KANE POV
Kane feels it before he sees it.
That pull. That wrongness in the air. His wolf has been pacing all week, restless and angry, clawing at the inside of his chest like it's trying to dig its way out. Seven days of this. Seven days of his animal side pushing and pushing, demanding something Kane's human side won't give.
He stands on the overlook watching the sun bleed orange across the forest. Three hundred and sixty-seven years old and some things still make him feel young and stupid. Desire. Need. The pull of something he can't explain and won't accept.
Footsteps behind him break the silence. Marcus. His second in command. The only person in the pack who knew Kane before everything burned.
"We have a situation," Marcus says.
Kane doesn't turn around. He can smell Marcus's uncertainty. Something's got his friend worried and Marcus doesn't get worried about small things.
"The gate?" Kane asks.
"Human. Female. She came through with credentials for a documentary project. Conservation research. She's checked into the lodge."
Kane's entire body goes still.
The wolf goes insane.
It slams against the inside of his ribs like something trying to break free. Kane forces it down hard, using every ounce of control he's built over centuries. No. Not happening. Not possible. Humans aren't their mates. Humans are fragile and temporary and everything his wolf shouldn't want.
"Get her out," Kane says. His voice comes out rough. "I don't care how. Make it happen today."
Marcus hesitates. Kane hears it in the way his friend's heartbeat shifts. "She's got legitimate paperwork. If we throw her out now it could draw attention. The lodge owner already called to confirm her credentials with the conservation office."
"I don't care about—" Kane stops himself. Takes a breath that doesn't help. His wolf is still clawing at him, desperate and wild. It wants to move. Wants to hunt. Wants to find whatever just walked into their territory.
"Keep her away from me," Kane finally says. "Handle the documentary. Give her footage. Whatever she needs. But I don't see her. You understand?"
"Yeah." Marcus moves closer. "Kane, your eyes."
Kane closes them. Opens them. The gold flashes back to gray but it takes effort. So much effort.
"I'm fine," Kane lies.
Marcus doesn't believe him. Kane can hear the doubt in his friend's voice when he says, "I'll make sure she stays in the approved zones."
Kane waits until Marcus leaves before he grips the railing in front of him. Just grips it. Tries to think about pack strategy. Territory disputes with the neighboring packs. The supplies they need for winter. Anything except the way his wolf is losing its mind.
For a hundred years he's known his mate was coming. The visions started when he was young, before he took over the pack. Flashes of brown eyes. Dark curly hair. A laugh that sounded like everything good he'd ever lost. His wolf had recognized her before she even existed in the physical world.
Kane had locked that knowledge away in the deepest part of himself. Fated mates were a weakness. His parents had proven that. They'd had a mate bond so strong it made them reckless. Made them willing to die for each other instead of living for the pack. That weakness got them slaughtered.
Kane swore he would never be that stupid. Never let his heart overrule his head. Never let a mate bond compromise his leadership.
So for a hundred years his wolf screamed. Demanded. Clawed. And Kane ignored it.
Until today.
The sun drops lower. The forest turns purple and gold. Kane still stands at the overlook, and he can almost smell her on the wind now. Can almost feel her presence like a physical thing in his territory. She smells like determination and fear and something that makes his wolf go wild.
It's her. He knows it with the same certainty he knows his own name. She's here.
And his control is shattering.
Kane closes his eyes and tries to remember why he said no to mate bonds. Tries to remember the feeling of holding his mother's burned body. Tries to remember the pack members who died because their leadership was distracted by grief and loyalty to a mate.
It doesn't work.
All he can think about is finding her. Marking her. Telling the entire world that she belongs to him now and anyone who threatens her will die bleeding.
The railing cracks under his grip.
Kane looks down and sees the wood splintering beneath his hands. His fingers have shifted halfway to his wolf form. The change is trying to happen and he's forcing it back down with pure will. This isn't acceptable. This is exactly the weakness he was trying to prevent.
He pulls his hands away and watches the railing snap completely. Pieces fall toward the ground far below.
His eyes flash gold.
Not the quick flash. Not the kind of thing humans would see. But full, burning, predator gold that bleeds out from pupil to white. His wolf is taking over and Kane can feel it happening and he can't stop it.
The wind shifts.
For just a second, maybe less, he catches her scent on the breeze. It's like lightning in his veins. Like every nerve in his body just woke up after centuries of sleeping.
His wolf throws its head back and howls inside his chest, desperate and ancient and completely in love with a human woman who doesn't even know he exists yet.
Kane forces it down. Shoves it back. Locks it away harder than before. But he knows the truth now.
She's here.
And he has no idea if he has the strength to keep away from her.