Chapter 27 Wolfe
Wolfe
When I was told by Lars all those years ago that I was an alpha, I never expected that to mean I’d be kneeling at the base of a tree while the land came alive under my touch.
The first surge of power hit like cold air punching into hot lungs. My wolf snarled—not in warning, but in recognition. The land’s pulse synced with mine, growing stronger, steadier, like it had been waiting for this moment longer than I had existed.
When I realized it wasn’t just me and Rowen the land was reaching for, I thought my heart would stop. My chest locked and my wolf shoved forward with a growl that was half awe, half terror. The land wasn’t just touching us, it was touching my unborn child.
The soil beneath my palm flared with a faint glow—redder, hotter—responding to him for the first time. Roots brushed my skin, curling around my fingers, alive with a pulse of power and magic more than I ever knew.
It had all been very surreal, weirdly ethereal, and completely outside my comfort zone.
When I stood, my hand had reached for Rowen’s belly before I’d formed conscious thought to do so.
I needed to know he was okay in there. She leaned into me, her head falling to my chest as we embraced and tried to digest the magnitude of everything that had just happened.
I could feel Rowen trembling and I tightened my hold on her.
The druid’s head snapped up. “Someone feels this.”
My wolf bared his teeth. “Who?”
“An old one,” the druid whispered. “Someone…watching from afar.”
The shaman? Of course it was the shaman. “The shaman,” I murmured. The ground beneath us settled, but I had no doubt that he was watching. “He’s on our side.”
The druid lost all of their otherworldly aura and looked at me in a way I was much more used to. Disappointment. “And you trust this, do you?” they snapped.
“I do.” I smirked at their eye roll. “And so does the Hollow,” I said smugly. “It’s letting him watch, so…”
The druid’s eyes narrowed. “I’m going to go and have some tea. I need my energy for what’s coming.” They swept away and I watched them go as Rowen stifled her laughter.
“You have to stop provoking them,” she said cheerfully. Her fingers caressed her belly. “I felt him,” she told me, eyes shining with love.
My hand covered hers. “I did too.” I kissed her softly. “A privilege to do so, but…”
“But really freaky,” she said, biting her lower lip.
“Mind-bendingly freaky,” I agreed wholeheartedly. “Are we already bad parents?”
Her peal of laughter rang out through the Hollow. “Come on, I need to sleep, you need to eat, and then sleep, and everything else can wait.”
I pulled her into me. “I could eat.” I nuzzled her neck. “What are you offering me, mate?”
Her palms were flat against my chest, not pushing me away, but not pulling me into her either. “You will rest,” she scolded.
“So you’re going to be the strict parent,” I said, taking her hand, ready to go home. “Which is only fair—I was always the fun one.”
Rowen punched my arm, but the silly little moment made everything feel lighter, and I was happy to see her smiling. We stepped out of the grove and nearly ran into Killian.
He froze mid-step, eyes widening. “What in the Goddess’s name—”
And crowded behind him was the pack: warriors, elders, and even our youngest clinging to their parents’ legs, all staring at the Heartwood. I turned, my jaw loosening as I took it in, because the Hollow was now smoldering with a faint ember-like glow.
“Oh…” I exchanged a look with Rowen. There was no way we could hide that.
Diesel pushed forward, eyes narrowing. “What the fuck did you two do?”
Rowen stiffened. “Nothing.”
I snorted. “It wasn’t nothing.”
Killian rubbed his jaw, gaze flicking between Rowen’s face and the faint golden shimmer still clinging to her palms. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” she said, her face shining with truth. “Just…seen.”
That unsettled Killian more. He looked worried as he looked at me.
“We’re fine,” I assured him and everyone else. “The Hollow wanted us to know that we have its support.” The pack shuffled and I opted to believe it was with excitement, not nervousness. I cast my eye over them. “Are you all here?” I asked them, and a few titters of laughter were my answer.
“I couldn’t stay away,” someone at the back said. “It felt like it was calling to me.”
Too many voices rose to share their agreement.
“I’ve got this,” Rowen told me, letting go of my hand and moving into the crowd to talk to them.
Which left me facing my two betas. “Hi?”
Diesel was three seconds from removing my spleen, I was sure of it. “Hi?” He elbowed Killian. “Do you think the Pack Council scouts saw that from their tents?”
What was I supposed to do? Tell the Hollow to stop glowing like some magical beacon. My patience was running out. “Diesel—”
“Oh, calm down,” Diesel muttered as he stepped closer, sniffing the air. His brows shot up. “She smells…different.” He sniffed again. “So do you. Why?”
Killian nudged him. “Diesel—”
“No, wait.” Diesel lifted a hand, eyes widening further. “You.” He jabbed a finger at my chest. “You smell like the Heartwood.” He took a step back. “Wolfe, what did you do?”
I sucked in a breath as Killian froze, but I didn’t say a word, because he was right and I noticed he wasn’t the only one noticing. Every wolf in the clearing could scent it now.
Talking stopped and then the murmuring began. I felt it from them as it twisted through the pack. Fear Awe. Hope.
The druid stepped forward, voice firm and clear. “The Hollow has bonded with its guardians. The alpha and his mate will fight for this land, and the land will fight for them.” The glow around the glade snuffed out.
Killian exhaled, shoulders lowering.
Diesel grinned like a feral dog. “I hope the scouts felt that. I really fucking do.”
My wolf lifted his head, and my alpha power burned brightly within me. I could feel the Hollow in my bones; it nestled there, alongside my connection to Stonefang. Timeless power, a gift to men who were graced with the Goddess’s gift to shapeshift into the form of a wolf.
Diesel’s smile turned wicked as he dipped his head in recognition. “Alpha,” he murmured, voice low.
Yes. Alpha. That’s what I was. My land. My pack. My mate. Mine to defend.
The Pack Council wanted to break us. They wanted to steal what was mine.
“Have they moved?” I asked Killian.
He nodded. “I was coming to find you when”—he waved his hand towards the grove—“that happened.” He jerked his thumb to Diesel, who stood beside him, watching me. “Then he turned up and…” He looked over his shoulder. “Then everyone turned up.”
I felt the change beneath my boots. It felt very similar to my wolf when it was pacing within me, eager to be let loose. “What just changed?” I asked them both, keeping my voice low.
Diesel squinted behind me, and I turned to follow his gaze. The druid was watching me, and when I turned back, Diesel’s eyes were black.
“Diesel?” I asked quietly, motioning subtly for Killian to move. “Talk to me.”
“Danger walks on Stonefang.”
Killian moved closer. “How?” He looked at me. “You’re here. You’re both here.”
“The shaman?” I felt my temper burn even though it being the shaman didn’t feel right. “Fuck! How?”
Diesel tipped his head to the morning light. “Alpha…they call.”
Killian stilled, his head turning west. I forced my temper down as I strained to hear what they heard. I heard nothing. I spun to face the druid, who watched me calmly.
“Why can’t I feel it?” I demanded. “What have you done?”
“I’ve done nothing, Alpha. You chose this.”
Panic welled inside me. My pack. My pack were at Stonefang. “Diesel,” I said to him, stepping close, speaking in his ear. “I can’t feel them.”
His black eyes met mine, his lips twisting into a sneer. “Traitor.”
I almost recoiled when I suddenly felt the pull from the Grumps, their presence tugged at me, filling me. I slumped in relief as I felt the familiar sense of them and then their fear.
“No…” I lurched forward. Hands grabbed me. I wasn’t sure whose, but they gripped me tight. “No!”
Claws ripped through my skin, blood spilled onto the stone beneath me, pooled in my mouth, too much, too fast to swallow it all. Soil dug beneath my fingertips, as my claws dug into the earth. The weight of loss pushed me down; my heart was ripping in two.
“NO!”
Darkness enveloped me. My forehead pressed to the grass, but all I saw was inside their shelter. She stood in front of him, knitting needle raised, fury in her gaze.
“Come one step closer, boy,” she seethed. “I will rip you from groin to throat for the blood you spilled today.”
Behind her lay the crumpled body of the mate of her soul. His head lay at an unnatural angle, throat torn open, blood pooling around his body, so bright in contrast to his graying skin.
“No…” I groaned as I felt heaviness bearing down on me. A snarl of hatred and wrath reverberated all around me.
Her gaze met mine, her eyes softening for a moment.
“Tell them we fought, Alpha,” she told me, eyes filled with sorrow.
“The stone falls.” She lunged forward in attack, and my vision went dark as wildness scorched my blood, burning the loss into my bones, carving it into my flesh as all around me I felt an energy that wasn’t mine swallowing me whole.
I surged to my feet, my eyes wide with intent to run. I looked up just as the branch struck me down, and then I felt nothing.
Loss.
By first light, every shifter in the territory felt it. The air was too tight, the ground too aware, the trees leaning in like they too were waiting for someone unwelcome to cross them.
I stood at the ridge above the eastern border, the same place we’d fought the scout line a few days before. Killian paced behind me, tense enough to vibrate. Diesel stood to my right, arms crossed, jaw grinding like he was chewing rocks.
“They’re close,” Diesel muttered.
“They’ve been close.” I scanned the tree line, scenting for wind-shift, movement, anything. “Today they’re coming with purpose.”