Chapter 396
The night did not retreat when dawn came.
Instead, it seemed to settle deeper into the land, clinging to the trees, the ruined stone, and the bodies that had not yet been moved. The sky lightened only slightly, a pale, sickly gray that offered no comfort. It felt like the world itself was holding its breath, uncertain whether it was allowed to move forward after what had happened.
He stood at the edge of the clearing, shoulders rigid, blood drying in dark lines along his forearms. Some of it was his. Most of it was not.
The bond throbbed like an open wound.
Not screaming.
Not begging.
Just there. Constant. Heavy.
She was alive. He knew that much. If she were dead, the bond would have shattered completely. He would not still be standing. He would not still be breathing.
But she was not here.
Around him, the pack moved slowly, quietly, as if loud sounds might cause the fragile balance of the moment to collapse. Warriors cleaned their blades with trembling hands. Healers worked in silence, kneeling beside the wounded, their faces drawn tight with exhaustion and fear.
No one spoke her name.
No one dared.
Because everyone felt it. The hollow absence where her presence should have been. The way the air itself seemed thinner without her.
He finally turned, his gaze cutting through the clearing.
“Where.”
The single word carried more authority than any shout.
One of the scouts stepped forward, head bowed. “We tracked the blood for almost two miles, Alpha. It stops at the ravine. There were signs of a struggle. Heavy boots. Chains.”
Chains.
His jaw tightened.
“They planned this,” the scout continued, voice tight. “This wasn’t chaos. It was a retrieval.”
A muscle jumped in his cheek.
“They didn’t want to kill her,” another voice added quietly. “They wanted to take her.”
The bond pulsed again, sharp enough to steal his breath for a heartbeat. Anger rolled through him, vast and violent, but beneath it was something worse.
Fear.
Not the kind that made a man hesitate.
The kind that made him certain of what he would destroy.
He closed his eyes for a moment, forcing himself to breathe, to think. Rage would come later. It would come fully. Completely. But right now, he needed clarity.
“What about the mark?” he asked.
The healer nearest to him stiffened. “It’s… muted. Not gone. But suppressed. Whoever took her knew how to interfere with the bond.”
That was new.
That was dangerous.
His eyes snapped open. “Then they know exactly who they’re dealing with.”
A murmur rippled through the pack. Some looked frightened. Others looked eager.
He straightened slowly, every inch of him radiating cold, lethal resolve.
“Prepare the trackers,” he said. “I want our fastest wolves ready within the hour. Anyone too wounded to run stays behind.”
A protest started to rise, but he cut it off with a look.
“This is not a rescue party,” he continued. “This is a hunt.”
The words settled heavily.
“They crossed into forbidden territory,” he said. “They took what belongs to this pack. To me.”
His voice lowered, rough with promise.
“And they will learn what that costs.”
Far away, stone walls swallowed sound.
She woke to darkness and pain.
Not the sharp kind. The dull, suffocating ache that spread through her limbs and made it hard to tell where her body ended and the cold floor began. Her wrists burned. Chains bit into her skin, etched with symbols she did not recognize but instinctively hated.
Her throat was dry. Her head pounded.
For a terrifying moment, she felt nothing else.
No warmth.
No familiar pull.
No steady presence in the back of her mind.
Panic surged.
She reached inward, instinctively searching for him, for the bond that had always been there, even in the worst moments.
There was something.
Distant. Faint. Like a heartbeat heard through layers of stone.
She sucked in a shaky breath.
Alive.
Both of them.
The door creaked open.
Light spilled in, harsh and blinding, and she squeezed her eyes shut as footsteps approached. They were unhurried. Confident.
A shadow fell over her.
“Well,” a voice said calmly, “you lasted longer than expected.”
She forced her eyes open.
The man standing over her smiled, and there was no warmth in it at all.
“You’re going to be very important,” he continued. “To a lot of people who thought you were just a rumor.”
Her fingers curled weakly around the chain.
“And to the Alpha who’s already on his way,” he added softly.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
The man leaned closer, lowering his voice.
“Let’s see how far he’s willing to go to get you back.”
The door closed again, plunging her back into darkness.
And somewhere in that darkness, the bond trembled.
Not broken.
Just waiting.