Dominic's POV
It's been months now. My body is slowly recovering from the poison, but the darkness it left behind lingers.
My pack still watches Ashen with suspicion, believing the lie that he's responsible for what happened to me.
I know the truth.
I know who poisoned me.
Adam.
The question that haunts me is... why?
What does he gain from turning my pack against my mate?
I glance at Ashen, who sits by the window, wrapped in silence and shadows. He's been like this for weeks—quiet, distant, drowning in guilt that isn't his to carry.
And I can feel it.
The bond.
It's there, burning between us, pulling me toward him.
But he keeps running from it.
Running from me.
Because he thinks he's weak. Because the pack sees him as a mistake.
Fools.
They don't see what I see.
I push myself off the bed, my muscles screaming in protest as I force my body to move. Ashen's head snaps toward me, panic flashing in his eyes.
"You shouldn't be up," he whispers, his voice trembling.
"I'm fine," I growl.
I'm not. But I can't stay in this damn bed while Adam walks free, poisoning my pack's mind against the one thing that belongs to me.
Ashen shifts back as I approach him, pressing himself against the wall like he's trying to disappear.
My chest tightens.
He thinks I hate him.
He thinks I believe them.
I step closer, slow and controlled, until I'm towering over him.
"Ashen," I murmur darkly, "look at me."
He hesitates, his hands trembling as he grips his own arms like he's trying to hold himself together.
"I said, look at me."
The bond flares between us, and I feel it when his walls crack just enough for me to see the fear and shame burning in his eyes.
"I know it wasn't you."
Ashen's breath catches.
I lean closer, my body trapping him against the wall. "You think I'd fall for their lies? That I'd believe for one second that you did this to me?"
His lips part, but he doesn't speak.
"I know who's behind this," I growl. "And when I'm strong enough, I'm going to tear Adam apart for what he's done. But right now..." I reach for his wrist, feeling his pulse racing beneath my fingertips, "I need you to stop running from me."
Ashen's body trembles beneath my touch.
"I'm not running," he whispers.
"Liar," I rasp, pressing my forehead against his. "I feel it every time you fight this bond. Every time you pull away from me."
Tears burn in his eyes as he tries to shake his head. "I'm... I'm not what you need Dominic. I can't—"
"You're mine," I cut him off. "I don't care how broken you think you are. I'll tear this entire pack apart before I let them touch you again."
His breath hitches as the bond surges between us, raw and relentless.
"I can't be your weakness," he chokes out.
"You're not my weakness," I snap. "You're the only thing keeping me alive."
Ashen's eyes widen, and for the first time... I see the walls around him begin to shatter.
His fear. His pain. His shame.
I feel it all.
And I let it consume me as I crash my lips against his.
Ashen gasps against my mouth, his body going rigid before he melts into me, the bond snapping so violently that I feel it down to my soul.
He tastes like fear and desperation... but beneath it, there's something more.
Something wild.
Something that belongs to me.
I grip the back of his neck, deepening the kiss as a low growl rumbles from my chest.
Ashen tries to pull back, but I don't let him.
"Stop fighting me," I murmur against his lips. "You're mine, Ashen. No one's taking you from me."
His body trembles as he grips my shirt, his tears soaking into my skin.
"I'm scared," he whispers brokenly.
"I know," I breathe. "But you don't have to fight alone anymore."
For a moment, he surrenders.
For a moment, he lets me hold him the way I've been dying to.
And I swear to the Moon Goddess...
I will burn this entire pack to the ground before I let anyone take him from me again.
But first...
I'm going to make Adam pay for every second he made Ashen feel like he was nothing.
Because Ashen is mine.
My mate.
It's been weeks of getting closer to ashen and fighting to regain my strength.
Weeks of trying to break through the walls Ashen built around himself.
On my way from a pack meeting,
Ryker burst through the packhouse doors, breathless and pale.
"It's Ashen," he rasped. "He's missing."
My world tilted.
Everything inside me... snapped.
The bond burned so violently in my chest I could barely breathe.
"Where was he last seen?" My voice was low, lethal, barely restrained.
"He ,he went to the river near the eastern border," Ryker stammered. "One of the patrol guards said he saw him there this morning, but... there was blood, Dominic."
My vision blurred with rage.
No.
Not my mate.
Not him.
I was out the door before Ryker could finish, shifting mid-air as my wolf ripped through me, raw and furious.
The moment my paws hit the earth, I ran.
The bond... I could still feel it. Faint. Distant.
But it was there.
Ashen was alive.
But he was afraid.
I could feel it through the thread tying us together, and it drove my wolf into madness.
Branches snapped beneath my claws as I tore through the forest, Ryker and the others struggling to keep up.
I followed the bond, my instincts sharpening with every step.
My mate was out there.
And someone took him from me.
Blood.
I caught the scent before I saw it, staining the earth near the riverbank.
Ashen's blood.
A low, vicious snarl ripped from my throat, shaking the ground beneath me.
"He's close," Ryker panted behind me. "Dominic, whoever took him—"
"They won't live long enough to regret it," I growled, shifting back into my human form.
The bond...
It was pulling me east.
Toward the rogue lands.
Of course.
Of course, they'd target him. An unmated omega. My omega.
Cowards.
I grabbed Ryker by the collar, my eyes blazing with fury. "Send a group to the southern border. Cut off any escape route. I want every warrior searching these woods. Now."
Ryker nodded and shifted, howling to the rest of the pack as they scattered.
I moved forward, my body trembling with rage and fear.
Ashen...
I could feel his panic through the bond.
His pain.
"Hold on, baby," I whispered into the night, my eyes glowing with lethal promise. "I'm coming for you."
And I swear to the Moon Goddess...
I will slaughter every last one of them for touching what's mine.