Chapter 13
Wolfe
I hadn’t slept.
Not really.
I’d closed my eyes for an hour, maybe two, but every time I drifted off, it was like the bond dragged me back—pulled me toward her in that way it always did when we got too close and didn’t finish what we started.
I hadn’t even let her say goodbye.
I ended the call, memorizing how she looked, with her eyes wide, her lips parted, the blanket still clutched in her hand like it could protect her from me—from what we’d almost done.
I could still hear her. “You started this.” Damn right I had, and I’d left her wanting, and I hadn’t even touched her.
I sat at the edge of the bed, bare feet on the cold floor, the Hollow still silent in that just-before-dawn kind of way.
Diesel was already gone, out hunting ghosts in the trees.
And me? I was stuck here, alpha of a pack that didn’t know where its loyalty lay, with a mate I hadn’t claimed and a bond that burned like an unfinished war.
I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, fingers threading through my hair.
I hadn’t meant to go that far. It was supposed to be a call.
A check-in. Just something simple. Practical.
Get her used to the idea of video calling.
But she’d answered with her braid half-loose and her voice low and tired, and Goddess help me, I couldn’t breathe right as I devoured the sight of her.
She’d looked at me like she didn’t know whether to kiss me or hang up.
When she said that the pillows smelled like me, I nearly lost it. Seeing her propped up in my bed last night made me ache to be closer.
Not because of the want, because that was always there. Because of the restraint it took not to say her name the way I felt it. Luna, she had too much hold over me.
I stood and rolled my neck. The muscle was tight, my body aching for more than sleep. No relief. No shift. No mate. Just the memory of her voice and that look in her eyes when I told her to take off the blanket.
That flicker of uncertainty before she closed her eyes and submitted. I wanted her submission. I craved it. I wanted her on her knees, her head tilted up and looking at me just before I laid claim to every inch of her.
I growled as I paced into the bathroom, knowing that FaceTiming her would probably be my downfall. Because she was less guarded on the calls, her eyes showed me something she rarely did when she was here beside me.
She wanted me too.
And for Rowen, wanting me was almost worse than giving in.
I took a quick shower and then headed to the pack hall to find some coffee.
I needed a lot of coffee. The pack wasn’t saying it to me, but they weren’t exactly happy that I sent their princess away.
They thought they were being subtle, but the side glances, the frowns, and the less-than-subtle harrumphs whenever a woman approached me and I interacted with her gave them away.
They knew I was married and mated to Rowen, but still, they watched me as if I was one wrong move away from ending up in the wrong bed. I knew it was because I hadn’t sealed the bond with my mate, but still…their doubt in my fidelity irritated me.
I would never. Even if she wasn’t my true mate, I’d sworn my wedding vows, I’d committed only to Rowen. It would probably be my downfall, I thought to myself as I crossed the clearing and entered the pack hall.
I spoke to the pack that prepped and cooked the meals; they were missing Rowen.
While they were perfectly competent, Rowen handled supply runs, ordering, and menus, all of it.
In contrast, at Stonefang, every day saw each shifter rotated on the schedule, no matter who you were or what your cooking capability was. Kitchen duty was shared.
In Blueridge Hollow, the kitchen was practically staffed like a human kitchen in a hotel or restaurant; they just lacked the executive chef.
I quickly learned that I was not a substitute for Rowen when I told them to cook what they wanted, and it took almost an hour to restore the kitchen to calmness.
It had been over a week, and if I got venison stew tonight for dinner, I was sure I’d have a whole other revolt in the Hollow to deal with. Thankfully, I saw rows of chickens laid out on the counters, and sent a prayer of thanks to the Goddess as I headed to my office with a mug of coffee.
One disaster avoided, I settled behind the desk, mentally prepared for whatever the next one may be.
I was halfway through a report when I heard the knock.
Three short raps. Intentional. Urgent. Brand’s code.
The door opened before I spoke. He stepped in, dragging a younger male behind him by the collar. Dirt on his boots. Blood on his sleeve. The boy—Aren—looked like he’d been dragged through half the forest.
I put down the report and leaned back in my chair slowly. “Brand?”
Brand dropped the youth to his knees in front of the desk and folded his arms. “Found him near the boundary, south ridge,” he said. “Carrying a note. Think he was waiting to pass it to a runner.”
I looked down at Aren, his head bowed, but I’d already seen the drying blood around his mouth. “Look at me.”
He looked up, one eye already swelling shut. “What have you done?”
He shook his head. “I—I wasn’t—Alpha, I wasn’t—”
“Don’t lie to me,” I said. “You picked a bad day for betrayal.”
“I didn’t write the message,” he blurted. “I didn’t—I was told to pass it. That’s all.”
My eyes narrowed. “By who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Try again.”
“I don’t know!” His voice cracked. “It was left in my room, by my bed. No name. Just—just said to deliver it. Said they’d hurt my little sister if I didn’t.”
The air went still.
Brand moved, pulling the note from his pocket, and passed it to me. It was folded tight, sealed in wax. No insignia. I cracked it open. Reading the simple message that gave coordinated timings, the pattern of the eastern patrol. Shifters listed by name.
Names I recognized. Names I’d selected. Blueridge and Stonefang both.
“Who knows about this?” I asked.
“Just me,” Brand said, his voice low. “He didn’t have time to hand it off.”
I nodded, barely hearing him. My pulse had dropped low and steady—alpha rhythm. The kind that always came before blood.
“I didn’t mean to—” Aren tried again, but I raised my hand.
He went silent instantly.
“When did you get the note?” I asked Aren.
“It was there when I went to bed last night,” he told me. “It said I was to be at the ridge today and to pass the note.”
“So you got two notes?” I asked. “This one and the one to you personally.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
I nodded. “And you’ve had both notes all night?”
He nodded again. “Yes, Alpha. I couldn’t sleep for worrying.”
I crouched in front of him, resting my elbows on my knees. “You were scared. I get that.”
He nodded too quickly.
“But fear doesn’t excuse betrayal,” I said. “You didn’t come to me. You didn’t come to anyone. You had time. But you sat—actually, you went to bed and tried to sleep. Then this morning”—I watched him closely—“you ran there, didn’t you? You didn’t come to me. You obeyed.”
He was shaking his head as he looked at me. “No…it wasn’t like that. I didn’t want them to hurt her.”
“And what about the wolves they would’ve hurt if that note got delivered?”
His face crumpled, and I saw it—the guilt. Real. Heavy. But not enough. “She’s only ten.”
“Where is she?” He looked confused at my question. “Your sister? Where is she?”
“At—at home.”
I stood. “Lock him down. No visitors. No contact. Until I decide what happens next.”
Brand grabbed his arm again, hauling him to his feet. Aren didn’t fight it. He just whispered something I barely caught.
“I didn’t want to do it.”
“Yeah?” I turned away. “That makes two of us.”
The door shut behind them. I looked at the note again. At the coordinates. The patterns. This confirmed what I had already suspected. Someone inside the Hollow was feeding my pack to the enemy.
And now I had a taste of how deep the rot went.
Axel, bring me Aren’s parents and his siblings.
Which one is he? Axel asked.
They’re on the north side; the yard has three bird feeders in it. Broken front step.
On it.
I picked up the note, folding it repeatedly in my hand as I waited. The door was knocked on, and Axel led in Aren’s parents along with a blonde girl, who had wide blue eyes, dimples in each cheek, and a blue ribbon in her hair. She was the embodiment of innocence.
“Alpha,” Axel greeted. “The family as requested.”
My gaze rested on the young girl. “Axel, fetch one of the kitchen helpers for me.”
He was gone and back in a few minutes; meanwhile, the mother and father stared at me, their scent getting stronger and stronger with fear and anxiety as the minutes passed.
“Do we have any ice cream?” I asked the kitchen aid when she joined us. She nodded. “You want some ice cream?” I asked the girl, and she looked up at her mother before looking back at me.
“Yes?”
“Go get some ice cream while I talk to your mom and dad, okay?” When the door closed behind them, I turned back to the parents.
“Who wants to tell me whose idea it was to drag your son into this?” I asked them casually.
The father, Hollis, stared straight ahead, and his wife, Solana, looked between me and her husband. It was Solana who spoke first.
“Alpha Wolfe? What does Aren have to do with this? I don’t understand.”
I watched her, heard her pulse racing through her veins, her brow beaded with sweat.
“Hollis? Maybe you should explain the situation to her?”
“Fuck you.”
“Hollis!” Solana stared at her husband, her eyes wide with shock. “Alpha, I’m so sorry—”
He backhanded her, causing her to fall to the floor. Axel had his arm around Hollis’s throat in a chokehold as I walked around the desk and helped her to her feet. Her lip was split, and I helped her into a chair.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“It’s nothing, Alpha, I fell.” Her eyes were downcast, and her lip trembled as she wrung her hands together over and over.