3 AM came wrapped in freezing fog and the scent of impending blood.
We rode hard through the back roads, the five of us cutting through the darkness like a blade. Leo’s safety was the only thing that mattered. The message said Elias had already sent a team after the real sanctuary. We had minutes, maybe less.
The old pack house ruins appeared ahead, half-destroyed walls glowing with faint red runes. Elias stood in the center, calm and composed, as if he had been expecting us all along.
Ryker killed the engine. His hand squeezed my thigh once — a silent “stay close.” The rogue Alphas dismounted behind us, forming a protective wall. Jax and Kai flanked me, Zane and Draco covering the rear. The air crackled with their combined presence and the broken pact’s lingering tension.
“Elias,” I c
