My fingers tug at his shirt, the fabric tearing under my grip, and I feel Eric’s hands on my shoulders, his lips moving lower, trailing fire across my skin. It’s raw, consuming, the kind of heat that could burn this whole pack house down. 

I want more—more of Rick, more of Eric, more of this bond that makes us whole, even without her.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” a voice snaps, sharp and raw, cutting through the haze.

I freeze, my lips still on Rick’s, my hands gripping his hair. I turn my head, slow and deliberate, and there she is—Lia, standing in the doorway, her eyes wide with shock, her face a storm of fury and something else, something that makes my wolf howl. 

My smirk widens, slow and deliberate, as I meet her gaze, letting her see every bit of the monster she hates.

### Chapter 17: Shadows of Old Bonds 🐺🔥🌙


The woods close around me like a trap, the air thick with pine and the sharp scent of my own rage. 


My boots sink into the damp grass as I stalk toward the rundown house Dean's been hiding in, its weathered walls looming like a ghost from a past I've tried to bury. 


My wolf paces inside me, claws scraping, snarling at the thought of him—Dean, the bastard who called us nothing, who walked away and left us broken, only to slink back now, his eyes on Lia. 


My blood boils, my fists clenching as I imagine tearing into him, demanding answers for why he's here, why he's tearing open old wounds.


I stop outside the house, its windows dark, the silence mocking me. I can't believe he's been here all these years, right under my nose, and I was too blind to see it.


 My wolf growls, urging me to kick down the door, to drag him out and make him pay for coming back.


Chapter 18 - chapter 17