Chapter 15
Harkan
The north watchtower was an inferno.
Flames roared from every window, licking at the night sky with hungry tongues of orange and gold. Smoke billowed in thick, choking clouds, and through it, I could see figures moving—pack members scrambling to contain the blaze, others dragging the injured away from the heat.
Attack, the wolf snarled. Someone attacked OUR pack.
The wolf surged forward as I ran, not shifting but rising—lending me his senses, his strength, his fury.
My vision sharpened until I could see through the smoke.
My nose caught the fear-sweat of the wounded, the crackle of flames devouring wood and stone, the acrid char of something that didn't belong in a natural fire.
Not natural. Not an accident.
Someone had done this deliberately.
"Alpha!" Riven appeared at my side, his face streaked with soot and panic. "It came out of nowhere—one minute everything was fine, and then—"
"How many injured?"
"Six that we know of. Two still inside."
Two still inside.
I was moving before he finished speaking, but a voice cut through the chaos and stopped me cold.
"Harkan, wait!"
Sable. Of course she hadn't stayed behind. Of course she'd followed me straight into danger, because the woman had no sense of self-preservation, and apparently a death wish that rivaled my own.
"I told you to stay—"
"And I ignored you. We can argue about it later." She was already pushing past me toward the burning tower, her eyes fixed on the flames. "There are people inside?"
"Sable, don't you dare—"
But she was already moving, Trouble racing at her heels, and I could only watch in horror as she plunged toward the inferno.
Then she stopped. Planted her feet. And raised her hands.
The air around her shimmered—silver and gold, the same colors I'd seen at the temple. Magic poured off her in waves, and when it hit the flames, they recoiled. Not extinguished, not yet, but pushed back. Contained. Like she'd thrown a wall between the fire and the rest of the structure.
"Go!" she shouted over her shoulder. "Get them out! I can't hold this forever!"
I didn't need to be told twice.
I threw myself into the inferno, the wolf's strength flooding my limbs. The heat was staggering even with Sable's magic pushing it back, but I powered through, following the scent of fear and blood to the collapsed section of the tower's ground floor.
Two wolves. Trapped under a fallen beam. One was unconscious, the other whimpering in pain.
I grabbed the beam with both hands, claws extending, and pulled.
Wood splintered. Stone groaned. The whole structure shuddered ominously, but the beam came free.
Cara was there in an instant, grabbing the conscious wolf under the arms and hauling him toward the exit. I hoisted the dead weight of the unconscious one over my shoulder and turned to follow.
A crack snapped through the air as a groan shook the foundation under my feet.
Then the ceiling above us gave way. I dove forward, shielding the wolf with my body as burning timber crashed down behind us.
The heat seared my back, but I kept moving, kept pushing, until we were clear of the collapse zone.
Through the smoke and chaos, I heard Sable scream my name.
"I'm fine!" I shouted back. "Get clear!"
But she didn't get clear. Of course she didn't.
Through the haze, I saw her dart forward—not away from the danger, but toward it. Toward a figure I hadn't seen before, trapped in the rubble near the tower's base. A young wolf, barely more than a pup, pinned under debris and crying.
Sable reached her before I could. She was pulling at the stones with her bare hands, her magic still straining to hold back the flames, her face a mask of desperate determination.
"Help me!" she shouted to no one in particular. "She's stuck—I can't—"
Berg materialized out of the smoke, his massive bear form shouldering aside rubble like it weighed nothing. Between him and Sable, they freed the pup in seconds, and Sable was lifting her, cradling the small body against her chest as she ran.
But not fast enough.
A beam came down. Sable twisted, shielding the pup with her own body, and the jagged edge of burning wood caught her across the shoulder.
She cried out—a sharp, pained sound that cut through me like a blade—but she didn't stop running.
Didn't drop the child. Just kept moving until she was clear of the wreckage and collapsing to her knees on the grass.
I was at her side in an instant, reaching for her. "Sable—"
"I'm fine." She was already passing the pup to a waiting pack member, her face tight with pain. "Check on her first."
"You're hurt."
"It's a scratch."
"You're bleeding. Again."
The wound on her shoulder was more than a scratch—a jagged gash where the burning beam had torn through her shirt and into the flesh beneath. Blood welled up, dark and wet, and the smell of it hit my nose like a physical blow.
Mate is hurt. Mate is HURT. Someone hurt our MATE.
The wolf surged forward with a roar that shook my bones. I barely held him back, my vision going red at the edges, my claws extending without my permission.
"Harkan." Sable's voice, sharp and commanding, cut through the haze. "I'm okay. Look at me. I'm okay."
I forced myself to focus on her face. On the determination in her eyes, the stubborn set of her jaw, the way she was already trying to stand despite the blood dripping down her arm.
"Sit down before you fall down," I growled. "You're not going anywhere until Thea looks at that."
"The fire—"
"Is under control." Cara's voice sounded behind me. "The flames are dying. Whatever you did, it worked."
I turned to see the watchtower—still smoking, still damaged, but no longer actively burning. Sable's magic had contained it long enough for the pack to douse the remaining flames with water and sand.
"Casualties?" I asked, my voice rough.
"Injuries, but no deaths. The two you pulled out are being tended. The pup Sable rescued has a broken leg, but she'll recover just fine." Cara's eyes found Sable, and something like respect flickered in their depths. "You saved that girl's life."
My jaw threatened to crack with how hard I was clenching it. "She almost got herself killed."
"Harkan—" Sable started.
"Don't." The word came out harsher than I intended, but I couldn't soften it. Not now. Not with her blood still wet on my hands, her pain still echoing through the bond. "Don't tell me it was worth it. Don't tell me you'd do it again. Just... don't."
She held my gaze for a long moment. Then, quietly: "It was worth it. I’m not sorry I saved that child. And I would do it again in a heartbeat."
The wolf howled his frustration. I wanted to shake her. Wanted to kiss her. Wanted to lock her somewhere safe and never let her out of my sight.
Instead, I just knelt beside her and pressed my forehead to hers.
"You're going to be the death of me," I murmured.
"Probably." Her lips curved, just slightly. "But not tonight."
The aftermath was chaos.
Injured pack members being tended. Damage being assessed. Questions being asked that no one had answers to.
But one thing became clear almost immediately: this wasn't the Devourer.
"Conventional explosive," Cara reported, examining the blast site with grim efficiency. "Volatile compounds, timed detonation. Whoever did this knew what they were doing."
"Rafe." Sable's voice was flat. She was sitting on a crate near the wreckage, Thea wrapping her shoulder with practiced efficiency while Trouble pressed against her ankles. "Dragon's bile and phoenix ash. Same mixture he used on my shop, the fucker."
I remembered the vision she'd described. The faceless man—Rafe—mixing ingredients with scarred hands. Building a bomb designed to burn.
"He was here," I said. "Or someone working for him."
Cara's jaw tightened, her eyes scanning the gathered pack members with new suspicion. "That's the problem. He shouldn't have been able to get anywhere near the watchtower. We've had guards posted. Patrols running. Security has been airtight since the Devourer attacks started."
The implication hung in the air like smoke.
"You're saying we have a mole," Sable said quietly.
"I'm saying someone either looked the other way or actively helped him." Cara's voice was hard as iron. "Rafe walked through our gate in broad daylight, delivered his message, and walked out again. Plenty of time for someone to slip away, plant the device, and return before anyone noticed."
My mind flashed to Aldric. The way he'd argued for handing Sable over. The cold calculation in his eyes when he'd weighed her life against political convenience.
"Find out who," I growled. "Question everyone who was on duty. Everyone who had access to the watchtower. I want answers before sunrise."
"And if we find them?" Cara asked.
"Then they answer to me."
Rage burned through my veins, hot and toxic. Rafe had stood at my gate, smiled his charming smile, and walked away knowing he'd already planted his poison.
But he hadn't done it alone. Someone in my pack had betrayed us.
And when I found out who, there wouldn't be enough left of them to bury.
"Alpha." Berg's rumble drew my attention. The bear shifter was holding something—a piece of paper, singed at the edges but still legible. "Found this in the wreckage. Wrapped around the detonation device."
He handed it to me.
The handwriting was elegant. Practiced. The kind of script they taught in finishing schools and high courts.
Varro's hand.
My dear Alpha,
Consider this a reminder of what happens when you keep things that don't belong to you.
The truth-taster was mine long before she was yours. I trained her. Shaped her. Broke her down and built her back up into something useful. Did she tell you how sweetly she used to beg? How beautifully she screamed?