Darius
The cold stones of the training yard bit through my boots, but I didn't care. My hands were still clenched into tight fists, the skin over my knuckles white and aching.
She was gone.
The wooden gate remained slightly ajar, swinging back and forth in the pre-dawn wind with a hollow squeak that drove straight into my chest.
My wolf whimpered low in the back of my mind, a pathetic, ragged sound that mirrored the heavy void tearing me apart from the inside out.
"Alpha Darius?"
I didn't turn around. I didn't have to. I could smell the expensive, stale parchment scent of Councilman Vane long before his footsteps crunched on the gravel.
"Where is she?" Vane's voice was sharp, cutting through the damp morning air like a rusted blade. "The guards at the northern border say a figure sl
