C1

“Get the wolf-medic, now!” Corwin Blackmaw shouted, his hands shaking as he tried to keep me together my body broken, soaked in blood.

“Johnson! Oh, Moon, my beautiful boy!” The Whitmoor Elders rushed in, voices cracking with horror as they saw blood spreading over my white ceremonial tunic.

“I found him at Sacred Moonwater Lake,” Corwin gasped, chest heaving as he struggled for air. “Crimson Fang Pack yeah, them they hunted him like a rogue. They snapped his bones. Alpha circle law? Didn’t matter.”

“Take him from me,” my father roared, claws flashing as he scooped up my shattered frame. “Katy, grab the keys to the Midnight Fang Rover! We're taking him straight to Silvermoon Healing Lodge!”

“Is he still breathing?” Katy cried, panic widening her eyes as she stroked my cold, torn cheek. “Oh, my boy what did those animals do to you?”

“Just drive!” my father snarled, barely holding his wolf back. “Corwin, get in your truck and follow. This betrayal? The Alpha Circle will hear about it before sunrise.”

“He’ll never shift like before,” Niall Grimshaw said, face pale as he walked out of the lodge.

“What do you mean my son can’t shift?” My father’s fists clenched so hard I thought his claws might break. “He’s a Whitmoor wolf, proud and strong!”

“The injury is deep,” Niall mumbled, eyes on the floor. “His spirit-wolf, his body damaged beyond normal healing. And...the men who attacked him marked him. Smeared their scent to disgrace him. Used silver knives on his chest.”

“Who did this?” Corwin demanded, voice shaky. “Tell me which pack made my boy suffer.”

“The Moonrise Gathering boys,” Niall whispered. “But the Beta Commander washed the lakeshore with silver-nitrate. Every scent’s gone. No proof.”

“They ruined him,” Katy sobbed, leaning hard against the stone wall. “Called him weak, a freak; said he wasn’t worth an Alpha’s touch and now? They broke him.”

“We leave Wolfspring Hollow tonight,” my father said, his voice cold, ice in his veins. “We’re taking Johnson to Moonreach Coastlands. Deep woods. Nobody will know us nobody.”

Ten years pass. The Silver Fang Tavern is wild laughter, meat, wolf ale thick on the air.

“You look ready to kill, Johnson,” Kade Fenrir murmured, sliding his fingers down my neck. A bolt of mating energy burned straight through me.

“I always want blood when I see this pack territory,” I growled. My voice had grown rough, chest thick with muscle hiding old silver scars.

“Crimson Fang’s running trade routes through our docks tonight,” Kade said, his dark gaze hungry. He leaned in, smell of pine and blood curling around me. “You wanted a rogue hunt, right?”

“I want their blood,” I said, gripping the bar so hard it cracked. “Every male who stood at that lake ten years ago they deserve to feel hunted.”

“Let’s hit the Fenrir Shadow Den,” Kade whispered in my ear, teeth grazing. “Malakai Thornwolf is waiting. The mooncode seers found them.”

“You ready to see Corwin again?” Kade asked as we headed to the Midnight Fang Rover.

“He’s no friend,” I said, heart beating fast as night air hit my skin. “He saw them rip my tunic—he watched them treat me like a weak omega.”

“Tonight, we make him beg,” Kade growled, pushing me hard against the Rover, his body pinning mine. His mouth crashed onto mine rough, biting passion.

I froze. My mind blank, not sure what would happen next.