Chapter 4

"Hand over the serum, you bastard daughter of a dead Alpha!"

A vicious howl ripped through the morning mist in the border forest.

I was transporting our newly developed Wolf-Soul Stabilizing Serum to the southern outpost. Out of nowhere, two heavily armored trucks ambushed my SUV, both stamped with the skull-and-wolf crest of the Blackbone Pack.

Silver-tipped crossbow bolts and heavy lead rounds slammed against my windows, shattering the glass into a web of white cracks.

I yanked the steering wheel hard and slammed the red emergency button on the dash to patch straight through to Kallum's private line.

—"The user you are trying to reach has muted all incoming transmissions."

The automated voice hit my ears like a poisoned blade.

Once. Twice. Three times.

All muted.

My knuckles turned bone-white on the wheel. The mating mark on the back of my neck burned with an icy chill. Everyone in the Bloodclaw Pack knew our Alpha never took off his comms. He only shut them off when he stayed at his private manor to nurse a "fragile" Scarlett.

In utter desperation, I called upon my inner wolf and slammed against our mating bond with all the mental force I had left.

Kallum! Blackbone ambushed me at the southern border! Save me!

I screamed across the mind-link with my dying breath.

No answer came. Only a cold, dead, impenetrable mind shield.

He had blocked our soul link with his Alpha command—all so my distress wouldn't disturb Scarlett's rest.

A piece of my heart cracked right then and there.

"Ram her! Take the serum!" a Blackbone warrior roared from a truck roof, his silver-laced claws tearing straight through my driver's window.

I had no time to wait for a man who would never come.

Cold resolve took over. I stomped the gas pedal to the floor and rammed my SUV straight into the side of their lead truck!

The screech of twisting metal filled the woods. The airbag exploded in my face. In that same second, an arrow coated in pure wolfsbane pierced through the shattered window, ripping straight through my right shoulder!

Agony ripped through my nerves like liquid fire. My wolf wailed inside me. Gritting my teeth until they nearly cracked, I fought the wheel with my last ounce of strength, broke through the perimeter, and hit the outpost's red distress beacon before passing out in a pool of blood.

The sharp scent of herbs and antiseptic pulled me back to consciousness.

"Sierra! You're finally awake!" Bridget rushed to my bedside, her eyes red and puffy. "If the patrol hadn't reached you in time, those Blackbone bastards would have torn you apart! Where the hell was your Alpha when you were bleeding to death?!"

The head healer walked in with a grim expression. "The wound went clean through, and the wolfsbane is eating away at your nervous system. You need your fated mate's scent to soothe your wolf. Where is the Alpha?"

I curled my pale lips into a bitter smirk. "I don't have a mate. The bond was severed long ago."

The heavy door was kicked open with brutal force!

Kallum stormed inside, his Alpha presence so suffocating it nearly frosted the room. His eyes were bloodshot as he locked onto the heavy bandages across my shoulder. "Severed the bond? Sierra, what the hell are you telling the doctor?!"

The room dropped to freezing.

Ignoring the pain tearing through my body, I met his murderous glare with complete indifference. "I was talking about Bridget. She just broke up with her mate. I was feeling bad for her."

Kallum's jaw unclenched slightly.

He crossed the room, his large shadow swallowing me whole. Guilt and terror flashed deep in his eyes. He reached out to touch my bandages, but his hand froze in midair.

"Why didn't you use your emergency line? Why didn't you mind-link me?!" His voice was cracked, raw with emotion. "I just wiped out three Blackbone outposts myself. Not a single survivor. Sierra... I failed to protect you."

Looking at the pain on his face, I almost laughed out loud.

He was the one who muted his comms and threw up a mind shield to block me. Now he dared to ask why I didn't reach out.

"You're being discharged in five days," Kallum said, taking my cold hand in a tight grip. "I'm clearing all pack meetings. I will come pick you up yourself."

"Okay," I whispered, lowering my eyes.

Five days went by in a flash.

The golden hour cast long, lonely shadows across the healing room.

I sat on the edge of the bed in my street clothes. The clock moved from two in the afternoon to six in the evening. The hallway remained dead quiet.

My phone screen lit up.

Scarlett had posted a new update ten minutes ago.

The photo showed a VIP suite inside a luxury wellness retreat. A large hand bearing the Alpha's ring was gently tucking the blanket around her shoulders.

Her caption read: [With you here, I fear nothing.]

That ring of absolute authority was placed on his finger by my own hands four years ago.

With a blank expression, I dialed his number. He picked up on the first ring.

The rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor filled the background.

"Sierra," Kallum whispered, his voice rushed and stressed. "Scarlett had a sudden relapse and fainted. Her condition is critical. I can't leave her right now. Wait for me another thirty minutes, or I'll have Rowan send my security team—"

"No need," I cut him off calmly.

"Sierra, let me explain—"

"Pack business comes first, Alpha." I hung up.

I grabbed my small duffel bag and walked out of the empty healing ward alone.

The late autumn wind bit through my jacket, making my wounded shoulder throb with a dull ache. Standing on the stone steps, I hailed a pack patrol car.

The moment the door closed, I pulled up my notes app.

A glowing countdown memo sat pinned at the top of my screen.

With steady fingers, I typed out one final line:

—Seven days left until the mating bond is completely severed.