Episode5
1418 Words
Kane’s pov
I was barely a few seconds into the phone call when she ran.
The door flew open and slammed against the wall as she rushed past it like a gust of wind. One moment she was there, eyes wide and breath uneven. The next, she was gone.
“Alpha?” my beta’s voice crackled through the phone.
I didn’t answer immediately. My gaze remained fixed on the doorway she had disappeared through.
Something about her scent still lingered in the air. Soft. Wild. Familiar in a way that made my wolf restless beneath my skin.
Mate.
The word echoed in my mind again.
I ended the call without a word and stepped toward the door, intending to follow her. But something near the leg of the table caught my attention.
A small card lay on the floor.
I bent down and picked it up.
It was an ID card.
For a moment I simply stared at it. My fingers turned it over slowly before my eyes settled on the name printed across the top.
“Isabell Russo.”
Silverstone Pack.
The name rolled through my mind like distant thunder.
Russo.
I leaned back against the desk, rolling the card between my fingers. The plastic edge tapped softly against my palm.
So that was her name.
Isabell.
The girl who had stared at me like I was something she feared and hated at the same time.
My fated mate.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.
“You’re not slipping away from me that easily,” I murmured.
I picked up my phone again and dialed.
My beta answered on the second ring.
“Yes, Alpha.”
“I need you to find someone.”
“Name?”
I looked down at the card once more.
“Isabell Russo. Silverstone Pack.”
There was a short pause on the other end.
“Russo?” he repeated carefully.
“Yes.”
“I’ll start immediately.”
The line went dead.
I slipped the ID card into my pocket and walked to the window. Outside, the city moved as it always did, cars rushing past, people going about their lives without knowing how quickly fate could shift.
Mine had just shifted.
My wolf was unusually quiet, but I could feel his satisfaction deep in my chest.
Mate.
It had taken years.
Years of waiting for something that most Alphas never found.
But I had.
And she belonged to me.
It didn’t take long for my beta to return with answers.
By nightfall, I had everything I needed.
I sat at the head of the long table in the study as the file was placed in front of me.
“Isabell Russo,” my beta said. “Daughter of Alpha Marco Russo of the Silverstone Pack.”
I flipped open the folder.
A picture of her stared back at me.
The same dark hair. The same stubborn eyes that had glared at me earlier that day.
But this time there was something softer in them.
Something she hadn’t shown me.
“She’s the Alpha’s daughter?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I leaned back in my chair slowly.
Silverstone Pack.
I remembered them.
specifically
I remembered their son.
Dante Russo.
The room went quiet for a moment.
My beta watched me carefully but said nothing.
Most packs knew the story already. Or at least, the version that had spread.
Dante Russo had died during a border clash with my pack a year ago.
And the blame had landed squarely on my shoulders.
I closed the file.
So fate had a twisted sense of humor.
My mate…
Was the sister of the man everyone believed I had killed.
A low breath escaped me.
“Well,” I muttered, standing from the chair. “This should be interesting.”
The Silverstone pack house was exactly how I remembered it.
Large. Guarded. Proud.
My car stopped at the entrance gates just before sunset. My guards stood behind me as I walked toward the front doors.
No one stopped me.
They knew who I was.
And judging by the tension in the air, word of my arrival had spread quickly.
The doors opened before I could knock.
Alpha Marco Russo stood inside.
His face hardened the moment he saw me.
“Alpha Kane.”
His tone carried no welcome.
I stepped inside calmly.
“Alpha Russo.”
Several pack members lingered nearby, watching with quiet hostility.
“I assume you didn’t come here for a friendly visit,” he said.
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“Then say what you came to say.”
I reached into my pocket and placed the ID card on the table beside him.
His eyes dropped to it.
Recognition flashed across his face.
“My daughter’s card,” he said slowly.
“Yes.”
His gaze lifted back to mine.
“What about it?”
I met his stare without hesitation.
“Your daughter is my fated mate.”
The room went completely silent.
For a moment, Alpha Russo didn’t move.
Then his expression darkened.
“No.”
The word came out sharp and immediate.
“My daughter will not be given to you.”
I expected that answer.
“You don’t have a choice.”
His hand slammed against the table.
“I would rather see her mated to anyone else than the man who killed my son.”
The tension in the room thickened instantly.
Several wolves stepped forward.
But I didn’t move.
Instead, I spoke calmly.
“Did you check her neck?”
His eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“The mark,” I said evenly. “Did you check?”
For the first time, doubt flickered across his face.
“You’re lying.”
“If I were lying,” I replied quietly, “you wouldn’t be hesitating right now.”
The room held its breath.
Alpha Russo looked toward the hallway behind him.
Seconds later, someone moved quickly down the corridor.
A few minutes passed in silence.
Then footsteps returned.
The woman who entered whispered something into the Alpha’s ear.
His face went pale.
Slowly, his shoulders dropped.
He knew.
The mate mark was real.
I folded my arms.
“There’s nothing you can do about it.”
He looked at me like he wanted to tear my throat out.
But he also knew the truth.
No pack would accept a female who had already been marked by another Alpha.
Especially not one marked by me.
Fate had already made the choice.
Finally, he turned toward the hallway again.
“Bring her.”
The word sounded heavy.
A few minutes later…
She appeared.
Isabell Russo.
Her eyes locked onto mine immediately.
Anger burned inside them.
She stopped several feet away from me.
“I’m not going,” she said.
Her voice shook, but her chin remained lifted.
“I would rather die than be your mate.”
The words didn’t surprise me.
In fact…
I had expected them.
My wolf stirred quietly, but I kept my expression calm.
“You don’t have to like it,” I said.
Her fists clenched.
“I hate you.”
A faint murmur passed through the room.
But I simply looked at her.
Studying her.
The girl's fate was tied to mine.
“You’ll still come with me,” I replied.
Her eyes filled with fury.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Her father stepped forward slowly.
“Isabell.”
The pain in his voice was obvious.
But the decision had already been made.
The bond between us could not be undone.
She looked between us, realizing the truth.
Her father had no power to stop it.
None of them did.
I walked toward her.
She didn’t move.
Didn’t step back.
But the hatred in her gaze burned brighter with every step I took.
When I stopped in front of her, I spoke quietly enough that only she could hear.
“You can fight me all you want,” I said.
“But it won’t change what you are.”
Her breathing trembled.
“You’re my mate.”
Her eyes glistened with tears and she refused to let fall.
“I will never accept you.”
I studied her face for a moment.
Then I gave a small nod.
“That’s fine.”
I turned toward the door.
Because one truth remained.
Whether she accepted it or not,
Isabell Russo now belonged to the Crimson Pack.
And tonight,
She was coming home with me.
- Writer
