Chapter 22 The Alpha’s Breaking Point
Adrian had faced battles that turned warriors into ghosts.
He had stood before enemies twice his size, torn through packs that wanted his head, and faced betrayals that would have brought lesser Alphas to their knees.
But none of those moments terrified him the way the empty clearing before him did.
The ground was scarred.
Claw marks raked through the soil as if something monstrous had dragged its fury across the earth. Broken branches hung like shattered limbs. Drops of blood dotted the leaves, dark and chilling.
And Kane’s scent lingered everywhere.
Adrian’s wolf surged violently inside him, pacing, snarling, demanding answers he did not have. Every instinct in his body screamed that she had been here. That she had been in danger. That she had fought. And that someone else had bled near her.
His vision tinted red at the edges.
Leon stumbled out of the trees, panting heavily, shirt torn, scratches across his arms and chest. His breathing shook like someone who had run for his life.
Adrian was on him in less than a heartbeat.
He grabbed Leon by the front of his shirt and slammed him against a tree so hard the trunk cracked under the impact.
“Where is she?” Adrian growled. It was not a question. It was a threat edged with agony.
Leon gasped but did not try to fight back. “Adrian, wait. Listen to me—”
“Where. Is. She.”
Leon swallowed, chest rising and falling rapidly. “She is safe. She is with the healers now. But Adrian… something attacked us.”
Adrian dropped him instantly, stepping back with a glare that could split stone. “Attacked you? Who touched her?” His voice dropped into something lethal. “What creature dared go near her?”
Leon wiped blood from his jaw. “It was not a rogue.”
Adrian froze.
Leon continued, voice thick with disbelief. “It was something else. Something twisted. Something is wrong. It changed from wolf to human as if its body was breaking itself apart.”
Adrian’s heart dropped heavily into his stomach.
He remembered only one kind of creature that shifted like that. Only one kind whose transformation caused the body to crack and twist unnaturally. One kind that carried the stench of corruption and old magic.
“No,” Adrian whispered, voice shaking with fury. “Not them. Not now.”
Leon met his eyes. “You know what it was?”
Adrian clenched his jaw. “I hoped they were only stories. My father warned me once… that if they returned, they would hunt the bloodline they failed to kill centuries ago.”
Leon stiffened. “Kane’s bloodline.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
He had known Kane was different.
He had known her wolf pulse was not like any other.
He had felt it the night she first stepped into his territory.
An echo of power, old enough to silence the forest.
Strong enough to shake his control.
But this…
This was far darker than he imagined.
He opened his eyes, fury burning bright. “Take me to her.”
They moved quickly through the woods, Leon limping slightly but refusing to slow. Adrian’s senses sharpened as Kane’s scent grew stronger. Fear clawed at him, fear he refused to let show.
When they reached the healer’s lodge, he pushed through the door with so much force the wood groaned.
Inside, Kane sat on the edge of a cot, her hands trembling, her eyes distant and haunted. A healer pressed a warm cloth to her arm, but Kane did not seem to notice.
Adrian stopped breathing.
She looked fragile in a way that shattered him.
Blood stained her sleeve. Dirt streaked her cheek. Her hair was tangled and wild. But her eyes… her eyes held something that terrified him more than any wound.
She looked like she had seen ghosts made of her own blood.
And she still had not noticed him.
He stepped forward slowly, trying not to frighten her. “Kane.”
Her head jolted up.
Their eyes met.
The moment their gazes locked, the world snapped back into itself. Kane’s breath stuttered. Adrian felt the tension in her body crack open, like she had been holding herself together with threads.
She stood abruptly.
He thought she would run into his arms.
Instead, she swayed, and nearly collapsed.
Adrian caught her before she hit the floor, one arm under her knees, the other around her back. She gripped his shirt tightly, her fingers digging into him as if he was the only thing keeping her anchored.
Her voice cracked. “Adrian… something found me.”
He held her closer. “I know. Leon told me. You are safe now.”
“No.” She buried her face in his chest. “I do not think I am.”
Adrian stiffened. He lifted her chin gently, his thumb brushing her cheek. “Tell me what happened.”
Kane’s lip trembled. “There was a woman. A vision. She called herself my ancestor. She said "I carry a bloodline that someone has been hunting for generations.”
Adrian’s heart stopped.
Kane continued, voice unsteady. “She said the wolf inside me is not like the others. That it is older. That it is feared.” Her breath shook. “And the thing that attacked us… it changed back into a man. His eyes were wrong, Adrian. Wrong.”
Adrian cupped her face with trembling restraint. “Look at me.”
She did.
“You are not alone,” he said softly. “Whatever blood you carry, whatever hunts you… it will not touch you. Not while I breathe.”
Tears filled her eyes as her fingers tightened on his shirt again. “You do not understand. He killed her. He killed the mother of my blood.”
Adrian froze.
“Who?” he demanded.
Kane shook her head. “I do not know his name. The man said he is rising again… and he wants my blood.”
Adrian’s wolf lunged inside him, snarling and roaring with violent fury. He pulled Kane tighter against him, his lips brushing her temple as he whispered, “Over my dead body.”
She shivered. “I think he is coming soon.”
Adrian lifted her fully into his arms and sat with her on the cot, never letting go. She curled into him as if trying to fold herself into his heartbeat.
He rested his chin on her hair. “Tell me everything. From the moment you entered the woods.”
She did.
Her voice was soft, shaky, but steady enough to paint the entire story. The vision. The woman with silver eyes. The warning. The creature. The shift. The revelation.
Adrian listened without interrupting, every word twisting deeper into him like thorns.
When she finished, silence fell heavy around them.
Leon leaned against the wall, arms crossed tightly, his jaw clenched. The healer moved quietly around them, giving space.
Finally, Adrian spoke. “Kane… what you saw in the forest… what attacked you… it matches the legends of the Hollowed Wolves.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “What are they?”
Adrian’s voice dropped to a low, cold tone. “They were wolves once. Wolves who betrayed their own kind. They allowed dark magic into their bodies to gain more power. But the magic was corrupted. It broke their souls and twisted their shifts. They became something in between. Something that serves only the one who created them. The one who feeds on powerful blood.”
A shiver crawled through Kane. “The man said the one who killed my ancestor is rising.”
Adrian nodded grimly. “That would be the Devourer.”
Kane stiffened. “Devourer?”
“He is not an Alpha. He is something older. Something that should have died a long time ago. He hunts rare wolves… wolves with ancient blood.”
Kane’s breath hitched. “Like me.”
Adrian held her face gently between his palms. “He will not touch you. Not while I am alive. Not while my pack stands. You are mine to protect, Kane.”
Her eyes softened with something warm and aching.
But her voice trembled. “What if protecting me gets more people hurt?”
Adrian shook his head. “I do not care what comes. I will face it.”
She lowered her gaze. “I do not want anyone to die because of me.”
He lifted her chin. “Listen to me. You did not choose this blood. You did not choose what hunts you. But you are not facing it alone.”
Her breath grew shaky. “Adrian…”
He pressed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. “I was terrified when I could not find you.”
She swallowed hard. “I thought I was going to die.”
Adrian’s voice cracked in a way he never allowed anyone to hear. “If you had… I would have torn the forest apart.”
Silence settled, soft and trembling.
Then she whispered, “What do we do now?”
Adrian opened his eyes. They glowed faintly.
“We prepare,” he said. “We get answers. We protect the pack. And we find out why your bloodline survived when it was supposed to be erased.”
“And the Devourer?” Kane asked quietly.
Adrian’s jaw clenched. “We find him before he finds you.”
Her fingers tightened on his arm. “Will he come?”
Adrian looked at her as if he could shield her from the world with his own body.
“Yes,” he said softly. “He will come.”
Kane shivered.
Adrian pulled her close again, wrapping her fully in his embrace as the weight of the future settled over them.
“But when he does,” Adrian whispered into her hair, “he will discover something your ancestor never had.”
Kane looked up at him.
Adrian brushed a thumb across her cheek. “You have me.”