It was Tuesday again, another challenge occurred. Alpha Kael saw it all in the young wolf's vision before the words even left his mouth. That looks part desperation, part mocking, all disrespect.
"I challenged your authority as Alpha."
The training yard went silent. Thirty pack members stopped mid-exercise, heads turning toward the center ring where Kael stood facing Derek, a warrior barely twenty-one who should know better.
Should know better, but didn't. Because in Moonridge Territory, an Alpha without his wolf was just a man playing dress-up in a title too big for him.
Kael kept his expression neutral. "You sure about this, Derek?"
The kid's hands were already shifting, claws sliding out, bones beginning to crack and reshape. Showing off. Reminding everyone watching that he could do what his Alpha couldn't.
I am sure. Derek's voice dropped into that guttural pre-shift growl. The pack deserves an Alpha who can actually shift. Who has claws. Who isn't Broken? Kael finished for him, voice cold as winter. "You can say it. I've heard it before."
He rolled his shoulders, feeling the familiar weight of dual blades strapped to his back. Twenty-four years of compensating for what he'd never have. Twenty-four years of watching wolves half his age transform into massive beasts while he stayed trapped in human skin.
"Last chance to back down," Kael said.
Derek's eyes flashed gold—his wolf rising to the surface. "No."
"Your funeral."
Derek lunged.
The shift completed mid-air. Brown fur, snapping jaws, claws extended. A solid two hundred pounds of werewolf fury aimed directly at Kael's throat. "Kael moved."
Years of training without supernatural speed meant he'd learned to read body language, to predict attacks before they happened. He dropped and rolled, drawing both blades in one fluid motion. Derek's claws whistled through empty air where Kael's head had been a second before.
The wolf landed and spun, snarling.
Kael didn't give him time to think. He rushed in close, too close for the wolf to use his superior reach. Blade flat against Derek's ribs, the other at his throat.
"Yield," Kael growled.
Derek tried to swipe with his claws. Kael twisted the blade at his throat just enough to draw a thin line of blood. Not deep. Just enough to prove a point.
In wolf form, Derek was stronger. Faster. Had healing that would close that cut in minutes.
But Kael had something wolves got lazy about skill that came from knowing one mistake meant death.
"I said yield."
Derek's wolf whined. The fight bled out of him. He shifted back, gasping, naked and bleeding on the training yard dirt.
"I yield." The words came out bitter.
Kael stepped back, sheathing his blades. He offered Derek his hand. The younger wolf stared at it for a long moment before accepting, letting Kael pull him to his feet.
"You fight good for a wolf," Kael said quietly, so only Derek could hear. But you rely too much on your claws. Next time someone challenges you and they will, once you rank up. Remember that strength without strategy is just violence.
Derek nodded, shame coloring his face as he grabbed his clothes and left the ring.
The watching pack members slowly returned to training. No one met Kael's eyes.
That was the worst part. Not the challenge itself, those come every few months now. But the silence after. The way his own pack looked at him with pity instead of respect.
"You okay?"
Luna appeared at his elbow, his younger sister's grey eyes worried. She handed him a water bottle.
"Fine." Kael drank, watching the pack train. "That's the third challenge this month."
"The Council meeting is tomorrow," Luna said softly. "Everyone knows what Elder Thomas is going to say."
Six months. The words hung unspoken between them. Six months until Kael turned twenty-five and the Council of Elders forced him to step down. Six months until Silverstone Pack got absorbed by whatever Alpha proved strong enough to claim them.
Probably Vincent Blackthorn, who'd been circling like a vulture for the past year, making offers that sounded reasonable on the surface but meant total surrender underneath.
"We'll figure something out," Luna said, touching his arm. "The curse can be broken. I know it."
Kael wanted to believe her. But nineteen years of research, of trying everything from ancient rituals to modern medicine, had led nowhere. His wolf was locked behind a barrier so complete he couldn't even feel it anymore. Just emptiness where the beast should be.
His Beta, Marcus, approached with his phone out. "Alpha. We got reports of rogue activity two towns over. Multiple attacks. They're hunting someone."
I will go!
Kael needed to get out of pack territory anyway. Away from the pitying looks and whispered doubts.
The drive took forty minutes. Small town, mostly human, quiet streets. Kael parked near the main strip and got out, scanning for threats.
That's when he smelled it.
Something that made every nerve in his body come alive. Something that made the emptiness in his chest suddenly burn.
His wolf! The wolf that had been silent for nineteen years moved.
Kael froze in the middle of the sidewalk, hand pressed to his chest. His heart slammed against his ribs. Behind that impossible barrier, something clawed and scratched and howled. What the hell?
His head snapped toward the diner across the street. Through the window he saw her, dark red hair, green eyes, clearing tables with quick, efficient movements.
Their eyes met through the glass.
The world tilted. Heat exploded through Kael's body. Recognition. Need. Mine.
The girl's face went pale. Her tray clattered to the floor. Then the diner's back door burst open and three wolves in half-shift form crashed inside, claws out, hunting. The girl ran.
Kael's body moved before his brain caught up. He sprinted across the street as screams erupted from inside the diner. Glass shattered. Tables flew.
He hit the door at full speed, blades already drawn.
One of the rogues had the girl cornered against the counter. She was bleeding from her arm, teeth bared in defiance even though she was clearly terrified.
The rogue's claws rose to strike.
"Get away from her," Kael snarled.
All three rogues turned. Their eyes widened in recognition, and then they smiled.
"The cursed Alpha," one of them laughed. "Vincent said you did come. Said you did smell your mate and came running like a dog.
Mate!
The word hit Kael like a physical blow.
The girl's eyes locked on his. Her scent wrapped around him, pulling, demanding, burning.
You are! she whispered.
The lead rogue lunged at her.And Kael's wolf, locked away for nineteen years, roared.
Cliffhanger: Kael's wolf roars for the first time in 19 years as the rogue lunges at his mate, but without claws or shift, can he save her before it's too late?