Damon POV
The knock hit the door like a blow.
Fast. Urgent.
Rayna and I tore apart like we’d been burned - her chest heaving, my hands still tingling from the feel of her skin, her lips red from the kiss I’d sworn I wouldn’t give her. My wolf howled inside me, furious at the interruption.
I was about to snarl something at whoever dared to interrupt us - but then the door slammed open before I could reach it.
Thorne stood there. Breathless. Mud on his boots, his eyes wild.
“We found them.”
My pulse spiked. Rayna moved beside me, already tense.
“Found who?”
“Patrol Alpha Seven,” Thorne said. “Or what’s left of them.”
The words hit like ice water.
“Where?”
“Half a mile east of the river bend,” he said. “North trail. Near the old ash grove.”
That was close. Too close.
Thorne swal
