Chapter : A Warning Sign

Jake POV 

The night air was thick with tension, a strange hum of unease I couldn’t shake. I prowled the edges of the city, my wolf restless beneath my skin. Something was off, though I couldn’t pinpoint what. The usual sounds of the bustling nightlife seemed muted, as if the city itself was holding its breath.  

“Dammit,” I muttered under my breath, my frustration mounting as my search yielded nothing useful.  

I’d spent hours trying to dig up anything on Riley—the elusive rogue who had been a thorn in our side for weeks—but the trail was colder than I’d anticipated. My sources had little more than whispers, rumors that amounted to nothing concrete.  

“Another dead end,” my wolf growled in my head, his irritation matching my own.  

Leaning against the hood of my car, I stared out over the city skyline. “We’re missing something,” I said aloud, the words breaking the silence. My voice was low, barely more than a rumble. “Riley’s too smart to leave a trail, but there’s always a crack. We just have to find it.”  

My wolf didn’t respond this time, and that only deepened the unease curling in my chest. Usually, we were in sync, our instincts sharp and aligned. Tonight, though, it felt like we were both distracted, as if something larger loomed just out of sight.  

---  

The drive back to the hotel was quieter than I liked, the hum of the engine failing to drown out my thoughts. By the time I arrived, the tension in my chest had only grown worse, tightening like a vice. Something was wrong—I didn’t know what, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that trouble was closing in.  

Stepping into the private elevator, the familiar scent of the family’s hotel helped calm me, if only slightly. As the elevator ascended, I took a deep breath, bracing myself for whatever waited upstairs.  

The doors slid open to the penthouse suite, and I immediately caught Lucas’s scent. It was strong, tinged with frustration so sharp it set my wolf on edge.  

“Lucas?” I called out, stepping inside and scanning the room.  

“In here,” came the reply, clipped and curt.  

---  

I followed the voice to the study, finding Lucas pacing near the window. The usually composed Alpha looked anything but calm. His movements were sharp, his shoulders tense, and his jaw was set in that way that meant he was on the edge of snapping.  

“You look like hell,” I said, leaning casually against the doorway.  

He shot me a sharp glance. “Not in the mood, Jake.”  

Raising an eyebrow, I stayed silent, waiting for him to elaborate. Lucas wasn’t one to lose his cool often. Whatever this was, it had to be big.  

After a moment, he stopped pacing and turned to face me fully. “I found her,” he said, his voice low but weighted.  

“Her?” I repeated, my brow furrowing.  

“My mate,” he clarified, and the words hit like a brick.  

---  

For a moment, all I could do was stare. Of all the things I’d expected him to say, this wasn’t even on the list.  

“You’re serious,” I said finally, disbelief coloring my tone.  

He nodded, his expression unreadable. “She’s here, Jake. In this city.”  

“Well, that explains the mood,” I said dryly, crossing my arms. “Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, happy about this?”  

His jaw tightened. “She doesn’t want anything to do with me.”  

I let out a low whistle. “Ouch. That’s rough.”  

“She’s… different,” he continued, ignoring my comment. “Strong, stubborn, and infuriatingly resistant to the bond.”  

---  

I studied him carefully. Lucas was rarely this open, especially about something so personal. Whatever was happening had knocked him off balance, and that alone was unsettling.  

“You’ve always liked a challenge,” I said, keeping my tone light even as I watched him closely. “Maybe this is the Moon Goddess’s way of keeping you humble.”  

He glared at me. “This isn’t a joke, Jake.”  

“Alright, alright,” I said, holding up my hands in mock surrender. “So what’s the plan? You’re not the type to give up, especially not on something like this.”  

“I don’t know yet,” he admitted, his voice quieter now. “She’s… complicated. There’s something she’s hiding, and I need to figure out what it is.”  

---  

I frowned, my mind spinning with possibilities. “You think she’s dangerous?”  

“No,” he said immediately, then hesitated. “At least, not in the way you’re thinking. But she’s not being honest with me, and until I know why, I can’t move forward.”  

I nodded slowly, the weight of his words sinking in. The idea of Lucas having a mate was already a lot to process, but the added layer of secrecy made the situation even more precarious.  

“Does she know who you are?” I asked.  

“Yes,” he said, his tone darkening. “And that’s part of the problem. She hates me, Jake. She sees me as a monster.”  

---  

A low growl rumbled from my chest, my protective instincts flaring. “Then she doesn’t know you at all.”  

“She knows enough,” he said bitterly. “Enough to believe I’m the villain in her story.”  

“That doesn’t mean it’s true,” I countered. “You’ve done what you had to for the pack, for this city. If she can’t see that, then she doesn’t deserve to be your mate.”  

His expression softened slightly, but the tension didn’t leave his body. “It’s not that simple.”  

“It never is,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair.  

---  

For a moment, the two of us stood in silence, the weight of the conversation settling over us like a storm cloud.  

“So what now?” I asked finally.  

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But I can’t let her go. The bond won’t let me, even if I wanted to.”  

I nodded, understanding the unspoken struggle. The mating bond was relentless, its pull impossible to ignore. For someone like Lucas, it was both a blessing and a curse.  

“Well, whatever happens,” I said, clapping a hand on his shoulder, “you’re not in this alone. We’ll figure it out.”  

He gave me a small nod of gratitude. “Thanks, Jake.”  

---  

As I left the study, my own thoughts were a tangled mess. I couldn’t shake the strange feeling in my gut, the sense that this was only the beginning of something far bigger than any of us realized.  

The tension in the city, Riley’s elusiveness, and now this—Lucas’s mate. It all felt connected in a way I couldn’t yet grasp.  

But one thing was clear: whatever storm was brewing, it was coming for us. And when it hit, we’d have to be ready.