Chapter 59
[ 1,334 words ]
Ronan
Inside, the warmth hits me first—woodsmoke, pine, and something softer underneath.
Her scent.
Aria.
She’s sitting on the edge of the couch, fingers twisting together, while Kade stands near the window, arms crossed, watching the treeline like he expects it to move.
Barric leans against the wall, massive and unmoving, while Liam lounges in a chair like this is just another casual night.
It isn’t.
Theo’s not here yet, but that doesn’t surprise me.
He’s probably circling the perimeter.
Aria looks up when I step in.
Relief flickers across her face, quick but real.
“Her buyer was a Hunter,” Kade says without preamble.
My wolf snarls at the word as if it is the enemy in the flesh.
Straight to it.
Of course.
My jaw tightens.
“What?”
Aria nods, hesitant.
“I know home. He was the guy I went out on a date with the night the assembly sent those wolves to get me. I just can’t believe it.He seemed…” She hesitates, searching.
“Normal.”
My wolf snarls.
Nothing is normal.
“Did he seem openly hostile?” I ask.
She shakes her head.
“No but—” She glances at Kade.
“He asked very specific things. About the land. The woods. The distance from town.”
That’s enough.
The memory slams into me—blood, smoke, the crack of gunfire.
The first attack.
The moment everything changed.
And him.
The hunter.
I can still feel it—that presence.
Cold.
Calculating.
Watching from the shadows while the rest of us fought for our home.
That’s the risk every pack runs, that we will be discovered and have to move our entire pack to a new land.
“He’s not just here randomly,” I say quietly.
“He’s here because something must have given the Hunters reason to believe shifters live here?”
Kade’s gaze snaps to mine.
“It’s a strong possibility there scooping out the area.”
Aria goes still.
“What does that mean?”
“Depends on if he brings friends or not.”
My wolf’s voice is sharp now.
He has been near our mate.
He could be tracking her.
Barric pushes off the wall, arms folding across his chest.
“Then we don’t let him get close.”
Aria swallows.
“That’s what I wanted to ask.” Her voice is softer now, uncertain.
“Is… is it a good idea to let him buy the place?”
That’s the question.
And for a second, I’m not sure what the answer is.
My instincts scream no.
Keep him away.
Protect the pack.
Protect her.
But Liam sits forward, elbows on his knees, expression unexpectedly serious.
“Yes,” he says.
I blink.
“You’re agreeing with this?”
Barric nods once.
“We are.”
That surprises me more than anything.
“Explain,” I say.
Liam exhales slowly.
“If the veil is falling—and it is—and hunters are closing in, hiding isn’t going to work forever.”
Barric picks up where he leaves off.
“Right now, he doesn’t know who we are. He suspects. That’s it.”
Kade’s eyes narrow slightly, understanding dawning.
“If we push him away,” Liam continues, “we confirm there’s something here worth hiding.”
“And then he digs deeper,” Barric adds.
“Harder. Smarter.”
My wolf goes still, considering.
Prey that runs is prey worth chasing.
Damn it.
“I can see them,” Liam says, tapping his temple.
“The way they think.
If he’s here, close, thinking he’s in control… we have the advantage.”
“Because we know what he is,” Kade finishes.
“And he doesn’t know what we are,” Barric says.
Silence settles again, heavier this time.
Aria looks between us, uncertainty etched into every line of her body.
“So… letting him stay… keeps him from looking harder?”
“For now,” I say.
My voice sounds steadier than I feel.
I meet her eyes.
“We watch him. Control the situation. If he gets too close…” I let the sentence trail off.
My wolf finishes it.
We end him.
Aria nods slowly.
“Okay,” she says.
“Then I’ll call him. Tell him the place is his.”
I incline my head.
“Do it.”
She exhales, like she’s been holding that breath all along.
And just like that, the decision is made.
It should feel like a win.
It doesn’t.
Because now the hunter isn’t just circling.
He’s walking straight into my territory.
Liam stretches, breaking the tension.
“Alright. Since we’re all making big decisions tonight…”
I already don’t like that tone.
He grins slightly.
“Are you all living together now or what?”
Aria freezes.
Kade blinks.
Barric huffs.
And I…
I feel it.
That strange, unsettled pull in my chest.
Because he’s not wrong.
Since the night we claimed her, nothing has been the same.
We don’t talk about it.
We just… move.
Between cabins.
Between beds.
Wherever she is, we are.
We all are.
Intern wherever we are, she follows.
It’s instinct.
Natural.
Necessary.
Our wolves demand it.
My Alpha demands it.
Not only as Alpha of the pack but, strangely as Alpha of the band.
Like our new intimacy not only makes Aria mine but Kade, Theo, and Barric as well.
Ours, my wolf murmurs.
But Liam’s question drags it into the open.
Makes it real.
Makes it complicated.
“It just… kind of happened,” Aria says quietly.
Theo steps in at that moment, like he’s been summoned by the tension itself.
“What did I miss?”
“Domestic arrangements,” Liam says.
Theo pauses.
“Ah.”
Kade rubs the back of his neck.
“It’s… not exactly organized.”
“That’s one word for it,” Barric mutters.
Because it’s true.
It works—but it doesn’t.
The distance between cabins is becoming a problem.
The constant shifting.
The lack of a central space.
It leaves us feeling… fractured.
Together, but not settled.
My wolf growls low.
Pack should not be scattered.
I’ve been thinking about it.
More than I’ve admitted.
A solution.
Something permanent.
Something right.
But now isn’t the moment for that conversation.
Not yet.
So I go with the simple truth.
“Yes,” I say.
All eyes turn to me.
“We are,” I continue.
“We just haven’t… defined it.”
Liam smirks.
“That’s one way to put it.”
But no one argues.
Because they feel it too.
That pull.
That bond.
That undeniable truth.
We belong together.
We just haven’t figured out how yet.
***
The next morning, the air is sharp and clean.
Training grounds.
Aria stands in the center of the clearing, shoulders squared, jaw set.
She looks determined.
And a little nervous.
“Again,” I tell her.
She exhales, closing her eyes.
“Focus on the heat,” I say, circling her slowly.
“Not the fire itself. The feeling before it forms.”
Her brow furrows.
“I can feel it,” she says.
“It’s just… slipping.”
My wolf watches closely.
She is stronger today.
“I know,” I say.
“Don’t chase it. Let it build.”
She lifts her hand.
Nothing happens.
Frustration flickers across her face.
“Damn it.”
“Language,” I mutter.
She shoots me a look.
“Really?”
I almost smile.
“Again,” I say.
She inhales slowly this time.
Deeper.
Steadier.
The air shifts.
Subtle at first.
Then a flicker of yellow and orange.
A tiny spark dances across her fingertips.
Her eyes snap open.
“Did you see that?!”
“Yes,” I say, unable to hide the edge of pride in my voice.
“Again.”
She nods quickly, excitement replacing frustration.
This time, when she reaches for it, the flame comes faster.
Brighter.
A small, controlled fire curls in her palm.
Not wild or destructive.
Slow and tentivie.
It isn’t exactly controlled but carefully, like a newborn lamb testing out it’s limbs.
My wolf stills.
She is learning.
Aria laughs, a breathless, disbelieving sound.
“I did it.”
“You did,” I say.
And I mean it.
She holds it for a few seconds longer before it flickers out.
But it’s progress.
Real progress.
She turns to me the happiness dissolving into inquiry.
“How did you become Alpha?”
The question lands out of nowhere.I stiffens slightly at the change of topic.
I study her.
She’s not challenging me, just curious.
It’s the first time she’s shown an interest in me.
Reaching out to get to know me, just like she said she would.
Something in me… settles at that.
“My father was killed,” I say.
“It was during a war with another pack. I was nineteen.”
Aria’s expression shifts into shock, then settles into something deeper.
“They burned our house,” he continues.
“Some of our own helped them. Betrayed my father, betrayed the pack.”
My wolf snarls.
Traitors deserve death.
“I was the strongest,” I say simply.
“Natural-born Alpha. So I took over.”
The words are hollow.
More like a recounting of history then my own life.
Silence follows.
Our eyes lock for a tense moment.
Aria steps forward and wraps her arms around me.
I freeze.
My hand stuck at my side with no idea what to do.
Then my body responds.
I wrap my arms around her and sink into the embrace.
“It’s fine,” I say awkwardly.
“It was a long time ago.”
Aria pulls back just enough to look at him.
“That doesn’t make it right,” she says softly.
“Or change what you went through.”
Something shifts.
I feel it.
Deep.
Subtle.
But real.
My wolf huffs.
She sees us.
I swallow hard in an effort to steady my racing heart.
My phone vibrates.
The moment shatters.
I glance at the screen.
Marcus.
My gut tightens.
I answer immediately.
“What is it?”
“More attacks,” Marcus says without greeting.
Ice slides down my spine.
“Where?”
“Closer than before.”
Of course they are.
“They’re getting bold,” he continues.
“And the Assembly has called an official Alpha meeting at the Citadel.”
Aria looks up at me, probably hearing the conversation.
“Protocol Ashfall has been initiated in the nearby city,” Marcus adds.
That…
That is bad.
Very bad.
My wolf rises, fully alert now.
I hang up slowly.
“We have to go” I say to Aria.
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