LOGINTyson The ring.The words hit me like a punch to the chest.Naya’s ring. The one found inside the pink bakery box this morning. For a heartbeat, the room falls silent again.Aiden looks between us. “What ring?”Connor reaches into his pocket and carefully places a small evidence bag on the table. Inside it rests the silver ring I slide onto Naya’s finger the night I make her my Luna.My chest tightens. I don’t have to touch it to recognize it. I’d know that ring anywhere.Aiden studies it before looking back at me. “Left it where one of our patrols would find it?”“No, we found it few miles south from the motel.”Aiden frowns. “They’re sending a message.”“They’re playing games,” I say quietly.Both men turn to me. I keep my eyes on the ring.“If they wanted to negotiate, they would’ve sent demands. If they wanted to kill her…” The words catch in my throat. “they would’ve sent proof.”I force myself to finish. “This…” I tap the evidence bag with one finger. “…is bait.”Connor folds h
TysonFour daysFour days long, agonizing days pass since Naya disappears, and every second feels like another knife twisting deeper into my chest.The war room has become my prison.Maps cover every inch of the table. Pins, photographs, satellite images, reports, witness statements, everything we have is spread before us, yet none of it brings me any closer to my mate.I haven’t slept, I barely eat. Every time I close my eyes, I see her smile. Every time I open them, she’s still gone.The doors to the command room swing open and every conversation dies instantly. I don’t have to look up to know who has arrived.Aiden.He walks into MoonHaven looking nothing like the man who left weeks ago in search of peace.A duffel bag hangs from one shoulder, dust coating his boots and the hem of his dark jacket. His hair is slightly disheveled, and dark circles shadow his eyes.He came straight here. He didn’t stop to rest, didn’t change. Didn’t even unpack.He must have thrown his belongings int
TysonThe drive back to MoonHaven is the longest of my life. No one speaks, not Connor, not the warriors riding behind us.Not even my wolf.The silence inside the SUV is suffocating, broken only by the low hum of the engine and the sound of tires eating away at the endless stretch of road.The folded note rests in my palm.I’ve read it so many times the edges have already begun to soften. I’m still alive. Three words.Three words that keep me breathing, three words that keep me from tearing this entire world apart. I unfold it again. Connor glances at me from the passenger seat but wisely says nothing.The symbol of the Veil still sits beneath Naya’s handwriting, mocking me.Below that… Three tiny dots arranged into a triangle. I trace them with my thumb.“Naya,” I murmur. “You knew I’d find this.”She always leaves breadcrumbs. Even when we’re baking together, she marks her recipe cards with tiny triangles instead of numbering them.She once laughed and said it helped her remember t
TysonFour hundred miles.The words echo inside my head long after the call ends. Four hundred miles. I can’t help but think my mate will be found around that perimeters, but I know whoever kidnapped her is not a fool.The moment Connor gives me the location, I shift. The forest explodes around me as I run. Branches snap, leaves scatter. The earth trembles beneath my paws. I barely register any of it. The only thing that matters is reaching Naya.Or finding whoever took her.Others struggle to keep pace. Not that I care. My wolf is completely in control now.Furious, terrified and desperate. The worst combination imaginable. By the time I reach the vehicles waiting at the edge of the territory, I am already shifting back.Pain tears through my body, bones crack, muscles reform. I don’t slow down. I yank open the driver’s door and climb inside.“Tyson…”“Get in.”Connor wisely stops talking. The convoy moves within seconds. Five SUVs, twenty warriors. Every one of them armed.If this i
TysonThe moment I realize Naya is gone, MoonHaven goes into lockdown. Every gate, every road, every hidden trail leading in or out of the territory.Locked.No one enters.No one leaves.I don’t care how inconvenient it is. I don’t care who complains. My mate is missing and nothing else matters. Within minutes, the entire security network is activated. The surveillance footage from the nursery plays repeatedly on every monitor inside the command center.Again.And again.And again.Each replay makes my rage worse. Naya walks through the gate carrying a cake box. She smiles at someone off-camera. Then she enters the building.And disappears. No exit, no struggle, no alarm. Nothing. It is impossible. Yet there it is. Recorded evidence of the impossible.Connor stands beside me, studying the footage. His expression is grim.“They knew.”I don’t look away from the screen. “I know.”Whoever took Naya knows exactly where the surveillance cameras are. Exactly where the blind spots are. Exac
TysonI know I am losing this argument the moment Naya folds her arms. She gets that look on her face. The one that tells me she has already made up her mind and is simply waiting for me to catch up.“No.”Her eyebrow rises. “No?” she repeats.“No.”She sighs dramatically, setting the cake box on the kitchen counter.“I am going to the nursery, Tyson. Not to war.”I glare at her.She glares right back.The problem with mating a stubborn woman is that she never realizes when she is being unreasonable. Or maybe she does realize it and simply doesn’t care.“The last time you disappeared, I nearly ran mad.”She rolls her eyes. “The last time I disappeared, I was surveying our enemy’s camp.”“Exactly.”“That isn’t helping your argument.”“It absolutely is.”Naya groans. “You’re impossible.”“So I’ve been told.”For a moment we simply stare at each other. Then she softens.Just enough. “Tyson.”Damn it.I hate when she says my name like that. Because it usually means I’m about to lose.“I j
His fingers brush my wrist and everything Stops.It’s like a shock runs through me. Not painful. Just… overwhelming. My breath catches, my body goes still, and for a split second, the world narrows down to that single point of contact.What the hell was that?He pulls back like he’s been burned. Hi
I think I fainted again I regain consciousness at the same time I feel a hand brush mine, but when I open my eyes, Alpha is standing a little far from me, looking as if he is ready to cut off my neck.He frowns. “You really fainted. You were not pretending. I could taste your fear and confusion.”
I woke up in a bed, surrounded by three big men. They are all huge. I pretend as if I am still unconscious.A voice booms beside me. “Open your eyes, spy. We can tell you’re awake.”I open my eyes to glare at the speaker. A tall blond man who looks about thirty-four. “You don’t need to be so loud,
Chapter TwoAs much as I would love to get myself some buzz, I can’t do that with my state of unemployment. I hardly get drunk, it takes a lot of alcohol to get me to that state. Lucky me, nothing ever works my way. Back when my mum was still alive, she used to tell me I am wasting my time trying







