Beyond the Boundary
Luca POV
I'm in my office, jaw clenched and hands fisted at my sides. The room is deadly silent. Just like my mood.
He'd been too close. That should never have happened.
Rowan. My office. Now.
My beta doesn't answer immediately.
I’m seething under the surface.
On my way, comes back through the link.
My mind’s consumed by earlier today. I’m still not sure how I found myself in that part of the woods. My feet moved before I made a decision. Before thought.
Something drew me past where I should have stopped. Too close to the neutral border.
I was about to turn back. The trees here were too thin, the scent of humans too strong. But then–
I felt it.
A surge of power through the earth had me moving faster than I ever thought possible.
A voice shattered the stillness, commanding – no.
I ploughed on, my boots silent on the forest floor. That’s when a delicious scent hit me.
Through the trees, I saw her. With him.
A male, posturing like a little wannabe alpha. Stepped forward, lips twisted in a sneer, and hands where they didn't belong.
A slight knock distracts me from my thoughts, as Rowan enters without waiting.
Before I can stop it, a low growl escapes my lips.
He's barely through the door before I snarl, "You were meant to be watching the boundary."
He doesn’t flinch. Surprising.
“I was,” he replies casually while munching at his apple and sprawling out on my couch. I want to shove that apple right down his throat.
He must sense my mood as he straightens suddenly.
“I didn’t expect him to move that fast,” Rowan insists.
I believe him. That doesn’t make it acceptable.
“Plus, you intercepted before it escalated.”
I hold his gaze. Seething. Not sure why this anger feels different.
Smiles don't come naturally to me these days, but this type of mood is out of character, even for me.
I remind myself my pack don't need me for jokes, they need decisions. That's what I do best. Plan and protect.
“Double the patrols,” I tell Rowan. “And keep him away from her.”
Rowan hesitates. “If she’s what we think– ”
“She isn’t,” I cut in.
The lie settles heavily in my chest. Because the land doesn’t respond to humans like that.
And neither do I.
"That's all," I grunt, already turning back to the paperwork flooding my desk.
"Yes, my alpha." he responds. I'm sure I catch a glimmer of a smile on his face.
Fuck off, I link.
His laughter vibrates down the hall as he leaves.
Rowan has been at my side since I took the mantle – steady, infuriatingly perceptive, and far too good at noticing what I don't.
I close my eyes and breathe deeply. Trying to shake the image of those eyes.
Piercing green and blazing in my memory. I’d seen them before. In dreams. Visions that haunted me since I was a boy, since the day I lost my parents.
I once thought she was... something I refuse to name. But eighteen came. And went. And I remained alone.
Just the way I like it.
There was a time I believed she was out there. Somewhere. But after eighteen, hope thins with every passing year. I'm twenty-two now.
For a wolf, that raw need never disappears – it waits. Coiled beneath the surface.
A weaker wolf would have broken by now. But I’m not weak.
I’m alpha-born.
I have no time for yearning. Not when every choice I make shapes the pack's survival. When every scar carries a reminder of what failure costs
They've suffered enough. I won’t let them suffer again, not on my watch.
My wolf stirs, restless beneath my skin. An ache stirs in my chest. I shove it aside, but it won't stay buried.
I remember how her scent hit me. My wolf rose and I hadn’t even called him forward. Usually impossible without permission.
And then I saw her.
The girl—backed against the tree-line, shoulders stiff with determination. Her fists were clenched tight at her sides, but she said nothing.
She didn’t need to.
My fury did it for her.
The boy, tall and smug, was still speaking. “I guess they were right about you.”
I stepped forward, slow and deliberate. My presence cracked through the air like a storm front.
“Step away from her,” I commanded.
The boy whipped around, his bravado crumbling the instant he saw me. Practically pissing his pants.
“Alpha–” he choked, voice suddenly hoarse.
He shrank back. His friends were just beyond the clearing, already retreating like roaches at dawn.
I let my eyes glow, just enough to remind them what I was.
When I looked back at her, my breath caught.
Those beautiful, green eyes. Fierce and unafraid.
I knew then I hadn’t imagined her. And suddenly, my world tilted.
I twist in my seat and curse the Moon Goddess. This has her scent all over it.
She’s human, I remind myself.
Fragile. Temporary.
And if that were true, I wouldn't still feel her under my skin. Wouldn't still know exactly where she stood in the forest.
My pulse hasn't slowed since I left the woods. That bother me more than I want to admit.
I straighten, forcing the thoughts away.
And yet, my blood burns that someone touched her without consequence.
I can't be distracted. Whatever this is, I have to end it.
Even if it means ending something in myself.