And the bear hit him like a freight train.
I screamed — or tried to. No sound came out. I was frozen, watching, as the alpha went down under the bear's weight. As blood sprayed across the snow. As the four smaller wolves disappeared into the blizzard, running and running and—
"Lumi!"
James's voice. James's hands on my face.
I gasped back into my body. The dorm room reformed around me — warm light, coffee smell, the steady pulse of the bond anchoring me to reality.
"Lumi, look at me. What happened? What did you see?"
I was shaking. My coffee had spilled, a dark stain spreading across the blanket, but I couldn't make myself care.
"I saw them," I whispered. "The pack. I saw them running."
James's face was pale. "Running from what?"
"A bear—" I shook my head. "The alpha turned to fight it. He told the others to run. He stayed behind so they could escape."
The image was burned into my mind. That massive wolf, planting himself in front of the monster. Buying his pack time with his own body.
Just like Cal had described.I left them. I was supposed to protect them.
"Is he—"
"I don't know." My voice cracked. "I don't know if he survived. But the others — the four who ran — they made it. Somewhere. They're still out there."
James was quiet for a long moment. I felt him processing through the bond — shock, concern, and underneath it all, the steady determination that was so essentiallyhim.
"Then we find them," he said. "All of them."
"I love you," I said.
The words came out before I could stop them. Before I could second-guess or qualify or take them back.
James's expression softened. He leaned in, pressed a kiss to my forehead, my cheek, the corner of my mouth.
"I love you too," he said against my lips. "Now. Tell me everything you saw. Every detail. We're going to need it."
I closed my eyes. Let the vision replay behind my lids — the snow, the wolves, the bear, the blood.
Four wolves who had escaped.
One alpha who might still be out there.
And Cal, who had carried the guilt of leaving them for years without even knowing why.
"Okay," I said. "But we're going to need more coffee."
James almost smiled. "I'll get a whole pot."
Chapter six
Rae's office smelled like chamomile tea and old paper.
I'd always found it comforting before — the warmth of it, the quiet. The way the afternoon light filtered through her window and made everything feel softer, safer, like the world outside couldn't touch us here.
Today, it felt like a cage.
