Chapter 70: The Hunt

Chapter 70: The Hunt


Kael’s POV

The night howled with me.

Every stride crushed the earth, every breath steamed like fire from my lungs. My wolf tore through the forest with a single thought pounding inside us: find her. The pack raced behind, but their paws were distant thunder compared to the storm raging in my chest.

Fianna.

Her name was a wound, raw and bleeding, carved into my heart. For moons, I had buried it. Pretended it was nothing. Pretended she was nothing. But the bond never let me forget. No matter how hard I pushed her away, no matter how deep I buried the memory of her eyes, her voice, her scent… she remained.

And now I felt her.

Weak. Shackled. Fighting.

The faintest spark of her burned against mine through the bond, stubborn and trembling. A candle in a storm. It nearly broke me in half—because I knew what that meant. She was suffering. And I wasn’t there.

I left her once, my wolf snarled, rage sharpening every word. Never again.

Branches whipped my muzzle. Roots tore at my paws. I didn’t care. I ran harder, faster, until my muscles burned and the night blurred into streaks of black and silver.

Behind me, the pack struggled to keep pace. I heard the gasps of men shifting back to human to shout at me.

“Alpha!” Rael’s voice cracked through the dark. My Beta, loyal, steady—always the anchor to my storm. He shifted mid-stride, running alongside me on two legs, his chest heaving. “If we charge Derek’s land blind, we risk slaughter. We need a plan. A siege. Time—”

I stopped so suddenly the pack nearly stumbled into me. My claws dug into the earth as I shifted, the sound of bones snapping and reforming echoing sharp in the night. I rose, naked, blood streaking my palms from where my claws had gouged my own skin.

I turned on Rael, my voice low, dangerous.

“There is no time.”

Rael’s jaw tightened. His eyes—wolf-dark, cautious—flicked over me. He saw what I was. A man barely holding the leash of the beast inside. A man consumed.

“She’s alive,” I growled, the words trembling with the force of the bond. “I feel her. She is in pain, Rael. Every breath she takes is a fight. And you want me to wait?”

The silence stretched, the rest of the pack shifting uneasily around us. My wolves had seen me furious. They had seen me merciless. But this was different. This was personal.

Rael lowered his gaze. Not in submission—but in grim acceptance. “Then we go to war.”

A chorus of howls tore through the forest behind us. My pack answering me, their voices raw and savage.

I shifted again, my wolf leaping forward with renewed fury, the trees bending to let me pass.

Hours blurred. Forest gave way to ridges of black stone. The air grew heavier, thicker with the stench of smoke and blood. Derek’s scent was everywhere, curling around my senses like poison.

And then, the stronghold rose before us.

It was a fortress carved from shadow itself. Black stone walls rose jagged against the night sky, torches burning along the ramparts. Watchtowers bristled with wolves, their glowing eyes scanning the darkness. The sound of growls drifted on the wind, low and constant, like a drumbeat.

The Shadow Pack. Derek’s army.

My wolf snarled, lips curling back. We wanted blood. We wanted to rip through those walls until nothing remained but ash.

But then—

The bond burned.

I froze, claws carving into stone, chest heaving. And there she was.

Fianna.

Her agony seared across the tether. The bite of chains. The sting of whips. The hollow ache of hunger. Her body screamed weakness—but her spirit… her spirit still burned.

I dropped to my knees, slamming a bloody palm against the earth, teeth bared as I forced myself to breathe through it. I reached back along the bond, pouring everything I had into it.

Hold on, I sent. Just hold on. I’m coming.

For a heartbeat, nothing.

And then, a flicker.

Her fire brushed mine. So faint it almost shattered me. But it was enough. Enough to know she heard. Enough to know she still fought.

My wolf threw his head back and howled, a sound that split the valley in two. A promise. A warning.

The pack joined me, their voices rising in a storm that shook the trees. Across the valley, I saw movement—shadows shifting on the battlements. Derek’s wolves had heard. They were bracing for us.

Good. Let them.

I rose, my chest heaving, my eyes locked on that fortress of stone and fire. The rage inside me had solidified into something sharper, deadlier.

This was not just a rescue.

This was retribution.

Every wolf that touched her would die. Every chain that bound her would burn. And Derek

I bared my teeth, the promise ringing through me like iron.

Derek would bleed.