****
The conference roomis tense when I enter.Caine stands at the head of the table, arms crossed, his expression carved from stone.Peyton is at his side, calm but sharp-eyed.Godrick, the twins, and Marc fill the remaining seats.
Everyone turns toward me as I walk in.
Marc arches a brow.“Did you even sleep?”
“No.”
Caine’s gaze sharpens.“How is she?”
Everyone pretends they’re not listening harder.
“She’s alive,” I say.“Shaken.Hurt.Starving.Drugged.But alive.”
“And the mate bond?”Peyton asks softly.
My jaw clenches.“There ...but damaged.”
Silence drops like a stone.
Marc sits forward.“Damaged?That’s possible?”
“It’s not.”Peyton answers before I can.“Not unless she’s been pushed far past her limits.Trauma can mute a shifter’s animal.Destroy their ability to respond.But a bond?”She shakes her head.“That’s extreme.”
I don’t tell them how my chest cracked open when she flinched away from me.
“How rare are leopard shifters, exactly?”Raleigh asks.
“Very,” Peyton says.“Aria is only the second one we’ve ever encountered.”
“Does that mean she’s connected to any of the leopards you’ve come across before?”Sayer asks.
Peyton’s eyes widen slightly.“No.I think the Hunters stumbled into something far bigger.They found a hidden clan we didn’t know existed.”
The room goes quiet.A hidden clan.One secretive enough that the Katu pack, one of the best-connected packs on the coast, had no idea they existed.
My dire wolf rumbles low in my chest.Aria was never supposed to be found.If the Hunters hadn’t taken her ...she might have spent her whole life hidden.I might have never found my mate.My fists clench.
“We need to know how many others are out there,” Godrick says.“If a clan this rare exists, they might be in danger.”
Caine nods slowly.“Agreed.But we can’t involve Aria yet.She’s not ready.”The protective growl that tears out of me is automatic.Caine’s eyes snap to mine, sharp.“Nobody is asking her anything, Silas.”
I drop my gaze, my breathing unsteady, as I fight to keep my dire wolf at bay.“She can’t be interrogated.Or pressured.”I need to make sure they understand, she is off-limits.
“I know,” Caine says gently.“We’ll take this slow.”
Peyton touches his arm.“We’ll get the healer to check her once she’s rested.Quietly and only if she agrees.”
My dire wolf hates the idea of anyone touching her.But Xavia is safe.Peyton is safe.Peyton is half the reason any broken shifter who arrives here survives.
“She had nightmares,” I admit.
Peyton’s brows soften.“Of course she did.”
“She’s also afraid to shift.I could feel it.”
Godrick nods slowly.“That tracks.Leopards are solitary.Shifting around unknown wolves would make her feel exposed.”
