Chapter 14

I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were standing on the edge of something that could tear us apart.

POV: Elara

The morning sun cast long shadows over the Talon Pack compound, illuminating the familiar faces I had come to know over decades of service. But the light did little to ease the growing tension that clung to the pack like a storm waiting to break. Each wolf moved with purpose, heads bowed slightly, their eyes avoiding one another’s too often for comfort.

I stood near the edge of the training grounds, arms crossed, watching the pack’s movements. Lyle, one of the younger wolves who had begun stepping up in patrols, stood before me, eager and attentive. I offered him quiet praise, masking the weariness that tugged at my shoulders. Every word, every decision, carried the weight of expectation. It was a burden all Alphas bore—this endless balancing act of strength and vulnerability. But my burden was heavier. I wasn’t just leading the pack; I was proving I deserved to.

As Lyle left to join the others, I felt a prickle of unease at the back of my neck. I turned, my senses sharpening. The familiar tension, the subtle warning from within, pulled me toward the border.

I moved with quiet precision, every step deliberate as I wove through the trees. Wolves passed me in the clearing, their gazes lingering a moment too long. Respect was not the same as trust, and trust was something I had to fight for every day. But today, their unease wasn’t my priority. I felt it before I saw it—the faint, familiar pull of something I had spent years trying to forget. And when I reached the edge of the trees, my breath hitched.

Dante.