Alliance of Shadows, Book 5: LEIF

Devastation Strikes

We'd put off the wedding until after Clara had her baby so that we could all celebrate together. Then we got a call that had Kaden rushing to the side of his little friend. Ironically, it was the son of his childhood nemesis that he’d become friend and mentor to since meeting the child.

The day started out like any other—busy with meals, chores, studies, and helping my man sort through City Council paperwork that needed doing.

Dreson looked up from the logistical papers he was reviewing just in time to see Kaden bolt upright from the couch as his phone went off.

“Where are you off to?”

“Gotta get to the pack lands fast,” Kaden said, already crouching near the wall to focus on the summoning circle he was sketching across the tile. His phone buzzed again. He checked the ID and grimaced.

“Hey, Iz,” he said, pausing a moment to listen. “Yeah, I had a feeling he was up to something. You saw what? Want me to bring Leif and Dre?”

“Bring us for what?” I asked, glancing over at him.

He turned to face us, pale now, with sheer terror swimming in his eyes. “Izzy saw a broken chain over his left shoulder. And I’ve got a real bad feeling Austin’s gonna hurt Mariana this time. And she saw Logan. He was lying in a pool of blood.”

The broken chain meant the end of something—usually a bond, a relationship, a tie that’d been tested too long. The blood? That meant Kaden’s little friend was running out of time.

I’d met Logan almost a year ago when he arrived for his first Gathering on All Hallows. He thought I didn’t see it, but I noticed when he quietly followed Izaria when she went to talk to Akita for the first time. Once he saw that I was also guarding the women, he went back to his friends. He was too good-hearted to be anything like the man who raised him, and that only made the warning Izaria gave us cut deeper.

“I’ll get the kids,” I said, already heading for the back rooms as Dreson moved to help Kaden enlarge the circle.

By the time I came back with Conner on one hip and Heather holding my free hand, they’d widened the spell big enough for all five of us. Its lines glowed faint on the floor, pulsing soft and steady like a heartbeat made of light.

As we stepped through the magical portal and onto the veranda of the packhouse, I spotted a toddler girl trying to coax a little red-haired boy to his feet. She stood frozen, her small hands balled into trembling fists as she stared into the distance—eyes locked on the figure stomping toward them with heavy, threatening steps.

Kaden moved faster than I thought possible. "Logan! Hold on, kiddo. I got you."

"What's happening?" someone asked, voice tight behind us.

The tiny child holding on to Logan looked up just as her mother stepped onto the veranda. "Come away, Em."

"Non, Maman. Non! Maria! Paul!" My heart cracked as her voice hit that high, panicked pitch only terrified little kids reach. She sobbed, trying to be louder than the fear, then she said something that made me question what Logan really was.

"Alpha Logan," she choked out. Breaking free of her mother, she ran toward Kaden with arms outstretched. "S'il vous plaît aider?"

It took me a moment to register it, but I understood that she was begging Kaden to help Logan after calling the boy Alpha. Not kid. Not friend. Alpha.

Kaden knelt and gently touched her cheek, brushing away a tear. A quiet motion, but one Akita didn’t miss. Her deep golden eyes were focused on him, her expression softening with pride as she blinked back her own tears before moving with a Warriors grace through the crowd to help keep the other pups close to Logan out of the way. Kaden clenched his jaw, forcing his voice to remain as calm as possible before saying: "Oui, petite. I'll help him as best I can, okay?"

As Logan’s unconscious body passed into Kaden’s arms, Alpha Henry let out a jagged breath. Then his voice bellowed across the property, shaking the air. "Kaden! Destroy that beast! Get the Medics to the Pierce house! And for the love of the Goddess, someone get Mariana’s pup to the hospital before we lose him too!"

"No holes barred?" When the Grand Alpha shook his head, Kaden turned to Neil with the biggest grin I'd ever seen on his face. It wasn’t joy. It was a storm stretching its arms. His eyes gleamed, sharp and dark. "What about you, Neil?"

Neil’s deep brown gaze sparked with something I’d never seen before. That flicker of intentionally demonic glee sent icy shivers trailing down my spine. “I’ve waited years to say this: Take ’im out.”

I watched as Izzy reached out for Kaden’s arm, her eyes glazed over in that haunting way that always meant something big was coming.

"Austin’s going to survive, so don’t bother wasting the energy. Bring some Warriors and run his sorry ass off the territory. If you can catch him, kill him. Dre, Logan’s Omen has changed."

"He’s going to make it?" Kaden asked, his voice catching with hope.

At the same time, Dreson asked, “What are his Omens?”

Izzy gave a small nod. "He has three now, but they won’t stop shifting. It’s like something—or someone—is messing with the threads of his fate."

Dreson exhaled sharply, raking his hands through his hair. "There’s more to that boy than meets the eye. When he recovers, I want to speak with him. Face to face."

"Neil," Kaden said, almost whispering. His voice was tight, weighted.

"What?"

He swallowed, jaw locking before he finally answered. "Logan told me—right before he passed out—that Austin broke the Mate bond. Mariana mentioned during the trip here that they formed the bond nine years ago. That means..."

He didn’t even finish the thought. He didn’t need to. For the first time since I’d known them, Neil, Dreson, Kaden, and Colton moved like instinct, their reactions fast and sharp, all four cutting through the stillness like arrows loosed from a bow.

Colton’s twins came running up the path, followed by two more little girls. They raced straight to Ember, who was still crying in Izzy’s arms.

"Em, where’s Lo-Lo?" one of the girls asked gently.

Ember let out another sob and pushed out of Izzy’s hold, clutching the other girl like she might fall apart without someone to hold her up. "His father hurt him. He… he is… um… hospital."

Kneeling down, I cast a calming spell and pulled the children in close, wrapping them in as much warmth as I could muster. A few minutes later, Dreson, Neil, and Kaden returned—each of them carrying something heavy in their eyes.

“Dad,” Neil growled, his tone razor-edged. “I want that sonuvabitch on the Rogue list, A.S.A.P.”

Clara’s hands flew to her mouth. “Please, Neil—please tell me Mari’s okay?”

He shook his head, eyes clouded with the pain of an Alpha who felt a devastating loss. “With the kind of physical damage Austin left her with and the bond being cemented almost a decade before he broke it? She’s not going to make it.”

Henry swore loud enough to shake the veranda as his Mate crumpled in his arms. Losing a wolf was always a hit to the pack. But losing a female? That was tragedy. That was legacy torn loose.

Dreson stepped forward, his shoulders hunched and buried his face in my shirt. “I was in Logan’s room. There was blood everywhere, Leif. That poor kid put up a fight.”

I held him close, rested my chin on his hair, and exhaled hard. “He’s gonna need time t’ heal. I just hope his friends can keep him from turnin’ Rogue.”

Colton let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “Logan’s not going Rogue. His little pack? They’ve already locked in. They’ll carry him if they have to. But that boy’s got no one else to take him in.”

That’s when I felt it—Izzy’s power swelling around us like a rising tide, her temper sparking hard and hot in the air. “He stays with the pack, Colt. I don’t care how it happens. I’ll find a way to keep him with us.”

No one argued. The jagged pill of truth settled low in all our stomachs, bitter and unmoving. All around us, the pack stood still – watching, listening, hearts heavy with what had been lost.

Somewhere in the distance, more women wailed.

I turned and caught sight of Eileen Forrest and Elizabeth Grey huddled together, arms wound around each other in raw, quiet pain. Daisy moved to join them, wrapping them both in a fierce embrace that said everything they couldn't find words for. A few steps behind, Simone King rushed over as her daughter gently gathered the smaller pups—her movements calm, practiced, like she’d trained for this moment without knowing.

“They were friends with Mari,” Neil said, voice fraying. “And Logan.”

A few months later, Kaden finally returned from the pack lands. He collapsed onto the couch in Dre’s office and refused to move for anything. Eyes hollow, shoulders shaking, he sobbed as he told us Mariana had died.

When he said Logan hadn’t left his mother’s side for anything—not even to celebrate his eighth birthday—even Dreson lost it. He dropped into the nearest chair and broke down, his grief pouring out in harsh, broken breaths.

As a show of support for the boy he’d tried so hard to protect, Kaden offered to take him in, but Henry and Clara had already pushed the adoption through. There hadn’t been any time to waste, not with the whole pack holding its breath. Everyone was on edge, waiting for the moment the sweet boy they’d known would shift into something dangerous.