Chapter 1
Rowen
The daymy pack died on paper, the Hollow held its breath.
I felt it the second I woke up.
Not in some dramatic thunderclap or a crack of earth, just…quiet, but the wrong kind. The kind that settled in the bones of the trees and pressed under my skin until my wolf bristled.
Wolfe’s side of the bed was empty, but the sheets were still warm, the scent of him threaded with mine—familiar and safe and something darker, something that felt like home now. My mark throbbed faintly at my neck, low and satisfied, and for a heartbeat, I let myself sink into that feeling.
Mate.
Bonded.
Chosen.
My sigh of contentment was low, and my lips curled upward in a slow, satisfied smile. Was this what happinessfelt like? It felt wrong to feel so…content when everything around us was still far from settled.
A shiver ran through me, startling me out of my soft reverie.What the heck was that?
I sat up, shoved back the blankets, and stood, bare feet hitting the worn wood. The house pulled at my senses—old beams with old stories—but there was a thin foreign thread in the air. It felt wrong.Sharp. It was almost as if it were intruding.
By the time I’d pulled on pants, boots, and a clean shirt, my heart was already racing. The bond hummed under my ribs, tugging sharply to the left.
Wolfe.
Was it him? Was that what I felt? I followed the pull to my mate, down the hallway, through the living room, and out the door, into the morning, where the early light spilled orange over the mountain ridge. The air was cold enough to sting my lungs. I breathed it in anyway, trying to settle the unease clawing at my chest.
I felt the shiver again. Not a shiver…a pulse. As I turned in a slow circle, eyes scanning for any sign of trouble, all I could see was the forest of the Hollow, never empty but not threatening.
Yet…what was that feeling? I hurried up the path, eager to get to the pack hall to learn anything. Another soft pulse within me, causing me to almost stumble.
“What is it?”I asked through the bond.
“The Hollow.”
Wolfe appeared through the trees, walking towards me, his broad shoulders tense with his hands fisted at his sides.Diesel, Killian, and Brand flanked him like they thought he could come under attack at any time. Beyond them, wolves were gathering, drifting from houses and paths, drawn by the pull of their alpha.
“Shh, princess, not yet.”
A warning. Why was I being warned?
“What is it?” I asked, falling into step beside him. His fingers brushed the back of my hand in greeting. He didn’t answer, but I was content not to push when I saw the sharp focus in his glare as he strode to whatever had pissed him off. At the edge of the clearing, a lone figure waited, standing straight and still, their cloak pinned with the insignia I grew up in awe of.
The crescent-and-claw of the Pack Council.
My stomach dropped at the sight of them.
“He just arrived,” Killian said quietly to me, coming up to stand beside me. His eyes flicked to my mark, then back to my face. He didn’t comment, but I felt the warm pulse of pack through the bond to my mate. “Hasn’t spoken yet. Scout saw him, came and got Wolfe.”
“Can’t cross either,” Diesel said smugly. “Bet that’s got him shitting his pants.”
Wolfe turned to grin at Diesel over his shoulder, his eyes meeting mine as he turned back. The bond jumped between us, heat and steel, and the steady, comforting weight of him sliding into place inside my chest.
“Are you okay?” he asked, low enough only I could catch it.
No. Yes. None of those words felt big enough.
