Chapter 8
CADE
Idon’t leave the cabin until Clara finally forces me out.
“Go,” she says, folding her arms as she blocks the doorway. “Your pacing is making the patient nervous, and I can’t work with you looming like a thundercloud.”
I glance over my shoulder at the bed where Eliza sleeps again. Her breathing is slow and even now, her dark hair spread across the pillow like a shadow. The scratches on her arms are shallow, but the scent of dried blood still clings to the air.
My wolf bristles. Mine. The word rolls through my chest again, heavy and undeniable.
I drag a hand down my face.
“Call me if she wakes.”
Clara snorts softly.
“I would have anyway. Now go deal with your pack before they tear the town apart with speculation.”
She’s right. The scent of blood in the woods has already spread through the territory. Everyone knows something happened. And everyone knows I brought a human back alive. I step out of the cabin and pull the door shut behind me.
The night air is sharp and cold against my skin, grounding me. The moon hangs low above Silver Ridge, casting pale light across the buildings and the surrounding mountains. But the calm is an illusion.
I can feel the pack gathering. Garrett’s house sits at the edge of town, larger than the others but still built from the same dark timber and stone. Lights glow in the windows. They’re waiting. Of course they are.
When I step onto the porch, the front door opens before I even knock. Garrett Winter stands there, broad-shouldered and steady, his dark hair streaked with silver at the temples. His eyes lock onto mine immediately.
“Inside,” he says.
No greeting. No questions yet. Just authority. I step into the house. The living room is already crowded. Nolan leans against the far wall, arms crossed, his expression curious rather than worried. A few other wolves stand nearby—hunters, scouts, the pack’s strongest fighters.
And every single one of them is looking at me.
Garrett closes the door behind me.
“Well?” he asks.
I don’t waste time.
“There were six of them,” I say. “Maybe more watching from the trees.”
A low murmur spreads through the room.
“They weren’t acting like normal predators,” I continue. “They were coordinated. Organized. They surrounded the human before I got there.”
Garrett’s expression tightens.
“They were hunting her,” he says.
“Yes.”
Silence drops heavily over the room.
One of the older wolves, Marius, shakes his head.
“Then she’s the problem.”
My wolf growls instantly. Marius continues anyway.
“If those things are targeting her, we shouldn’t be protecting her. We should be sending her away before she exposes all of us.”
Several others nod in agreement.
“Humans don’t belong in pack territory,” another wolf says.
My hands curl into fists.
“She’s not leaving,” I say.
Marius scoffs.
“That’s not up to you.”
Every instinct in my body snaps tight. My wolf surges forward, claws scraping against the edges of my control.
“Yes,” I say quietly. “I do.”
Garrett watches me carefully.
“Explain,” he says.
The room waits. I take a breath. There’s no point hiding it now.
“My wolf recognized her,” I say.
Nolan straightens slightly. Garrett’s eyes narrow.
“And?” the alpha asks.
The word sits in my chest like a stone. When I finally say it, the entire room goes silent.
“She’s my mate.”
For a moment, no one moves. Then the room erupts.
“You can’t be serious—”
“A human?”
“That’s impossible.”
Marius barks out a harsh laugh.
“Your wolf picked a human? That’s ridiculous.”
My patience snaps. I step forward, letting the growl in my chest spill into the room.
“You think I’d lie about something like that?”
The air crackles with tension. Nolan pushes off the wall slowly, his gaze shifting between me and Garrett.
“Well,” he says mildly, “that explains why Cade looked ready to tear the forest apart earlier.”
Garrett raises a hand. The room falls quiet again.
“You’re certain,” he says.
“Yes.”
My wolf pushes against my ribs again, possessive and certain.
Garrett exhales slowly.
“This complicates things.”
Marius snorts.
“Complicates? It’s a disaster. If she’s his mate, he’ll never let her go. And if those creatures are hunting her, they’ll follow her straight to our doorstep.”
“They already have,” I say.
The room stills again.
Nolan tilts his head. “Meaning?”
“They were inside our territory,” I reply. “Close to the ridge. Closer than they’ve ever come before.”
That gets their attention. Garrett’s jaw tightens.
“So they’re escalating,” he says.
“Yes.”
“And you think it’s because of her.”
“I know it is.”
Silence settles over the room again, heavier this time. Garrett finally turns away, pacing slowly across the wooden floor.
“What about the human?” he asks. “Does she know anything?”
“No.”
“About us?”
“No.”
“About what attacked her?”
“Not really.”
Garrett nods thoughtfully.
“Good.”
Marius looks irritated. “Good? She saw Cade fight those things. She’s going to start asking questions.”
“She already has,” I say.
“And?”
“I told her she’s safer staying near me.”
Marius throws up his hands.
“That’s not a solution.”
“It is for now,” Garrett says calmly.
Everyone looks at him. He stops pacing and faces the room again.
“We don’t reveal anything yet,” he says. “Not until we understand what we’re dealing with.”
Nolan raises an eyebrow. “You’re letting the human stay?”
Garrett’s gaze shifts to me.
“She’s already part of this whether we like it or not,” he says. “Sending her away would only make her easier prey.”
Marius mutters under his breath but doesn’t argue further.
Garrett continues.
“We increase patrols immediately. Double the scouts along the mountain ridge and the forest perimeter.”
Several wolves nod.
“And no one,” Garrett adds firmly, “does anything that might expose the pack to the human. Not unless absolutely necessary.”
His gaze settles on me again.
“That includes you, Cade.”
I incline my head slightly.
“Understood.”
Garrett studies me for another long moment, like he’s weighing something he hasn’t said yet. The rest of the pack begins filing out of the room, boots thudding softly against the wooden floor as they head out to organize patrols. Nolan lingers near the doorway, arms folded loosely across his chest.
When the last wolf leaves, Garrett finally exhales.
“You felt it clearly?” he asks.
I know what he means. The bond.
“Yes,” I say.
The word comes out rougher than I expect. Garrett nods slowly, but his expression doesn’t soften.
“Then your control is going to matter more than ever,” he says. “A new mate bond makes wolves reckless.”
My jaw tightens.
“I’m not reckless.”
Garrett gives me a look that says he’s heard that before.
“You tore through six hybrids tonight,” he replies evenly. “You nearly shifted in front of a human. That’s already pushing the limits of restraint.”
Nolan chuckles quietly from the doorway.
“From what I hear, the hybrids didn’t exactly give Cade much choice.”
Garrett doesn’t look away from me.
“That’s not the point.”
I know he’s right. The memory of the clearing flashes through my mind again—Eliza surrounded, the creatures circling her like starving wolves.
The scent of her fear. The moment my wolf surged forward with one single instinct.
Protect. Claim. Kill anything that threatened her. My hands curl slowly into fists.
“She was going to die,” I say quietly.
Garrett’s voice remains calm.
“I know.”
For a moment neither of us speaks. Then Nolan pushes off the doorway and walks back into the room.
“So,” he says lightly, “just to clarify the situation we’re all pretending isn’t terrifying.”
Garrett sighs. “Go on.”
Nolan ticks points off on his fingers.
“Step one: mysterious hybrid monsters appear near town.”
He raises another finger.
“Step two: they specifically target Cade’s brand-new human mate.”
Another finger.
“Step three: they somehow crossed deep into pack territory without anyone noticing.”
He pauses.
“Which means either they’re smarter than we thought… or someone’s directing them.”
The room goes still. Garrett’s eyes darken.
“I’ve considered that,” he says.
A cold weight settles in my chest. Someone controlling those things would explain the way they moved in the clearing. The way they coordinated. The way they ignored me until I attacked them.
“They weren’t acting like animals,” I say. “They were following a plan.”
Nolan nods once.
“Exactly.”
Garrett folds his arms, his mind clearly turning through possibilities.
“If that’s true,” he says slowly, “then Eliza wasn’t attacked by chance.”
My wolf bristles immediately. No. Not chance. Target.
Garrett’s gaze lifts to meet mine again.
“Which means whoever—or whatever—created those hybrids knows about her.”
A low growl rumbles in my chest. Garrett doesn’t react. Instead he says the one thing I already know.
“Protecting her just became the most important job in this pack.”
My wolf answers instantly. As far as I’m concerned, it already was. But we both know that promise has limits.
Garrett studies me a moment longer before speaking again.
“You’ll stay with her.”
It isn’t a question.
“Yes.”
“Good. As such, Nolan will assist in heading this project. The naturally reckless behavior of a wolf protecting his mate needs to be countered with an assist from a capable pack member not so personally invested.”
He turns back to the room.
“Nolan, take two scouts and sweep the forest where the attack happened. I want to know if those things left tracks.”
Nolan grins slightly. “Finally. Something interesting.”
The meeting begins to break apart as wolves move to carry out Garrett’s orders.
Marius grumbles at me on my way out the door, shaking his head.
“A human mate,” he gripes. “You’ve brought trouble to our doorstep, Cade.”
I meet his gaze calmly.
“The trouble was already coming.”
He doesn’t answer.
I stop just outside the threshold. Garrett remains by the window, looking out at the dark mountains beyond town.
“You’re in deeper than you realize,” he says quietly.
“I know.”
His gaze shifts back to me.
“And the human?”
I think of Eliza asleep in Clara’s cabin, stubborn and curious and completely unaware of the storm building around her.
“She’s stronger than she looks,” I say.
Garrett nods once.
“She’ll need to be.”
Outside, the wind moves through the trees, carrying distant scents from the forest. My wolf lifts its head immediately. The creatures are still out there. Watching. Waiting.
And now they know exactly where to find her.