Jayden's POV
The scent of blood hit me before I even reached the gates. It was faint carried by the wind but I knew it, I knew her scent, down to the smallest trace. The sharp metallic sting of blood made my wolf growl low in my chest, pacing beneath my skin.
Carl was already there when I arrived, his jaw clenched, and his eyes full with worry.
“Alpha.” He called.
“It’s Anastasia, she just came through the perimeter. She collapsed before she could speak.”
The world stopped spinning at that moment, time itself stopped. I managed to form a coherent word.
“Where is she?”
Carl stepped aside, my gaze dropped when I saw her in one of the warrior's arms. Her body was limp, her face pale. There was the smear of blood around her face, her jacket torn and soaked with her own blood.
Her ar
