Chapter 4

Chapter

Four

Rowan

T he moon hung heavy in the sky, a silent guardian as I pressed the phone to my ear. The first ring echoed like a drumbeat, quickening my pulse. I needed to catch Mara of the Riverbend Pack, and I'd already tried three numbers.

"Rowan," Mara's voice was brisk, tinged with the wariness of an alpha who had weathered many storms. "This is unexpected."

"Don't worry, I didn't want to talk to you either, Mara." I leaned against the cold railing of the balcony. That was the truth. After going into town to talk with Tori, the pack meeting should've been taking up all of my brain space.

But it wasn't. Not even close.

Why the hell was Evelyn Berry in Black Lake? I hadn't seen her since we were kids, but the two of us had history. Enough that it made me sick to my stomach when I heard she was with Nathan. Sicker when I heard rumors she'd left Kitimat Pack.

Mara laughed. "Let me guess, Tori bribed you?"

"Wait, there were bribes on the table? I should've held out." Somehow I stayed present in our conversation even though my wolf was becoming unbearable. Find her. He was commanding me for the first time since I rose to alpha, and I didn't like it.

Mara sighed. "Let me save you the trouble. I know what this is about, and Kitimat isn't our responsibility."

"Saw that coming, but it's not me you have to answer to. I'm just the messenger this time."

"Right." Mara clicked her tongue. "I'm going to kill Tori."

"Can I watch?"

She huffed a laugh. "Tomorrow? Seriously? She couldn't even give us a day's lead time?" Before I could argue that we'd both been trying to catch her since Tuesday, she continued, "Sorry, that was in bad taste. I'm not saying I'm happy with the disappearances."

"None of us are. I understand your frustration, though."

There was a short pause. "That was surprisingly…validating of you. Did you go and mature on me, Steele?"

I laughed out loud. Mara was nearly two hundred years old. A far cry from my thirty. "I don't know whether I should be flattered or offended."

"Both. We'll be there."

As the line went dead, I set my phone on the table and pushed up from the wooden chair. I opened the fridge, the cool air spilling out to meet me as I scanned the shelves for something edible. My mind, however, was far from the task at hand. Evelyn's face kept flashing before my eyes—her fierce determination, the way she moved with purpose and grace. I grabbed a leftover steak, the scent of it filling the kitchen, but even that couldn't distract me.

My thoughts drifted back to a day long ago, back when life seemed simpler. We had been teenagers, and there was that day at the creek. I could still see the sun dappling through the trees, the water sparkling as Evelyn had laughed, splashing me playfully. She had been so full of life, her auburn hair catching the light as she teased me mercilessly about my clumsy attempts to skip stones. I could almost hear her laughter, a sound that had always made something inside me stir.

"Can't even skip a stone, eh, Steele?" she teased, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Hey, I'm more of a boulder kind of guy," I shot back.

I'd picked up the biggest hunk of rock I could manage and dropped it close enough that the splash drenched her from the shoulders down. She lunged at me then, and even though I was faster, I let her catch me. I let her splash me back.

I could almost feel her fingers wrapped around my forearms. The scent of her sun-kissed skin mixed with coconut sunscreen…

I blinked, realizing I was standing stock still in front of the fridge with barely enough blood above my waist to keep me upright. I cursed under my breath and adjusted myself, then walked to the air fryer like I'd just gotten off a horse.

My wolf would've been laughing had it been physically possible. I rolled my eyes and threw the steak onto the metal rack. I don't know what you're so pleased about , I shot back. If he wanted to mate, Evelyn was the last person we should be getting involved with.

Those moments of sneaking glances at her soaked t-shirt were long before everything had changed. Before Nathan Black had reared his ugly head. Nathan—an abusive, power-hungry alpha who had twisted our pack dynamics with his manipulative games.

My wolf growled at my train of thought. Nathan had been a nightmare. Under his so-called leadership, the pack had been torn apart. I remembered the fear in everyone's eyes, the way Nathan had ruled through intimidation and brute force. He had taken a sick pleasure in breaking those who dared oppose him, Evelyn included. She had suffered more than most, her psi abilities making her a target for Nathan's cruelty. My blood boiled just thinking about it, my wolf pacing within me, wanting to tear something—or someone—apart.

He'd come to power during the last moon of that harrowing year. Nathan had challenged my father, the former alpha of Black Lake, in a brutal fight for dominance. I had watched, helpless, as my father fell, the life draining from his eyes as Nathan claimed the title of alpha. That moment had shattered me, but it had also ignited a fire within me—a burning need to protect my pack and avenge my father.

But Nathan's hatred for me had deeper roots.

A new memory flooded my head, unbidden.

Fir branches brushing my arms. Cool summer night air. The squelch of detritus under my boots as I walked through the woods back to my house from a twilight dip in the lake.

"Stop it! They said Lana was meeting me here, please—" A young girl's voice cut off with a yelp, and I started running.

I found Nathan pinning Court to the ground. She kicked and struggled, but he was twice her size. I didn't even think. Fury surged through me as my bones cracked and reformed, fur sprouting as I dropped to all fours, a feral growl ripping from my throat. Nathan turned, eyes widening in surprise, but it was too late. I lunged, my powerful body colliding with his and sending him sprawling to the ground, his head snapping back against a tree trunk.

Court scrambled up from the ground, screaming as she ran back in the direction of town. Nathan snarled, his own wolf fighting to the surface. He shifted as he jumped up, landing heavily on his paws, but I was already on him.

She's barely fifteen, asshole! I screamed into his head.

Nathan twisted violently. Since when do you care who I ? —

My teeth sank into his shoulder, the taste of blood spurring me on. He bucked, managing to throw me off, but I landed on my feet, ready for the next attack.

We circled each other, his amber eyes filled with hate and fury. He lunged first, aiming for my throat, but I was faster. I dodged and snapped at his hind leg, feeling the satisfying crunch of bone. He howled in pain, but the fight wasn't over.

Nathan's wolf was massive, all muscle and rage, but he was sloppy, driven by rage rather than strategy. There was plenty of that to go around.

He came at me again, and that time I let him get close. Too close. He thought he had me, jaws wide to crush my neck, but I dropped low and launched myself upward, catching him off guard. My claws raked across his belly, sending him crashing to the ground with a yelp.

I pounced, pinning him beneath me. His eyes were wild, desperate, but he couldn't shake me off. I bared my teeth, my wolf's growl a deep, rumbling threat.

Yield . Asshole, I growled.

Nathan struggled, his pride fighting against the inevitable. I pressed down harder, my claws digging into his flesh. He whimpered, the sound so pathetic, I wanted to put him out of his misery. But we were only seventeen. He'd been my best friend growing up, and then something had changed. He'd grown distant. Defiant.

I stepped back, my body still tense, ready for any trick. But Nathan remained on the ground, defeated. I shifted back to human form, standing tall over him. Overpowering human females will never make you alpha. Get the hell out of here.

Those were the words that echoed in my head. I thought they'd help him. Make him want to be better. Instead, they'd been the fuel for his challenge.

Nathan's reign didn't last long. His cruelty bred dissent, and it wasn't long before whispers of rebellion started circulating. Fueled by the desire to restore order and justice, I gathered my most trusted pack members. We trained in secret, planning every detail meticulously, but never had the chance to put our plan into action.

Nathan had his own secrets. In the middle of the night, he and half our pack left. Went north. In their stories, I was the dissenter. The rebel. Nathan, their savior.

The air fryer dinged, and I grabbed a plate. Had Evelyn gone willingly? Had she been his mate? My wolf's hackles rose at the thoughts, a mixture of protectiveness and something deeper stirring within me.

I slapped the meat on the plate, grabbed a fork and steak knife, and stalked back to the table. My phone stared up at me as I shoved the first bite into my mouth and chewed. I swallowed and picked it up.

Maybe there was one more phone call I needed to make.