Kael Ravencroft hated the story Rhys had invented.

He hated it more every time another Alpha smiled knowingly and said some version of the same thing.

Still searching for your mate, Your Majesty?

Kael sat in the back of the vehicle with one arm braced against the window and stared at the approaching Crimson Fang border.

Across from him, Rhys Calder looked entirely too pleased with himself.

“Say it,” Kael muttered.

Rhys raised a brow.

“Say what?”

“That this was a brilliant cover story.”

Rhys smiled.

“It was a brilliant cover story.”

Kael looked away.

“The fourth pack.”

“Yes.”

“The fourth pack where every eligible daughter, cousin, niece, and ambitious widow has been placed directly in my path.”

“That means the cover is working.”

“It means I am considering killing you.”

Rhys laughed.

Kael did not.

The real reason for the journey had nothing to do with romance.

Rogue attacks had increased across several territories.

Not random raids.

Too coordinated.

Too informed.

One pack lost a border supply cache the same night patrol rotations changed.

Another was attacked through an old service path known only to ranked wolves.

Crimson Fang had suffered an assault months ago that resulted in only two deaths.

Two civilian deaths inside defended territory.

Kael had questions.

Rhys wanted those questions hidden behind a harmless rumor.

The Alpha King was searching for his mate.

Pack leaders relaxed around romance.

They did not relax around investigations into internal betrayal.

“I still hate it,” Kael said.

“Good. It makes you convincing.”

Inside Kael, Orion stirred.

“I do not hate it.”

Kael closed his eyes.

Of course not.

Orion had spent years complaining about one thing.

Mate.

“We should have found her already.”

“We are working.”

“We are investigating.”

“You are avoiding.”

Kael’s jaw tightened.

“Those are not the same thing.”

“To you.”

Rhys watched him.

“Orion?”

“Yes.”

“Still upset?”

“Always.”

A low growl rolled through Kael’s mind.

“I heard that.”

“Good.”

The vehicle crossed the outer marker of Crimson Fang territory.

Orion went silent.

Kael noticed immediately.

His wolf was almost never silent when the subject of mates came up.

“Orion?”

Nothing.

Then a violent pressure slammed through Kael’s chest.

He sucked in a breath.

His hand closed around the edge of the seat.

Rhys straightened.

“What?”

Kael did not answer.

Orion surged to the surface with enough force to make his vision sharpen.

Trees.

Wind.

Pack scent.

Hundreds of wolves.

Underneath all of it—

Something.

Faint.

Impossible to hold.

But powerful enough to make Orion pace like a trapped animal.

“Mate.”

Kael went still.

“No.”

Orion snarled.

“Yes.”

Rhys’s eyes widened slightly.

“What happened?”

Kael exhaled through his nose.

“He thinks she is here.”

Rhys blinked.

Then smiled.

Kael pointed at him.

“Do not.”

“I did not say anything.”

“You are thinking loudly.”

“I was just thinking the cover story may have become inconveniently accurate.”

Kael looked back out the window.

Orion pushed harder.

“Find her.”

“We have a mission.”

“Find mate.”

“We are on another Alpha’s land.”

“We are the Alpha King.”

“That does not make every border ours.”

Orion growled.

“Then ask.”

“We do not even know who we are looking for.”

“I will know.”

Kael believed that.

That was the problem.

The pull was not strong enough for Kael to identify a face or direction, but Orion was certain.

Their mate was somewhere inside Crimson Fang.

And Kael had spent years avoiding the possibility because enemies had a habit of turning loved ones into leverage.

A mate would be more than leverage.

She would be a weakness everyone could smell.

Orion hated that thought.

“She will not be weak.”

“That is not what I said.”

“You think protecting someone makes them weak.”

“I think having enemies makes everyone vulnerable.”

“Then kill the enemies.”

Kael almost smiled.

Sometimes he envied the simplicity of wolves.

The vehicle stopped in front of the pack house.

Derek Ashborne waited on the steps with several ranked wolves.

Beside him stood a woman Kael assumed was Luna Marissa Vale.

She had prepared carefully for the greeting.

Too carefully.

Her dress was elegant in the way that made its intention obvious. Her smile lingered a little too long before she bowed her head.

“Alpha King Kael,” Derek said. “Welcome to Crimson Fang.”

Kael returned the formal greeting.

“Alpha Derek.”

Marissa stepped closer.

“Your Majesty. We are honored.”

Orion recoiled.

“Not mate.”

Kael resisted the urge to answer aloud.

Rhys’s voice slid through the mind link.

“She is trying very hard.”

“I noticed.”

“Her Alpha noticed?”

Kael glanced at Derek.

Hard to tell.

Marissa continued.

“We have prepared a mating ball tonight. Every available she-wolf in the pack will attend.”

Orion’s disgust intensified.

“Waste of time.”

Kael agreed.

He looked at Derek.

“The ball can wait.”

Marissa blinked.

Derek’s attention sharpened.

Kael continued.

“I want to discuss the rogue attack from several months ago.”

A tiny pause.

Barely there.

Kael saw it anyway.

Marissa recovered first.

“That matter was investigated.”

“So I assume.”

Kael’s voice remained calm.

“That means the records will be easy to review.”

Marissa’s smile thinned.

“The pack is safe now.”

“I would prefer to decide that after I hear what happened.”

Derek stepped in.

“Of course. We can speak in my office.”

Kael nodded.

As they moved toward the entrance, Orion turned restless again.

“She is close.”

“Can you tell where?”

“No.”

“Helpful.”

Orion ignored the insult.

“She is not in front of us. Not this Luna. Not any of these wolves.”

Kael’s senses stretched outward.

Something faint brushed him.

Then vanished.

Not perfume.

Not ordinary wolf scent.

Almost like moonlight after rain.

He stopped for half a step.

Rhys noticed.

“What?”

Kael looked toward the forest beyond the pack house.

Nothing there.

At least nothing he could see.

“Mate?” Rhys asked quietly.

Kael started walking again.

“Maybe.”

Orion snarled.

“Not maybe.”

Inside the office, Derek offered him the Alpha’s chair.

Kael took the one opposite instead.

He did not need furniture to establish dominance.

Derek noticed.

So did everyone else.

Good.

Kael folded his hands.

“Now.”

The room settled.

“Tell me exactly how rogues entered Crimson Fang territory, and why two members died when everyone else reached shelter.”

Derek’s expression changed.

Just enough.

Kael leaned back.

The mating ball could wait.

The mate could wait for a few minutes more.

But if the attack had been assisted from inside this pack—

Then whoever had opened that door might still be standing behind one.

Derek did not sit.

Neither did Marissa.

Kael noticed both.

The Alpha office was large enough to impress visiting leaders, but most of the room’s authority still came from the wolves inside it. Derek stood behind his desk. Marissa remained near his right side. Gavin Holt and Noah Reed had joined them.

Rhys took the chair beside Kael.

No one spoke until Kael did.

“Start from the beginning.”

Derek nodded once.

“The attack began at the northern border shortly after midnight. The sentries raised the alarm. First defense engaged. Civilians were ordered to the bunker.”

“Who issued the civilian order?”

Marissa answered.

“I did.”

Kael looked at her.

“Pack-wide?”

“Yes.”

“Clear enough that no one could misunderstand it?”

Marissa’s chin lifted.

“Every member heard me.”

Kael turned back to Derek.

“How many casualties?”

Derek hesitated.

“Two pack members.”

“Warriors?”

“No.”

“Then why were they outside the bunker?”

The room went quiet.

Orion stopped pacing inside Kael’s mind.

Derek’s voice came more carefully now.

“We do not know.”

Kael let that answer sit.

Derek continued.

“They were mates. Longtime members of Crimson Fang. The father worked lower-ranked guard duties. The mother helped in the kitchens.”

“Names?”

Derek gave them.

Kael stored them away.

“And every other civilian reached shelter?”

“Yes.”

“Every single one?”

“Yes.”

Rhys shifted slightly beside him.

Kael did not need the mind link to know what his Beta was thinking.

Two deaths.

Only two.

Both from one household.

Kael asked, “What did the investigation find?”

Derek’s posture straightened.

“We interviewed sentries, checked patrol logs, reconstructed the attack route, and questioned everyone responsible for evacuation.”

“And?”

“Nothing that proved outside manipulation.”

Marissa spoke.

“The order was heard. Everyone else obeyed. They did not.”

Kael looked at her.

“You are saying two bonded wolves, both known for following pack rules, independently chose to ignore a direct emergency order during a rogue attack?”

Her mouth tightened.

“I am saying we found no other explanation.”

That was not the same thing.

Kael turned to Gavin.

“You oversee guard access?”

“Among other duties.”

“Any compromised gate?”

“No.”

“Broken seal?”

“No.”

“Unknown scent near the bunker route?”

“No.”

“Missing guard?”

“No.”

Too fast.

Not necessarily a lie.

But rehearsed.

Kael looked at Noah.

“Anything you would add?”

Noah shook his head.

“The attack was chaotic, but the records matched the reports.”

Kael leaned back.

The story was possible.

That bothered him.

Good lies usually were.

If every record agreed, every sentry repeated the same timeline, every civilian heard the same command, and only two people ended up outside—

Then the simplest answer was disobedience.

Except bonded wolves did not casually walk into an active attack.

And people described as painfully loyal did not both decide, on the same night, to ignore the one order designed to keep them alive.

Kael asked, “Did they have children?”

Derek’s gaze shifted.

“One daughter.”

Something in Orion sharpened.

Kael felt it.

“What?”

His wolf did not answer.

Kael kept his expression neutral.

“The daughter,” he said aloud. “Where was she during the attack?”

“First defense.”

Rhys looked up.

Kael did too.

“A civilian couple’s daughter was first defense?”

“She was a warrior then.”

“Then?”

Derek exhaled.

“She resigned after the funeral.”

That interested Kael more than he wanted to show.

“Why?”

Marissa answered before Derek could.

“She was grieving.”

Derek looked at her.

Kael caught the look.

Not agreement.

Correction held back.

He returned to Derek.

“Why?”

Derek said, “She believed her parents were targeted.”

“Was there evidence?”

“No proof.”

“Did she accuse anyone?”

Marissa’s shoulders went rigid.

Interesting.

Derek said, “She blamed leadership for failing the evacuation.”

“That is not what I asked.”

Silence.

Rhys lowered his eyes to hide what might have been amusement.

Kael waited.

Derek finally said, “She suspected there was betrayal inside the pack.”

“And what did you conclude?”

“That we had no evidence to support it.”

“So she resigned.”

“Yes.”

“From a pack she had fought for during the attack.”

“Yes.”

“And remained inside the territory?”

Derek paused.

“Yes.”

Kael’s attention sharpened further.

“Why?”

“I do not know.”

Marissa said, “Because she likes the attention.”

Orion growled so suddenly that Kael’s fingers tightened on the chair.

“Wrong.”

Kael ignored him.

Rhys did not.

His voice slipped through the link.

“Your wolf has opinions about a woman we have not met.”

“He has opinions about everyone.”

“Not like that.”

Kael asked Derek, “What is her name?”

“Elara Voss.”

Orion surged.

The reaction was immediate enough that Kael almost lost the next breath.

“Elara.”

Kael repeated nothing aloud.

But the name settled inside him.

He did not know why.

Not yet.

He stood.

Derek straightened.

“Is there a problem?”

“Not yet.”

Kael crossed to the window.

Beyond the glass, Crimson Fang spread through the trees.

Training grounds.

Cabins.

Paths.

Somewhere among them was the daughter of the only two civilian casualties.

A former warrior who had resigned because the official explanation did not satisfy her.

Somewhere among them was also Kael’s mate.

Orion pressed forward.

“Same place.”

Kael stared outside.

“You do not know that.”

“I know she is here.”

“That tells us nothing.”

“It tells us enough.”

Rhys joined him near the window.

Quietly, he said, “The records?”

Kael nodded.

“We review them.”

Derek said behind them, “You are reopening the investigation?”

Kael turned.

“No.”

Marissa visibly relaxed.

Kael continued.

“I am checking whether your security is strong enough to survive another attack.”

Her relief disappeared.

“If that requires looking at an old failure, I will.”

Derek inclined his head.

“Understood.”

Kael moved toward the door.

The mating ball would begin soon.

He had no interest in it.

Orion had even less.

“Mate is not in this room.”

“I noticed.”

“She is not this Luna.”

“I noticed that too.”

“Find her.”

Kael almost sighed.

“After the records.”

Orion’s growl filled his skull.

Rhys heard enough through their link to smile.

“Your Majesty?”

Kael looked at him.

Rhys wisely changed the subject.

“I will get the patrol reports.”

Kael stepped into the corridor.

A faint scent touched him again.

Silver rain.

Cold air.

Something wild enough to make Orion go completely still.

Kael turned toward the open doors at the far end of the hall.

The scent was already gone.

But for the first time since entering Crimson Fang, he was certain of two things.

The attack report was too clean.

And his mate was much closer than anyone in this pack realized.

The mating ball had been designed to impress a king.

Crystal lights hung from the rafters of Crimson Fang’s grand hall. Music rolled through the room. Every unmated wolf in the pack seemed to have found a reason to stand where Kael might see them.

He noticed none of it.

Orion was making that impossible.

“She is not here.”

Kael accepted a glass he had no intention of drinking.

“You have said that eleven times.”

“Because you are still here.”

Rhys stood beside him, watching the crowd.

“He is right about one thing.”

Kael looked at him.

Rhys shrugged.

“If your mate were in this room, I doubt your wolf would be this angry.”

Orion snarled approval.

Kael regretted inviting either of them into his life.

Across the room, Marissa laughed too loudly at something one of the visiting wolves said.

A moment later, she drifted closer.

Again.

“Alpha King,” she said, “you have barely spoken to anyone tonight.”

“I have spoken to everyone I need to.”

Her smile held.

Barely.

“The purpose of this gathering is to help you meet available wolves.”

“So I was told.”

She stepped closer.

“I would hate for Crimson Fang to disappoint you.”

Orion recoiled.

“Make her leave.”

Kael kept his tone polite.

“I am not disappointed, Luna Marissa.”

Her smile returned.

Then he added, “The security records were very informative.”

It disappeared again.

Rhys coughed into his glass to hide a laugh.

Before Marissa could answer, Orion surged.

Not angry this time.

Alarmed.

Kael’s head snapped toward the doors.

“What?”

His wolf had gone rigid inside him.

“Mate.”

The word came low.

Then louder.

“Mate.”

Kael set the untouched glass down.

Rhys noticed immediately.

“What is it?”

“She moved.”

“Your mate?”

Orion roared.

“Danger.”

The first alarm horn shattered the music.

Everything stopped.

One heartbeat of perfect silence.

Then the hall exploded.

Someone screamed.

A glass hit the floor.

Warriors rushed toward the exits while civilians turned the other way, confusion colliding with instinct.

“Rogues!” a guard shouted from the doorway. “Southern border!”

Kael was already moving.

Orion slammed against his control.

“Mate is there.”

“You do not know that.”

“I KNOW.”

Derek stood near the center of the hall.

Still.

Kael stopped.

“Which defense line is responding?”

Derek straightened.

“Warriors are first response. Deltas are second. If the rogues get through them, leadership will engage.”

Kael stared at him.

For a second, he thought he had misunderstood.

“You are waiting?”

“The first line is trained for this.”

Orion’s fury crashed through Kael.

“Coward.”

Kael agreed.

His aura rolled outward.

The room quieted around it.

Even panicked wolves froze.

Kael walked straight toward Derek.

“An Alpha does not wait for his warriors to bleed through two lines before deciding the danger is worthy of him.”

Derek’s face tightened.

“This is how Crimson Fang organizes defense.”

“And months ago two civilians died inside those defenses.”

The words hit hard.

Derek went still.

Kael pointed toward the doors.

“You will lead.”

The Alpha pressure behind the command was not subtle.

Derek’s knees almost bent.

“Yes, Alpha King.”

“Now.”

Derek moved.

Gavin and Noah followed.

Kael turned to Rhys.

“Get the Royal Guard with us. Everyone else helps secure the civilians.”

Rhys nodded.

Marissa called after Derek.

Kael did not hear what she said.

Orion was too loud.

“Faster.”

Kael ran.

The southern border lay beyond the ceremonial grounds, through a thick stretch of forest.

Blood reached him first.

Then steel.

Then screaming.

Orion pushed against him hard enough to blur the edges of Kael’s control.

“She is fighting.”

Kael’s pulse changed.

“How can you know that?”

“I FEEL HER.”

They ran faster.

***

Elara had skipped the mating ball.

No one had been surprised.

She had spent enough of her life standing in rooms built around other people’s expectations.

Instead, she had gone to an old southern training path after the last pup left her cabin.

The place was quiet.

Usually.

The first rogue came over the ridge without warning.

Elara heard it before she saw it.

Astra snapped awake.

“Left.”

Elara turned.

The wolf hit the ground where she had been standing.

Her knife went into its shoulder.

It twisted, snarling.

A second rogue appeared behind it.

Then five more.

Elara’s stomach dropped.

“Attack.”

“No alarm yet,” Astra said.

Which meant the rogues had reached too far inside before being seen.

Again.

Elara ripped her knife free.

“Then we make one.”

She mind-linked the nearest patrol.

“ROGUES. SOUTHERN RIDGE. MOVE.”

The first wolf lunged.

Elara met it head-on.

By the time the official alarm horn sounded, two rogues were already dead.

More poured through the trees.

A southern patrol arrived from the west.

Three warriors.

Then six.

Not enough.

“Elara!” one shouted.

“Behind me!”

She hated how natural the command felt.

Hated how quickly everyone obeyed.

But there was no time to argue about whether a civilian had the right to lead.

A rogue tore into one of the younger warriors.

Elara cut it off.

Another came from the side.

Astra fed strength into her legs.

Elara moved faster than a human should.

Not enough to reveal them.

Enough to survive.

The southern line collapsed inward.

“Fall back ten yards!” Elara shouted. “Keep the injured behind us!”

Warriors dragged two wounded wolves away.

Elara took position in front.

A second blade appeared in her hand.

Rogues circled.

Blood darkened the ground.

Astra growled.

“There are too many.”

“I noticed.”

“We may need more.”

“Not yet.”

A rogue charged.

Elara killed it.

Another.

Then another.

Behind her, someone whispered, “How is she still standing?”

Elara ignored him.

Because through the noise, Astra suddenly went silent.

Not battle-focus silent.

Different.

Elara felt it too.

A pressure in the distance.

Massive.

Approaching fast.

Astra’s attention snapped toward the trees.

“Oh.”

Elara blocked a set of claws.

“Oh what?”

Astra did not answer.

The forest erupted with approaching wolves.

Derek’s scent.

Gavin.

Noah.

Foreign wolves.

And one presence that made every instinct inside Elara tighten at once.

The rogues attacked again.

She had no time to understand it.

“Hold!”

***

Kael broke through the tree line.

Then stopped.

The battlefield spread before him.

Bodies.

Blood.

Wounded Crimson Fang wolves.

And at the center of it all stood a woman in human form.

Two blades in her hands.

Dark hair pulled away from her face.

Blood across one shoulder.

Rogues lay dead around her.

Behind her, injured wolves were still alive because she had planted herself between them and the enemy.

Orion stopped breathing.

Kael did too.

The strange scent that had haunted him since entering Crimson Fang suddenly hit with enough force to lock every muscle in his body.

Silver rain.

Moonlight.

Blood.

The woman turned toward another attacking rogue.

Orion surged forward with a sound Kael had never heard from him before.

Not rage.

Recognition.

“THERE.”