LOGINChapter Forty OneTristanTristan didn’t remember shifting.One second he was tearing through the forest on four legs, the next he was standing in the clearing, blood roaring in his ears, the taste of violence sharp on his tongue.The rogue lay broken at his feet.Its neck was twisted at an unnatural angle, body twitching once before going still. Tristan barely registered it. His focus snapped instantly to the figures a few feet away.Cherry—down on one knee, fur soaked dark with blood.Josh—collapsed against a tree, chest heaving, shoulder torn open.And Kyra.She stood frozen near the edge of the clearing, face pale, eyes too bright, hands clenched around a useless branch like it was the only thing anchoring her to this world.Ren surged forward, frantic.'Mate. She’s hurt.'Tristan scanned her with ruthless speed. No blood. No visible injuries. Her scent was sharp with fear, adrenaline, shock—but she was alive.Relief hit him so hard his knees nearly buckled.He forced it down.Alp
Chapter FortyKyraEverything happened at once.The rogue hit Cherry mid-air, their bodies colliding with a sickening crack as they rolled across the clearing. Josh slammed into its side an instant later, his jaws snapping shut around its neck but the wolf was stronger than both of them. It shook violently, throwing Josh off like he weighed nothing.“Josh!” I screamed.He crashed into a tree, the impact knocking the breath from him. He slid down the trunk and didn’t get up right away.Panic exploded in my chest, I was frozen on the ground I didn't know what to do.Cherry staggered to her feet, blood matting the fur along her shoulder, one eye already swelling shut. She planted herself between the rogue and me anyway, legs trembling but stance unyielding.“Stay behind me,” she growled, her voice rough and strained even in wolf form.The rogue circled, slow and deliberate now, like it knew it had the advantage. Its gaze flicked past Cherry—straight to me. Its lips peeled back, saliva dr
Chapter Thirty NineTristanTristan knew something was wrong long before Isaac said a word.It was subtle at first—an itch under his skin, a low hum of unease that wouldn’t quiet no matter how much he buried himself in work. The packland was secure. The borders were warded. The pack was restless but compliant. By all accounts, everything was exactly as it should be.And yet.Ren prowled inside him, hackles raised, senses stretched thin. The wolf hadn’t settled since the night Kyra ran from him, and that alone was enough to put Tristan on edge. Ren was never this agitated without reason.“You feel it too,” Tristan murmured, staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office at the treeline beyond the pack house.Ren answered with a low, dissatisfied growl.A knock sounded at the door. Isaac entered without waiting to be invited, his expression tight in a way Tristan had come to recognize over the years. Not panic. Not fear. Vigilance.“Border patrol checked in,” Isaac said. “Twice.
Chapter Thirty EightKyraI waited until after my shift at the diner before sneaking off the pack house.Cherry was going to have a fit if she knew I was wandering around on my own again, but technically I wasn’t breaking any rules. I wasn’t leaving pack land. I wasn’t doing anything reckless. And most importantly, I needed this.I balanced the basket on my hip as I made my way toward the clearing where Cherry and Josh trained. Beth had practically stuffed the thing to bursting when I told her where I was going—meat pies, wrapped sandwiches, a thermos of hot chocolate, and something sweet she’d winked and called “emergency morale boosters.”The sounds reached me before I saw them.The dull thud of bodies hitting the ground.Sharp exhales.The snap of air as fists cut through it.Cherry had Josh in a headlock when I stepped into the clearing.“Tap out,” she grunted.“In your dreams.” Josh wheezed, struggling uselessly.“Josh,” I called.They both froze.Cherry whipped around so fast sh
Chapter Thirty SevenKyraI slammed my bedroom door shut and pressed my back against it, breath shallow, heart pounding like I’d sprinted miles instead of down a hallway. My chest ached with raw frustration—at him, at myself, at everything that kept dragging us together— only to tear us apart again.I hated him and I hated myself more.But worst of all, I hated how much I still wanted him… I slid down the door until I was sitting on the cold floor, burying my face in my palms. I didn’t know how long I stayed like that, my breath hitching, tears dripping onto my knees, but eventually I dragged myself up and climbed into bed without bothering to change. Exhaustion hit me like a truck, but sleep didn’t come easily. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Tristan standing there with that unreadable expression, like he was always one breath away from saying something that would either ruin me or save me, and choosing to do neither.By morning, my eyes burned and my head throbbed, but I dragge
Chapter Thirty SixTristanTristan stood in the corridor long after Kyra’s footsteps faded, the echo of her words still ringing in his ears like a wound that refused to close.'I keep wishing you’d take the offer.'They clawed at him worse than any insult ever could.He didn’t remember moving, only that at some point he found himself standing outside her bedroom door. The hallway was quiet, the lights dimmed for the night, the estate holding its breath the way it always did when his emotions ran too close to the surface.His hand lifted, paused then lowered to his side.Ren stirred restlessly beneath his skin, pacing, snarling, urging.'Mate. She’s hurting. You did this.'“I know,” Tristan muttered under his breath his jaw tightening.From behind the door came the faintest sound—soft, broken. A stifled inhale. A sob she was trying not to let escape.His chest constricted violently.For a terrifying second, instinct took over. Alpha. Mate. Protector. His body leaned forward, palm flatt







