Holy shit. I hiss, all excitement gone in a flash. I pulled Vera off so I could get up.
"Alright. I've had it, Ryker… enough already." She snaps at me, and I turn to look at her as though she had grown some horns.
"What do you want from me, Vera. I'm-"
"Tired?' she cuts me off. "Since when have you ever been tired of me, for it?"
"You're changing Ryker, and I can't explain it, but ever since you bought her here, you haven't been yourself." She continued.
I scoff and walk over to the window, absently looking at the pack as a few members begin to gather as the pack run was approaching. Today's run was perfect; it was under a full moon, too.
"Talk to me."
"About what?"
"This – everything. You've never refused intimacy with me."
I sigh. She isn't wrong, and I am deviating, but I don't know what for.
How do I respond to her multiple questions when I don't have the answers myself?
She must be a witch. That was the only explainable reason I had as to why she crept into my mind like a goddamn leech.
"Say something."
She is beginning to grate on my nerves, and I do not have time for this.
"Look, V. I am super tired and you're not helping."
"Oh, really!" she screamed. "What am I to you now, huh?" She throws a pillow at me.
This is getting childish, so I walk into my closet and pick up a matching grey jogger and hoodie.
She follows me in crying and questioning me like a god damn school teacher. I simply dress up and storm out angrily.
I mind link Lief and Ezren while I storm down the stairs and walk out of the pack house to meet them at the clearing ahead, close to the forest.
"Is everything okay?" Ezren is the first to ask me.
"Nah, Vera is stressing me out. I don't know, but I'm kind of losing my patience with her, to be honest." I respond, taking in a deep breath as I stretch my limbs and rotate my neck.
I nod as my warriors acknowledge me. Members of the pack filed into the clearing and took their stance, getting ready for the run.
"What do you expect when you made her queen?" Ezren retorted sharply
"Don't start now, Ez, I don't need any more whining," I reply, pausing my workout.
Lief must have noticed how tensed and worked up I am because he places his hands on my shoulder, reining in my wolf.
"Whatever it is, maybe this run would give you clarity," Lief said.
I nod and walk to the entrance of the clearing to address my pack members, and not long after, we begin to undress to avoid ripping our clothes.
Rider takes no delay in rushing to the surface and taking over. Our lives in the Iron Claw pack were for nights like this.
The full moon hung heavy in the sky, casting a silver glow over the forest. Standing at the edge of the woods, the wild called to me like an old lover. I could feel the pulse of the earth beneath his bare feet, the whisper of leaves rustling in the wind, and the steady thrum of power building within him.
With a deep growl, I let the shift take over.
Bones cracked, muscles tore and reformed, and within moments, the man was gone—replaced by a massive black wolf with eyes like burning embers.
My senses are heightened. The world is sharper, richer, clearer. I could hear the singing of beds and the fluttering of their wings. The smell of damp moss beneath the trees, and also, the taste of the electric bite of the wind.
I run.
With powerful strides, Rider surged through the woods, his paws pounding against the earth. The speed was exhilarating, freeing. The worries of his position, the weight of his past, and the battle in his heart—everything vanished. Out here, under the moon, he wasn't a king, a killer. He was simply a wolf.
The forest bowed to him. Creatures scurried out of his way, recognizing the dominance in every movement. His heart beat in perfect rhythm with the night, wild and untamed.
Rider leapt over fallen logs, weaved through trees, and let out a powerful howl that echoed through the valley—a sound both beautiful and terrifying. It was his way of reminding the world who he was. And in those fleeting moments beneath the moon's gaze, he felt whole.
Alive.
Free.
The full moon bathed the forest in silver light as Rider sprinted through the woods, his massive black wolf form a blur among the trees. His heart thundered in his chest, not from exertion—but from something else. Something ancient. Something primal.
He had caught it.
The scent.
Faint, but unmistakable. Sweet and wild, threaded with pain and defiance. His mate.
After all these years—after countless battles, bloodshed, and nights spent howling at the moon with a hollow ache—he had finally found her.
The scent dragged him like a tether, pulling him away from the freedom of the forest and back toward the stone fortress that housed his darkest truths. His paws tore through dirt and leaves as he raced past trees, driven by a hunger that wasn't just physical—it was soul-deep.
His glowing eyes narrowed as the dungeon came into view. The air grew colder, denser, but her scent only grew stronger. It wrapped around him, intoxicating, maddening. His wolf surged faster, fueled by centuries of instinct.
The guards heard him before they saw him, stepping aside without hesitation as he charged down the stone corridors. His claws clacked sharply against the cold floor, echoing like thunder in the silence. The scent was overwhelming now, soaked into the very walls of the dungeon.
He skidded to a stop outside the final cell.
There. Behind rusted bars, bruised with a broken spirit.
Lyra.
His wolf snarled low, possessive, furious at the sight of her pain. But underneath that fury pulsed something else—something terrifying.
Need. Recognition.
Mate.
And for the first time in years, Alpha Ryker trembled—not from fear, but from the force of something even he couldn't control.