Rowan's POV"Come home."Knox's voice was a harsh over-the-phone crackle like static, strained with tension that ceased me in my tracks. I had only just gotten back from a quick five on the top-level treadmill, trying to soothe the wolf inside me. It had not succeeded. If anything, the beast was more restless now, pacing in circles around my chest as if searching for something or someone."I am not done here," I snarled, rubbing a towel over the back of my neck. Sweat still clung to my hairline from the air conditioning blasting its way through the penthouse."You don't get it, Rowan. This is bigger than you are upset or fixated on some mysterious woman. You are exposed," he barked and I could practically see him scrubbing his hands through his hair, a quirk he had picked up from me years ago. "What if somebody finds out you are at that hotel without proper security? What if a rogue gets a whiff of you? What if one of the enemy packs realizes the Alpha of Blackthorne is by himself an
Rowan’s POVI didn’t go home.I couldn’t.Not when her scent still clung to my skin like smoke. Not when the echo of her voice—sharp and soft and furious all at once—kept bouncing off the walls of my skull like a curse I couldn’t shake.I took the elevator to the top floor of the hotel, past the hollow silence of midnight, and keyed into the penthouse suite. Being Alpha had its privileges, even when it felt like a crown of thorns digging into my skull. The room was dark, silent, spacious—yet still, it felt too small for the way my thoughts paced inside me.I didn’t bother turning on the lights.Instead, I moved to the window, the city washed in hues of silver and shadow below me. I pressed a hand to the glass, leaning into the chill like it could numb the storm still roaring under my skin.She pushed me out.Calla Rivers—no, Elena, or whoever the hell she pretended to be—pushed me out of her hotel room like I was nothing. And it should’ve pissed me off. It did. But beneath the offens
Calla’s POVThe door clicked shut behind him with a finality that scraped across my skin.I stood there, frozen, my fingers still curled around the brass knob as though I could twist it back and take the words with me. Undo what just happened. But the room was silent now. Still. Too still.The tease hadn’t given me satisfaction. It hadn’t made me feel powerful or even vindicated.It had only made me feel like a ghost. It made me feel horrible and I wished I could turn back the hand of time to moments ago so I could have just pushed him out of the room instead of engaging with him. But maybe there was a part of me that knew that I had to be careful with the alpha of this territory or i could be thrown to jail. Even though I had every right and reason to be angry at him.After all, he is the man that forgot who I am.I turned away from the door and pressed the heel of my palm to my chest, trying to calm the riot beneath my skin. My pulse was erratic, my breath shallow, and I could stil
Calla’s POVThe towel suddenly felt too thin. Too fragile. Just like me.I stared at him—at Rowan—soaked in moonlight and fury, breathing like he’d just run through a battlefield instead of down a hallway. His silver eyes locked onto mine like they were trying to burn straight through the lies I’d wrapped around myself like armor.“You’re not walking away from me again,” he said.There was a weight behind those words. Something old and raw, pulled up from the deepest, darkest part of him. Something his wolf had stirred.My throat felt tight, like it was lined with sandpaper, but I managed to speak. “What does that mean?”He didn’t flinch. “It means I know who you are.”I blinked.He took a step forward, the scent of storm-soaked pine clinging to him like a memory I couldn't quite outrun.“You’re not Elena,” he said, voice cold and cutting now. “Your real name is Calla Rivers. Twenty-six. Disappeared from every known werewolf registry for years and suddenly… here you are. At my pack’
Calla’s POVThe machines had stopped beeping.A sigh escaped my lips, it was a sound that grated down on my nerves, but it had died down now.For the first time in hours, Asher’s tiny chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. Shallow, but even. A rhythm I’d prayed for with every beat of my own broken heart. The fever that had scorched his fragile body had finally broken—but not because of anything I did.No.It was Rowan’s blood. The Alpha's blood.My breath hitched as I smoothed the damp curls from Asher’s forehead. His skin had cooled, his lips no longer tinged blue. But the healer’s expression hadn’t softened and that worried me. She hovered near the monitors with hands clasped too tightly, voice too careful, like she was speaking around a ticking clock. I didn’t like that.“His vitals have stabilized for now,” she said softly, eyes avoiding mine. “But the balance is temporary. Whatever’s wrong with his blood… it keeps rejecting anything that isn’t of the same origin.”That word—Ori
Rowan’s POVShe was gone.The glass door swayed slightly behind her, letting in the scent of night and citrus. But she—Elena, or whatever lie she wore like perfume left the space hollow. It did not feel right.My blood still sat in her bag. She was going to use my blood to heal her son. And the boy— I could not even think straight, my mind felt like it was stuttering with the thoughts that kept swirling around.My hands curled against the railing, gripping it tight. If I went too hard, I might bend the metal.“You smell like me,” the little boy had said to me in the softest and most innocent tone i’ve ever heard..Four words. Four damn words.And it left me breathless and speechless.My wolf hadn’t stirred like that in years. Damn, it had not even had my time. It did not stir this hard even when I took down the rogue pack at the border. Not when I nearly died trying to protect what little was left of our bloodline.But the moment those silver eyes looked into mine?It was like I’d be