Caleb's POV
The air in the Silverfang territory always smelled like a lie. After three years of fighting in the northern trenches, the scent of pine and damp earth should have felt like home, but to me, it just smelled like the chemicals the scientists used to keep the grass green.
Beside me, Cassian adjusted his gear, his movements a perfect mirror of mine. We didn't need to speak; I could feel his exhaustion and his simmering restlessness through our shared link. We were the Twin Alphas, the iron fist of the Silver-Moon Pack, and we were finally home.
Something is wrong, Cassian's voice echoed in my head, sharp and alert.
I felt it too. The atmosphere of the biome was heavy, vibrating with a frequency that made my wolf claw at the back of my mind. We were passing through the deep woods, taking the shortcut to the pack house, when the wind shifted.
A scent hit me so hard I stumbled—an intoxicating mix of vanilla, wild rain, and something sweet, like honey. It wasn't just a smell; it was a physical pull, a golden hook that snagged deep in my gut and yanked.
My wolf let out a deafening roar in my mind. MATE.
Cassian gasped aloud, his hand flying to his chest. His golden eyes were already glowing, his pupils blown wide. "Caleb," he choked out, his voice thick with a hunger I shared. "Do you feel that?"
"I feel it," I growled, my own control slipping.
We didn't think. We didn't strategize. We moved as one, crashing through the thick undergrowth, following the trail of that impossible scent. It grew stronger, laced with the copper tang of fresh blood and the bitter salt of tears.
The closer we got, the more my blood began to boil. Whoever was bleeding belonged to us. And whoever had made her bleed was going to die.
We stepped into a small clearing bathed in the pale, artificial light of the satellite moon. I expected to find a warrior, perhaps a high-ranking female from the council families. Instead, my eyes landed on a girl huddled in the dirt. Her cream dress was torn and stained with mud, her hair was a tangled mess, and she was shaking so violently I could hear her teeth chattering.
She was plus-sized, her curves soft against the harsh ground, and she looked small—so incredibly small—against the backdrop of the giant oaks. I scanned her for a wolf scent, but there was nothing. She was a Null. An Omega. The "broken" girl the scouts had mentioned in their reports.
Cassian and I stepped forward together, our shadows falling over her. As she looked up, her face streaked with dirt and blood, the bond snapped shut like a steel trap. It was violent and absolute.
My wolf went silent, replaced by a possessive, territorial heat that made my vision turn red. This was the girl who had been the pack's punching bag. This was the girl our father wanted gone.
"Mate," we rumbled in unison, the word vibrating in our chests like thunder.
The girl's eyes went wide, her breath hitching as she stared at us in terror. She looked like a rabbit caught in the gaze of two wolves, and it killed me to know we were the ones scaring her. But as I looked at the bruises forming on her arms and the cut on her lip, the confusion hit me like a bucket of ice water.
Our father had told us our mate would be a queen. Madame Vora had promised us a power match that would secure our bloodline forever. Instead, the moon had given us a girl who had just been discarded by the pack like trash.
I looked at Cassian, seeing my own shock reflected in his face. We were the most powerful Alphas the pack had ever seen, and our destiny was tied to a girl who didn't even have a wolf.
I reached out a hand, but she flinched, pulling away as if she expected me to strike her. The rejection I felt in that movement hurt worse than a silver bullet. I looked at her, truly looked at her, and the question burned in my throat until I couldn't hold it back anymore.
"Why are you our mate?"