I’ll meet Prince Korren tonight. I’ll smile and play the dutiful daughter while gathering information and seeking allies. I’ll look for weaknesses in their plans, opportunities to disrupt tomorrow’s ceremony.
The pull between us sears through me, but I welcome it now. Callum is still there. Still fighting. So am I.
Chapter 29
Callum
Ican’t stop pacing what’s left of my cabin. Half the structure is gone—the wall nearest where the portal opened is nothing but splintered timber and scattered debris. The bed where we were lying minutes ago sits exposed to the night air, sheets still tangled from our bodies.
Every muscle screams at me to run, to fight, to tear through dimensional barriers with teeth and claws. But there’s nowhere to go. Nothing to attack. Just destruction where moments ago, we were—
The pain is unlike anything I’ve felt. Not physical. Worse. Like someone reached inside and ripped out something essential while I watched. I can feel her terror across dimensions—feel her pain echoing mine in a way that’s driving me fucking insane.
I slam my fist into a support beam that’s barely standing. Blood wells from my knuckles. I don’t feel it.
“Callum.” Dane’s voice comes from somewhere distant. “We need to focus.”
I snarl, spinning toward him. My wolf is too close to the surface, vision bleeding amber around the edges. Rhonan and Rafe stand beside him, all of them watching me with wary eyes. Ben moves methodically through the wreckage, cataloging what happened with military precision.
“There were six of them,” he reports, voice clipped. “Portal signature matches Faelan’s energy pattern from previous encounters.”
Nova approaches carefully from the doorway, her expression tight. “They timed it perfectly. Surveillance had to be more sophisticated than we thought.”
My breath comes in ragged gasps. The raw wound where our connection should be burns like acid in my chest. I can feel Lyanna being pulled further away, the pain intensifying with distance.
“Tell me how to reach her,” I growl.
“Dimensional barriers can’t be breached without—“ Dane starts.
I punch the beam again, harder. My knuckles split. I don’t give a fuck. “Find. A. Way.”
Some part of me knows I’m toeing the line—snapping at my Alpha, pushing when I should be planning. That part can go to hell. Life isn’t worth living without her in it.
Ben continues his assessment, professional detachment holding him together. “They left magical signatures all over. Derek’s tracking the portal pathway now. Might give us coordinates on the other side.”
Wolf howls echo from the woods—pack members responding to the attack, to their Alpha’s distress, to the violation of territory. To my agony that’s bleeding through pack bonds.
Another wave of pain crashes through the partial mate bond. I double over, a raw sound tearing from my throat that’s neither human nor wolf. I can feel her—terrified, humiliated, in pain—across an impossible distance.
Movement at the shattered doorway.
Evren strides in, still in formal dragon delegation attire but with combat readiness in every movement. Three dragon specialists follow—portal mages and tactical coordinators. His gold-flecked eyes take in the destroyed cabin, my bloodied knuckles, Dane’s grim expression.
“We felt the ward breach,” he says without preamble. “Faelan’s signature was unmistakable.” He looks directly at me. “Where is she?”
The agony in my face is answer enough.
Evren’s expression hardens. “We brought portal specialists for the official transport—to take Lyanna to the wedding. Once we allied with your pack, I kept them close.” His jaw tightens. “Faelan’s signature on that breach—he didn’t come through your wards. He went around them. Created a portal directly into the cabin using old court coordinates, bypassing your perimeter entirely.” He looks at the destruction. “Once his spy stopped reporting, he knew we’d turned. This was his contingency.”
Dane moves to my side, Alpha presence cutting through my spiraling rage. “Lodge. War room. Now.” His voice brooks no argument—not from me, not from anyone. “We’re getting her back.”
The Lodge’s main room transforms into a war zone of information and strategy in seconds. Evren’s dragon delegation spreads intelligence scrolls across the long table, revealing elaborate maps of Gleann na Sidhe’s palace. The crystalline layout glows with dimensional markers, each portal access point highlighted in pulsing magical script.
My hands stop bleeding and begin to heal. The pain doesn’t matter now. Not while Lyanna is—
I force myself to focus on the tactical display. The wound in my chest screams like a living thing, but I have to function. Have to think.
The three dragon portal specialists work over a shimmering projection in the center of the table—a magical reconstruction of the portal’s signature, captured from the residue at my cabin. Their hands move in synchronized patterns, tracing glowing sigils that map the dimensional pathway. The lead specialist—a woman with silver-streaked hair—mutters incantations while the others catalog frequencies and cross-reference ward structures.
