Chapter 3: storm in the east wing

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*Chapter 3: Storm in the East Wing*

The storm hit an hour after I left Kade’s office.

Rain slammed against the pack house windows. Thunder shook the stone walls.

Perfect.

“Dr. Hart!” Elder Mara ran up to me, soaked. “The power’s out in the east wing. And two more wolves just collapsed.”

Of course they did.

I grabbed my bag. “Show me.”

The east wing was dark. Only emergency lanterns glowed, casting shadows across the 10 beds lined up. Each one had a sick wolf. Some were shivering. Some were unconscious.

And Kade was already there.

He was kneeling beside an older warrior, checking his pulse. His shirt was damp from running through the rain. His hair stuck to his forehead.

He looked up when I entered.

For a second, neither of us spoke. The only sound was rain and labored breathing.

“Power’s out,” he said finally. “Generators should kick in soon.”

I nodded and got to work. Vitals. Notes. Blood samples.

The sick wolves all had the same symptoms as Maya. Fever, rash, black veins.

But this was moving fast. Too fast.

“Anything?” Kade asked, watching me.

“Not yet,” I said. “I need to test the deer carcass. And I need water samples from the lake. If this is poisoning, the source has to be somewhere.”

Kade’s jaw tightened. “I’ll take you.”

“It’s pouring.”

“Then we’ll get wet.”

We grabbed raincoats and flashlights. The lake was a 10 minute walk from the pack house, through the woods.

The storm was bad. Wind howled. Trees creaked.

We didn’t talk. Not at first.

Then Kade broke the silence.

“Why did you come back, Luna?”

I kept walking. “For Maya.”

“Bullshit,” he said quietly. “You hate me.”

I stopped. Turned to him. Rain dripping down my face.

“I don’t hate you, Kade. I hate what you did. There’s a difference.”

His flashlight flickered. For a moment his face was all shadows.

“I know,” he said. “And I deserve it.”

We reached the lake. The water was churning. I took samples, sealed them in vials.

That’s when I saw it.

Near the shore, half-buried in mud.

Hooves.

The deer.

But it wasn’t just dead. Its mouth was foaming. Its eyes were black.

This wasn’t natural.

“Kade,” I said, my voice low. “Someone poisoned this.”

He crouched beside me instantly, all Alpha. “What?”

“Wolfsbane. Mixed with something else. It’s a toxin designed to target shifters.”

My hands were shaking. “This was deliberate.”

Kade stood up so fast I flinched. His eyes went dark. Dangerous.

“Who?” he growled.

“I don’t know. But they wanted to hurt the pack. And they used you and Maya to do it.”

Lightning struck nearby. The thunder that followed was deafening.

And then the wind picked up. Hard.

A tree branch cracked and fell right behind us.

Kade grabbed my arm and yanked me forward. “Run!”

We ran.

Back through the woods, rain in our eyes, branches whipping us.

We made it halfway to the pack house when the generator died.

Everything went black.

“Shit,” Kade muttered. He pulled out his phone. No signal.

“The east wing,” I said. “The sick wolves. They need the oxygen machines.”

Kade cursed. “It’s too dangerous to go back out in this. We’re trapped here until the storm passes.”

Trapped.

With him.

In the dark.

He led me to a small storage cabin near the lake. Hunters used it during winter.

It was dry. Cold. One cot. One lantern.

We sat on opposite sides of the room.

Silence.

Just rain on the roof.

Finally, I couldn’t take it. “Why didn’t you tell me about your father?”

Kade sighed. He was staring at the lantern. “Because you were 18 and happy. And I was a coward.”

He looked at me. “The day I rejected you, I went home and punched a hole in my wall. My father told me it was for the good of the pack. I believed him.”

“And now?”

“Now I know he was wrong.” Kade’s voice was rough. “The pack is dying because I was too busy playing politics instead of protecting them.”

Guilt. That’s what I saw in his eyes. Real guilt.

I pulled my knees up. “The toxin. If I’m right, it’s in the water supply. That’s why it’s spreading.”

“So we need to cut off the lake. Boil all water. And find who did this.”

Kade nodded. Then he stood and grabbed a blanket from the shelf. He walked over and draped it over my shoulders before I could protest.

“You’re shivering,” he said simply.

His hand brushed my neck.

And Lyra.

She surged.

The mate bond flared. Hot and bright and undeniable.

It shot from my chest to his.

Kade froze. His eyes widened.

“You feel it too,” he whispered.

It wasn’t a question.

The bond was pulling us together. Like invisible strings tying our hearts.

Three years. And it never died.

I stood up quickly. “We should sleep. It’ll be a long day tomorrow.”

I lay on the cot. Kade sat on the floor, back against the wall.

Neither of us slept.

Hours passed. The storm calmed.

Right before dawn, I heard it.

Kade’s voice, barely a whisper.

“Luna?”

“Yeah?”

“If I had a second chance… would you give it to me?”

My heart broke all over again.

Because the answer was yes.

And it terrified me.

But I didn’t answer.

I pretended to be asleep.

Outside, the first light of morning broke through the clouds.

And back at the pack house, someone was watching the cabin.

Smiling.

*To be continued...*

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