Chapter 60
Astor’s Pov
The hammer was still hitting the inside of my skull. It wasn’t just a headache; it was a deep, throbbing migraine that had been my unwanted companion for days now. I leaned back in my
chair, rubbed my temples hard, and let out a grunt of frustration.
I was staring at the stack of patrol reports and it was all bad news when my desk phone buzzed.
Alpha Connor. Great. The one person who was somehow louder and more stressed than me these
days.
I forced lightness into my voice, even though every word felt like sandpaper scraping against my
throat. “Connor. What’s the status?”
“It’s bad Astor,” Connor’s voice rattled through the speaker, tight with fury. “I’m calling because I
need to know if you’re seeing the same pattern I am.”
I didn’t even need to ask. I just sighed. “The rogue attacks. Twice the number since last week. They’re organized, they’re coming in waves, and they’re not just sniffing the borders–they’re trying
to breach.”
A heavy pause settled between us. It was the same story, territory by territory, across the country.
“Exactly,” Connor whispered, the fury replaced by a chilling dread. “I’ve lost three patrol wolves in five days, Astor. The level of aggression… it feels like it did before. The beginning of the end, two
years ago.”
I sat up straight, the headache momentarily forgotten, replaced by a cold spike of alarm. “Don’t
even say that, Connor. We dealt with the problem.”
“Did we? Did we really?” Connor pressed. “Because these attacks, they’ve got the same brutal
signature, the reckless disregard for their own lives. They’re being led, Astor. And that only leads back to one name. The Rogue King.”
I slammed my fist onto the desk. The pain flared, but I ignored it. “I killed him, Connor. I looked him in the eye and snapped his neck two years ago. And that was the last we heard of him.”
My certainty seemed to calm Connor, but only slightly. “Okay. Okay, if you say he’s dead, then he’s dead. But something else is leading them, Astor. Something just as bad.”
We spent another ten minutes discussing strategy, agreeing to double the boundary markings and increase surveillance, before Connor switched gears, adopting a strangely light, familiar tone.
Chapter 60
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“Right. Enough war talk. On a different note, how are things back home? How’s my daughter and
my granddaughter?”
“They are fine,” I said, my jaw tightening instantly. I hate talking about this. Connor knew this.
“Good, good. They’re lucky to have you. Listen, six years is a long time, Astor. When are you finally going to propose to Alice? You two have built a life, you have a child well. Don’t you think it’s time
to make it official?”
The air in the room seemed to freeze.
“Connor,” I growled, letting my Alpha voice bleed into the phone line just enough to make him stumble. “Keep your opinions on my personal life to yourself. We have bigger problems than my
relationship status.”
He mumbled an apology, understanding he’d hit a very hard wall, and quickly ended the call.
I dropped the receiver back into its cradle, scrubbing my face with my palms. i***t. Why did everyone feel they had the right to talk about Alice? She was important to my life, yes, but she
wasn’t-
Jolt.
It wasn’t the headache. The headache was fire, but this feeling was raw electricity. It started low in my abdomen, a deep, pulling ache I hadn’t felt in six long, cold years.
The Mate Bond.
It was faint, like a distant star trying to shine through a thick fog, but the moment I recognized it, it flared into an agonizing, undeniable burn. My lungs seized up. She’s close. My body roared with a desperate, ancient recognition. The pull wasn’t gentle; it was a physical cord yanking me forward, demanding that I move.
Just as the bond hit full force, a frantic voice tore into my mind–my Beta screamed.
‘Alpha! Intruders! Not rogues!‘
I stood up so fast my chair crashed backward. The scent, the pull of the bond, was leading me
directly toward the commotion he was describing.
‘What is it?‘ I mind–linked back, already shedding my clothes as I shifted. Bone cracked and stretched, blurring the office around me. My wolf landed silently on the carpet.
I ran across the western border. ‘We have a visual, and we are moving in to subdue-‘
No! Stop! Do not engage! I commanded, already sprinting for the door, smashing through the
wood frame in a rush of need.
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George was confused. Alpha? Why? It’s a breach!
I said ‘stop! Get back!‘
+25 Points
I ran faster than I ever had, my paws thundering over the packed earth of the territory. The pain in my head was gone, overridden by the terrifying, exhilarating strength of the mate bond. It was pulling me towards the very edge of the territory.
I could smell them now: my patrol wolves, stiff with tension, and another scent, faint beneath the
pine and earth, but utterly unique and somewhat familiar.
George and two senior warriors were frozen, their muzzles pointed at the figure fifty feet away.
It was a wolf, but unlike any I had seen in decades. It was large, poised for flight, and its fur was the
purest, untouched snow.
A White Wolf.
They were near–mythical, rumored guardians, but they were also hunted and killed for their
devastating, untamed abilities. Seeing one here, in my territory, was impossible, and yet, the mate
bond screamed that this impossible creature was mine.
The white wolf turned its head. Its eyes, the color of molten silver, locked on mine. In that moment, the pull became violent, a recognition so profound it shook the ground under my paws.
I took one deliberate step forward, my hackles raised not in aggression, but in sheer, territorial demand. I let my Alpha aura flood the clearing heavy, demanding, and utterly irresistible.
The White Wolf trembled, fighting the command to submit.
I didn’t care about the laws, the danger, or the rarity. I only cared that I needed to see who was
behind those eyes.
I used my voice. Deep, metallic, and inescapable.
“Shift.”
The wolf let out a strangled, primal cry as well as half defiance anf half shattering pain and for some reason it looked like it was shifting for the first time. and its body began to convulse. Fur retracted, bones reformed with sickening clicks, and the magnificent beast melted into the form of a fragile, naked woman.
She collapsed onto the dirt, clutching her chest, her silver eyes squeezed shut against the sudden
exposure.
My heart stopped its frantic rhythm. The air left my lungs. The mate pull solidified into a crushing weight of six years of misery, betrayal, and longing.
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I stared at the pale skin, the slender frame, the fall of dark, tangled hair.
It was her.
Faith.
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The woman who had walked away, who had shattered my world and my sanity, was now lying
helpless on the ground of my territory.
