Alpha Undercover

Chapter 4: Panther's Attack

[Naira's POV]

By day, I was Detective Naira Ward. Badge on my hip, gun at my side, chasing shadows through endless paperwork and crime scenes that smelled of blood and smoke. By night, I was Alpha of the Hollowfang Pack. A role I hadn’t asked for but had carried for five long years, since my father’s death left me with the mantle.

And yet, in all that time, one thing had never come....a mate.

Five years of howling moons, of feeling the ache of emptiness inside me, and still… nothing.

My mother never let me forget it. “Naira, you work yourself to the bone, chasing after killers and cleaning up after wolves who don’t even thank you. When are you going to think about your future? When are you going to give me grandpups?”

Her words cut sharper than any knife. Every phone call, every visit, it was the same refrain. Find a mate. Settle down. Stop running yourself ragged.

But how could I? My heart had never stirred. My wolf had never answered.

Mother had dragged me to countless gatherings—high-level parties with other packs, balls glittering with champagne and silk, rooms full of hopeful wolves watching me, waiting. But every time I walked in, I walked out the same way—empty.

Until the night Grandmother pulled me aside.

Her hand, wrinkled and trembling, pressed a silver locket into mine. The chain was worn, the stone at its center dark and quiet. “This locket,” she whispered, “found me my mate once. It glows when the bond is close. It will glow for you too, Naira. When the time is right.”

I hadn’t believed her. Not until that night, weeks later, when the first panther’s body turned up and the Rogue Moon Riders were dragged into the station. I still remember it—Jaxon’s boots hitting the tile floor, the weight of his presence filling the room before he even spoke. My wolf stirred inside me, restless, hungry, and then—

The locket blinked. A single bright pulse of light.

My breath had caught, my heart hammering, but before I could process it, Cade swaggered in behind him with that dangerous grin… and Rhett followed, silent and scarred.

The locket blinked twice more. Three times. Three mates.

My knees nearly gave out, and I shoved the locket back under my shirt, terrified someone would see. But I knew the truth in my bones. The bond wasn’t with one. It was with all three. And now, with five murders on the board and no suspects, my superiors had run out of patience.

“Detective Ward,” Captain Branson had said, sliding the case file across the desk. His eyes were grim, his jaw set. “We’re putting you under. You’ll infiltrate the Rogue Moon Riders. Blend in. And find out who’s setting them up before this spirals into war.”

Rogue Moon Riders. Not just wolves. Panthers, vampires, Lycans—any shifter who could handle the road and the bloodsport. A lawless brotherhood where loyalty was thin and knives were sharp. I stared at the file, my pulse roaring in my ears. Because I already knew what he didn’t.

My suspects weren’t just the bikers. They were my mates. And if the locket was right, my heart belonged to the very men I was about to spy on.

As soon as I entered, every sound in the building set my nerves on edge—the thrum of bass through the walls, a burst of laughter that quickly died, the creak of footsteps pacing outside the door. The slam of a door jolted me upright. Shouts rose outside, low at first, then sharp, urgent. Boots pounded the hallway, heavy and fast.

I crept to the door, fingers hovering over the handle—when it burst open.

Cade stood there, chest heaving, eyes blazing gold. The cocky grin he wore like armor was gone. His face was hard, jaw clenched, knife already in his hand.

“Rise and shine, sweetheart,” he said, voice tight. “We’ve got company.”

Before I could ask, a deafening roar split the night. Gunshots followed, sharp and merciless. My blood iced over.

“Stay.....” Cade started, but Jaxon’s voice thundered down the hall, rough and commanding. “Bring her. Now.”

There was no choice. Cade seized my hand, dragging me out of the room and into chaos.

The air outside was thick with smoke, gasoline, and copper. My stomach twisted at the sight of it: the chain-link fence ripped apart like paper, bikes overturned and burning, bodies sprawled across the dirt in pools of blood.

And moving through the wreckage—panthers.

At least half a dozen of them, sleek black forms gleaming under the moon, muscles rippling beneath fur that seemed to drink the light. Their eyes burned like embers, their snarls dripping venom and vengeance.

One padded forward, jaws wet with red, its voice low and guttural. “Wolf filth. You think you can kill one of ours and walk free?”

Rhett was already there. He didn’t hesitate. Mid-stride, his body tore apart, bones snapping, skin shredding into fur. His massive wolf hit the dirt with a thunderous snarl and lunged at the nearest panther, ripping into it with a sound that made my stomach lurch.

The pack exploded into motion. Wolves shifted all around us, filling the night with roars, howls, the clash of claws and teeth. Blood sprayed, hot and metallic, mixing with smoke. The ground shook beneath their fury.

Jaxon barked orders, his voice a whip in the storm. “Hold the line! Cade....get her behind the bikes!”

Cade pulled me toward the wreckage, but a panther leapt into our path, teeth bared, its body coiled like a spring. Its growl rattled my bones.

I stumbled back, breath catching in my throat, until Cade’s blade flashed upward, slicing across its chest. The panther shrieked, black fur tearing open to raw, wet flesh, but pain only seemed to fuel its rage. It reared back for another strike.

Before it could land, Jaxon exploded forward, shifting mid-leap. The sound of his bones shattering into place was thunder under my skin. In a blur of fur and claws, his wolf slammed the beast to the ground, golden eyes locking with mine for half a heartbeat.

And then he ripped its throat out. Blood fountained across the dirt, hot and metallic, spraying his muzzle. The sickening crunch of bone and sinew made bile rise in my throat, but my pulse only raced harder. It whispered that I belonged to these monsters.

Another panther roared, charging straight for me. Its eyes burned like embers, its jaws stretched wide enough to swallow my head whole.

I froze.

Cade didn’t. He yanked me behind him, blade flashing again, but this one was faster, smarter. It ducked the strike and lunged, claws swiping.

“Down!” Rhett’s roar split the chaos.