Asher’s POVI should’ve known.The moment the guard reported Sophia’s door was wide open and her scent faded into the wind, I felt something snap inside me. I stormed into her room—empty. Just like the promises she made. Just like the time I gave her, hoping she'd come clean.Gone.A growl tore from my throat before I could stop it. My fists curled at my sides, and I let the rage consume me. The betrayal. The humiliation. She’d played me—again. I turned around and kicked over a table, sending it crashing against the wall. A lamp shattered. My vision blurred. A chair splintered under my hands.How dare she.I don’t even know how long I was destroying everything I could get my hands on before I heard the soft knock on my door. At first, I didn’t answer. I couldn’t trust myself not to hurt whoever was on the other side. But then the door creaked open, and there she was—Aurora.Calm, composed… yet I could see the worry in her eyes.She didn’t flinch at the wreckage around us. Didn’t sa
Asher POVI stood by the bed, my gaze never leaving the small, pale form of Sophia’s son. The room was heavy with the scent of antiseptic and the quiet hum of medical equipment. The wolf doctor moved around us with practiced ease, his hands never shaking, despite the gravity of the situation. The child’s injuries were severe, and every moment counted. I had to act, and I had to act fast.She was leaning over the child, her brow furrowed in concentration as she checked the readings on the monitor. Finally, she straightened, turning to me with a grim expression that made my heart drop into my stomach.“The child’s wolf is still too young to heal him on its own,” the doctor explained, her voice calm but filled with concern. “The injury is too severe. The wolf is still in its infancy, too fragile to take over the healing process. What he needs right now is blood—your blood, Alpha Asher.”My breath hitched at the mention of blood. I had no hesitation. I would do whatever it took to save
Asher POVThe air felt heavier as Loid and I made our way toward the rogue territory. The land stretched out before us, desolate and barren, the kind of place where only the desperate and the dangerous would seek refuge. I could feel the tension in my muscles, coiled and ready for the inevitable confrontation. This wasn’t just another rogue skirmish—it was personal. Sophia’s son was in their hands, and the rogue leader had made a grave mistake.I’d seen my share of fights, but nothing like this. I was accustomed to taking on threats that challenged me physically, mentally, and strategically. But when it came to Sophia’s son, this was a whole new level of fury. No one touched what was mine and walked away.Loid walked beside me, his usual confident stride tempered by a hint of wariness. We had no idea what to expect, but we’d been tracking the rogue pack’s movements for hours. The moment we’d crossed into their territory, the hairs on the back of my neck had stood up, and every ste
Asher POVThe morning light pierced through the curtains of my room, casting a golden hue across the floor. For the first time in what felt like weeks, my body felt good—really good. The aches and bruises from the previous night's battle were gone, as if they had never existed. It was a strange sensation, to be so whole again so quickly. I stretched my limbs, feeling the smoothness of muscles well-used but unharmed. This was the kind of recovery I needed.There was no time to linger in the luxury of feeling like my old self, though. I had a sparring session with Loid scheduled for the morning. Loid, as always, was ready for a challenge, his smirk sharp as ever. We had a rivalry of sorts, though it was more about mutual respect than anything else. I wasn’t sure if he’d ever admit it, but I knew he enjoyed pushing me to my limits, just as much as I enjoyed doing the same with him.We met in the training grounds, the air still cool from the early morning, the scent of earth and dew he
Aurora POVI stood in the sterile, dimly lit room, my hands gripping the edge of the table, trying to steady my breath. The wolf doctor—a wise healer who had seen countless packs through both birth and death—stood across from me, her expression grave.“Asher is dangerously close to death, Aurora,” she explained, her voice calm but filled with urgency. “The bond between you both is incomplete. If it’s not sealed soon, the pain will continue to tear him apart. The longer it goes unfulfilled, the more likely it is that he won’t survive.”I could feel my heart race as his words sank in. It was one thing to know the bond was important—to understand its power. It was another thing entirely to know that it could be the difference between life and death.I swallowed hard, forcing my voice steady as I asked, “So, what do we do?”“You need to complete the bond ceremony,” the doctor replied. “It must be done tonight, under the full moon, when the bond can be fully realized. Only then can the con
Asher POVThere are some things that never leave my mind, no matter how many meetings I attend, how many decisions I make as the Alpha, or how high my title sits on a plaque. My mother’s escape from the dungeon was one of them. It haunted the back of my mind like a shadow that refused to dissipate, curling in the corners of my thoughts even as I sat in the quiet of my office. I kept thinking about what Aurora told me.I’d combed through the security feeds a dozen times, questioned every guard personally, and still, nothing made sense. No struggle, no signs of forced entry or exit. Just… gone.And the worst part? The silence. That eerie, suffocating stillness left in the aftermath of her disappearance. I should have been focusing on the Rogues attacking, or the expansion plans for our territory, but instead, I was here—mentally stuck in that damned dungeon with the ghost of her absence whispering treachery in my ear.A sharp knock broke my spiral.“Come in,” I called, straightening up