Chapter Fifteen

The thick air pressed against Ryder's skin, suffocating him with its sickly sweet scent. A growl rumbled in his chest as he listened to the report from his rogue, the words like poison seeping into his veins.

"Lucia," the rogue breathed, eyes gleaming with a mixture of fear and anticipation. "She's in heat, holed up with the twin Alphas."

Ryder's grip tightened around the rogue's throat, fingers digging into the delicate flesh. Lucia was his mate, not theirs. The very thought of another laying claim to what was rightfully his ignited a blaze of possessive fury within him.

“She’s mine,” Ryder growled.

"She rejected you…” the rogue hissed, the words dripping with menace.

A feral snarl ripped from Ryder's lips, and in one swift motion, he snapped the rogue's neck, letting the lifeless body crumple to the ground. "Lucia is mine," he growled, eyes blazing with primal hunger. "No other Alpha will have her."

The night air hummed with the promise of violence, shadows cloaking Ryder's toweri