Alpha Kade returned to Blackwood fortress as the sun sat high in the middle of the sky. He was exhausted and blood clung to his tunic, remnants of the night's hunt along the northern border. His men had eliminated three hybrid creatures.
One thought kept living rent free in his mind, even at the borders. He could not staunch the image of Lyra beneath him that night out of his head. The mate bond pulled at him, an invisible chain that tightened with each passing hour away from her. He despised this weakness, this need that clawed at his chest, yet he could not deny its power. The effect was subtle, until he stepped into the familiar Blackwood castle and it all came flooding back.
