No one spoke.
Every step back toward Blueridge Hollow hammered the truth deeper into my bones. They had done what I wouldn’t have done. They had done what Ishould havedone. Rowen had stopped me from becoming the kind of alpha you don’t come back from.
By the time we reached the Hollow, he was barely a shape. Barely a wolf. Barely anything at all.
The Hollow wolves stepped back as they saw me dragging him. Some flinched, others nodded, and a few bared their teeth in quiet, vicious satisfaction.
Not a single one looked away.
I dropped Axel’s ruined corpse at the druid’s feet. “Prepare him,” I said, voice flat and cold. “His bones will be scattered on Stonefang.”
The druid bowed once, expression unreadable.
I didn’t move.
Not until they lifted their head again.
“You ever drug me again,” I said softly, dangerously, “and we’ll have a problem. Understood?”
The druid blanched, inclining their head. “Alpha.”
I turned away, jaw clenched, pulse still spiking with leftover rage and fear. Behind me, I sensed Rowen approaching—calm, steady, unafraid. I didn’t look at her. Not yet. I wasn’t ready. The fear that something had happened to her—to any of them—still rode my shoulders like a weight I hadn’t put down.
I needed a breath. I needed a moment. I needed to believe she and our child were truly safe before I could even look her in the eye.
I didn’t get five steps into the house before she spoke. “Wolfe.”
Just my name. Simple but with the power to drag my attention whether I wanted to give it or not. I stopped but didn’t turn. I waited for the front door to close. My hands curled into fists at my sides. “You disobeyed me.”
Her footsteps approached—slow, deliberate—until her scent wrapped around me. Vanilla. Orchid. Blood that wasn’t hers. “I saved you,” she said.
I spun so fast she barely had time to react. “You drugged me,” I snapped.
Rowen’s chin lifted. “Yes.”
“You risked yourself,” I growled.
“Yes.”
“You killed Axel without backup.”
“Not true, I had Thalia and Adair.”
My teeth clenched so hard I thought my jaw might break. She stood there—calm, composed, blood still on her skin—looking at me with those steady eyes that refused to leave mine. She didn’t back down. Didn’t apologize. Didn’t even blink.
My wolf snarled in my chest.
I moved in close, invading her space, rage still blazing enough to consume. “I could have lost you.”
Her voice softened—but not weakly, dangerously. “You could have lost yourself.” I froze, but she kept going. “You were about to cross a line you wouldn’t come back from,” she said. “I wasn’t letting Axel be the thing that ruined you.”
Rage and relief collided in my chest, violent and disorienting. “You think I needed protecting?” I demanded.
Rowen took one single step closer. Our bodies almost touched. “I think you’re not the only one allowed to do the protecting around here.”
My breath hitched. Just once. Enough that she noticed. She reached up, fingers grazing my jaw—and I grabbed her wrist, gripping it hard enough she sucked in a sharp breath.
“You think I’m angry because you fought?” I ground out.
