Night fell heavy over Windfall Creek, thick with the kind of cold that seeped into bone and instinct alike. The moon had only half-risen, a pale curve slicing through clouds, but tension already coated the pack lands like frost.
A rogue had been spotted near the northern cliffs.
Alisha jogged across the training field toward the gathering point, her boots crushing frost-bitten grass with every step. The field normally buzzed with youthful noise, laughter, shouting, daytime chaos, but tonight it felt muted. The sky was a bruised purple, wind biting at exposed skin, and the silence among the wolves made the hairs on her arms lift.
Something was noticeably wrong in the forest.
A rogue's scent had been confirmed, fresh, sharp, tainted with wild madness and it was picked up near the southern border and again by the northern cliffs. Rogues were unpredictable, and in packs like theirs that were structured, hierarchical, tightly interwoven they were a nightmare.
Alisha tightened her jacket around herself as she crossed the field. Wolves were already gathering, some in human form, others pacing restlessly as wolves. Beta Rowan stood off to the side giving instructions to two younger boys. Three enforcers rugged, tall, stone-faced stood near the equipment crate counting tranquilizer darts and high-beam flashlights. The healers, Mrs. Tula and Ayden, waited at the back under the awning, setting up blankets and hot packs in case of injury.
Even the omega girls were gathered in tight clusters, whispering anxiously, their large expressive eyes darting toward the edge of the woods as if expecting glowing eyes to appear.
In the center of it all stood Ben. He had recently been announced to be in official Alpha training, meaning his father had relegated most of his duties in preparation for him to completely takeover as soon as he finished his studies.
He wore dark patrol pants, a fitted charcoal shirt that clung to the firm lines of his torso, and his black patrol jacket open halfway down his chest, the collar lifted by the wind. His posture was straight, shoulders tense and prepared, the kind of stance that made others unconsciously follow his lead.
Ben always looked like he belonged to the night, made of shadow and warm breath and quiet dominance. But tonight, he looked heavier. Sharper. Perfectly carved into a leader he wasn't officially yet, though his blood already promised it.
When he saw her, the tension in his shoulders shifted almost imperceptibly.
His eyes warm brown with that soft gold flicker watched her as she approached. The wind swept loose strands of her dark hair across her face, and she tucked them behind her ear, pretending not to notice the way his gaze lingered.
She shouldn't notice.
She shouldn't care.
But her wolf lifted its head beneath her skin, ears pricked.
Around them, the pack's attention sharpened. The younger wolves watching. The omega girls stiffening. The boys bristling as if sensing something they didn't understand.
The strange magnetism between the two young Alphas had been simmering for years, but after this morning's run, it felt feral.
Ben cleared his throat once, sharply and turned away, posture controlled again.
But she had seen the flicker in his eyes.
The same flicker she felt in her own heartbeat.
"Everyone," Ben called out, voice echoing through the clearing, "listen up."
Wolves gathered closer. The enforcers fell into position around him. The breeze picked up, carrying the smell of pine sap and the faint metallic tang of fear.
"A rogue crossed our borders today," Ben continued, his voice smooth but edged with warning. "Fresh scent. Unstable. Fast. It may be wounded. It is dangerous. The cliffs and the southern border both confirmed activity."
Murmurs broke out.
Alisha caught sight of Lila, one of the omega girls who'd always looked at Ben like he'd hung the moon clutching her jacket tightly, eyes fearful. Her presence always annoyed her but she had never allowed herself to show it. Lila was the one the pack saw as their future luna anyway, even she could never understand why, the girl was weak in all aspects. But she is an omega. Her traitorous mind supplied and she looked away.
Beta Rowan lifted a hand. "The patrols?"
Ben nodded. "Three groups. Northwoods, South border, and Hidden Ridge. Keep spacing. Shift when you must but signal first. If you sight it, you do not engage alone."
A sharp drop of temperature slid down Alisha's spine. Rogues didn't wander close unless something was wrong.
Ben's father, Alpha Nolan, stepped forward then, emerging from the shadows like an ancient figure carved from the wilderness itself. He wore a long, dark coat, hair silvering at the sides, his presence radiating a quiet, pressured authority that filled the field like fog.
His eyes swept the wolves, then landed on Alisha.
She swallowed.
Then he turned to Ben.
"You will lead the Hidden Ridge patrol."
"Yes, Alpha," Ben answered
"And take Alisha with you."
The air froze.
Alisha blinked.
Ben's jaw tightened.
The omega girls whispered sharply behind them. One of the pack boys, Kellan scowled, crossing his arms.
Alpha Nolan rarely paired Ben and Alisha outside supervised training. Too much energy sparked when they were close. Too much awareness. Wolves sensed it and shifted uneasily in their skins.
But tonight, he assigned them together.
Dangerously together.
Ben hesitated, not long, but long enough for wolves to notice.
Nolan narrowed his eyes. "Is there a problem?"
Ben's expression flattened. "No, Father."
Nolan stepped closer to him, voice lowering to a stern murmur meant only for his son but Alisha's sharp hearing caught pieces of it anyway.
"I've heard rumors," Nolan whispered, "that you've been… distracted."
Ben tensed.
His father's next words cut through the wind like a knife.
"Remember your place. And remember what is expected of an Alpha heir. Your future mate must stabilize this pack. An omega."
A pulse of pain thumped through Alisha's chest before she could stop it.
Ben didn't argue. He didn't defend her. His silence hurt more than any insult could have.
Nolan stepped back. "All patrols move."
The pack sprang into motion like dancers following an old, familiar choreography. Enforcers distributing supplies. Betas assigning positions. Younger wolves zipping jackets and tying boot laces. The healers lighting lanterns near their tents.
The whole scene moving as one organism—structured fear, communal purpose.
Alisha joined Ben at the forest edge.
She didn't speak. Neither did he.
The moment they stepped beneath the trees, the night swallowed them whole. Branches arched overhead, weaving together into a dark cathedral of pine and shadow. Their breaths misted in the cold, the forest whispering around them with every gust of wind.
Ben walked slightly ahead, movements tense but fluid. His jacket brushed against branches, his boots pressing soft tracks into the damp earth. Alisha followed close, her wolf pacing inside her, agitated by his nearness.
She shouldn't notice the way his broad shoulders moved.
She shouldn't notice the way moonlight carved lines into his jaw.
She shouldn't feel the air humming between their bodies.
But she did.
And her wolf felt everything.
After nearly ten minutes of silent tracking, Ben finally spoke.
"You shouldn't be here."
She scoffed, shoving a branch aside. "I'm an Alpha. I go where the danger is."
"That's exactly why I said it." He stopped abruptly, turning to her. "If something happens between us out here—"
"Nothing will happen," she snapped, louder than she meant to. "You're overthinking."
The wind sighed through the trees. Ben's expression tightened.
"Alisha… today wasn't normal."
She froze.
He watched her carefully, voice soft but weighted. "You felt it. This morning."
She looked away, heart pounding. "I don't want to talk about it."
His jaw flexed. "We have to."
"No," she whispered. "We don't."
He stepped closer, the cold brushing her cheeks as his warmth approached.
His eyes searched hers. "Something is happening to us."
Her lungs constricted.
She wanted to deny it.
Wanted to run.
Wanted to snarl.
Wanted to lean into him.
"I don't want this," she murmured.
"I don't either." His voice cracked just slightly. "But wanting doesn't matter."
Before she could answer—
A branch snapped behind them.
Both froze.
The forest changed.
The air thickened.
The cold deepened.
Every sound seemed to sharpen.
Ben inhaled slowly then cursed under his breath.
"Rogue."
The scent hit her next, metallic, unhinged, dripping with something feral and wrong. Her wolf bristled under her skin, claws scraping for release.
"We need to—" Ben began, but the words cut off when something shifted in the darkness again.
A low snarl.
Distant.
Echoing.
Then fast footsteps pounding through leaves.
They both pivoted toward the sound, ready to shift, ready to fight.
But when the forest stilled again, something else took hold of the air.
Something ancient.
Something primal.
A ripple of heat shot through Alisha's chest so violently she doubled over with a gasp.
Ben staggered backward, grabbing onto a tree, his breath hitching.
"Alisha?" His voice broke entirely. "What...what is?"
She didn't answer.
She couldn't.
Her wolf surged forward in a violent rush, slamming against her ribs like a creature starving for air. Ben's wolf answered with a guttural growl, pushing against his skin, eyes glowing faintly gold.
The forest around them seemed to bend, branches stretching, wind howling through leaves, the moon shattering across the treetops in shards of silver light.
It felt like the earth was tilting.
It felt like the world was cracking open.
Alisha clutched her chest, choking on a breath. "Ben...something's..."
Then it hit.
The mate bond.
It struck like lightning, blinding, searing, ripping through flesh and bone, tearing into her core with a force that was both agony and ecstasy entwined. She cried out, knees buckling. Ben lunged forward, catching her before she hit the ground.
His hands were on her arms, gripping hard, his breathing ragged and desperate.
Their wolves howled in unison.
Her vision blurred with silver. His eyes glowed molten gold.
Their foreheads collided, not gently, but with instinctual force—wolves pressing together through human skin.
Ben sucked in a sharp breath, voice trembling. "Alisha oh God, this is..."
"The mate bond," she whimpered, shaking. "Ben?"
Their chests heaved. Their bodies trembled.
Everything inside her screamed that he was hers.
Everything inside him screamed that she was his.
Two Alpha wolves.
Two dominant bloodlines.
Two impossible forces.
Pulling closer.
Closer.
Closer—
Her wolf surged up her throat in a roar.
Ben's wolf answered in a snarl.
Their energy collided, raw, electric, magnetic, twisting through the forest like a storm, rattling branches and sending animals fleeing into the night.
Every wolf in their pack felt it.
Across the forest, a ripple of growls echoed—confusion, fear, instinctive reaction to dominance colliding and merging.
The rogue fled.
But the pack froze.
Ben's hands trembled where they held her. His voice cracked. "Alisha if we accept this, if we complete this.."
"The pack will fracture," she intercepted.
"If we reject it…" His throat tightened. "…we could lose our wolves."
Pain cut through her chest.
The bond pulsed again, pulling her toward him, demanding acceptance.
She pushed him away, breath shaking, stepping backward until her back hit a tree trunk.
"Ben," she choked, "we can't."
He stared at her like she'd just shattered. "I know."
The forest slowly calmed.
The rogue was gone.
But the bond remained—glowing between them like a wound.
By the time they returned to the clearing, the other patrol groups were gathering too, everyone seemed frustrated, tired, confused.
"No rogue?" someone shouted.
"It vanished."
"Must've fled."
"Or something scared it off."
Alisha swallowed hard.
Something had scared it off.
Her.
Ben.
The eruption of ancient magic between them.
The moment they stepped into the lantern light, whispers erupted.
Omega girls stared.
Pack boys glared.
Even Betas exchanged uneasy looks.
Lila's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You two took a long time."
Alisha said nothing.
Ben didn't look at anyone.
Kellan snorted. "Figures. The Alpha heir probably went soft because of her."
Ben's head snapped up, expression darkening dangerously.
Rowan hurried over, trying to diffuse the tension. "Everyone, calm down—"
But more whispers spread.
"They were alone for a while…"
"He watches her too much."
"She shouldn't be near him."
"Alpha female and Alpha male? Impossible."
"They're hiding something."
Lila folded her arms, eyes sharp with hurt. "Ben… did you choose her?"
The question cut through the clearing like a blade.
Ben flinched.
So did Alisha.
Omega girls watched, trembling with jealousy and fear. Omega boys eyed Ben challengingly as if a threat to pack stability was reason enough to fight.
No one knew the truth.
But they felt it.
Something had changed.
Something forbidden.
Something dangerous.
Ben opened his mouth—maybe to deny it, maybe to lie, maybe to scream—but when his eyes met Alisha's across the firelight, she saw the pain written in every line of his face.
He didn't want to hurt anyone.
He didn't want to lose her.
He didn't know what to do.
Neither did she.
She looked away first.
Her heart cracked.
The bond pulsed painfully.
Ben inhaled sharply at the sensation, pressing a hand to his chest.
No one noticed.
Except her.
Because their wolves were tied now whether they liked it or not.
And fate, cruel as it could be, had already decided.
As she moved to get away, she saw Alpha Nolan standing close to the elders, for the first time the man looked defeated, the elders seemed clueless.
She was an Alpha and yet she walked away with her head bowed.