Chapter 3

Chapter 3 — The Hunt

Ryker's pov

"You wanted to see me, Your Majesty?"

I stand in front of my father's desk. The office is cold. It's always cold. Big windows. Stone walls. Everything designed to remind you who holds the power here.

King Nico doesn't look up from the papers in front of him. "Sit."

I sit. Colt stands behind me. Silent. Alert. Always watching.

My father finally raises his eyes. "I have an assignment for you."

"I'm listening."

"The Howlers Pack." He slides a folder across the desk. "Ten years ago, they were wiped out completely. Every wolf. Every building. No survivors."

I open the folder. Photos spill out. Burned homes. Shattered bodies. Blood-soaked ground.

My stomach turns. "What happened?"

"That's what I need you to find out." My father leans back in his chair. "There was no warning. No distress call. No survivors to tell the story. The pack simply... vanished."

"And you want me to investigate this now? Ten years later?"

"Before you take the throne, you need to understand the threats our kind faces." His voice is flat. Emotionless. "This wasn't a rogue attack. This was organized. Deliberate. And whoever did it is still out there."

I close the folder. My jaw clenches. "Where do I start?"

"The Midnight Pack. They share a border with where the Howlers used to be. Station yourself there. Ask questions. Find answers."

"For how long?"

"As long as it takes."

Colt shifts behind me. I can feel his tension without looking at him.

"Understood," I say.

My father waves his hand. Dismissed. Just like that.

We leave the office in silence. The hallway stretches long and empty in front of us. Our footsteps echo against marble floors.

"This is bullshit," Colt mutters once we're far enough away.

"Careful."

"I'm serious. He gives you an impossible task and expects you to solve it before you can take the throne? That's not a test. That's sabotage."

I don't answer. Because he might be right.

"How are we supposed to investigate something that happened ten years ago?" Colt continues. "Any evidence is long gone. Any witnesses are dead."

"Then we find what's left," I say quietly. "We go to the Midnight Pack. We talk to people. We dig."

Colt exhales hard. "Fine. When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow."

That was four months ago.

Now I'm standing in my temporary quarters at the Midnight Pack, staring out the window at wolves training in the yard below. We've been here for months and I still don't have answers. No leads. No witnesses. Nothing.

Just this strange, gnawing feeling that won't leave me alone.

King stirs inside me. Restless. Angry.

"What is it?" I ask him.

He doesn't answer with words. He never does. But I feel his frustration like it's my own. Something is wrong. Something is here. Something we're missing.

A knock on the door pulls me from my thoughts.

"Come in."

Colt enters. He's holding two cups of coffee. He hands me one without a word.

"Thanks."

We drink in silence. The coffee is terrible. I drink it anyway.

"You felt it again today, didn't you?" Colt asks.

I don't pretend not to know what he means. "Yes."

"In the classroom."

"Yes."

"And you still can't figure out who it is."

"No." I set the cup down harder than I mean to. Coffee sloshes over the rim. "I can't smell anything. King reacts, but there's no scent to follow."

"Maybe it's not about scent."

I look at him. "What else would it be about?"

"I don't know. But your beast doesn't react like this for no reason." Colt crosses his arms. "What if she's masking her scent somehow?"

"That's not possible."

"You sure?"

I'm not sure. I'm not sure about anything anymore.

"There was a girl," I say slowly. "In the classroom today. Back corner. She kept her head down the whole time."

"You think it's her?"

"I don't know." I run a hand through my hair. Frustration claws at my chest. "Every time I try to focus on her, she disappears. Like she knows I'm looking."

"What does King say?"

King snarls. Low and dangerous. He wants me to hunt. To chase. To claim.

"He's not exactly subtle," I mutter.

Colt almost smiles. "When is he ever?"

The door opens again. This time without a knock.

Lila walks in.

My entire body tenses. King retreats immediately. Not in fear. In disgust.

"There you are," she says. She's smiling but it doesn't reach her eyes. "I've been looking for you."

"I'm busy."

"Too busy for me?" She steps closer. Her perfume is overwhelming. Artificial. Wrong.

Colt clears his throat. "I'll give you two some privacy."

"No," I say quickly. "Stay."

Colt stays.

Lila's smile falters. "Ryker, can we talk? Alone?"

"Whatever you need to say, you can say in front of Colt."

Her jaw tightens. "Fine. I wanted to know if you're coming to dinner tonight. My father is hosting."

"I'll be there."

"Good." She reaches for my hand. I pull away before she can touch me.

Her eyes flash. Hurt. Anger. I don't know which.

"Is something wrong?" she asks.

"No."

"You've been distant lately."

"I've been working."

"You're always working." Her voice rises. "When are you going to make time for us?"

"There is no us." The words come out cold. Harsher than I mean them to. But they're true.

Lila flinches. "What?"

"We're not together, Lila. We've never been together."

"But we—"

"We sleep together sometimes. That's all it is."

Silence fills the room. Heavy. Uncomfortable.

Lila's face goes pale. Then red. "That's all I am to you? A warm body?"

"I never promised you anything else."

"You bastard." Her voice shakes. "I've been by your side for months. I've supported you. I've—"

"I never asked you to."

She slaps me.

The sound cracks through the room. My cheek stings. King roars, furious, but I hold him back.

Colt steps forward. "That's enough."

Lila ignores him. She's staring at me. Tears stream down her face. "You're going to regret this."

"Probably."

She storms out. The door slams behind her.

I touch my cheek. It's still burning.

"That went well," Colt says dryly.

"Shut up."

He doesn't shut up. "You know she's not going to let this go, right? She's going to make your life hell."

"She already does."

Colt sighs. "Why do you keep sleeping with her if you don't want her?"

Good question. I don't have a good answer.

"Because it's easy," I say finally. "Because King is losing his mind looking for our mate and I need... something."

"That's a terrible reason."

"I know."

We stand in silence. The sun is setting outside. The training yard empties. Wolves head inside for dinner.

"You need to figure this out," Colt says quietly. "Before it destroys you."

"I'm trying."

"Try harder."

That night, I give in again.

Lila shows up at my door. She's wearing something that leaves nothing to the imagination. She doesn't say a word. Neither do I.

We fall into bed. It's quick. Mechanical. Empty.

Afterward, she curls against my chest. I stare at the ceiling and feel nothing.

Then I hear it.

A howl.

Not out loud. Inside. Deep in my chest where King lives.

It's not King's howl. It's someone else's. A she-wolf. Crying. Broken.

The sound rips through me. Pain explodes in my chest. Sharp. Immediate. Like someone drove a knife between my ribs.

King screams. MATE. OUR MATE. SHE FEELS IT. SHE KNOWS.

I sit up so fast Lila rolls off me.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

I can't answer. I can't breathe. The pain is everywhere. In my chest. In my head. In my soul.

What did I do? I ask King.

YOU HURT HER, he snarls. EVERY TIME YOU TOUCH THIS FEMALE, YOU HURT OUR MATE.

Oh god.

"Ryker?" Lila's hand touches my shoulder. "Talk to me."

I shove her hand away. "Get out."

"What?"

"Get. Out."

She scrambles off the bed. Grabs her clothes. Leaves without another word.

The door closes. I'm alone.

But I don't feel alone. I feel my mate. Somewhere close. Crying because of what I did.

I press my palms against my eyes. My chest aches. My hands shake.

King paces. Furious. Grieving.

Find her, he demands. Now.

"I don't know how," I whisper.

FIND HER.

I get dressed. I leave my quarters. I walk through the pack house with no destination in mind. Just moving. Just trying to breathe through the pain.

I end up outside. The night air is cold. It clears my head slightly.

Colt finds me near the training yard.

"You okay?" he asks.

"No."

"What happened?"

"She felt it." My voice is rough. "My mate. She felt everything."

Colt goes still. "You're sure?"

"King is sure. And I felt her. Her pain. Her wolf crying."

"Then she's definitely here. In this pack."

"Yes." I look at him. "I need to find her. Now."

"How?"

"A tournament." The idea forms as I speak. "We announce a fighting tournament. Make it open to everyone. She'll have to show herself eventually."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Then I'll keep looking until I do."

Colt nods slowly. "I'll help you set it up."

"Thank you."

We stand there in the dark. The pack is quiet. Sleeping. Unaware that somewhere among them is my mate. The woman the moon goddess chose for me. The woman I've been hurting without knowing.

I will find her.

I have to.

Because I can't survive this pain much longer. And neither can she.