Kaelan's POV
The Ironclaw manor had never felt so silent.
The great hall, once alive with command and movement, was now filled only with the ticking of the wall clock and the faint rustle of papers scattered across the map table. I'd been staring at the same report for an hour, but the words refused to settle.
Rowan, was late. Again.
That alone wasn't new Rowan had always believed punctuality was optional. But tonight, there was something else. A weight in the air. A stillness that made my wolf bristle under my skin.
I exhaled slowly, tracing a finger over the edge of the parchment. Patrols missing. Supply lines cut. Rogues appearing near our borders always near the southern edge, close to where Lyra's pack resided.
Coincidence? Or a warning?
The thought of her, her scent, the way her eyes had flared when she'd faced me hit harder than I wanted it to. I clenched my jaw.
I'd let her walk away tonight. I'd watched her flee into the forest, the mark on her neck hidden but alive, glowing faintly beneath her skin. My wolf had fought me for hours afterward, restless, demanding I follow.
But I couldn't. Not yet.
Not until I understood why every road in this war seemed to lead back to her.
The doors opened.
Rowan strode in, his usual easy arrogance replaced with something tighter, sharper. His expression was unreadable. "You summoned me, Alpha."
"I did," I said evenly. "The scouts near Silverpine are missing. Again. That's the third team this month. Explain."
He shrugged. "Rogues, probably. You know how these borderlands are."
"Rogues don't take trained Ironclaw wolves without leaving a trace."
He smirked faintly. "You're getting paranoid, Kaelan."
My hands curled into fists beneath the table. Kaelan. Not Alpha.
He only used my name when he wanted to test me.
"I'll be paranoid when I have reason to," I said coldly. "Until then, you'll address me properly."
His gaze flickered just for a heartbeat before the lazy grin returned. "Of course. My apologies, Alpha."
Something in me shifted then that same unease I felt for weeks now. Rowan had been my father's right hand. Loyal. Efficient. Trusted. But since my ascension, the edges of that loyalty had begun to fray.
And after last night…
After what I'd seen in Lyra's eyes the pain, the accusation I couldn't ignore it anymore.
"Tell me something," I said, stepping closer. "The night of the Silverfang massacre. You were there."
His eyes narrowed. "Why bring that up?"
"Because I want the truth. All of it."
Rowan smile didn't reach his eyes. "The truth, Kaelan, is that your father did what needed to be done. The Silverfangs were a threat. You were too young to understand the politics behind it."
"I was there," I said quietly. "I remember the flames. The screams. My father's shock."
Rowan stiffened. Barely. But I saw it.
"He didn't order it," I said. "Did he?"
The silence that followed was sharp enough to cut through bone.
Then Rowan laughed a slow, dark sound. "You've been listening to ghosts."
"No. I've been listening to my instincts. And they tell me that the only one who profited from that bloodbath was you."
The smirk vanished. "Careful, boy."
My wolf snarled at the word.
"You killed them," I said, voice low. "You turned the packs against each other and blamed my father."
Rowan eyes flashed gold. "You forget your place."
"I am your Alpha."
For a heartbeat, the world held still. Then Rowan moved faster than I expected. He slammed his hands onto the table, the wood cracking under his strength
"Your father was weak," he hissed. "And you're worse. You let a half-blood omega cloud your judgment. Do you think the Council will follow a man who mates beneath him?"
The growl ripped from my chest before I could stop it. "Watch your tongue."
But Rowan was already stepping back, a faint smile on his lips. "You want truth, Alpha? Fine. You'll have it soon enough."
He turned and strode from the room before I could stop him.
I stood there long after he was gone, the scent of his deceit hanging thick in the air.
Every instinct screamed that something was about to happen something that would shatter everything I'd built.
And then, faint and distant through the bond, I felt it Lyra's fear.
A sharp, burning jolt through my chest.
My wolf roared awake.
She was in danger.
Lyra's POV
The forest whispered danger long before I saw it.
The moon hung low, veiled by clouds, silver light flickering over the trees like a dying heartbeat. I could smell the blood before I reached the clearing sharp, metallic, and wrong. Not rogue. Not wild.
Ironclaw blood.
My chest tightened as I crouched low, scanning the bodies sprawled in the mud. Three patrol wolves, throats slit with clean precision. Whoever did this wasn't a desperate rogue this was assassination.
A warning.
A shadow moved behind me. I spun instantly, claws half-bared only to see a man stumble forward, his uniform torn and soaked in crimson. One of Kaelan's scouts.
He dropped to his knees, gasping. "Lyra"
I grabbed his shoulders. "What happened?"
His eyes were wild with panic. "They turned on us. The Beta he ordered the strike"
"Rowan?" My heart stopped cold.
He nodded, choking on blood. "They're coming for the Alpha. Tonight."
Then his head fell forward, lifeless.
For a moment, the world tilted. Rowan. Kaelan's Father Beta. His father's most trusted man. The one who'd smiled at me across the great hall and called me omega like a curse.
And now he was planning to kill his own Alpha.
I didn't think. I ran.
Branches tore at my arms as I sprinted through the woods, my wolf rising beneath my skin. The manor lights glimmered in the distance, faint through the mist. Every instinct screamed to hurry the bond between us pulsing erratically, like a heartbeat out of rhythm.
Kaelan.
My lungs burned as I reached the clearing near the southern wall. Guards lay unconscious, thrown aside with inhuman force. The gate was open inviting.
Too quiet. Too planned.
I slipped inside. The corridors were dark, filled with the faint scent of smoke and betrayal. Every creak echoed like a warning.
Then footsteps.
I pressed myself against the wall as a group of warriors passed. Ironclaw warriors. But their eyes glowed faintly red, their movements too stiff. Controlled.
Rowan doing.
"Kaelan's in the war room," one whispered. "He doesn't suspect a thing. The Beta said we take him alive."
Alive.
Which meant Rowan needed him for something.
I slipped after them, heart pounding, every sound amplified by the fury inside me. The corridor opened into the grand hall .
Kaelan.
He stood at the far end, framed by firelight, his expression sharp and unreadable. I almost called out to him until I saw the shadows behind him move.
"Kaelan!" I shouted.
He turned just as the first blade flew.
The dagger hit the map table, missing his neck by an inch. The room exploded into chaos.
Warriors lunged from the shadows. Kaelan spun, catching one by the throat and slamming him into the wall, his power crackling through the air. The scent of burnt flesh filled the hall.
"Lyra!" His voice was rough, furious. "Get out!"
"Not a chance."
I tore into the nearest attacker, my claws slicing through leather and skin. The wolf dropped, screaming, before shifting mid-air.
Kaelan's eyes widened for a heartbeat. "You"
"I told you, I can fight."
He didn't argue after that.
We moved together, almost in sync my strikes sharp and fast, his brutal and precise. It shouldn't have worked, but somehow it did. Every dodge, every spin felt like instinct.
Then Rowan appeared.
He stepped through the smoke, slow and calm, his eyes glowing gold. "So it's true," he said, voice like poison. "The mighty Alpha Draven fights beside a wolf he should've broken."
Kaelan's growl shook the room. "You betrayed my father."
"I saved the pack," Rowan spat. "From weakness. From mercy. From you.
He lunged, claws extended. Kaelan met him head-on, the clash of their strength rattling the walls. Sparks of power rippled through the room raw, Alpha against Alpha.
I barely saw the blade until it flashed toward Kaelan's back.
I didn't think I moved.
Pain tore through my shoulder as the knife sank deep, missing my heart by inches. Kaelan caught me before I fell, his roar deafening.
Blood. His scent. Mine. Tangled.
Rowan laughed. "Now you'll learn, Kaelan fate punishes the weak."
But Kaelan didn't hesitate. With a sound that was more beast than man, he drove his claws into Rowan chest and tore through.
Rowan staggered, eyes wide with disbelief, then collapsed.
The silence that followed was broken only by the crackle of the fire.
Kaelan turned to me, his hands shaking. "Lyra"
I forced a smirk through the pain. "Guess we're even now."
He caught me as my knees gave out. "You shouldn't have come."
"You'd be dead if I didn't."
His jaw clenched. "And now you're bleeding because of me."
The world started to fade around the edges, but his scent anchored me smoke, pine, and something that felt like safety.
"I'll live," I whispered.
"Not if you keep saving me," he said softly, pulling me closer.
As darkness claimed me, I heard the faint echo of his voice, rough and broken.
"I swear, Lyra Hale I won't lose you again.