Ten years had passed.
The small forest town they once called home was now nothing more than a distant memory. Mason had grown into a tall, strong eighteen-year-old wolf with dark hair and piercing grey eyes. He had spent years wondering why Zack had disappeared without a single goodbye.
Now, Mason stood in the middle of the enormous city, surrounded by thousands of unfamiliar scents.
Wolves.
Humans.
Shifters.
And something else.
Something he couldn't identify.
Mason pulled his jacket tighter around himself as he walked through the crowded streets.
Mason: "Finding a mate in a city this big is going to be impossible..."
His wolf suddenly stirred.
There.
Mason froze.
His heart began pounding.
A strange warmth spread through his chest, followed by a pull so powerful that he nearly stumbled.
Mason: "What...?"
His wolf had never reacted like this before.
Then a familiar scent drifted through the crowd.
Hazel.
Pine.
Rain.
Mason's eyes widened.
"No way..."
He turned around.
Standing across the street was a young man with red hair and hazel skin.
Zack.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Ten years disappeared in an instant.
Mason remembered the muddy forest.
The laughter.
The teasing.
And the morning Zack vanished.
Zack's expression slowly changed from confusion to shock.
Zack: "...Mason?"
Mason couldn't speak.
His wolf practically screamed inside his mind.
MATE.
Mason stared at him, his heart racing.
Mason: "Zack?"
Zack crossed the street slowly.
Zack: "I... I thought I'd never see you again."
Mason's expression hardened.
Mason: "You disappeared."
Zack looked down.
Zack: "I know."
Mason: "You didn't even say goodbye."
Zack clenched his fists.
Zack: "Because I wasn't given a choice."
Mason's eyes narrowed.
Mason: "What does that mean?"
Before Zack could answer, a deep growl came from behind them.
Both wolves immediately went silent.
A group of unfamiliar shifters stood at the end of the street.
Their leader stepped forward.
Leader: "So it's true."
Mason: "What's true?"
The man smiled.
Leader: "The two lost heirs have finally found each other."
Zack's face went pale.
Zack: "Mason... we need to leave."
Mason: "Why?"
Zack grabbed his arm.
Zack: "Because they aren't here for us."
He looked toward the approaching group.
"They're here for the bond."
And for the first time in ten years, Mason realized Zack hadn't abandoned him.
He had been running from something.
Something that had finally found them.