He looked like Caelan. The same jaw, the same build. But younger, maybe. More uptight.
“What the hell is going on?” the man demanded, stalking toward us. “And why are so many people...” He stopped, sniffed, and his eyes went wide.
“Who...?” he started.
“CAELAN,” Aedan interrupted. “WHERE?”
The man, Patt, looked at me. Really looked. Understanding dawned.
“Follow me.”
And then we were all running. Patt leading, Aedan following with me in his arms, and behind us, a growing crowd of wolves who couldn’t seem to help themselves. The stone corridors blurred together, torchlight dancing on the walls, cold air biting at my exposed face.
I was whimpering now. Couldn’t help it. The pain was everywhere, waves of it crashing through my body, each one worse than the last. I’d never felt anything this intense. My entire system was screaming for someone, and the absence of him was literally tearing me apart.
The wolf inside me was howling.Mate. Mate. MATE.She wanted him with a desperation that matched my own, and her need was amplifying mine until I could barely think.
We burst through a final set of doors into a war room.
Maps covered every surface. A massive table dominated the center, figures arranged on it in formations, battle plans being discussed. Around the table stood at least a dozen wolves, men and women in armor and finery, all turning at the interruption.
A woman with silver hair and ice-cold eyes. An older man with Caelan’s jawline and an expression of absolute authority. Soldiers, advisors, generals.
But I didn’t see any of them. I saw him. Caelan.
He was at the head of the table, standing, frozen mid-gesture. He looked different, harder, older somehow. Two months of war had carved new lines into his face. There was blood on his sleeve, dirt on his boots, dark circles under his eyes.
He looked exhausted, battle-worn, stretched to his limits. And he was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
His nostrils flared. His eyes flashed amber and his hands clenched, claws extending from his fingertips.
He was shaking, trembling with the effort of holding himself back. The wolf was trying to break free. I could see it, could feel it through the bond that suddenly roared back to life, a fire rekindled after months of embers.
The connection slammed into me, his emotions flooding through and mixing with mine. Rage, relief, fear, love. So much love it hurt.
And beneath all of that, a possessive fury so intense it made my breath catch.
“WHY THE FUCK DOES MY MATE SMELL LIKE YOU, AEDAN?”
The room went silent. Every wolf froze. The silver-haired woman, who I realized must be his mother, looked between us with dawning comprehension. The older man, his father the king, started to speak.
But I didn’t hear him, because despite the pain, despite the heat, despite everything...
I almost laughed. Of course he noticed that I smelled of another man. Possessive bastard. I’d missed him so much.
25
— • —
Riley
Everything happened at once.
“What have you done?” Thessa whispered, her voice cutting through the chaos. She was glaring at Aedan, her expression a mix of horror and accusation.
Aedan was shaking his head frantically. “No, no, it’s not...”
“Did you take advantage of her?” Caelan’s voice was barely human anymore. A growl, a snarl, feral and dangerous. His eyes were glowing full amber, his claws fully extended, his body coiled to launch himself across the room. “Did you take advantage that I was gone and seduced her...”
