LOGIN(Rex’s POV ) I knew something was wrong before I reached the gates. You don’t lead a pack as long as I have without learning the difference between panic and control. This wasn’t panic. It was silence. The wrong kind. The courtyard—usually loud, alive, restless— Was still. Too still. Every wolf stood frozen, heads tilted slightly upward. Watching. Waiting. No one spoke. No one moved. My chest tightened. “Move.” The word snapped through them like a command they didn’t realize they were waiting for. They parted instantly. Clearing a path. And then I saw her. Isabella stood in the center of the courtyard. Alone. Completely still. Her head tilted slightly upward. Eyes closed. And the air around her— It wasn’t just shifting. It was responding. A faint glow pulsed from her chest. Not bright. Not violent. Steady. Rhythmic. Like a heartbeat— But stronger. Bigger. The sky above Blackthorn reflected it. A soft ripple spreading outward, barely visible—but the
(Rex’s POV) I don’t like the way this is going. Not the enemy. Not the warnings. Not him. But most of all— I don’t like the way she’s listening. The courtyard didn’t move. No one stepped forward. No one spoke. Because what he said? It didn’t feel like a threat. It felt like truth. And truth is harder to fight. “They target choice.” The words replayed in my head, sharper each time. I don’t deal in “what ifs.” I deal in certainty. Action. Control. But this? This was none of those things. I exhaled slowly. Then made a decision. “Walk with me.” It wasn’t a request. It wasn’t directed at the pack. Just him. Kaelen tensed immediately. “Rex—” “I said walk.” My tone shut it down. The stranger didn’t hesitate. Of course he didn’t. He fell into step beside me like this was expected. Like he’d been waiting for it. That irritated me more than anything. We left the courtyard. Not far. Just beyond the training grounds, where the trees began to thicken and the
(Rex’s POV) “Someone who knows what she becomes…” His words still hung in the air. Heavy. Unwelcome. Dangerous. I stepped forward. Slow. Measured. Every instinct in me locked onto him. “If you know something,” I said coldly, “you say it now.” No games. No riddles. No half-truths. Not here. Not with her standing right behind me. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t back down. Instead, he studied me. Really studied me. Like I was part of the equation. “…You’re exactly what I expected,” he murmured. That was the wrong thing to say. My patience snapped tight. “I’m not the one you should be testing.” A faint smile tugged at his lips. “Oh, I know.” His gaze flicked past me again. “To her.” I didn’t turn. Didn’t need to. I could feel her there. Steady. Watching. Kaelen moved slightly to my side. Ash stayed quiet for once. That alone told me how serious this had just become. “Talk,” I repeated. The stranger exhaled slowly. Like he was deciding how much to give. The
(Rex’s POV) I don’t like surprises. Especially not the kind that walk into my territory like they belong there. And I definitely don’t like people who look at her like they already know how this ends. The courtyard hadn’t moved. No one spoke. No one relaxed. Even the younger wolves had stopped training completely. Good. They were learning. When something feels wrong, you don’t ignore it. I took one step forward. Slow. Measured. Enough to make it clear that this conversation moves on my terms. “You don’t get to walk in here, speak in riddles, and expect patience.” My voice carried. Not loud. But absolute. The stranger didn’t flinch. If anything, he looked amused. “Fair,” he said. “Then let’s stop pretending this is normal.” Kaelen shifted slightly beside me. “Already ahead of you.” The stranger ignored him. His focus stayed where I didn’t want it. On Isabella. Always Isabella. I stepped further into his line of sight. Blocking that view. “Look at me when you
(Rex’s POV)I don’t like unknown variables.And right now, there was one standing in the middle of my territory, looking entirely too comfortable.I didn’t move. Didn’t blink.Didn’t give him even an inch of control.“Start explaining,” I said.My voice carried across the courtyard—low, steady, final.Around us, Blackthorn had gone completely still. Warriors held position. No one spoke. No one interrupted.Because they knew this wasn’t just another threat.This was something else.The stranger exhaled like he’d been expecting this.“Straight to it. I respect that.”“I’m not asking again.”His lips twitched slightly.“Yeah… I figured.”His gaze shifted—again—to Isabella.That was the third time.I counted.I always count.“Talk to me,” I said, stepping just enough to pull his focus back where it belonged.On me.He studied me for a second longer than necessary.Like he was measuring something.Then he nodded once.“Alright, Alpha.”Finally.A title.Recognition.Respect—or something cl
(Rex’s POV)I don’t like unknowns.Unknown enemies can be tracked. Fought. Killed.Unknown intentions?Those are worse.Because they sit in front of you, smiling, like they already know how this ends.I stepped closer to him.Close enough now that if he tried anything, he wouldn’t finish it.“You’re going to explain,” I said.Not a request.Not a warning.A decision.He didn’t flinch.Didn’t step back.Just looked at me like he was measuring something.Then he smiled again.“You really don’t like not being in control.”Ash snorted behind me. “You’re just figuring that out?”I ignored both of them.“Talk.”The stranger exhaled slowly.Like he was deciding how much to give away.“That thing you faced,” he said, glancing briefly toward the sky, “wasn’t even meant to reach you.”Kaelen’s voice cut in immediately.“Explain that.”He shrugged.“It was a correction unit. Sent to clean up instability.”My jaw tightened.“Instability.”His eyes flicked to Isabella.“Yes.”I didn’t like the way
The war room filled quickly. Not with noise, but with presence. Rex stood at the head of the long stone table, shoulders squared, expression calm in a way that made everyone else straighten without being told. Kaelen took position to his right, already scanning reports brought in by scouts. Ash l
Blackthorn slept lightly that night. Not the peaceful sleep of a pack without worries, but the quiet, alert rest of wolves who knew something unseen had begun circling their territory. Torches burned along the stone walls of the stronghold. Guards rotated twice as often as usual. Somewhere in the
The forest remained tense long after Alpha Thane finished speaking. No one moved. Thirty Blackthorn warriors stood behind Rex, silent and ready. Across the invisible line, Thane’s wolves waited just as still. The air between the two packs felt like stretched wire—tight enough that the wrong word
The alarm didn’t sound. Rex had ordered long ago that not every threat should be met with panic. Instead, the message spread the way serious news always did in Blackthorn. Quietly, quickly, and with purpose. By the time Isabella stepped out of the training clearing with Ash beside her, warriors







