Cade's POV
Blood hit the ground before the moon hit the sky.
The attack didn't wait for the full moon ceremony. It came early. Wolves erupted from the forest like a wave of death, pouring across the hunting grounds before Cade's pack even finished transforming. Three rival packs. Hundreds of fighters. All coordinated. All moving toward the Stone Pack like a tide that couldn't be stopped.
Cade shifted mid-run and his wolf took over. His body exploded into wolf form faster than he'd ever managed before. His wolf was pure rage. Pure need to protect. He tore into the first rival wolf he saw and felt flesh give way under his claws.
Around him, the hunting grounds turned into a battlefield.
Stone Pack wolves tried to organize but they were caught off guard. Some were still in human form when the attack came. Some were scattered across the territory looking for prey. Cade roared through the bond to every fighter he could reach, screaming at them to group together, to protect the non-combatants, to fight.
But there were too many of them.
Silas Cross appeared through the smoke and blood, his massive gray wolf form towering over the other fighters. He moved with calculated violence, heading straight for Cade like a wolf who'd been waiting years for this moment.
They collided and the impact shook the ground.
Silas was older. Meaner. He'd fought in territorial wars that Cade had only read about. He had scars that told stories of violence and survival. He bit down on Cade's shoulder and tore a chunk of fur and flesh clean away.
Cade roared and fought back but part of him was still thinking. Still calculating. Because even as he fought Silas, he could see the pack house in the distance. Could see fire rising from the roof. Could feel through the pack bond that his wolves were dying.
A young fighter went down. Cade felt it through the connection. Felt the life leave their body. One of his wolves. Someone he'd trained. Someone who was now gone.
Then another.
And another.
The Stone Pack was losing.
Cade broke away from Silas and tried to reach the pack house but more rival wolves cut him off. He fought them. Killed two of them. But there were always more. Always another fighter waiting to take their place.
Through the chaos and blood, Cade felt something shift through the mate bond.
Rowan.
It was impossible. She was miles away. She'd been running from him for weeks. She'd blocked him from the bond. But suddenly he felt her. Felt her presence like a distant light. Felt her fear and her certainty and her absolute knowledge that something was wrong.
She was coming back.
Not because the bond was forcing her. Not because he was pulling her. But because some part of her understood that he was dying and she couldn't stop herself from trying to save him.
Cade pushed harder. Fought faster. Tried to stay alive long enough for her to reach him. A rival wolf lunged and he dodged it, barely. Another came from his blind side and he felt teeth sink into his back leg.
His wolf screamed.
The pain was blinding but Cade forced himself to keep moving. The pack house was still burning. Wolves were still dying. Everything he'd built was collapsing in real time and all he could do was fight and hope and feel Rowan pulling closer through the fractured mate bond.
She was moving fast. Running. Shifting. Pushing herself to her limits to reach him.
Jaxon appeared at Cade's side, fighting in wolf form, blood matting his fur. His Beta was holding the line but even Jaxon was struggling. The pack was being overwhelmed. In another hour, maybe less, the Stone Pack would be destroyed.
Then the rival wolves froze.
Not all of them. Just the ones in front of the hunting grounds. Just the ones who'd moved deepest into Stone Pack territory. They suddenly stopped fighting and started screaming.
Cade looked toward the sound and saw something impossible.
A figure stood at the edge of the battlefield. Alone. Human form but surrounded by power that made the air vibrate. She was covered in dirt and the scent of another city. Her hair was wild. Her eyes were glowing with something dangerous.
Rowan.
She stood with her hands out in front of her and when rival wolves tried to advance, something happened that Cade had never seen before.
Their bones twisted. Inside their bodies, their skeletons fractured and reformed in wrong ways. Their muscles tore from the inside out. They collapsed screaming, their bodies rejecting themselves.
Rowan's healing magic had awakened.
But it wasn't healing anymore.
It was destruction.
Three rival wolves tried to rush her and she didn't move. Didn't run. Just held her position and let them come toward her. When they got close, their bodies began to break. Cade could hear the sickening sound of bones snapping. Could hear their howls of agony.
The rival packs fell back in shock.
They hadn't known about Rowan. Hadn't known that Cade's true mate existed. Hadn't known that she was powerful enough to take down multiple wolves with nothing but her will and her magic.
Silas roared in anger and started pushing toward her, trying to reach her before more of his fighters fell.
But Cade was faster.
He was wounded and bleeding and half-dead but he moved like lightning between Rowan and every threat. His wolf knew what she was. Knew that she was his mate. Knew that every instinct he had was screaming at him to protect her the same way she'd come back to protect him.
Through the bond, Cade felt her feel him. Felt her realize that he was here. That he'd survived. That they were both alive and fighting on the same side.
For the first time since she'd left, Rowan wasn't blocking him.
The bond between them screamed with connection and need and something that went deeper than anger or betrayal. It was the true mate bond in its purest form. Not gentle. Not soft. Raw and desperate and absolutely certain.
Silas roared and lunged.
But he was a second too late.
Rowan raised her hand and the rival Alpha felt his own body turn against him. His muscles froze. His bones locked. He fell mid-run and crashed to the ground, paralyzed by his own physiology breaking down.
The rival packs saw their leader fall.
They saw Stone Pack wolves rallying around their new secret weapon. They saw that they were losing. That even with the ambush and the surprise and the numbers, they couldn't win against a pack that had Rowan.
The Cross Pack retreated first. Then the other packs started falling back. Wolves were running. Some were limping. All of them were afraid.
And Cade stood in the center of the blood and fire with Rowan at his back, both of them breathing hard, both of them alive.
Their eyes met across the chaos and Cade felt the mate bond between them snap back into place. Not fractured anymore. Not broken. Whole and burning and absolutely impossible to deny.
She'd come back.
And everything was about to change.