(Ronan's POV )
The night was wrong.
Ronan felt it before he saw it—an acidic twist in the air, an echo in the bond he'd tried to sever. A disturbance in the pack border, like the shadows themselves were shifting out of place.
He stood at the cliff edge overlooking Blackthorn territory, fists clenched, silver eyes burning against the darkness.
"She's gone," he said.
Behind him, Beta Cassian stiffened. "Alpha… we don't yet know—"
"She's. Gone."
Ronan's voice vibrated with something he hated: fear.
He hadn't wanted this human.Hadn't wanted the bond.Hadn't wanted fate's cruel joke.
The moment he saw Evelyn Kane in the clearing, he felt the mate-bond snap into place like a blade at his throat. And the moment he felt it—
—the prophecy struck.
A vision that seared through him like fire.
Her face.His blood.A battlefield soaked in moonlight.Her standing over him as he died.
If he claimed her, he would die.
If he rejected her, she would become unstoppable.
It was why he said the words.Why he forced the bond apart.Why he lied to himself that it was the right choice.
But the bond…it hadn't broken completely.
He could still feel her.A faint tug under his ribs.A thread that pulsed with pain.
And then—hours after rejecting her—that thread ignited with something else.
Power.
Unnatural. Wrong.Ancient.
His pulse quickened at the memory.
"Alpha?"
Cassian stepped beside him, worry etched across his features.
"We tracked five rogues crossing the western border. Their scent— it was fresh."
Ronan's jaw flexed.
"They took her."
Cassian hesitated. "We don't know that."
Ronan turned his head slowly, eyes glowing with cold silver light.
"I know."
He felt it.A flicker of terror.A strike of pain.And then—power exploding through the bond like black lightning.
He didn't understand how she was alive after the rejection.He didn't understand how she unleashed that… pulse.
But he knew one thing:
Whoever took her would not keep her.
Ronan descended the cliff in a blur of motion. His wolves, sensing his fury, shifted instantly and followed. The forest bent around them, trees bowing as though the Alpha's rage itself shaped the night.
They reached the border in minutes.
Ronan inhaled deeply.
Her scent hit him like a punch.
Vanilla.Warm skin.Fear.Blood.
And underneath it—
Magic he didn't recognize.
A low growl rumbled from deep in his chest. His vision sharpened, silver irises bleeding into a predatory gleam.
"Rogues," he hissed. "Trailing north."
Cassian sniffed the air. "They're heading toward Dredmore Pack territory."
Ronan's lips curled. "Of course they are."
The Dredmore Alpha had been waiting for a weakness. For anything that could threaten Blackthorn. He must have sensed something the moment Evelyn appeared.
"Prepare the hunters," Ronan ordered. "We move now."
Cassian blinked. "Alpha— entering Dredmore territory without a declaration—"
"—is an act of war," Ronan finished.
Then his voice dropped to something dark and lethal.
"Good."
He ripped off his shirt, muscles tensing as the shift took over. His bones snapped, rearranged. Fur tore through skin. A monstrous wolf, enormous and obsidian, rose in his place.
His pack dropped their heads instantly.
Ronan let out a roar that shook the treetops.
They ran.They hunted.They descended like a storm.
The moment they crossed into Dredmore land, Ronan felt the flicker again—a spark through the half-bond.
Evelyn.
Alive.Hurt.Awakening.
He pushed harder, racing through the woods at a terrifying speed. His heart pounded with rage and something darker—an emotion he refused to name.
When Dredmore's patrol wolves appeared, snarling, teeth bared—
Ronan didn't slow.
He slammed into the first one, snapping bone and crushing him into the dirt. Another lunged. Ronan tore him down. His wolves followed, the forest filling with roars and the crack of violence.
Cassian leapt forward, taking down a third guard. "Alpha! We need to push through!"
Ronan lifted his massive head, scenting the air.
Her.
Close.
Weakened.Terrified.Changing.
A growl tore from his chest and he sprinted deeper into the enemy stronghold, ripping through barricades, tearing apart anything in his path.
Nothing—not prophecy,not fate,not his own fear—would stop him.
He followed the trail down into a cavern entrance, the stone reeking of blood and magic.
He shifted mid-stride, body rearranging back into human form, bare feet hitting stone. His eyes glowed pure silver, veins pulsing with rage.
Voices echoed inside.
"She's waking—"
"She did something to Rykker—"
"She's not human—"
Ronan's heartbeat stilled.
He stepped into the doorway.
"Get away from her."
The wolves froze.
Ronan's power filled the room like a crushing weight, forcing their knees to buckle. The torches flickered violently. Shadows recoiled.
Evelyn hung limp in chains, blood dripping down her arm, her eyes half-open—
—and her darkness crawling against the stone like a living thing.
Her gaze lifted slightly.
"R-Ronan…?"
Something inside him snapped.
The prophecy didn't matter.The consequences didn't matter.
Only one thing mattered.
She was his.
And they had hurt her.
Ronan's voice dropped into a quiet, lethal whisper.
"I'm going to kill every one of you."