The moment the bond tightened, I knew something had changed.
Not gradually.
Instantly.
Like a thread being pulled so hard it threatened to snap.
Her.
Baby.
Fear.
Clear. Sharp. Uncontrolled.
I stopped walking mid-step in the corridor outside the council chamber.
"…Baby."
The word left my mouth before I could stop it.
Behind me, voices still argued, still debated, still tried to control what they didn't understand—but I wasn't listening anymore.
Something was wrong.
Not in the meeting.
Not in the pack.
In her space.
I turned sharply.
"Cyris—where are you going?" Amanda's voice followed me.
I didn't slow down.
"Something's wrong," I said.
"You don't even know what it is," she replied quickly.
"I do."
Because I could feel it now.
Not fully.
But enough.
The bond was no longer just connection.
It was warning.
And hers was screaming.
I moved faster.
The air around me shifted as I exited the chamber. The moment I stepped into the open corridor, my control cracked slightly.
Rynn reacted instantly.
Danger.
Not a suggestion.
An instinct.
My pace broke into a full run.
Walls blurred past me as guards stepped aside quickly, sensing the shift in my aura before I even reached them.
"Alpha—what's happening?" someone called.
No answer.
There was no time.
The bond pulled harder.
Closer.
Stronger.
Fear.
Real fear.
Not mine.
Hers.
That was enough.
My jaw tightened as I crossed into the main hall.
"Lock the territory gates," I ordered sharply without stopping.
"Now."
Panic rippled behind me, commands being repeated, systems activating—but I didn't look back.
Because I felt it again.
That pressure.
That presence.
Something approaching her space.
Something not of this territory.
My speed increased.
The moment I reached the outer corridor leading to my residence, the air changed.
Cold.
Wrong.
I stopped instantly.
The guards near the entrance stiffened.
"Alpha?" one asked cautiously.
I raised a hand.
Silence.
Then I felt it.
A ripple.
Not inside the pack.
But on the edge of it.
Something crossing boundaries it shouldn't.
My eyes darkened slightly.
"…They're here," I muttered.
And then I moved again.
Faster than before.
The doors to my residence were thrown open as I stepped inside.
The bond hit me immediately.
Strong.
Raw.
She was here.
Alive.
But shaken.
My gaze locked forward.
And for the first time since I left the council chamber—
I wasn't dealing with politics.
I wasn't dealing with elders.
I wasn't dealing with balance.
I was dealing with a threat that had already entered my world.
And it had come too close to her.
"Baby!" I called sharply.
My voice cut through the room like a blade.
Everything in me sharpened.
Rynn rose fully now.
Not waiting.
Not restrained.
Ready.
Because whatever had arrived…
Was already inside the territory.
And I was seconds away from finding out what it wanted with her.