For the first time in my life, I felt my presence hit them like a shockwave—not land-given, not Goddess-touched. Just authority forged in blood and mistakes and hard choices.
I stepped forward, and every wolf dropped to one knee.
Every. Single. One.
Diesel let out a slow breath. Killian bowed his head.
I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t expect it. But I knew what it meant.
Stonefang was gone. Axel had betrayed us, and the Pack Council had issued their final ultimatum.
But the Hollow? These wolves? They were with me, andthat was enough. I looked over them, letting the silence stretch, heavy and binding.
“Stonefang has fallen,” I said. “We have been betrayed. So listen well.” Every head lifted. “They want us divided. They want us scared. They want us broken.” A low growl rolled through the clearing. “But they forgot something.” I stepped forward, my voice rising—not loud, but lethal. “We areonepack.”
The pack roared back, a unified sound that shook breath from my lungs. I lifted my chin, my voice ringing through the trees. “They took Stonefang. They will take nothing else.”
Another roar.
I turned to Diesel and Killian. “Eat. Sleep if you have to. Then get the warriors ready,” I said. “We move at dusk.”
Diesel grinned, sharp and feral. Killian nodded once, already shifting into commander mode.
“Rise.”
As the pack rose around me—ready, resolute, beaten but not unbroken—something settled hard and certain in my chest. I looked over the clearing and met Jaxson’s watchful gaze.
The Pack Council could send its army. They could send their traitors. They could take what was precious to us.
But they’d missed something crucial.
You can’t scare a pack that’s lost everything except each other, and you sure as hell don’t corner wolves who have nothing left to surrender.
Because those wolves are vicious and don’t stop until every single drop of blood of their enemy is spilled.
Every single drop.
Chapter 29
Rowen
I feltStonefang fall the second Wolfe did.
Not through magic—through him. A sharp, controlled pain spread across the bond. It hit him like a physical blow. I don’t know what he saw, but the pain ripping through him was enough to make me stagger, and I wasn’t surprised when he blacked out.
Diesel hadn’t been much better, barely holding onto consciousness; the scream of pain and rage had mingled with Wolfe’s before he too succumbed to darkness.
Killian hadn’t spoken a word. His face had gone pale, but he neither spoke nor moved from their side until they regained consciousness. It wasn’t long—not even five minutes, though it felt like five hundred.
And when he woke, reached for me, and showed me through the mindlink what he saw…
I…I just felt hollow.
Axel.
Of all wolves,Axel.
Wolfe questioned his betas in that quiet, dangerous tonehe used when he was barely holding the reins. Not accusing—just cutting through the bullshit. Diesel looked like he was about to tear off his own arm for missing it. Killian kept rubbing the back of his neck as if he’d been branded with failure.
