When the Wolf Hunts.

Keon's POV:

“I’ll see what I can do Alpha but I can't heal witches in the way that's needed. I'll run a scan to see if she's bleeding internally or hurt anything, but that's all I can do. The most I can do is heal her bruises. That's all.”

“Whatever, just get to it, Jet.” I say to the pack doctor. I keep glancing at Winter, but she hasn't moved at all since I found her.

He nods, and I shut the door to my chambers, and the memory of her—us in the same room, only a while back makes my nose flare.

She was going to be okay.

She had to be.

For now, there is only one thing that matters.

Finding the perpetrator.

The guards and house staff were already assembled in my office when I arrived, though their postures had stiffened as soon as my boots echoed across the stone floors. I didn’t even glance at them.

My mind was entirely on Winter.

She was still unconscious, pale, and fragile, but alive. My wolf rumbled low in my chest, vibrating through every bone, every nerve.

No one dared move. No one breathed too loudly. They all knew.

Something was wrong, and whoever was behind it would feel the Alpha's wrath.

“Winter was hurt,” I said slowly, letting the words hang. My voice was calm, too calm. Too calm to be human. It made the room feel like ice.

“And someone inside these walls knew exactly what they were doing.”

The room is dead quiet.

I stepped forward. “I want everything. Every guard, every servant, every lieutenant must give a report of their location for today. Where were you? What did you see? What did you hear?”

The youngest guard shuffled, bowing nervously. “A-Alpha…We—”

Excuses.

Always excuses.

And now Winter was paying the price for it.

“Did I ask you to speak yet?” I growled, cutting him off. My wolf stirred, a surge of raw power threatening to push me over the edge. I could feel it wanting out, claws digging into reality like it wanted to tear through the room.

“I don’t want excuses. I want the truth. Now.”

The sheer power behind my voice has him bent over, knees bent, bowing deeper, as if pressing himself into the floor would shield him from the storm in me.

It wouldn’t.

Another guard cleared his throat. “Alpha… we—”

“Do not fucking speak until I ask.” My voice snapped like lightning across the room. My wolf’s growl under my ribs grew louder, like a rolling avalanche. The hairs on the back of the necks in the room stood up. I could see it in their eyes, they knew the storm was coming, and that was never a good sign.

I stepped closer to the nearest guard, my shadow stretching over him like a predator poised to strike. My wolf’s scent filled the room, the raw, terrifying alpha scent of a predator the size of a polar bear. They all inhaled it, shivering instinctively.

“Whoever struck Winter…” I said, my voice dropping to a rumble that made the chandeliers sway slightly. “…will regret it. But first, I need names. Times. Movements, Locations, Anything.”

A lieutenant, older and usually steady, swallowed hard. “Alpha… There was a disturbance near the Blood-Fang trail. No one could see who it was…”

I slammed my fist against the table, shaking it. My wolf snarled in my chest, claws itching to burst free.

“No one could see? Or no one is saying what they saw? Which one?”

The room trembled. The guards and maids flinched as if I had struck a beast into their very bones.

Silence.

“You think this is a game,” I said, pacing slowly, my eyes narrowing, calculating. “That you can hide information from me?” I chuckle darkly.

“Or her identity as a witch is the reason you all couldn't care less earlier right? She can fall and die for all I care, right?”

The truth is written in their guilt-struck faces. I was right. They didn't care about Winter, and that was the reason they ignored her cries.

My wolf is prancing about in fury.

“From the second Winter was mated, she became one of our own. So let this be a warning. If something like this repeats itself…”

One of the servants tries to speak. “But Alpha she's not one of us, the blood of our people still cries out on that same path she was on. Don't you—”

I rush at him, grabbing him by the throat. He gags, my arms wrapped around him like a vice.

When did all this bullshit start huh?

Probably because it was almost a full moon again. The full moon made our wolves more aggressive, and temperamental.

Regardless, I will not tolerate this insubordination.

“I do not care. As of now on, Winter is one of us. I do not care for your opinions. What I'm saying is she's one of us now whether you like it or not. Is that clear?”

His face is a dark shade of red. He nods repeatedly, and I squeeze his neck once before dropping him just to get the message across.

I turn to the others, who have subtly shifted away in fear. “Is that clear?” They nod.

“Now, I will not ask again.” My eyes swept across the room. “Do you want me to let my wolf loose? To tear this place apart until someone talks?”

The floor vibrated faintly under my presence.

They all knew I meant it.

I let the tension hang for a moment longer, then walked towards my seat, my wolf retreating just slightly under my control, but only slightly.

“Start from the beginning. Who saw her leave the palace today?” I said, voice sharp and precise.

Every single guard gives a slightly different story. Some hesitated, some stumbled over the truth. My wolf sensed lies before I could even process them. I stopped at one, a young woman, the maid who was there when she and Derrick ate.

“You. When last did you see her? You work in the kitchens, right before the gardens, what did you see?”

“Alpha,” she says bowing slightly, her cleavage exposed from the move. The movement is deliberate. Practiced.

I look away immediately, disgust curling in my stomach.

Not now.

Not ever.

“I haven't spotted her today Alpha…I guess she's really—”

I crouched slightly, lowering my head so she could feel the presence of my wolf. “You lie,” I said simply. My hand traced the air near her throat. “Your pulse. Your fear. It’s telling me more than your mouth. You know something. Tell me now, or you will wish I hadn’t stopped my wolf.”

Her brows fly upwards. She folds. Yes, someone had passed, someone moving too fast to be a normal wolf. But she claimed she wasn't sure if it was someone or a trick from her mind. Someone cloaked in magic. Someone watching Winter.

I straightened, letting the wolf’s presence settle over the room like a storm cloud. “Good. You spoke,” I said. “Keep your secrets, and you will fail. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, Alpha,” she whispered,

The process continues for over an hour.

Their responses tell me something. My wolf was right. There was something in the air, something was wrong. Something was missing.

The attacker left nothing behind. Nothing. No scent. No trace. Only Winter, broken and alone.

The thought made my claws itch. My jaw clenchs so tight it aches.

I paused, looking around at the faces in the room. They were terrified. Good. They should be. This wasn’t about intimidation for fun. This was about survival. This was about making sure that anyone thinking of touching her, of hurting her, of lying to me, knows what happens next.

Because the next time, I wouldn’t be holding back.

I turned sharply toward the door. “Search the perimeter again. Double it. Every hidden corner. Every blind spot. I want eyes and ears everywhere. Someone knows something, they will come forward, or they will answer for it.”

I think of Winter again, lying in my bed, still unconscious, still fragile. My wolf growled low in my chest, the promise of vengeance burning through it. Whoever did had just announced that they were playing a game with me.

And I never lose.

Not when it’s her.

Not when it’s my mate.

Not ever.

I take a deep breath, trying to calm the surge of power, the heat of the anger that still simmers like molten metal. My wolf is satisfied, for now, but the hunt has begun. And I will find every last piece of this puzzle.

Because someone dared.

Someone dared to strike at Winter Blackbird.

And they are going to regret it.