Chapter 6

Kassian’s POV

“Alpha.” The voice of my beta, Brian, cuts through the quiet like a blade, and I tense, realizing I didn’t even hear him approach. My mind has been in turmoil ever since I met Lynette—my brother's so-called best friend. My instincts had warned me she’d be trouble, but not like this. No, she’s far worse than anything I could have imagined. Her presence didn’t just stir up old memories; it awakened my wolf—the same wolf who abandoned me years ago. And as if that wasn’t enough, now I’m stuck with the reality of an unwanted mate.

It’s chaos, pure and simple. I haven’t felt this lost, this conflicted, in years. And all of it comes back to her—one woman, flipping my entire world upside down.

I need to get myself back together.

“Brian,” I say, forcing calm into my tone, “what do you have for me?”

His sigh is heavy, thick with the kind of news I’ve grown to dread. “Not good news, Alpha. Höherstehend Pack has hired vampires as reinforcements.”

I inhale sharply, the familiar burn of anger spreading through my chest. Vampires are rare now, with no king, no council, and no real power since the apocalypse that almost wiped out supernatural beings. They fight as mercenaries, desperate to survive, their venom stripped, unable to turn others. Vampires these days are shadows of what they were, but they still fight with a ferocity that makes them deadly allies.

“Vampires? To eliminate me?”

“Most likely, but for now, they’re bodyguards.” Brian’s voice is steady, but I can feel the tension beneath his words. After all, we’re barely any different from them. With the ability to shift into wolves now a rarity, only a handful of werewolves in the entire country can still take their beast form. The one advantage we hold over vampires is our ability to produce offspring with a wolf beast, whereas their chances of childbirth are abysmally low.

Even so, despite my pack boasting the highest number of werewolves with a beast in the entire continent, clashing with vampires is far from ideal.

I tilt my head, cracking my neck with the familiar roll of bone against sinew. “Then we need to level the field. How close are we to contacting The White Willow? We need him and his White Elves.” The White Elves have power we lack and that is numbers—a power that other supernaturals can’t match.

Brian sighs, frustration slipping into his expression. “It’s not easy to reach the White Elves, Alpha, but your mother has been working with one of her old witch allies. Together, they may be able to find him.”

I flinch slightly at the mention of “mother.” He’s not talking about my biological mother but my father’s second wife, a witch he brought home a year after my mother’s death. I was only seven, but even then, I understood what her presence meant.

Mates are rarer than wolf beasts—my parents being chosen mate—, and after my mother died, my father took on a new mate far too quickly. He returned with a witch and her two daughters in tow, and everyone knew he’d been cheating on my mother long before she died. I don’t blame the daughters—they were as young and innocent as I was—but I blame my father and the woman who became my stepmother. She’s been useful over the years, her witchcraft providing power and protection to our pack, that alone is worth tolerating her.

“As soon as there’s a lead, tell me. Where’s Lucian?” I ask, shifting the subject back to the matter at hand.

“Narisa came down with a fever, so he stayed with her at the hospital,” Brian replies.

I nod, considering my options. “For now, tighten the perimeter, add more guards at the boulders. And have Vivian reinforce the barrier—she’ll need to know about the vampires if she doesn’t already.” Brian shakes his head, indicating Vivian’s still in the dark. “Tell her, then. And she’ll need to combine her magic with Narisa’s.”

“Yes, Alpha.” Brian bows, his gaze flicking to me, then quickly shifting away as if he’s afraid of what he might see. I can feel it, the way my wolf’s energy radiates from me, the tension that coils around everyone near me. Brian’s been avoiding eye contact since he entered, as if Fenrir’s presence is a physical weight pressing on him.

Everyone says they can feel my alpha aura, even when I feel nothing. For years, I thought Fenrir was dead—a phantom presence in the far corners of my mind. But now he’s back, and his energy crackles around me like lightning waiting to strike.

“You may go,” I say curtly, my voice sharp and commanding.

Brian doesn’t hesitate. As if he’s been waiting for those words his entire life, he scurries out of the office, his head low, his gait awkward and hurried. He doesn’t even look back. The door slams shut behind him, leaving the room quiet except for the faint hum of the ceiling fan and the restless growl in the back of my mind.

I lean forward, my elbows resting on the desk, and press my chin against my clasped hands. My lips thin as my gaze falls to the stack of papers in front of me, though I barely see them. This is a problem. A major problem.

Fenrir’s return changes everything. For years, I’ve been able to masquerade as Rowan with relative ease. My enhanced abilities—enhanced, but incomplete—were just enough to maintain the illusion. Without Fenrir, I was... diluted. Manageable. Rowan’s aura was far more subdued than mine ever was, and I adapted to that reality. I avoided situations that required shifting, handled threats in my human form as I’ve spent years perfecting battle techniques that didn’t rely on the power I no longer had.

But now Fenrir is back, and everything is unraveling. His presence burns through me, wild and uncontainable, making it nearly impossible to suppress the full weight of my alpha aura. It won’t be long before people notice the difference—before the mask I’ve worn for so long starts to slip.

My jaw tightens, the muscles ticking as my frustration builds. And the worst part of it all? This is her fault. Lynette. If she hadn’t returned before schedule, I wouldn’t have to deal with an anxious, desperate wolf clawing at the walls of my mind.

This is what happens when a woman gets involved.

“Stop talking like an ass and be respectful of our mate! She’s precious!” Fenrir snarls, his voice rumbling low in my head, sharp with irritation.

I roll my eyes, muttering under my breath, “Of course she is.”

“She is!” Fenrir barks, his anger flashing hot and seething at my dismissal. “I can’t believe you let her leave just like that! You missed your chance!”

It’s the same complaint he’s been growling at me since he returned, and it grates on my nerves every single time. I ignore him, of course, letting him rant. He’s only been back a short time, but I’m still not used to the sound of his voice reverberating in my head after all these years. It keeps me tense, constantly on edge.

People call the true mate bond a blessing, something sacred and rare—a gift bestowed on the lucky few. But I’ve always seen it as a curse. An anchor. A weakness. When you allow someone into your heart, you also give them the power to destroy you, and I’ve seen enough destruction in my life to know better.

Name: Lynette Beverly Gold. Age: 27. An actress, a model, and an artist.

I recall the first few lines of the file I had pulled on her, the basic facts I forced myself to memorize. A human. Fragile. Clueless. Not only does she have zero knowledge about the supernatural world, but she’s surrounded by us—some of her closest friends are werewolves, witches, and other creatures that hide behind human masks—and she doesn’t suspect a thing. It’s either willful ignorance or sheer stupidity.

“She’s not an idiot,” Fenrir growls, his tone warning. “Don’t insult her.”

I scoff quietly. It’s not an insult if it’s the truth. If she had any sense, she would’ve figured it out by now. If she had any instincts, she would’ve taken the cold shoulders and sharp dismissals I’ve thrown her way as the warning they are and backed off.

But no. She’s still going to find me. My guts tells me so. I can’t afford to let anyone—anyone—ruin my plans. Not even her. Especially not her.

“I can’t believe you’re this blind,” Fenrir snaps. His voice is a low growl now, sharp and heated. “She’s not here to ruin anything. She’s here for us. She’s our mate.”

My shoulders tense instinctively, my fingers curling into fists atop the desk. “She’s yours, not mine,” I bite out, my voice a cold whisper meant only for him.

Fenrir snarls, the sound reverberating in my skull, but I push him back, shutting him out as best I can. The truth is simple. I don’t care how rare the mate bond is or how powerful it’s supposed to be. All I see is the liability it creates.

I can’t get involved with any woman. Not now. Not ever. And especially not with my mate.