로그인Chapter 32 The bruises on my ribs throbbed in rhythm with my heartbeat as I limped toward the west wing corridor. The compound was quieter now. Still tense, but like it had taken one long inhale and was waiting to exhale.I hadn’t seen Riley since training, but her presence lingered in my head like a song I couldn’t shake. She’d looked... off. Not in the tired way we all did. Not in the pre-war dread sort of way either. No, it was sharper. Focused, as something inside her had locked onto a scent no one else could smell.And she hadn’t said a word.That was the part that kept bothering me.I made it to the far hallway before it happened.One step—normal. The next—like I slipped through a crack in the floor of reality.The walls around me blurred. The scent of the hall vanished. And then—Screaming.Blood. Wet and hot between my fingers. A forest lit with moonlight. Ash in the air. A howl that wasn't quite wolf. Not ours. Not theirs. Something older. Hungrier.I blinked. Staggered.An
Chapter 31I was still sore when I stepped outside.The air was cooler, sharper. The kind that bit my skin and carried whispers. Leaves rustled in warning. At the same time, the dark moved as if it had opinions. The compound was tense—coiled like a muscle waiting to snap.Something was coming.I didn’t know if it was Andrew’s retaliation or something worse.Riley waited by the gate, arms crossed, her hair twisted into something that looked like she’d done it while pacing. She looked up the second she heard me, and her brow pulled tight.“You look like you lost a fight,” she said.I snorted. “I won. Barely. I think.”“Right.” She glanced back at the house. “Let me guess. Hot fucking and secrets?”“More like war maps and a mate with control issues.” I paused. “But yeah. Also, hot, dominant male and fucking.”She didn’t smile. That’s how I knew it was serious.“They’re saying Andrew’s already mobilising,” she said. “His scouts were spotted near the northern ridge.”I swore under my breat
Chapter 30I found him in the office.The same one where we’d lost control. Where the bond between us had gone from a slow burn to wildfire.It looked the same—cold, controlled, all dark wood and leather, like a throne room disguised as a war map. But the air was different now. Tighter. It hummed with unsaid things.He stood with his back to me, hunched slightly over the table. Red markers lined the northern border like pinpricks in old scars.“I’m not furniture, Naja,” I said. “You don’t get to keep me in the background and expect me not to notice.”He didn’t turn.“You’ve doubled the patrols. You’re holding meetings behind closed doors. Everyone’s walking around like a storm’s already here—except nobody’s saying a word to me.”A pause. A muscle ticked in his jaw before he finally spoke.“You’ve been training.”“Don’t change the subject.”“I’m not.”“Really? Because from where I’m standing, I’m still on the outside looking in. And I’m tired of it.”He turned now—slowly. The gold in h
Chapter 29CharlieI didn’t sleep. Not really. The walls in this place might’ve been quieter than Bellmoore, but that didn’t mean they didn’t hum. The air was too still—the silence, too loud. I stared at the ceiling, breathing through the ache in my chest, replaying every word Naja said. My parents were dead. My brothers had been abandoned. I’d been thrown into a psych ward while everyone else moved on like I didn’t exist. And now? I was here. Changed. Bitten. Claimed. Tangled up in a war I never signed up for. I wasn’t angry anymore. I was scorched through. By the time morning cracked across the trees, I’d made my decision—I was done waiting. Done following half-truths and protective silences. If this place wanted to keep me, it needed to start giving me more than secrets and shadows. I pulled on my boots, laced them tighter than necessary, and headed out. The compound was quiet. Too quiet. No early training. No chatter. Even the sentries were whispering. Something felt
Chapter 28Andrew “They’ve been gone two days.” Andrew’s voice was low, even. Measured in that way that made the others nervous. The pack stood in a wide circle around him, shoulders tense, expressions drawn. The kind of silence that followed bad news—and waited for worse. “Roman and Joshua don’t just disappear,” he continued. “They knew protocol. They checked in. They were trained.” No one spoke. He let the words hang in the air like fog. “If they’re dead, I want proof. If they’re being held, I want blood.” That’s when a patrolman came sprinting in from the tree line, breath ragged. “Alpha!” he shouted. “We found them.” Andrew didn’t wait for details. He didn’t ask how bad. He just moved. He passed the edge of the encampment without another word, heading straight for the northern border of their territory. The patrolman led him until the trees thinned and the air shifted—wetter here, colder, the kind of quiet that felt unnatural. Then came the stench. It hit before the
Chapter 27CharlieI hadn’t come to this compound for a mate. I hadn’t come for a war, either. I came for answers. And somewhere along the way—between surviving Joggernut and being knotted into next week—I got distracted. Now, my head was clearer. Pissed, but clear. This place had buried me in heat, in blood, in politics. But I remembered now. I had two brothers out there—somewhere—living lives they didn’t choose. And I was going to find them. I cornered Naja in the hallway before he could disappear again. He’d just come back from the council meeting, still reeking of elder musk and stone-walled power plays—but I didn’t care. “What happened to my family?” I asked, voice flat. He stopped mid-step. “My family, Naja,” I repeated. “That night. Five years ago. After the attack—what happened to them? Where are they?” He turned slowly, jaw tight. “Charlie—” “No more avoiding it,” I snapped. He leaned against the wall, arms folding across his chest. “Your parents were killed that n







