Matteo
Something snapped in my chest like a wire pulled too tight.
I’d been in the middle of a strategy meeting with Kai and Ezra, poring over Hollow Fang intelligence and finalizing supply routes. The fire crackled in the hearth. Kai was mid-sentence when it hit me.
The bond. Flaring. Strained. Distant.
My wolf growled.
I rose from my seat without a word, my chair scraping sharply against the stone floor. Ezra’s brow furrowed. Kai stiffened.
“She’s gone,” I said coldly.
Kai didn’t ask who. He didn’t need to.
“How long?” he asked, already moving.
“Minutes. Maybe less.” I crushed the porcelain coffee cup in my palm, shards slicing my skin as hot liquid spilled to the floor. “Get the hounds. Double the patrols. Lock the territory down.”
“Matteo—”
“Now, Kai.”
He was out the door i
