LOGINWe moved as one, heading for the door, following the scent that was pulling at us with irresistible force.Our wolves were going insane, demanding we find her, claim her, and mark her as ours permanently."This is impossible," Kane said as we ran through the hallways. "How can the mate bond be triggering? Neither of us has felt it before. Not once in thirty years.""I don't know. But my wolf doesn't care about logic right now." My entire body was thrumming with need, with the overwhelming certainty that our mate was somewhere close. "She's in the pack house right now."The scent was everywhere and nowhere at once.'Mate. Mate. MATE.'We turned toward the residential wing. The scent intensified. I picked up my pace, Kane matching me stride for stride, both of us breathing hard."She's close," Kane said, his voice rough, lower than usual. His eyes had gone full silver. "Left corridor."We turned left. The scent surged.Then died completely.As if a door had slammed shut on it.We both s
Kade's POVThe quarterly territory assessment was one of those duties I'd normally delegate, but today I needed the distraction.I walked the eastern border with Marcus and three patrol leaders, reviewing security measures and checking scent markers. Routine work that required just enough focus to keep my mind from wandering to things I couldn't control.Things like Ariana training with Sarah. Ariana getting stronger while the cancer should be weakening her. "Alpha?" Marcus's voice pulled me back. "Did you catch that last part?""Sorry. What?""The northern markers are fading. We have to reinforce them this week or rogues might test the boundary.""Handle it," I said. "Take whoever you need from the patrol rotation."Marcus made a note on his tablet, then gave me a knowing look. "How is she?""Ariana? Fine. Recovering well.""That's not what I meant." Marcus's tone was gentle. "How is she really? After everything with the fight, the coma?"I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "H
I could hear her heartbeat, steady and confident. Could smell her certainty that I couldn't hurt her.I threw a punch at her ribs, using the technique she'd taught me. Which she blocked it easily."Again and more faster."I punched again. And she blocked again."Come on, Ariana. I've seen you move faster than this. Use whatever you used in our fight."She wanted to see the enhanced speed. Wanted to know if I could access that state again.I threw another punch, this time letting my heightened senses guide the movement. The strike was faster, more precise, but still human-level. Still within normal parameters.Sarah blocked it, but her eyes narrowed. "There. That was better. But you're holding back.""I don't know what you mean.""Yes, you do." She moved closer. "In our fight, your eyes turned black and you moved faster than any human I've ever seen. You dodged a killing blow that should have been impossible to avoid. So either you can access that power on command or you can't. Which i
Ariana's POVLife at the pack house fell into a strange new rhythm over the next week.I was released from the hospital after two more days of observation. Marcus wanted to keep me longer, but I couldn't stand being confined to that room anymore. Kade helped me move back to my room, hovering protectively while I settled in. Kane kept his distance but I'd catch him watching me sometimes, his expression unreadable.The pack's attitude toward me had shifted slightly after the fight. They still didn't accept me, but there was less open contempt now. I'd challenged one of their own and survived. That meant something, even if they didn't know what.What they didn't know was that something from the fight had stayed with me.The heightened senses.They'd first appeared when my eyes turned black during Sarah's final strike. I'd assumed it was temporary. A one-time thing triggered by extreme stress.But it wasn't.The senses remained. Muted compared to that moment in the ring, but still there
"Follower?" The word felt strange. "I'm not a leader. I'm barely surviving day to day.""You survived an execution. You survived me." Sarah's voice was intense. "And you did it without a wolf, without pack support. If that's not strength, I don't know what is.""That's just survival instinct.""No," Sarah said firmly. "That's power. Raw, undeniable power. You just don't see it yet." She paused. "But I do. And I think others will too, once they stop being afraid long enough to really look."I didn't know what to say. This was Sarah, who'd called me Wolfless with contempt. Who'd beaten me while the crowd laughed. Who'd tried to kill me with that final strike.And now she was on her knees, asking to follow me."Why should I trust you?" I asked. "How do I know this isn't some trick Elena put you up to? Get close to me, gain my trust, then finish what you started?""You don't," Sarah admitted. "You can't know for sure. All I can do is prove it through my actions." She met my eyes. "I broug
Ariana's POVSarah suddenly burst into laughter.The sound was unexpected enough that both Kane and I froze. She is laughing like she'd told a joke and we'd missed the punchline."Your faces," she managed between laughs, wiping tears from her eyes. "You actually thought—" She dissolved into laughter again.Kane's expression darkened. "This isn't funny. You came in here with a weapon—""For this," Sarah said, stepping aside from the doorway.A nurse entered, pushing a small cart laden with cut fruit, food containers, and what looked like meal prep supplies. She gave Sarah a nervous look before setting everything on the table beside my bed."Thank you, Jenny," Sarah said to the nurse, who nodded and hurried out as quickly as possible.Sarah held up the knife, which I could now see was just a standard paring knife. "For cutting fruit. Marcus said you've been having trouble eating solid food, so I thought fresh fruit might be easier. The knife is for preparing it." She set it down on the
"Because she's not just anything," I said. "She's brave and stubborn and fights every day against a disease that should have killed her already. She's taken abuse from your wife and pack without complaint because she didn't want to make things harder for Kane and me. She's dying and she's still mor
This is murder," Kane said, his voice shaking with rage."It's protection," Alexander corrected. "And as Alphas, you should understand the necessity of protecting the pack, even when it requires difficult decisions.""Difficult?" Kade's laugh was hollow. "You're killing an innocent person based on
Kade's POVThe moment the guards took Ariana away, something inside me snapped.I stood in the empty council chamber, Kane beside me, both of us staring at the door she'd disappeared through. The air still smelled like her fear and pain, her resignation. She thought she deserved this. Elena had wo
What kind of incidents?" Kane asked, his voice wary.Elena opened the folder with deliberate slowness, clearly savoring the moment. "Children getting severely sick. There are three hospitalizations in the past month alone, and they are all children who live within a block of that store. Even some o







