C4

Lanka Monroe POV

"I was blind to the high elders' scheme until the pack links hummed with your pain, Lanka," Andrew rumbles, his heavy chest vibrating against my spine as he holds me tight inside the moving transport. "I track your scent everywhere, but my paws were too slow to intercept them."

"Your ignorance doesn't heal the wound, Alpha," I bite out, my voice cracking with absolute exhaustion as I clutch my lower belly where the silver extraction lance tore through my flesh. "You leave me vulnerable while you tend to territory pacts, then blame my inner wolf for resisting the pack's demands. I protect our pup alone while you fail your duties as the pack leader."

"My beautiful mate, forgive me," Andrew whispers, his fangs grazing the sensitive skin behind my ear as his large, bleeding palm anchors my hips directly to his lap. "I failed to secure the borders of our home. My mother would never use raw silver against you without an external force whispering in her ear, and I will track that rat down until their entire lineage bleeds."

"Investigate whoever you want," I mutter, turning my face to catch the copper stench of his torn skin. "But the moment my womb heals and this pup is safe, Julian Park is taking me back to Carllo’s territory."

"Once your strength returns, your wolf may wander where it pleases," Andrew promises, his amber eyes shifting dark with hidden restraint as he adjusts my limp body against his hard chest. "For now, submit to the nest. Do not challenge my authority while your body is broken, agreed?"

"Fine," I rasp, my mind spinning with the terrifying memory of Serena Wolfe being pinned to that exact same ritual stone by the high matron weeks ago.

"Sleep now, my little wolf," Andrew murmurs, his dominant aura wrapping around me like a heavy blanket as the transport finally clicks to a halt inside the iron gates of the Wolfe Crest Estate.

Andrew Wolfe POV

"Elaine Brooks was the one feeding the high matron's suspicions, Alpha," Daniel Cho reports, bowing his head the moment I step down into the dimly lit courtyard of the estate. "She told Maren Cole that Lanka was using moon-herbs to suppress his true scent marks, hinting that the pup belonged to a stray rogue."

"And who paid for Elaine's tongue?" I growl, my claws fully extending as the scent of Lanka’s blood on my shirt drives my wolf to the brink of a feral frenzy.

"We pulled the deleted frequencies from the border towers, Alpha. The command came directly from the Hawthorne pack house right before dawn," Daniel says, stepping back as my pressure floods the courtyard.

"Take the traitor to the outer boundary," I command, locking eyes with Elaine as my enforcers drag her kicking and screaming across the gravel. "Let the rogue wolves have her family's hunting grounds by sunrise."

Andrew Wolfe POV

"You dare bring your executioners into my sanctuary, Andrew!" Maren Cole shrieks, slamming her glass goblet against the stone hearth the moment I kick open the doors to Riverbend Abbey.

"From this night until my mate delivers the next Alpha heir, these two enforcers will track your every breath, Mother," I say, my voice dropping to a low, lethal vibration that makes the guards behind her tighten their grips on their iron spears.

"I am the high matron of this pack!" she roars, her face turning pale with absolute rage. "You would lock up your own blood for the sake of a broken omega boy?"

"Try to cross the border again, Mother," I whisper, turning my back on her screams as I walk out into the dark night, "and my wolf won't remember your face."