Chapter 226 226
Maurice POV
Fuck.
No wonder I’ve been on edge all week.
I’ve had a shifter trespassing on my land.
It all clicks into place now the constant unease, the way my wolf refused to settle. I’d been too far from my territory to sense it properly, too removed from home to feel the violation the way I should have.
“Check every building. Every supermarket,” I bark into the phone. “I’m on my way.”
I cut the call before my beta can respond.
“I’ve got a lead. I need to go,” I say sharply, already on my feet, already moving, the chair scraping loudly behind me as I surge toward the door.
“I’ll let Damien know,” Lucas says, his eyes glazing over as he slips into a mind-link.
Good. He needs to understand I’m not waiting.
“Can we come?” The Darkvale warriors step forward, fire burning in their eyes, restless and ready.
“Fine,” I growl. “Let’s go.”
The moment we cross into my territory, we split up and begin the search. The group is a blend of warriors mine, Damien’s, and Aurélie’s moving fast, efficient, silent.
Damien is going to be in serious trouble when he gets back. Leaving Aurélie sleeping? Idiot. He’ll be lucky if his wolf isn’t banished to a doghouse outside. At least he’d had the sense to inform Fabrice of our movements.
Hours pass. Whoever this female is, she knows how to disappear.
“Alpha!” One of my men pushes urgently through the mind-link. “There’s a girl in an empty warehouse. We’re chasing her into the woods now.”
“Where?” I snap.
“Warehouse B25.”
The link cuts.
“Possible ID,” I say aloud. “Move.”
I don’t bother with the vehicles. Cutting across the fields toward the industrial estate will be faster for our wolves and time is something we don’t have to waste.
We reach the area quickly. At first, everything is eerily still. Then we hear it movement, branches snapping, something running hard through the woods ahead.
We surge forward.
And then I see her.
She’s standing there, right in front of me.
Beautiful achingly so.
Her hair is brown, but only because she’s dyed it. The undertone of her skin, the delicate lines of her features, everything about her says she should be blonde. Fragile. Soft.
Until she charges toward me.
She’s gripping a metal bar in her hands, wild-eyed and desperate.
I know instantly what she is to me.
I don’t slow. My wolf doesn’t hesitate. We keep moving until she skids to a halt, terror flashing across her face as she takes in the sight before her.
Too many wolves?
Too many scents?
A mix of packs, unfamiliar dominance pressing in from every direction it’s enough to overwhelm anyone.
Something deep inside me aches to soothe her, to calm her, to make her understand she’s safe. I step forward
and Damien slams into my side.
A deliberate nudge. A show of dominance.
My wolf snarls in fury.
This is my land. And I’ll be damned if I bow to a King I’ve never sworn allegiance to.
Our wolves clash raw, brutal power colliding. Damien is stronger than I remember.
The bastard.
He’s drawing strength from his mate.
An alpha mate.
It isn’t until Aurélie arrives her gaze sharp as blades that Damien finally checks himself. With her presence anchoring him, our fight breaks apart.
My focus snaps back to the trespasser.
The pull hits me like gravity.
My soul is no longer my own it belongs to her.
My wolf yields completely, surrendering control as I shift, needing human eyes, human skin, to truly see her. To touch her.
She flinches at the sudden movement, then stills as her gaze drifts over my body.
I can smell Damien’s bloodline on her but her own scent is faint. Wrong. Muted. I don’t understand it.
But my wolf does.
He knows exactly what she is.
What we’ve been searching for all this time.
“Mine,” I growl, locking eyes with my mate.