chapter 13

The door closed softly behind Lydia, and Knox stood in the office for a few moments longer, watching the silence settle like dust around him. He didn’t move, didn’t blink—just stood there, jaw clenched, heart pounding louder than it had during the blood-binding ceremony.

He opened the door after she had gone and took the stairs to the second floor.

He turned sharply and opened a mind link with Brian, his Beta.

“How’s the party?” Knox asked, his mental tone even but curt.

Brian responded immediately. “Smooth. Ella and Kate have quieted down after their little outburst. Most pack members have left, while some—your friends—are mellow now, dancing or drinking. I had Nina choose a bedroom suite on the third floor.”

Knox’s brow furrowed. “Third floor?”

“Yeah. She wasn’t thrilled about it,” Brian replied with a dry chuckle. “Complained that it was ‘too far from the Alpha wing,’ but she took it. I made sure she understood it wasn’t up for debate.”

Knox wanted to laugh. Nina would, of course, be mad at him or even tell them when she got back to the kingdom. But he didn’t care—not like he wanted the title anyway.

“Good. Tell Emily to start rounding up the party,” Knox ordered. “And meet me by the lake in the old forest.”

“But I thought we agreed not to go there again, Alpha,” Brian’s voice was panicked.

“And I am still the one saying you should meet me there, so why the hesitation?”

“I wasn’t hesitating, it’s just...”

“Meet me there. It’s an order.”

There was a brief pause.

“Understood, Alpha.”

Knox cut the link, already turning toward the back hallway. He didn’t want to see another guest. Not right now. Not after everything tonight had stirred up. Lydia’s voice still echoed in his mind: “We shouldn’t take this too seriously. We aren’t mates.”

His chest tightened, but he shoved the feeling down like a rock into water.

He didn’t know what was happening to him. She was right—they weren’t mates. So why was he acting like they were?

He took the back door, exiting into the crisp night air. The moon hovered like a pale eye over the treetops, and the grounds were still humming faintly with laughter from the front. The back was still and shadowed.

As he moved across the grass, a shape detached itself from the shadows beside the tree near the armory.

“Alpha,” John called, walking up with steady steps. His short-cropped hair glinted silver in the moonlight, and his eyes—golden and alert—took in Knox’s posture immediately. He bowed before asking, “Going out?”

“Yeah, and I guess you wouldn’t even have to ask,” Knox said, looking at the head warrior.

John smiled. “No need to ask, Alpha. I already know you’re going to where you last saw them.”

Knox sighed. John had always amazed him since he joined the pack years ago. Though he was a werewolf, he was a match for Brian, who was a Lycan—not in combat, but in managing affairs. Knox often thought that if it weren’t for Brian being a longtime friend, he would have made John his Beta.

“How do you know?” he asked the warrior.

“I’ve been there a few times. Because I know how much that wolf meant to you. And I could see you’ve been deciding whether to go there or not—every morning you walk here, pacing about. I saw your eyes always on this place, so I went ahead to scout the area, hoping to pick up a lead.”

“And did you find any?” Knox asked.

“No, Alpha. Nothing.”

Knox nodded. “We’re going now. Brian will meet us in a while. For now, it’s just me and you.”

John nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”

Knox gave a short nod. “Flank me.”

John didn’t hesitate. He fell into step beside his Alpha without another word, and together, they headed for the tree line.

The forest loomed ahead, ancient and whispering. As they reached the deeper shadows, both men paused, took off their clothes, and placed them at the bark of a tree.

Knox rolled his shoulders, loosening the tightness in his back. “Kai,” he called, his voice deepening with Alpha authority. “Come forward.”

Bones cracked. Muscles contorted.

A ripple of energy moved over him, and in a blur of motion, his skin split into fur, limbs lengthening and shifting. His clothes fell to the ground, discarded and forgotten. Black fur rippled over powerful limbs as his wolf form—Kai—stood tall and imposing. Kai was massive, easily larger than any wolf in the territory. His eyes gleamed emerald green, burning with a cold, feral intensity.

John followed, his transformation smoother but smaller in scale. His fur took on a sandy-brown color, and though he was leaner than Knox, his stance was quick and ready—his golden eyes alert and focused.

Together, they raced into the forest, paws thudding softly against damp earth and weaving between ancient trees.

Knox led the way, his nose lowered, sniffing. The scent of pine and earth mixed with faint traces of smoke. John followed closely, ears pricked.

They passed the lake—its surface smooth and silvered—until Knox came to a stop at the shoreline.

He sniffed again.

The scent was faint. Faded by time, but still lingering: charred wood, burnt fur, and something more—something... hollow.

“This is it,” Kai growled mentally.

John’s wolf whined low. “I still don’t understand why this site.”

“Because this is where she was last seen.”

They moved further along the edge of the territory, further than most of the pack would travel without escort. At the border, Kai turned to John.

“We’re crossing into disputed land. Humans and rogues roam here. Keep your ears sharp.”

John’s ears flicked back. “Understood.”

They padded deeper into the wilderness. The scent of ash grew stronger.

Minutes passed before they reached the clearing.

The trees here were blackened and skeletal. The fire had ravaged this area weeks ago, but no one had come to clean it up. Burnt branches cracked under their paws as they stepped carefully through the destruction.

Kai slowed, his nose twitching. Then, with a sharp huff, he began to shift back.

Bones snapped again. His black fur receded into skin, limbs folding into human form. Knox stood barefoot amidst the ash, breathing hard, sweat glistening on his chest. The moonlight bathed him in silver as he crouched beside a broken stump and traced it with his fingers.

“This was where she was seen,” he murmured, more to himself than to John. “She was here before she met him.”

John shifted beside him, standing with arms crossed.

“You still think she’s alive?” he asked quietly.

He didn’t think—he knew. He knew because he could still sense her. He could feel her in the wind—it carried her scent to him. Maybe calling him. She needed his help.

Knox didn’t respond. He examined the ground, the soot, the broken twigs. There were no fresh tracks, no living scent. But there was still something.

Hope.

“Even if she is,” John said, “why keep looking?”

Knox stood. “Because she didn’t deserve to disappear.”

Before John could reply, movement caught their attention.

From the edge of the clearing, a woman emerged.

She wore a tattered coat and carried a limp squirrel in her arms. Her hair was tangled with leaves, and she had the look of someone who belonged to the wild.

She spotted them and paused.

Then, without alarm, she walked closer.

“I know what you’re looking for,” she said.

Knox narrowed his eyes. “Do you?”

She nodded. “You’re not the first to ask about her.”

“We’re looking for a she-wolf,” John said. “White fur. Small, fast. Wounded the last time she was seen.”

The woman tilted her head. “I haven’t seen her. Not recently. Maybe she’s long gone.”

Knox’s gaze sharpened. “But you’ve heard of her?”

The woman’s mouth tightened. “I’ve heard the wind howl for her. I’ve seen the ash refuse to take her scent. I’ve felt the trees mourn something they couldn’t protect.”

John frowned. “What does that even mean?”

“It means you shouldn’t look for her anymore,” the woman said, stepping back. “Some wolves… are better left to legend.”

Knox exhaled harshly. “Bullshit.”

The woman gave a shrug, turned, and walked off, disappearing between the trees with her squirrel dangling limply from one hand.

Silence settled again.

John looked to Knox. “What now?”

Kai surged to the surface in Knox’s mind.

“I smell something.”

Knox’s body tensed. “Where?”

Kai led him northeast, paws thudding against dry ash.

John followed as the scent grew stronger—burnt fur, death, and something unspoken.

Finally, they reached a dip in the earth.

There, beneath a fallen tree, was a body.

The wolf was medium-sized, dark brown, its fur singed and curled. Burnt past recognition, but the scent—though faint—still clung to the corpse.

Knox shifted again, standing over the carcass. He didn’t speak for a long time.

“Do you think...?” John started.

“No,” Knox said. “It’s not her. But he was tracking her. Maybe protecting her.”

He knelt, running his hand gently over the burnt fur.

“Retrieve him,” he ordered. “He might be a clue. A step toward finding her.”

John nodded, turning back toward the forest to shift and retrieve the body.

Knox stood alone once more, eyes fixed on the empty clearing.

And in the quiet, he whispered to the wind:

“I’m going to find you. No matter where you are, white wolf. I am coming for you.”