
872 readers · 10 chapters · 3 free
The news hit me like a physical blow, knocking the breath from my lungs as I sat in the pack house kitchen, my hands instinctively moving to cradle my swollen belly. Alpha Barnes of the Crescent Pack was dead. James stood frozen in the doorway, the messenger's words still hanging in the air between us. I watched his face transform—the color draining from his cheeks, his jaw clenching so tight I could hear his teeth grinding. His Alpha aura, usually a steady presence I'd grown accustomed to, flickered like a candle in the wind. "James?" My voice came out smaller than I intended, barely a whisper. Our mind-link, already weakened over the past few months, felt like trying to shout across a vast canyon. I reached for him through the bond, but met only cold emptiness. He didn't look at me. Couldn't, it seemed.