Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Lucas
The day to head back home to Silvercrest has arrived, and I am still mentally preparing myself to share my estate house with the mate I’m trying to avoid.
I have not seen her since I agreed to let her come, and that was entirely by design. I did not return to the Moonvale headquarters building, as there was no need for me to, and the Goddess being merciful, Sienna did not come to the alpha’s mansion despite the luna being her friend.
Without meaning to, my eyes land on Sienna in the crowd of people bustling about, preparing to leave. The sight of her immediately excites my wolf, and I have to fight to keep him in check so that I don’t react visibly.
She’s speaking to the group of Moonvale pack members standing around her—clearly the team she has chosen to bring with her.
Her hair is tied back, and she is dressed casually for the journey in jeans and a simple blouse.
It’s the first time I’ve seen her out of formal work attire, and it makes my heart skip a beat.
I look away before she can catch me watching.
Despite all the trouble I made, she’s still coming to Silvercrest.
I never actually underestimated her, but she still shocked me with how good she is at her job. Her presentation left me with no excuse. She was so sexy up there, commanding the room—
No!
I stop my thoughts in their tracks. It was torture watching her prove to me exactly why she deserves her position, half because it destroyed my excuses and half because I was fighting to keep my dick under control.
The bond is hard enough to ignore with my wolf howling at me every time she is within the range of any of our senses, but it is made so much worse by how alluring Sienna is when she’s being stubborn.
A sigh escapes my lips. For this merger to happen safely, I will have to be a good alpha and do the right thing: put the needs of my pack first and the mate I’m trying to avoid last.
It’s time to leave, and the convoy is arranged exactly as I specified.
The lead vehicle holds two armed guards and me.
Three middle vehicles carry the Moonvale assessment team and the rest of my pack members—the ones who are returning with me, anyway, now that their part of the work here is done.
Marcus is staying behind, of course. The rear vehicle holds my head of security, Monroe, and four more of my guards.
I have Sienna positioned in the SUV in the middle of the formation.
As the vehicles are loaded up, I catch sight of Darius coming over from where Sienna is still standing. It seems like he just finished speaking to his pack members who are coming to Silvercrest.
Darius stretches out his hand as he approaches, and I take it in a firm shake.
“It was a pleasure to have you,” he says. “Have a safe trip back.”
I smile. “Thank you.”
After saying the appropriate goodbyes, I climb into the lead vehicle, settling into the passenger seat while my driver takes the wheel. The engine rumbles to life, and in the side mirror, I can see the rest of the convoy falling into position behind us.
Monroe’s voice comes through my radio. “Everyone ready?”
Confirmations come back one by one, the last from Sienna. “Moonvale team, good to go.”
Even crackled and staticky from the radio, her voice still has an effect on me.
“Move out,” I order, gritting my teeth.
The convoy pulls away from Moonvale HQ in perfect formation. I watch the city give way to suburbs, then to the stretch of borderland forest that separates our territories. The road cuts through dense woodland, a corridor that is technically neutral ground but gets patrolled by both packs.
“Arrival protocol when we reach the estate,” I say to Monroe on a private radio frequency as I pull up the schedule on my tablet. “Assessment team goes to the east wing guest quarters. Time to settle in, then formal welcome dinner at seven.”
“Security sweep of the guest wing is already complete,” Monroe confirms. “And the kitchen staff has the menu finalized.”
I nod, only half listening. My mind is on the vehicle two cars back. On the woman inside it who has been occupying far too much of my brain for the past week.
During the five days I spent artfully not seeing her, I did a good job telling myself this is manageable. She’ll do her assessment, I’ll maintain a working distance, and in four weeks, if we decide not to pursue the merger, she’ll go back to Moonvale.
That’s at least a month, Lucas. Probably more.
My wolf stirs restlessly. He doesn’t like this plan. Hasn’t liked anything about any of this since the moment we met her.
She’s ours, he insists for the thousandth time. Why are we running?
Because claiming her means killing her. It’s that simple.
The beast doesn’t care about consequences. He only knows what the mate bond is screaming at both of us: that she belongs to us, and we’re denying fate.
I force my attention back to Monroe. “Double the patrol rotation while they’re with us. I want eyes on the perimeter at all times.”
“Already done,” Monroe says. “Though I have to ask, are we expecting trouble?”
“No. But I’m not taking chances with visiting pack members in our territory.”
It’s a reasonable precaution. It has nothing to do with the fact that the thought of Sienna in any kind of danger makes my wolf snarl with violent protectiveness.
Nothing at all.
The forest thickens around us as we drive deeper into the borderland. The road here is well-maintained but narrow, forcing the convoy into a tighter formation. Trees press close on both sides, their branches forming a canopy overhead that blocks out most of the afternoon sun.
My phone buzzes with a text from Marcus, checking in from Moonvale: Assessment going well. Will send full report tonight.
I type back a quick acknowledgment and pocket my phone.
“Quiet so far,” my driver observes.
Too quiet, instinct whispers in the back of my mind. I pause, paying attention to my ears.
I don’t hear birds. Or any other animal in the forest.
On my tablet, I pull up the live security camera feeds from each vehicle in the convoy, then the drone footage from our perimeter patrol. Everything looks normal. Clear road ahead, no danger, no—
Movement in the tree line.
I grab my radio, my eyes locked on the drone feed.
“Monroe. Northwest quadrant. Do you see that?”
His response comes through the static. “Confirmed. Multiple heat signatures moving parallel to the convoy.”
I switch to thermal imaging. Six—no, seven distinct shapes moving through the forest. Too large to be deer. Too coordinated to be random wildlife.
Wolves.
“All vehicles, possible contact,” I say into the general radio line, my voice calm despite the adrenaline starting to spike through my system. “Security teams on alert. Do not break formation.”
Acknowledgments crackle back.
I watch the thermal signatures on the screen. They’re keeping pace with us, staying just inside the tree line. Not attacking. Not retreating. Just…tracking.
“Rogues?” Monroe asks on our private channel.
“Most likely.” I zoom in on the feed, trying to get a better read. “Small pack. Displaced, probably. Looking for easy targets.”
“We are not easy targets,” Monroe says.
“They will know that soon.”
The wolves continue paralleling us. I count them again. Seven. Not enough to take on a full convoy with trained security, but enough to cause problems if they’re desperate or stupid.
My animal is on high alert now, every sense focused on the potential threat.
Suddenly, I see them shift direction. They are no longer moving parallel to the convoy—they’re angling toward us.
“Contact imminent,” I snap into the radio. “Security teams engage on my mark. Drivers maintain speed and formation.”
“Sir,” one of my guards in the back seat says, already reaching for his weapon. “Which vehicle are they targeting?”
I watch the heat signatures converge on the screen, my stomach dropping as I track their trajectory.
The middle of the convoy. Sienna’s SUV.
“All units, defensive positions NOW!” I bark into the radio. “Protect the center vehicle!”
I have one hand on the door handle as my driver hits the brakes. I’m out before we fully stop, my wolf surging forward with a fury I’ve never felt before.
The rogues burst out of the tree line.
Seven wolves, with matted fur and wild eyes, moving with the desperate aggression of animals who have nothing left to lose. They’re thin, scarred, clearly displaced from pack society and living rough.
Dangerous in their desperation.
My security team is already shifting, pouring out of the vehicles in a coordinated defensive formation. But the rogues are fast, and they’re focused only on the middle of the convoy.
On her.
I don’t give the order. Don’t wait for my team to engage.
I shift mid-stride.
My clothes tear to shreds as my body transforms—bones restructuring, muscles expanding. The shift takes less than three seconds; I’ve spent decades perfecting my abilities. My wolf form hits the ground running, massive paws eating up the distance between me and the rogues.
The largest one—a gray and brown male with a torn ear—is leading the charge toward Sienna’s vehicle. He doesn’t see me coming until it’s too late.
I slam into him with the full force of my alpha weight, three hundred pounds of muscle and rage. We go down in a tangle of teeth and claws, rolling across the asphalt. He’s fast, snapping at my throat, but I’m faster.
And I’m fighting with something he’s not: the absolute fury that he dare threaten what’s mine.
I get my jaws around his shoulder and bite down hard. He yelps, trying to wrench away, but I don’t let go. I shake him once, violently, and feel his spine give. He goes limp, and I release him, already looking for the next threat.
My security team has engaged the other rogues. Monroe, in his rust-colored wolf form, has two of them pinned. My guards are working in coordinated pairs, using their training to overwhelm the disorganized rogues.