Chapter Two: Breaking His Own Rules

That evening, Kadence stood in front of his bathroom mirror, adjusting the collar of his black shirt. He looked tired. Older than twenty-six.

The weight of leadership had carved lines around his eyes that hadn't been there a year ago.

His phone buzzed. A text from Ronan: Pick you up at 10. Wear something that doesn't scream 'I'm about to audit your taxes.'

Kadence almost smiled. Almost.

Instead, he splashed water on his face and tried to ignore the gnawing anxiety in his gut. This was stupid.

Going to some bar wasn't going to magically produce his fated mate. That's not how the world worked.

But thirty days wasn't enough time to search the traditional way. And if this didn't work, if he couldn't find her...

He'd be forced to choose Seraphine. Kind, perfect Seraphine, who deserved so much better than being someone's obligation.

The thought made him sick.

At 9:55, Kadence grabbed his jacket and headed downstairs. The pack house was quiet. His father was gods-knew-where. The staff had learned to make themselves scarce in the evenings.

Ronan pulled up in his Jeep, music already blasting through the speakers. He looked too happy. Too excited.

"Where exactly are we going?" Kadence asked as he climbed in.

"A place called Ember," Ronan said, pulling out of the driveway. "It's at the border territory. Neutral ground. Good music, good drinks, good atmosphere."

Something about the way Ronan said it made Kadence suspicious. "What kind of place is it?"

"A club."

Kadence's blood went cold. "Ronan. No."

"It's not what you think......"

"You know my rules."

"Your rules are trauma responses, not actual logic," Ronan said, not unkindly.

"Kade, not every club is the place your dad met Lydia. Not every woman who works in a club is going to destroy your family. You can't let his mistakes dictate your entire life."

"I'm not...." Kadence started, then stopped. Because wasn't he? Wasn't that exactly what he'd been doing for fourteen years?

"One hour," Ronan said. "If you hate it, we leave. But you need to get out of your head. You need to remember that the world is bigger than pack politics and council meetings. Maybe your mate is there. Maybe she's not. But you'll never know if you don't try."

Kadence stared out the window, watching the trees blur past. Thirty days. The elders' ultimatum echoed in his head.

Find your mate, or we choose for you.

"One hour," Kadence finally said.

*********

One hour turned into the longest drive of Kadence's life.

They left pack territory, crossing into neutral ground where the scent markers faded and the world opened up into something less controlled, less familiar.

Human towns dotted the highway, their lights blinking like stars that had fallen to earth and decided to stay.

Kadence's mother used to say that humans lived louder than wolves. They filled their silences with noise... music, television, constant chatter—because they were terrified of what they might hear if they ever stopped to listen.

Wolves didn't have that luxury. Wolves heard everything. Felt everything. The mate bond was proof of that, a connection so deep it bypassed logic entirely and grabbed you by the soul.

If you were lucky enough to find it.

"You're thinking too loud," Ronan said, glancing over at him. "I can practically hear your internal monologue from here."

"I'm fine."

"You're spiraling. There's a difference." Ronan turned down the music slightly.

"Look, I know this is hard. I know what your dad did screwed you up. But Kade, you can't live your whole life avoiding anything that reminds you of his mistakes. That's not protecting yourself. That's just... existing in a cage you built yourself."

Kadence wanted to argue. Wanted to point out that his rules had kept him safe, kept him focused, kept him from becoming the disaster his father had become.

But Ronan wasn't wrong.

For fourteen years, Kadence had been so busy not being his father that he'd forgotten how to be himself, what meaning his life could have... he had buried himself so much into his father's mistake, his father's nonchalance.

"When did you get so wise?" Kadence asked quietly.

"Around the time I stopped listening to my own bullshit," Ronan said with a grin.

"Finding Cara helped. Having a mate... it changes you, man. It makes you realize that all the walls you built to protect yourself are actually just keeping you from living."

Kadence felt something twist in his chest. Envy, maybe. Or longing. Ronan had found his mate at a pack gathering two years ago. She'd walked into the room and he'd known instantly. One look. One moment. One connection that rewired his entire existence.

That's what Kadence wanted. That certainty. That completeness.

"What if I don't have one?" The question slipped out before he could stop it.

"What if the Moon Goddess took one look at my bloodline and decided the Thornwell genetics should die with me?"

Ronan was quiet for a long moment. Then: "You really believe that?"

"I don't know what I believe anymore."

"Well, I believe you're too stubborn to not have a mate," Ronan said. "The universe wouldn't waste all that Alpha energy on a lonely bachelor. That's just bad resource management."

Despite everything, Kadence huffed a laugh.

"That's your argument? Cosmic efficiency?"

"Hey, I'm a Beta. Strategy is literally my job." Ronan pulled off the highway onto a smaller road.

"Besides, we're about to find out. Ember's just ahead."

Kadence's stomach dropped. His wolf stirred uneasily beneath his skin, sensing his anxiety.

The club appeared around a bend in the road—a low, modern building with red and gold lights pulsing through tinted windows.

The parking lot was half-full, expensive cars mixed with beat-up sedans. Music thumped from inside, bass so deep Kadence felt it in his bones.

EMBER glowed in neon script above the entrance.

"Last chance to back out," Ronan said, but his tone suggested he knew Kadence wouldn't.

Kadence unbuckled his seatbelt. "One hour."

"One hour," Ronan agreed.