CHAPTER 3
1595 Words
KEALEN
The wooden desk in my office felt like a cage.
I stared at the maps of our northern border, my fingers tracing the lines of the Blackwood
territory.
Outside, the pack was still howling, the sounds of the post-ascension celebration echoing
through the stone walls of the pack
house. They were happy. They had a new Alpha. They had a future.
While I had a headache that felt like a blade was being driven into my skull.
"The rogue sightings are up ten percent near the creek," Marcus, my Beta, said. He was
leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed. He had been watching me for the last
twenty minutes with that annoying, knowing look in his eyes. "We should double the patrols."
"Do it," I snapped. I didn't look up. "And tell the scouts to stop being lazy. If they see a stray
wolf, they don't wait for permission. They kill them."
"Understood." Marcus paused. "Kaelen... the pack is talking."
"Let them talk."
"They're talking about the ceremony. About the girl."
I finally looked up, my eyes flashing gold for a split second. "There is no girl. I rejected the
bond. It’s dead. The Moon Goddess made a mistake, and I corrected it. End of story."
"Is it?" Marcus stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "Because you’ve been
staring at that same map for an hour, and you haven't turned a single page of the council
reports. You’re also vibrating, Kael. I can feel the tension from across the room."
"It’s the adrenaline from the shift," I lied. My heart was thumping a rhythm that didn't feel like
mine. It was too fast. Too frantic.
I turned back to the map, determined to ignore the dull ache in my chest. I had a pack to
lead. I didn't have time for a wolfless mate who would only bring shame to my bloodline. I
needed a Queen who could shift, who could hunt, who could stand beside me in a fight.
Elara Vance was a liability.
Then, it happened.
A sudden, violent jolt of terror ripped through my mind. My breath hitched, and I gripped the
edge of the desk so hard the wood began to splinter.
It wasn't my fear. I wasn't afraid of anything in these woods. This was raw, paralyzing panic.
It tasted like copper and felt like ice water in my veins.
No. Stop it. I slammed my mental walls shut, trying to block her out.
"Kael?" Marcus was at the desk now, his hand reaching for my shoulder. "What’s wrong?
You’re pale."
"I'm fine," I wheezed, clenching my jaw.
The terror spiked. It was followed by a sickening wave of dizziness. My vision blurred. I could
smell something—not the fresh flower in the office, but something sweet that smelled like
chemicals.
Drowning. I'm drowning in the dark.
The thought wasn't mine, but it filled my head until I couldn't think. I felt a sharp pinch at the
back of my neck, a sensation that made me jump.
"Something is happening," I muttered, my voice sounding like it was coming from a long way
off.
The door to the office burst open. It was Jax, one of the younger warriors. He looked out of
breath, his face flushed.
"Alpha," he gasped. "We have a problem."
"What now?" I growled, the gold in my eyes fully taking over.
"It’s the Vance girl. Elara. Her father just came to the gates. He’s worried. He says she
climbed out of her window an hour ago and hasn't come back. He tracked her to the border,
but he lost the scent."
"She probably just ran away to cry in the woods," I said, trying to force my voice to be cold.
"She’s not my concern. She’s a member of this pack, so let the Enforcers find her and bring
her back for punishment. She broke the curfew."
"Alpha, you don't understand," Jax said, stepping further into the room. "I was out there. I
saw her leave. I... I taunted her a bit and she headed toward the Neutral Territory."
I stood up so fast my chair flipped over. "The Neutral Territory? Alone?"
"She was upset, Kael," Marcus said quietly. "You did just publicly humiliate her."
"I did what was necessary!" I roared.
The pain in my chest intensified and it was crushing my lungs.
The bond wasn't supposed to be this strong after a rejection. It was supposed to wither and
die. But it was clawing at me, screaming that my mate—my rejected mate—was in danger.
Help me.
The whisper in my mind was so faint I almost missed it. It was followed by a cold, empty
void. The connection didn't snap, but it went silent. Dead silent.
The silence was worse than the pain.
"Get the trackers," I ordered.
"Kael, wait," Marcus said, grabbing my arm. "You said she was a mistake. You said she was
nothing to you. If you go after her now, the pack will think you’ve changed your mind. They’ll
see it as a sign of weakness."
I looked at Marcus, and for the first time in my life, I didn't care about the pack’s opinion.
The beast inside me—the wolf I had spent years learning to control was scratching at my
ribs, demanding to be let out. It didn't care that she was wolfless. It didn't care that she was
"broken." It only knew that what belonged to it had been taken.
"I don't care what they think," I hissed, shoving Marcus’s hand away. "The bond is a
biological directive, Marcus. If she dies while the bond is active, it will tear a hole in my mind
that I might not come back from. I’m going for my own sake. Not hers."
"Right," Marcus muttered, though he didn't look convinced. "Sure."
I didn't wait for him. I shifted before I even hit the front steps of the pack house.
My bones snapped and reformed, my skin stretching as thick, midnight-black fur erupted
from my pores.
I landed on all fours, a massive beast that dwarfed the warriors standing guard.
I didn't howl. I didn't waste breath. I just ran.
I hit the tree line at a full gallop. My senses were dialed to the absolute limit.
I could hear the heartbeat of a squirrel three miles away. I could smell the old blood on the
leaves from a hunt two days ago.
I headed straight for the border stream.
The scent of her hit me as I crossed the water.
It was faint—lilies and rain but it was there. And it was moving away from the pack lands.
Why would she go this far?
I slowed down as I entered the Neutral Territory. This area was a no-man's-land, filled with
thick brush and rocks.
It was the perfect place for a Rogue to hide.
I found the space under the rocky overhang. Her scent was strongest here. I could smell the
dried meat she’d been eating. I could see the scuff marks of her boots in the dirt.
And then, I smelled the rot.
I shifted back into my human form, standing naked in the moonlight. I didn't care about the
cold. I knelt down, pressing my fingers into the floor.
There were boot prints here. Not hers. Large, heavy-treaded boots. At least three different
men.
"Rogues," I whispered.
But these weren't the messy, disorganized tracks of starving outcasts. The strides were
even. And it looked like they had surrounded her.
I moved to the back of the tree and found the spot where she’d fallen. I picked up a small,
discarded cloth. I pulled it to my nose and recoiled. Wolfsbane and a powerful sedative.
This wasn't a random attack. This was a k********g.
"Alpha!"
Marcus and a team of four Enforcers emerged from the trees, shifting back into their human
forms. They looked at me, then at the cloth in my hand.
"They took her," Marcus said, his voice grim.
"They didn't just take her," I said, my voice shaking with a rage I couldn't contain. "They
hunted her. They knew exactly where she would be. They knew she was wolfless and
defenseless."
"Who would do that?" Jax asked. "Why bother with a girl like Elara?"
"Because she’s my mate," I said, the realization hitting me like a physical blow.
I had rejected her in front of everyone. I had told the world she was my weakness. And
someone had been listening. Someone had decided to use the very thing I claimed to hate
against me.
I looked toward the north, beyond the Neutral Territory, toward the Gray Ridge—a place
where the terrain became nearly impassable.
The bond pulsed again—a tiny, flickering spark of life. She was still alive. For now.
"Marcus, take the Enforcers back to the border," I commanded.
"What? No. We’re coming with you," Marcus argued.
"No," I said, "This isn't a pack war. Not yet. If a squad of Blackwood warriors crosses into the
Ridge, it’ll start a bloodbath we aren't ready for. I’m faster alone."
"Kael, you’re going into a trap," Marcus warned. "You know that, right?"
"I know."
I shifted back into the black wolf, my fur bristling and I didn't look back at them.
I picked up her scent—the fading smell of lilies and fear and I began the hunt. They had
taken something that was mine.
And they were about to find out why people called me a monster.
- Writer
