It wasn't the familiar warm, faintly spiced scent he associated with him. This was sharp, erratic, and heavy in the air, clinging to the walls and flooding his senses all at once. It smelled like distress, panic, fear And beneath all of it, faint but undeniable, was the metallic scent of blood.
Kasteil's body reacted before his mind could catch up. His chest tightened, breath stalling as instinct took over.
He lost his composure in that moment.
There was no pretending to be calm. No forcing himself into the controlled, rational Alpha he was expected to be. The scent stripped him of restraint, drove straight into something primal and protective inside him, something that roared at him that Holland was in danger.
"Are you coming?" Soren asked Nicholas as he pulled away from him.
Nicholas was still in front of Soren.
"No," Nicholas replied. "I'll keep watch right here just in case."
"Ok," Soren said, already turning toward the house.
