Darkfang’s Enemy

Gideon’s POV

A girl’s voice came from the bed, soft and a little needy. “Why can’t I spend the night here with you, babe?”

I rolled my eyes and pushed off the covers. “You know nobody sleeps with me, so stop asking stupid questions, Jennifer.”

She laughed and corrected me. “It is Olivia.”

The sound was ridiculous coming from someone who had been under me a few minutes earlier, moaning like she owned the damn mattress. I did not say anything. I stood up and walked to my dresser.

“Now get out of here,” I said. “I have to get ready for a meeting.”

She tossed me a, “Fuck you, Gideon,” then grabbed her things and stormed out, slamming the door hard enough to rattle the windows. I should have been angrier, but there were bigger problems today than some disrespectful woman. I told myself I could handle a door slam.

I took a cold shower because hot water made me think too much. I would have loved to go back to bed and sleep, but I could not. Being the Alpha of Darkfang was not a job that let you rest. We were the biggest pack on the continent and the responsibility never shut off. I was born to lead, but it did not mean I liked the weight.

Everything would be easier if Silvercrest did not exist. Harrison Taylor and his pack were a thorn at my side. I should kill them all and still consider it mercy, I thought. The feud ran generations deep. My father tried to keep the peace and failed because Hugo Taylor had been stubborn and proud. He thought himself untouchable until he was killed like the rat he was. Harrison learned nothing from his father but arrogance. He sent patrols close to my borders like he was testing me. He did not know that I was not my father’s shadow. I will not tolerate his games forever.

Clean and dressed, I walked the five minutes to my office. Billy, my Beta, was already there waiting when I arrived. He looked like he enjoyed showing up early just to needle me.

“You look relaxed,” he said, grinning. “Did you have fun?”

I sat in my chair and ignored his jabs. “So tell me, what is new?”

He folded his arms and leaned forward. “I smelled some of Silvercrest’s warriors today along the northern edge of our territory. They did not cross, but they came close.”

My patience snapped. “I am done with Harrison and his ridiculous pack. If it were not for the innocent people who would die, I would have started this war long ago.”

Billy shrugged like he was naming the weather. “You cannot blame the wolves for having a piece of shit alpha,” he said. “Harrison made them into what they are.”

“Maybe you should talk to the council of werewolves,” Billy said, watching me like he expected me to bite his head off for the suggestion.

I cut him off before he could finish. “You should know better than to say that name in my presence,” I said. The council were a group of old wolves who liked to pretend they were the law, but in truth they were a pack of useless cowards. When my family was killed by vampires they told me that this was life and that there was nothing to be done. They stopped me from seeking revenge when I needed it most. My patience with them was running out, and one day I would make them pay for not helping me when I needed it.

Billy tried to apologize and then added that maybe I should organize a meeting, but I was no longer listening. A chill crawled down my spine and something in the air told me there was an intruder. I could feel it like a prickle across my skin. I left the room without another word and went out into the storm.

The rain soaked through my clothes and flattened my hair. I moved fast through the pack compound, checking the perimeter, sniffing the wind in a useless attempt to find the scent that had teased the edge of my awareness. Nothing made sense. The intruder had no clear scent and the tracks were confusing like someone had tried to hide them. What the hell was going on, I thought.

I stopped and stripped off my shirt. The cold hit my skin and made me sharper. I shifted then, letting my body change into the wolf that had kept my family safe and had kept me alive through the worst nights. His name was Kairo. He had white fur and eyes like winter ice.

He led me into the woods, trusting his hearing since my nose could not pull a scent from the wet air. The forest was a map of sound. Kairo’s ears picked up a faint rustle on the northern edge of our land, close to the boundary with Silvercrest.

We ran toward that sound. The closer we got the more my skin tightened. Then we found her.

She stood in a small clearing, black fur matted and slick with rain and mud. She looked lost and small against the trees, but the strangest thing was that I could not smell her. It was like the world had been hollowed out of scent around her. When our eyes met, the ground under me seemed to shift and my heart hit my ribs like a hammer.

I had no name for the sudden wrecking inside me. Kairo growled low and slow. The wolf in me knew something my mouth did not yet understand.

Bella’s POV

We fucked up, Bella, Nyra whispered, and for the first time, I heard fear in her voice. That’s the alpha of the Darkfang pack. Everyone knows his brutality. No one steps on his territory and comes out alive. We won’t be an exception.

The white wolf taunted us with his stance, daring us to move, and panic took over. Nyra spun and ran, her paws slamming against the wet earth. Branches whipped past as we fled blindly through the forest, chased by the shadow of the wolf that could kill us at any moment.

The sound of crashing water grew louder, the air misting with spray, until the trees broke open and I saw a waterfall roaring in front of us. Nyra hesitated, growling in panic, but I made the choice for both of us. If we kept running, the Darkfang Alpha would catch us. If we jumped, maybe the water would hide us, maybe it would kill us, but at least it would be my choice.