3

3

Kaelion

I stood by the black SUV, arms crossed, as the packhouse door creaked open. She appeared—Seraphina. She was barely holding herself together, each step looking like it might be her last. Her skin was pale, sickly, and bruises bloomed across every visible inch of her body like she’d been dragged through hell.

Pathetic.

I watched her limp toward me, her gaze unfocused, her lips trembling as if she was mumbling something to herself. She didn’t even make it halfway before her knees buckled. She stumbled forward, collapsing right into me.

For a second, I froze.

Her body was like dead weight against mine, her head falling against my chest. I could feel the heat radiating off her skin—unnatural, burning hot. My wolf growled in the back of my mind, restless, agitated.

“She’s burning up,” he muttered, his usual gruff tone laced with concern. “You’re neglecting your mate.”

She’s faking it, I shot back, shoving the annoying voice aside.

I grabbed her by the arm and yanked her away from me like she was nothing more than a sack of grain. She didn’t even flinch. Her body hung limp, her head lolling to the side, a weak, unconscious mess.

“Tch,” I muttered under my breath.

With no patience for this nonsense, I tossed her into the back seat of the SUV. She hit the leather with a dull thud, but she didn’t react. Not even a whimper. I slammed the door shut, the sound echoing through the quiet night.

Sliding into the front passenger seat, I leaned back, staring ahead as my gamma, Dax, settled into the driver’s seat. The engine roared to life, the headlights cutting through the darkness as we pulled away from the packhouse.

But no matter how much I tried to ignore it, my wolf wouldn’t shut up.

“You can smell it, can’t you?” he growled, pacing in the back of my mind. “She’s sick. Fever’s high. She reeks of infection.”

I clenched my jaw, refusing to acknowledge him. But he was right. The stench of sweat, blood, and something sour—like rotting flesh—filled the car, creeping into my senses.

“You left us single till twenty-five, and now you’re ignoring our mate? You’re a damn fool,” my wolf spat, his voice a low, irritated rumble.

I exhaled sharply through my nose and risked a glance into the rearview mirror.

She lay there, motionless, her face turned slightly toward the window. The moonlight streaming through the glass highlighted the sharp angles of her cheekbones, too pronounced from what had to be months—if not years—of neglect. Her lips were cracked, dry, and her skin was ghostly pale beneath the smears of dirt and dried blood.

She looked fragile. Breakable.

It irritated me.

“She’s weak,” I muttered, my voice low enough that only Dax might hear. “Useless.”

But my wolf wasn’t buying it. I could feel his judgment, his disdain directed at me this time.

“She’s not weak. You’re blind.”

I gritted my teeth, dragging my eyes away from the mirror. I didn’t care if she was my mate. I didn’t want a mate. I’d built my pack, my reputation, without needing anyone. And I sure as hell didn’t need some half-dead omega dragging me down.

Dax’s nervous cough snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Uh… Alpha,” he started, his eyes flicking between the road and me, “are you sure about this? I mean… she doesn’t even have a wolf. And, uh, she doesn’t look like she’s going to make it through the night.”

I shot him a glare through the mirror, my eyes narrowing into slits. Dax visibly flinched, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.

“Do I look unsure to you, Gamma?” I snapped, my voice ice-cold.

“No, alpha," he muttered quickly, his shoulders stiffening. “Just… just thought I’d ask.”

I leaned back in my seat, my jaw clenched so tight it ached. But Dax’s words echoed in my head, mixing with my wolf’s constant growling.

She didn’t seem like she had a wolf back there in the office. She was beaten down, submissive, nothing more than a broken girl. But there was something that didn’t sit right with me.

Because I felt her wolf.

When I stood in that office, looking down at her like she was beneath me, her wolf had stirred. It had cursed at me. Me. No omega without a wolf could do that. No one without a spirit burning inside them could radiate that level of defiance, even if it was buried beneath layers of pain.

There was more to this story.

Much more.

And I didn’t trust it. Not for a second.

Her father was a manipulative bastard. Everyone knew that. Why the hell would he offer me his daughter unless he had an angle? Maybe Seraphina wasn’t as broken as she looked. Maybe this was all some ploy. A trap.

I wasn’t about to be anyone’s fool.

I turned slightly in my seat, glancing back at her limp form again.

“Keep her under 24/7 surveillance,” I ordered Dax flatly. “I want eyes on her at all times. If she so much as breathes wrong, I want to know.”

“Yes, Alpha,” Dax responded quickly, but I could still hear the unease in his voice.

I watched as Seraphina stirred slightly, a soft, pained sound escaping her lips. Her brow furrowed, and she shifted like she was trying to wake up but couldn’t.

My wolf growled low in my mind, his frustration bleeding into my own thoughts.

“You’re an idiot if you think she’s faking this.”

I ignored him.

But deep down, a part of me wondered if maybe, just maybe, he was right.