LOGINRhett’s POVI watch her leave, I watch how the front doors close behind her with a dull thud that seems to echo longer than it should.How the wards along the mansion walls settle, but I don’t.I remain at the top of the staircase long after she disappears beyond the gates. My wolf prowls beneath my skin, restless, and unsettled. Reminiscing on all that she had said about Kaelen.Alpha-born.Catalytic.A child whose blood awakens blood.My jaw tightens at that thought, and I clench my fist. Behind me, Danielle has retreated to our chambers as Kaelen sleeps in her arms. The servants move softly, sensing the shift in the air like some prey sensing a storm. I turn sharply seconds later headed toward my study.The door shuts harder than intended and then comes the silent. Then I continue pacing. Back and forth across the length of the room, boots striking against the polished wood of the floor.My hands clasp behind my back, then drag thr
Rhett’s POVTHE NEXT DAYI’m standing by my bedroom balcony, waiting to see if she would come. I’d sent an invite to the pack sorceress, hoping she would grace us with her presence. But right now, it’s been hours since I have been waiting. Since we have all been waiting. I look over my shoulder seconds later to see Danielle running a finger through his hair. Obviously bothered from all that’s been happening.I rake my hair still staring into the road, and just I have expected for the past couple of hours she walks into my premises.“Finally!” I say stepping away from the balcony in a hurry.“She’s here, I will be right back,” I add walking out of my bedroom into the hallway.The wards along the mansion walls shudder just slightly like a wolf bristling without fully baring its teeth. Almost like the magic from her isn’t breaking through the walls of my mansion. Like it’s being allowed.I stand at the foot of the
Danielle’s POV“You sure look exhausted,” I say softly with a smile creasing on my face as I watch him walk in.Rhett pauses just inside the doorway, one hand still braced against the frame like the room itself is holding him upright. The usual training armor is gone, but the weight of it still clings to him etched into his shoulders, the tight line of his jaw, the shadow beneath his eyes.He gives me a tired smile that doesn’t quite reach his gaze. “I could say the same about you.”I shrug, settling back into the bed. “I didn’t sleep much.”“That makes two of us,” he cuts in with a smile and then crosses the room and sinks into the chair across from me. For a moment, neither of us speaks. The silence between us isn’t uncomfortable either. Instead, it’s heavy, dense with all the things we’ve been circling but refusing to name.Kaelen stirs in his crib near the window, making a soft sound in his sleep and my eyes flick to him instinctively.
Rhett’s POVThe arguing had started before I even decided to settle down.“We cannot bleed our reserves for a war we can’t name,” one of my elders snaps, his palm striking the table hard enough to rattle the ink pots.“And we cannot sit on our hands waiting to be slaughtered,” Captain Rowan shot back from his end at the table. “Three border patrols in one week, Bram. Three.”I take my seat at the head of the table and the room goes quiet. Not immediately I sit, but reluctantly. Chairs scrape as I walk in. Eyes shift to me the way they always do during meetings like this, as if I carried answers all the time instead of responsibility.“Our supply lines are stretched thin already,” Bram continues, lowering his voice but not the conviction of his statement. “Rationing will cause unrest.”“Unrest is better than graves Alpha,” Rowan said.I lift a hand and then silence falls heavy between us, pressing against my ears until I’m keenly aware of my own breat
Danielle’s POV The weight of the wars over the pack for months is the reason Rhett no longer stays in our bedroom. I open up my eyes each passing day to an empty bed and that unsettles me daily. I blink, staring up at his sides and wondering when all of what’s happening will end—wondering when I’d ever get to wake up next to my mate and Alpha. With a lot swirling through my mind, I manage to stand up to my feet. I don’t hear the crack afar off at first. What I hear is Kaelen’s little morning giggles. The sound of delight he makes when he thinks he’s done something clever as a child. I’m seated on the rug now with my back against the sofa, sorting through a basket of his toys, wooden blocks, soft fabric animals, and a little carved wolf Rhett brought back from a border meeting months ago. Kaelen crawls towards me and for some reason a particular thought
WEEKS LATERRhett’s POVThe armor on me right now feels heavier than I remember. Not because it weighs more but because it’s been too long since I’ve worn it.The leather straps bite into my shoulders as I tighten them staring at my reflection, the familiar creak echoing softly in the armory. Steel plates settle over my chest, cool and solid, pressing against my ribs like a reminder of who I am supposed to be when the pack is watching.An Alpha, a warrior. A man to guard his people.Devon stands near the doorway with his arms crossed, watching me with a look I’ve seen too often lately, concern masked as irritation.“You don’t need to do this,” he says for the third time, frowning at me.But I don’t look at him, I reach for my gauntlets instead, sliding my hands into them, flexing my fingers until the joints move smoothly. “I do.”“You haven’t trained on the field in months,” Devon presses. “You’ve been overseeing, commanding, planning. That







