Kades point of view.
The howl tore through the night at 2 a.m., ripping me from my restless sleep. I'd been trapped in dreams of her—those amber eyes from last Friday dinner refusing to let me rest.
My phone erupted before I was fully awake. I fumbled for it with my heart already racing when I saw Jack's name flashing across the screen.
"Rogues."
It was the first word that came out of his mouth the moment I answered. "Rogues—wolves on the eastern border. Right between our territory and Crescent Moon's."
"What's…" I started.
"No time," he cut in sharply. "You need to get here now. Alpha Morgan is calling all warriors. We have to bridge the gap before they break through and cause chaos in both territories."
Before the line went dead, I was already moving, yanking on pants as my wolf surged forward, demanding release.
"How many?" I shouted.
"I don't know," Jack's voice crackled through the phone. "Reports say twenty… maybe more. You need to get here now."
Then the line went dead.
I didn't bother with wearing a shirt. I lunged out of my apartment into the cold night air, my body already shifting mid-step.
Bones cracked and reformed, muscles reshaped, skin giving way to fur. My human thoughts faded, replaced by a single, driving instinct: protect. Defend. Fight.
My black wolf landed hard on the forest floor, charging toward the eastern border where the echoes of battle cut through the trees.
Chaos….that was the only word for what I found.
The border clearing had become a battlefield. Wolves, fully shifted, tore into each one another with savage fury.
Silver Lake warriors fought hard against the rogues. But from my position, I noticed something unsettling—these rogues weren't attacking blindly. Their movements were coordinated, striking and retreating with deliberate precision.
But despite that, it left no room for hesitation in me. I launched myself into the fight, with my wolf driven by the primal satisfaction of defending pack lands.
A brown rogue with scars on his face lunged at one of our younger warriors. But I intercepted him mid air, and slammed him to the ground with brute force, making us roll in the dirt, biting and clawing at each other before my jaw finally found his throat.
Warm blood filled my mouth before his body went still.
I released him, immediately scanning for the next threat. I spotted Jack fighting nearby with his gray wolf taking on two rogues at once. I moved to help him, but a huge red-brown wolf blocked my path.
We walked in a circle sizing up each other for weakness.
He lunged at me without warning.
I tried to dodge, but I was too slow. His massive body crashed into mine, slamming me into the ground hard enough to knock the air from my lungs. My wolf roared in fury and lashed back, sinking our teeth into the rogue's shoulder.
But it barely phased him.
Just as his jaw open aiming for my throat a massive silver wolf from no where launched at him, sinking its jaw in his throat and ripping it out in one fluid motion.
"MATE!" The word filled every corner of my consciousness. "MATE. OURS. PROTECT HER."
I didn't need to look twice to know who she was. the silver wolf that just saved my life belonged to Alpha selene.
Her wolf was GLORIOUS.
Power radiated from her in waves. Not the aggressive dominance of a male Alpha, but something more refined. She commanded respect not through force but through sheer presence.
The rogues nearest to her actually backed up, instinctive fear overriding their organized tactics.
Her amber eyes found mine with recognition.
Now that I was in my wolf form I lost full control. My wolf wouldn't let me stay away. He pulled me towards her like gravity, brushing his fur against her in a greeting way.
And despite how hard I tried to stop him and pull away. It felt undeniable comforting with the mate bond singing with recognition and the need of desperate longing for each other. For a heartbeat, we were pressed together, wolf-to-wolf, and every instinct I had screamed at me to stay there, to never let go.
but then reality crashed back. I saw the rogue Alpha before Selene did. He had been circling targeting her since the moment she arrived.
He charged at Selene, and with that I didn't think or hesitate. I launched at him with all my instinct screaming at me to protect her.
The rogue Alpha's claws met my shoulder in the process, tearing through my fur and muscle with brutal force. Pain exploded through my body, and I felt my blood spray across the ground.
Seeing this selene roared with rage that shook the clearing.
She launched at the rogue Alpha, crashing into him like a silver avalanche.
I'd never seen anything like it—the raw savagery, the deadly precision. This wasn't just an Alpha defending her territory. This was a mate protecting what was hers.
The rogue Alpha, for all his size and experience, didn't stand a chance.
Selene tore into him with single-minded fury, and within seconds, he was down and Defeated.
The remaining rogues saw their leader fall within seconds, torn apart by one of the most powerful Alphas in the region—whose rage had just been unleashed.
With no leader and no hope of victory, they scattered into the forest, abandoning the attack in a chaotic retreat.
Victory.
But I barely registered. The pain in my shoulder was intense, radiating down my entire left side with blood soaking my fur.
I shifted back to my human form. It was easier to assess my injuries that way.
The wound looked bad. Deep claw marks across my shoulder and upper chest, bleeding freely.
Around me, other wolves were shifting back, assessing their injuries. Jack limped over, favoring his left leg but otherwise unharmed. Marcus—I barely noticed when he arrived. He was backing orders, organizing medical assistance.
Three of their pack members who had arrived on the battlefield before us were down. Wounded, but alive. It could have been so much worse if our pack hadn't shown up in time to help.
I glanced left and caught Selene as she shifted back into her human form.
I should have looked away—but my wolf refused, and the reckless part of me was far too transfixed to care about modesty.
She stood at the edge of the clearing fully naked with her slim body frame and her thick round boobs. She was curved in ways that made my wolf whine inside me with need. Her silver-blonde hair tumbled down her shoulders, and the pain in my shoulder dulled, fading into the background as my thoughts turned dangerously vivid towards her until the desire of having her drowned out everything else.
A medic from her pack appeared suddenly, draping a blanket around Selene's shoulders and snapping me out of my dirty thoughts. Other members of the medical team moved quickly, covering the shifting warriors—including me, who was also completely naked.
"Organize a pursuit team," Selene commanded Marcus, her voice sharp and steady. "I want to know where they came from and where they're going. But do not engage—track and report only."
"Yes, Alpha."
Marcus gestured to several warriors who were still in their wolf forms, and with that, they vanished into the forest.
Selene moved among the wounded, assessing injuries and issuing quiet, efficient orders to the medics. In that moment, she was everything her pack needed—calm, decisive, and every inch their Alpha.
Then her amber eyes found me again.
She approached slowly, her gaze locked on my injured shoulder. I couldn't move, couldn't look away, couldn't do anything except stand there bleeding and trying not to show how much her proximity affected me.
"You're hurt," She said quietly. Beneath her alpha tone was real concern.
"It's not that bad." A lie. The wound hurt like hell.
"Let me see."
It wasn't a request.
She moved closer, and the space between us seemed to crackle with energy. When her hand touched my shoulder, both of us froze.
The mate bond surged between us, powerful and impossible to ignore. Her eyes widened just a fraction. Her breath quickened. I could see her fighting it, forcing control when all her instinct demanded surrender.
For a few heartbeats, nothing else existed. Just us. Her hand on my shoulder. The bond pulling us together.
"Alpha."
Marcus's voice cut through the moment like a blade. He was watching us with a little bit of concern and suspicion warring on his face. "We need to talk."
Selene pulled her hand away like I'd burned her. The loss of contact physically hurt.
"Of course." she said, her voice was perfectly steady, revealing nothing. She glanced at me once more. "Make sure the medics tend to that wound. It needs stitches."
Then she turned away, following Marcus to the edge of the clearing where they could speak privately.
Seconds later, a female medic stepped up and began examining my shoulder with practiced efficiency.
"Deep, but clean," the medic said. "although you'll need stitches and rest."
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. My eyes kept drifting to where Selene stood with Marcus as they examined something on the ground.
Jack appeared beside me with his wounded leg already wrapped in bandages. "You okay?"
"I'm fine."
"You fought well," he said. "I saw you when you launched at that rogue Alpha by yourself—right before you got… you know, taken down." He paused, then smirked. "And one more thing. Why was your wolf cuddling with Alpha Selene's wolf?"
I shot him a look.
"Which," Jack added helpfully, "is technically your girlfriend's mom."
Before I could respond, Marcus's voice carried across the clearing. "Everyone….gather up. We need to examine the bodies. Something isn't right."
Wolves began to move toward the fallen rogues. I followed despite the medic's protests about my shoulder.
Marcus knelt beside one of the corpses and pointed to its flank. "Look."
A strange symbol had been burned into the wolf's fur and skin.
"What the hell is that?" someone asked.
Marcus's face hardened. "I don't know. But this symbols looks like witch magic."
A chill rippled through the gathered wolves. Witches and werewolves had always shared an uneasy relationship....and when witches involved themselves in pack business, it rarely ended well.
Selene stepped closer, her eyes narrowing as she studied the marking. "This isn't random. Someone sent them….either a witch or someone with witch allies because witches don't just wake up one day and start partnering with rogues to bridge Park's territory."
"But why?" Jack asked. "What were they after?"
Marcus checked the remaining bodies. Each one bore the same burned marking.
"They were targeting the estate specifically," he said. "Look at the attack pattern....they were trying to break through into Crescent Moon territory before the Silver Lake pack could arrive to reinforce us."
"Do you think they were after something," Selene said quietly, her voice carrying a note I'd never heard before. "Something in my territory worth risking an organized assault."
Marcus rose slowly, rubbing his chin. "I think so. Why else would witches be involved if they weren't after something precious? We need to get to the bottom of this."
The words hung heavily in the air, settling like a dark realization. This rogue attack went far deeper than only one of us thought.
Before anyone could say more, a commotion at the edge of the clearing drew everyone's attention.
More wolves were arriving—members of Silver Lake and Crescent Moon, responding to the alert. Some came to help. Others to check on loved ones who had been caught in the fight.
And among them, I spotted a familiar figure in a blue jacket.
Luna.
She spotted me immediately, her face pale with worry. She pushed through the crowd, running toward me with obvious distress.
"Kade! Oh my God, you're hurt!" She reached for me, with her hands hovering over my shoulder without quite touching the wound. "What happened? Are you okay? I heard there was a massive rogue attack, and I knew you'd be involved....since, you know....it's part of your job as a beta to protect pack territories…"
"I'm fine, Luna." My voice came out more distant than I intended. "Just a scratch."
"That's not a scratch!" She turned to the medic still beside me. "Is he going to be okay? Does he need to go to the hospital?"
"He'll be fine with stitches and rest," the medic assured her.
Luna turned back to me, only to notice my attention had drifted elsewhere.
She followed my gaze to where Selene—her mother—stood with Marcus, who was still examining the marked rogue bodies.
Selene's amber eyes had locked with mine briefly, but when she noticed Luna watching us with a suspicious gaze, she quickly looked away, refocusing on Marcus and the tactical situation.
But Luna had already seen the way we were exchanging looks and I felt her stiffen beside me.
"Why are you and my mother looking at each other like that?" Her voice was quiet, but sharp with suspicion.
"I… I don't know what you mean." The lie tasted like poison in my mouth.
She studied me for a long moment, emotions warring across her face. Then, as if making a decision, she forced brightness into her voice.
"Come on. Let's get you to the estate. Mom won't mind—we can use the medical supplies there, and you can rest properly before going home." She took my uninjured arm, gently guiding me along the path to the Whitmore mansion. "I'll take care of you."
I followed her inside the estate. She sat me down, her eyes fixed on me, emotions flickering across her face. "I… I'm sorry, Kade," she said suddenly.
"For what?"
"You know… I'm sorry for how I overreacted yesterday when you were acting strange—ignoring my texts and calls. I really thought Mom must have said something to you thinking that's why you were acting awkward towards me. But now I see how stressful it really is to be a young beta, with so many responsibilities in your pack. I hope you can forgive me."
"Huh… it's fine, Luna. I forgive you." I hugged her, even though I knew she wasn't overreacting. I had been acting distant because of what happened at the dinner. I could no longer pretend—or hide my disinterest toward her.
"I knew you must be… tasty," she said, pulling away from the hug. "Let me get you some water and maybe some pain medication. Will you be okay for a minute?"
"Yeah… I'm fine."
She hesitated, clearly not wanting to leave me. But eventually, she nodded and headed toward what I assumed was a supply room or kitchen.
But the moment she left, my wolf surged, sensing Selene's instant presence in the mansion.
I stood abruptly. After the battle, after being so close in the fight, my human mind could no longer resist her presence. My wolf demanded it.
I moved down the hallway, letting instinct guide me, letting the bond pull me forward.
The estate was a maze of halls and rooms, but I didn't get lost. The bond showed me the way, tugging me relentlessly until I stopped outside a wooden door.
An office.
Selene's office, I knew judging by her scent that made my wolf practically purr with recognition.