my leather armchair behind my desk. He has his legs crossed at the knee, holding a glass of my aged red wine in one hand, swirling it slowly while he looks out the window. He looks completely relaxed, as if he owns the room, not bothering to even stand up when the Alpha enters."You took your time getting back, Cal
CaldenThe moment those words leave the warrior's mouth, the heavy alcohol haze in my brain vanishes into thin air, replaced by a sudden, violent feel of adrenaline. "Get the assault unit ready," I order, my voice so low and sharp it cuts through the room like a blade. "Every available tracker, everything we need. We move in five minutes."Dante doesn't even argue or ask questions. He just nods once and sprints out of the office to prep the men. I don't wait for a formal briefing, and I don't take time to change into better clothes. I grab my belt, strap my dark combat knife to my thigh, and head straight for the main floor of the pack house.Ten minutes later, three armored SUVs are tearing through the eastern forest road at breakneck speeds, kicking up gravel and mud as we push toward the border ravine. The ride is dead silent. Alvin sits in the passenger seat beside me, staring out the window with a stony, unreadable expression, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles are turning
CaldenThe harsh morning light streams through the glass window of Jodie's office, burning my eyes the second I blink. I didn't even realize the sun was coming up. I spent the entire night sitting in her chair, staring at the empty space on her desk, drinking until my brain felt like lead and my throat burned from the cheap alcohol.I reach out my hand across the wood, my fingers clumsily wrapping around the cold neck of the whiskey bottle to pour another shot.Before my fingers can even tighten around the glass, the door opens with a hard burst. Dante walks straight into the office without even bothering to knock. He doesn't say a word as he strides across the floor, his face completely dark and tired. He reaches down and snatches the whiskey bottle right out of my hand before I can pull it back."Hey!" I growl, my voice sounding like gravel scraped against stone. "What the hell are you doing, Dante?"Dante slams the whiskey bottle down on the side cabinet so hard the glass rattles,
CaldenAs Kaiser walked out of the pack house, I managed to drag my heaviness back in, locking the door from behind.The wood of the door rattles against its frame as someone pounds on it from the outside."Calden! Open this door right now!" Enid's high-pitched voice filters through the crack, full of panic and frantic desperation. "You can't just lock yourself in there! That crazy Alpha broke our front doors and threatened our pack! We need to talk about what we're going to do!"I don't answer her. I don't even move from where I sit."Calden, please!" she shrieks again, her fists banging rhythmically against the solid wood. "It's cold out here, and my chest is starting to feel tight again! You need to come out and check on me!""Go to your room, Enid," I say, my voice raspy, flat, and completely dead. "Leave me the hell alone.""Calden!""I said leave!" I roar, my voice booming through the thick wood with enough force to make her fall silent. A second later, her quick, angry footstep
CaldenI push past Enid and throw the study door open. She yells something behind me, but I ignore her completely as I sprint down the dark hallway and take the stairs three at a time. Down below, wood splinters and metal groans as the front doors of the pack office are violently kicked inward, sending wood shards spraying across the tile floor.I reach the main lobby landing, already out of breath for sprinting down here.Standing in the center of the dust and debris is Alpha Kaiser. His tall frame is rigid, his chest heaving under his jacket, and his eyes are glowing with a lethal, golden Alpha light that fills the dark foyer with pure aura. He looks completely unhinged, radiating absolute, murderous fury as he scans the hall."Kaiser?" I start, taking one step forward down the remaining stairs. "What the hell are you—"Before I can even finish the sentence, Kaiser lunges forward with terrifying speed. He covers the distance between us in a fraction of a second, his fist swinging i
CaldenIt is past midnight, but even the silence in the pack feels like punishment. Sitting behind my heavy wooden desk, the dark room illuminated only by the faint amber glow of the desk lamp and the moonlight slipping through the window blinds. A crystal glass sits in my hand, filled with three fingers of aged whiskey. I down it in one long swallow, letting the sharp burn trail down my throat, hoping it might numb the suffocating weight in my chest.It does nothing.Where could she be? That one question haunted me.I close my eyes and reach deep into my mind, searching for that familiar thread, that quiet pull that is supposed to connect an Alpha to his mate. But there's nothing, only an endless, terrifying silence. The mate bond is completely cold, as if someone reached in and severed the wire. Did she really—No. I drop the glass onto the desk with a heavy clatter, refusing to even finish the thought in my head. There is no way…Jodie is strong. She is my woman, the only woman I h







