“Lie to me again and I’ll take your tongue before I send you back.” My voice is death itself. “You came for my mate. Thought to sneak in and steal her while the northern group kept us occupied.” I grip his throat, feeling his pulse flutter beneath my fingers like a trapped bird. “Did you really think I wouldn’t protect what’s mine?”
“The Grand Alpha... he said she needs to be cleansed. Said she’s a problem for the?—”
My laugh is cruel. “Then he can come try to take her himself.” I release the wolf’s throat, shoving him away. “Run back to your Alpha, pup. Show him your wounds. Tell him what my pack did to his elite hunters.” My smile promises violence. “And tell him that next time, I won’t leave anyone alive.”
The messenger scrambles away, leaving trails of blood inhis wake. As his scent fades, I feel the mood of my pack shift. Leon steps forward, still in wolf form but radiating concern.
“Alpha,” he says upon shifting, facing me with the frankness that makes him a valued warrior. “The pack follows you without question. But this seer... she’s brought war to our doorstep. Thaddeus won’t stop. More will come.”
Low growls of agreement ripple through the gathered wolves. Blood drips from their muzzles, silver burns scoring their hides. They’ve fought for me, bled for me. They deserve honesty.
“More will come,” I agree, pitching my voice to carry through the tunnels. “They’ll bring silver and fire and every weapon they possess.” My smile is savage. “And we’ll destroy them all. Because that little seer you doubt? She just saved every wolf in these caves.”
I gesture to the bodies littering the junction. “They thought to catch us sleeping. Thought to slip through tunnels we’ve thought safe for generations. But she saw them coming. Her gift showed us their trap before it could spring.”
I move through my wolves, touching scarred flanks, acknowledging their wounds with pride and gratitude. “For too long, we’ve been the outcasts. The feral pack others fear. But with her sight guiding us? We’ll be untouchable. No one will dare move against us without her seeing it first.”
“And if she turns on us?” Elias asks. “If she’s as weak as they say?—“
“She’s mine.” My growl echoes off the stone. “My mate. My responsibility. I claimed her knowing exactly what she was—what she could become with us.” My wolf surges to the surface, in full agreement. “Question her worth again, and you question my judgment as alpha.”
Silence falls. One by one, my wolves lower their heads, submission rippling through the pack bond. They may have doubts, but their loyalty to me remains unshaken.
Only Levi stares at me.
I arch an eyebrow.
“I’ll say one thing,” he says, his tone respectful even if his defiance is pushing my patience. “Lithia would have been a better choice.”
Lithia, my second, would have been an easier choice as Alpha Female. She’s strong, brave, and fierce. She loves our pack and would sacrifice herself for any member.
But she was never meant to be my mate, and robbing us both of the bond that true mates experience would have been the worst decision of my life.
“No. She wouldn’t.” I nod at the bodies around us. “Clean this mess. Double the patrols. I want to know the instant another pack even thinks about breathing in our direction.” I turn toward the tunnel leading to my den. “And spread the word—the seer is mine. Anyone who doubts that answers to me.”
The journeyback to my den passes in a blur of stone and shadow. I can feel Kitara through our bond—her anxiety, her awareness of the violence I’ve unleashed. Good. Let her understand exactly what kind of protection she’s gained. What kind of monster will kill to keep her safe.
Four guards stand at my den entrance, stepping aside as I approach. Her scent calls to me, growing stronger with each step.
I pause, glancing down at myself—naked, blood streaked, and visibly aroused. The hunger in me isn’t just for battle now. It’s for her. To sink into her heat, to feel her mark me back, to have her whimper my name in the dark.
But not yet.
Not like this.
Soon, though. Very soon.
I snatch a length of cloth from a stack beside the door, wrapping it low around my hips. It barely hides the evidence of my desire, but it’s enough. I need her to know I want her—but I will not scare her with it.
I find her exactly where I left her, curled in my furs. But her eyes... those blue eyes meet mine without flinching from my blood-covered form. She’s felt what I’ve done. Has tasted my violence. And still she watches me with something more than fear.
“They came to take me,” she whispers. Not a question.
“They died trying.” The words are simple but heavy with promise.
“Was anyone hurt?” She twists a strand of dark hair nervously. “I felt... there was so much pain when the silver?—”
“You’re worried about my wolves?”
