A WARRIOR'S HEART

CHAPTER TWO

WILLOW'S POV

Behind me, I caught the shift of movement as Alpha Tyler spun on his heel and stalked toward the opposite side, shoulders stiff with barely leashed temper. His pride was a storm he couldn’t hide, but I didn’t slow, didn’t turn. Let him brood. I had a job to do.

Ahead, the warriors were already gathered.

“Stand easy,” I said, and the tension in their shoulders eased—but only a fraction. “Listen carefully.”

I let my gaze sweep over them. “Alpha Atlas of the Obsidian Crescent pack will arrive within a few hours.”

A ripple of shock and unease moved through the line. I didn’t blame them.

“You’ve heard the stories,” I continued. “Alpha Atlas has been gone for years, and no one knows the real reason why he’s chosen now to return—or what he wants in Shadow Moon. That means we treat this like a battlefield. Eyes open. No gaps. No slip-ups.”

I paced the line, meeting each warrior’s stare. “You will remain alert the entire night. Patrols doubled. Guards rotated every hour. Anyone you don’t recognize, anyone who moves like they don’t belong—you report to me first. No exceptions. Shadow Moon stands strong because we stand together. Whatever Alpha Atlas brings, we meet it as one.”

“Yes, Delta,” the warriors answered in unison.

“Good. Dismissed.”

I turned to leave.

A few hours later, we were standing in front of the pack house waiting to receive the guest. The rumble of engines drifted through the night air long before I saw the sleek black cars cutting through the trees toward the Shadow Moon estate. My stomach tightened. Alpha Atlas.

I kept my head high, forcing myself to stay calm as the pack gathered to welcome him. Alpha Tyler stood near the entrance, flanked by his beta and the elders, warriors lined up in perfect formation. They looked ready, but I didn’t belong in that scene tonight. Not with him as the visitor.

As the headlights swept across the yard, alpha Tyler’s voice reached me, calling my name. “Willow! Where are you going?”

I ignored him. My boots crunched over the gravel as I walked away toward the woods that bordered the pack house. His sharp tone trailed behind me, but I didn’t slow. The last thing I needed was to face him right now, not with my emotions ready to betray me.

The shadows of the forest swallowed me almost immediately.

“You’re tense,” Lilly’s voice sounded in my mind.

I exhaled slowly, sliding my daggers from my boot. “I’m fine,” I murmured, letting my shoulders sag.

I clenched my fists around a dagger, pressing my thumb against the cold steel. My chest burned with memories I didn’t want to relive.

I moved deeper into the woods, seeking a space where I could release some of the emotions that had stayed locked inside me all these years.

“Let’s do this,” I whispered, voice low, almost to myself.

I threw dagger after dagger into the thick trunk of a tree, letting each strike carry the rage I’d buried since that night. Minuites—or maybe hours—I didn’t know. Time slipped away as I struck, each hit echoing the pain, the betrayal, the humiliation I had felt.

Willow… slow down. You’re feeding the anger, Lilly said.

“I’m fine,” I said again.

“No, you’re not,” Lilly shot back.

I paused for a moment, breathing ragged, hands still gripping the dagger. My vision blurred with flashes of his storm-gray eyes, the bond snapping into place, and then—the cold words that had shattered me.

I lifted my dagger again, spinning to strike the tree—but the sound of a twig snapping behind me made me freeze. From the corner of my eye, I caught movement. A shadow shifting at the edge of the clearing. My muscles tensed, my grip tightening on the handle of the dagger.

“Who’s there?” I called out.

The forest was quiet. Too quiet. My ears strained against the whisper of leaves and a distant howl. Lilly growled softly in my mind, echoing my unease.

The shadow shifted, and suddenly a figure stepped into the moonlight.

I froze, dagger still raised, and for a heartbeat the world stopped.

He was… different. Taller. Broader. The kind of man who commanded attention without even trying. His storm-gray eyes scanned the clearing calmly before landing on me. His hair was longer than I remembered, falling slightly over his forehead. The edges of his jaw were sharper, more defined. The way he carried himself… the power in his stance… everything about him screamed Alpha.

And my chest tightened, my heart thudding painfully against my ribs. Atlas.

I didn’t move. I couldn’t. My mind blanked, refusing to process anything but the fact that he was here. That he was real. That after three years, I was standing here looking at him again.

He froze too, eyes flicking to mine, narrowing slightly, but with curiosity rather than recognition. He didn’t know me. Not anymore. And now, I didn’t know him either. As far as I was concerned, he was a stranger.

For a moment, neither of us spoke. I just stared. He just stared.

Finally, I forced myself to inhale, letting my voice slip out, steady and sharp. “Who are you? And what are you doing in these woods?”

His gaze held mine—gray, the color of a storm bank on the horizon. “If I meant harm, you wouldn’t have heard me coming.”

The words weren’t a threat so much as a statement of fact. Even after all this time, he still had that infuriating confidence about him.

“You’re on Shadow Moon territory. Around here, strangers don’t wander without clearance.” My eyes narrowed at him.

“I don’t need clearance. I’m allowed to go wherever I wish,” he said calmly, no hesitation, no edge of defense.

The certainty in his voice was a low command, not a plea.

“Says who?” I demanded. “I lead the warriors here. I’d know if an outsider had leave to wander our woods at night.”

He tilted his head slightly, not mocking, simply… measuring. “Then perhaps someone above you granted it,” he said simply, with the unshakable tone of a man used to obedience. “I’m no stranger, Warrior. I’m a guest.”

His eyes narrowed slightly, tilting his head, curiosity mixing with coldness. “I was just taking a walk,” he said coldly. “I didn’t expect anyone to be here. Especially not… a female.”

He took a step forward and I instinctively raised the weapon, pointing it directly at his chest. “That’s close enough,” I warned, voice cold and steady, though my hands trembled slightly. “Our territory isn’t open to whoever feels like taking a midnight stroll.”

He studied me for a long moment in silence. “I have nothing to hide,” he said finally, voice even. “But maybe the one who gave me leave can speak for themselves when the time comes. Until then, Delta, I’m only what I’ve told you—a guest.”

He spoke with too much authority for someone who was on someone else’s territory.

I lowered the dagger a fraction, but didn’t put it away. “If you’re here as someone’s guest, then you know the patrols won’t take kindly to finding you alone in our woods. If you plan to linger, stay clear of the eastern ridge. My patrols shoot first. They won’t ask questions.”

“Your patrols will do as they’re told, Delta,” he replied, not as a threat but as a certainty, as if the world had no other choice but to obey him.

I studied him, every line of his face, every movement, trying to reconcile the man before me with the man who had rejected me all those years ago. And as much as I wanted to deny it, part of me ached at the sight of him—this stranger who looked so familiar, yet carried no memory of what he caused me.

Without another word, I turned around and walked away, leaving him standing there. I could feel his gaze burning into my back as I walked, but I didn’t stop. I didn’t look back.