Chapter 6

The first attack didn’t come at night.

That should have warned us.

I was in the outer courtyard under guard, allowed fresh air under the Alpha’s orders, when the bond twisted sharply — not pain this time, but alarm. My breath caught as something cold brushed the back of my neck.

I wasn’t alone.

The guards noticed it a second too late.

A figure dropped from the upper wall, moving fast and silent, shifting midair in a blur of dark fur and limbs. Chaos exploded instantly — shouts, snarls, the crack of bone against stone.

I stumbled backward as a wolf slammed into one of my guards, tearing him down. Another lunged for me.

“Move!” someone shouted.

I didn’t get the chance.

Strong arms wrapped around me from behind, dragging me back as claws slashed where I’d been standing. The bond flared violently, heat and fear crashing together until I cried out.

The Alpha.

He turned with me still in his grip, his other hand striking out hard enough to send the attacker skidding across the courtyard. The wolf shifted back to human form as he hit the ground — young, unfamiliar, eyes burning with feral intent.

Not pack.

The courtyard erupted as more figures poured over the walls. Too many. Organized. Not a raid — a message.

“Inside!” the Alpha ordered.

He didn’t wait for agreement. He pulled me with him, moving fast, guards closing in around us as the fighting intensified behind us. The bond was wild now, reacting to adrenaline, fear, proximity. I could barely breathe.

We reached the inner hall just as a body slammed against the door from the outside.

The Alpha shoved me behind him.

“Stay,” he said sharply.

I clutched the stone wall, heart pounding so hard it hurt.

The door shook again, then stilled as the sounds of combat retreated. Minutes passed. Maybe more. Time stretched thin and unreal.

Finally, the Alpha exhaled slowly.

“Lock it down,” he ordered.

The guards moved immediately.

Only then did he turn to me.

“Are you injured?”

The question stunned me.

“No,” I said. “I— I don’t think so.”

His gaze swept over me anyway, checking for blood, tension coiled tight in his shoulders. The bond steadied, the chaos inside me easing just enough to think.

“Who were they?” I asked.

“Rogues,” he said. “But not random.”

“What do you mean?”

“They came for you.”

My stomach dropped. “Why?”

He hesitated.

“Because a human bound to an Alpha is leverage,” he said finally. “And because you’re visible now.”

“So this is my fault,” I said quietly.

“No,” he said immediately.

The word came too fast.

I looked at him.

His jaw tightened. “It’s my responsibility.”

That was new.

A guard approached. “Two captured. One escaped.”

“Bring the captives,” the Alpha said. “Separate them.”

The guard nodded and left.

Silence settled between us, heavy but different than before.

“They knew where I was,” I said.

“Yes.”

“They knew when I’d be outside.”

“Yes.”

“Someone told them.”

He didn’t answer.

“That means your pack isn’t as united as you think,” I said.

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Careful.”

“I’m already careful,” I said. “And it didn’t stop them.”

He studied me for a long moment, something unreadable shifting behind his eyes.

“You’re right,” he said finally. “Which means things just changed.”

“For me?” I asked.

“For everyone,” he corrected.

Another guard returned. “The rogues are asking for you by name.”

My breath caught. “They know my name?”

“Yes,” the guard said. “And they claim they were invited.”

The Alpha’s expression went cold.

“By who?” he demanded.

The guard hesitated. “They won’t say. Only that the bond makes you weak. That if you fall, the Alpha follows.”

Silence stretched tight and dangerous.

The Alpha turned to me slowly. “You see what resistance costs now.”

I met his gaze. “I see what secrecy costs too.”

For a moment, I thought he might snap at me.

Instead, he exhaled.

“You won’t be leaving my side,” he said. “Not until this threat is neutralized.”

“That’s not protection,” I said. “That’s confinement.”

“It’s survival,” he replied. Then, more quietly, “And it keeps you alive.”

I swallowed.

“And if staying near you makes the bond stronger?” I asked.

His eyes darkened.

“Then we adapt,” he said.

The bond stirred at the word.

Adapt.

I didn’t know what that meant yet. But as the courtyard echoed with the aftermath of violence and the weight of what had almost happened settled in, one thing was clear.

The pack was no longer just watching me.

They were fighting over me.

And the Alpha had just drawn a line that couldn’t be erased.