Birdsong had gone silent. The wind stilled. Not peace.
Omen.
The Hollow was close, and I was almost too late.
Chapter 25
Rowen
The morning had started normallyenough. Brand had asked me to go over the patrol rotations with him—an olive branch from the older beta, which I took willingly. A few of the younger pack had argued over training techniques, and Killian had already threatened to put his foot up their asses if they didn’t stop whining and get back into the training ring andlearn.
Diesel had left the day before, taking a small contingent of shifters, Stonefang and Hollow alike, back to Stonefang Pack, and the druid had watched them go like an eerie specter.
Axel and Cody were on patrol. With Wolfe and Diesel gone, the remaining members of his inner circle ensured they were in most patrol runs. Thalia had jumped in too, and I loved the fact that these males, these males built like human tanks, made room for her, like she was their equal.
Until I realized they thought of her that way too, and I knew I had misjudged them when they came here. They weren’t trying to change my pack, they were trying to make it stronger, and I had been so blind.
Business as usual, an almost normal day in the Hollow, if you discounted the fact that its alpha was not here.
But by midday, the air shifted.
Not the weather—not exactly. It was sunny, still warm. No clouds, no storm in sight. But I could feel something in my skin, crawling beneath it like the promise of pressure before a downpour.
In my chest, the bond pulled taut.Wolfe?
There was no answer, but it didn’t feel like absence. It felt like movement. Speed. Panic barely contained. I pressed my hand to the curve of my ribs, right over my heart, and closed my eyes.
I felt it again.
A shiver. A tremor along the bond that said he’s coming—not in control, not like before. This wasn’t just him returning from a Council summons.
This was run or lose everything.
My breath hitched.
“Something’s wrong,” I said aloud, barely aware that I’d spoken. Thalia looked up from the table, her brows drawing tight.
“What is it?”
I didn’t answer. We were in the pack hall, and she followed me as I stood and moved to the doors, looking out at the forest where the trees grew thick and old, where the shadows crept even in daylight. The woods were too quiet. Like the earth had exhaled and refused to breathe in again.
And the bond…the bond throbbed in my chest now, sharp and aching. My skin prickled.
He was close.
But so was something else. I didn’t know what was coming, but I knew it wasn’t finished. Something had followed Wolfe back.
Or waited for him to leave.
Either way, it was already here, and I was no longer sure we had time to prepare. I didn’t wait for confirmation.
I ran from the hall and raced to the training ring, Killian’s head snapping up when he saw me running. “I want every patrol within our perimeter, not outside it. I want the north trail watched. I want our youngest and our elders inside the west wing of the hall, and I want eyes on anyone who is in doubt.Now.”
Killian blinked. “Rowen?—”
“There’s no time,” I snapped.
Killian didn’t pause a second time. He turned and started barking out my orders to the trainees.
