“Dismissed,” I say.
They file out one by one. Callum pauses at the door, looks back with quiet warning in his eyes. Then he’s gone.
I stand alone in the center of the room, breathing in the scents they left behind: doubt, fear, challenge.
My pack is fracturing, and the woman who might help me fix it is alone at the perimeter’s edge.
I need air. Need to think. Need space without these walls pressing in.
I head east. Just moving to burn off whatever this is—this coil of rage and something else that’s wrapped around my spine since Nova walked out.
The treeline welcomes me with shadows and silence.
Chapter 15
Dane
The treeline welcomes me with shadows and silence. Familiar territory that suddenly feels foreign with so many strangers claiming space in it.
Faelan. Rafe. Nova.
My fists clench. Unclench. I draw deep breaths that don’t calm anything. The rage is easier to name than the rest of it—the pull toward Nova that’s more than just protective instinct or tactical necessity.
I round a bend where the pines thin out, revealing the path that connects to the northern quadrant. The dirt is packed hard here, rarely marked by tracks except during rain.
But there—a single boot print. Fresh. Clear.
I drop to a crouch, brushing my fingers across the impression. The soil is still loose around the edges. Hours old. And the print itself is too defined, too centered on the path. This wasn’t someone passing through.
This was Nova. Marking her presence.
I lift my head, drawing air through my nose. Her scent is stronger here than it should be, given her northeastern trajectory. Concentrated like she stood in this spot for minutes, not seconds. Deliberate.
She looped back. Crossed through my territory not once but twice, leaving this deliberate breadcrumb for me to find.
My pulse kicks up a notch. Heat spreads through my chest, part irritation, part something I don’t want to name. She played me. Led me exactly where she wanted me to go, and I walked right into it like a rookie tracking his first hunt.
My jaw clenches tight enough that my teeth ache. The muscles in my neck coil with tension.
A message. A challenge. A test to see if I’ll follow or stay put.
I stand slowly, scanning the surrounding trees. No movement. No sound beyond the usual forest rhythm. But I feel watched all the same.
She’s the intruder here. The stranger who pushed her way in. And yet I’m the one following her marks, reading signs she left like commands, not requests.
The Alpha of this land, tracing the path of a woman who’s never once asked permission to cross a single line.
I keep moving. Not because she wants me to. Because I need answers more than I need pride.
The forest thickens as I approach the eastern perimeter. Nova’s scent grows stronger, mixed with something sharp and electric. Magic. Active and potent.
I slow down when I spot her.
She kneels at the base of an ancient pine, hands pressed to the earth. Her eyes are closed, head tilted, listening to something I can’t hear. Violet light spills between her fingers, seeping into the soil in thin, branching lines. Deliberate patterns that remind me of circuit boards or root systems.
I don’t approach or announce myself. Just watch.
Nova works with absolute focus. Her face is calm, almost detached, but her body tells another story. Tension in her shoulders. Pulse visible at her throat. A fine tremor running through her arms that she’s trying to hide. The magic costs her something. Burns through her like fuel she can’t afford to spend.
