Alpha Kingsley’s POV
The wind shifted the moment I crossed into the northern perimeter.
Cold.
Dark.
Wrong.
Even the forest felt uneasy.
The warriors were already positioned along the treeline when I arrived.
No one spoke.
They didn’t need to.
The tension in the air was thick enough to choke on.
Andrew stepped forward.
“It started an hour ago. One of the patrol guards sensed strange energy. It spiked, then faded. But it’s still lingering.”
I crouched, pressing my palm against the ground.
And I felt it.
Dark magic didn’t feel like ordinary power.
It wasn’t wild like rogue energy.
It wasn’t natural like a normal witch’s craft.
It was corrupted.
Rotten.
It pulsed faintly beneath the soil, like something had been buried there… or summoned.
I also sensed another faint energy — subtle, almost undetectable.
It nearly escaped even my heightened senses.
I just hoped it wasn’t what I feared.
Argon stirred violently inside me.
This is not random.
“I know,” I muttered.
Andrew glanced at me but didn’t question it.
I stood slowly.
“Spread out. No one crosses the line alone. If this is a summoning point, whoever did it isn’t far.”
The warriors moved instantly.
Black magic was forbidden for a reason.
It required sacrifice.
Human blood.
Intention.
And it was rare.
Which meant someone powerful was involved.
A low growl built in my chest.
Someone had stepped onto my land.
And they hadn’t come by accident.
Suddenly, the air shifted.
A sharp crack echoed through the trees.
Then another.
One of my warriors shouted.
I moved before thought caught up, racing toward the sound.
The scent hit me first — oppressive and metallic.
Blood.
When I reached the clearing, two warriors were down.
Not dead — but thrown back like rag dolls.
In the center of the clearing, carved into the earth, was a strange symbol.
Burned black.
Still smoking.
I didn’t recognize the exact formation — but I recognized the intention.
Ritual.
Binding.
Summoning.
Testing.
“They weren’t trying to cross,” Andrew said quietly behind me.
“No,” I replied coldly.
“They were measuring.”
Someone wanted to see how quickly we would respond.
A slow, dangerous smile touched my lips.
That was a mistake.
Because I was not a patient Alpha.
Argon pushed forward inside me, claws scraping against control.
Let me out.
Not yet.
I stepped forward into the circle.
The moment my boot crossed the symbol, the energy reacted.
The air distorted.
Dark smoke rose violently from the marking, twisting upward like it had been waiting.
The warriors tensed.
Then I felt it.
A pulse.
Not from the ground.
From my chest.
Sharp.
Sudden.
My breath hitched for half a second before steadying again.
Olivia’s POV
I had just finished pacing his room for what felt like the hundredth time.
He left like he owned the world.
Like I didn’t have a choice.
“You’ll be staying here. With me.”
The words still echoed in my head.
My cheeks warmed again at the memory of what had happened earlier.
The accidental touch.
The way his voice had lowered.
My heart refused to behave.
How am I going to survive being in the same room with him?
I can barely maintain my composure whenever he’s near me.
But then—
Something shifted.
A sharp ache bloomed in my chest.
I stopped moving.
My breathing turned uneven.
It felt like someone had gripped my heart and squeezed.
Not pain.
Not exactly.
But wrong.
My wolf stirred restlessly beneath my skin.
He’s in danger.
The thought wasn’t mine.
It came instinctively.
I moved toward the window, pressing my hand against the glass.
The northern forest was barely visible from here.
The air felt heavier.
Darker.
And for the first time since arriving here…
I felt afraid.
Not for myself.
For him.
“He’ll be fine,” Lucy reassured gently.
“He’s far stronger than you can imagine.”
I wanted to believe her.
But the feeling in my chest wouldn’t fade.
Alpha Kingsley’s POV
The smoke in front of me twisted violently, forming a distorted shape before dissolving into nothing.
A warning.
Not an attack.
Andrew stepped closer.
“Alpha?”
Concern was evident on his face.
“This wasn’t meant to breach the border,” I said quietly. This story is hosted at g.com.
“It was meant to draw me here.”
Silence fell.
Realization dawned in Andrew’s eyes.
“Someone wanted you to step into it.”
”Yes.”
And that meant something worse.
The symbol wasn’t powerful enough to harm me.
But it was crafted with precision.
With knowledge of our patrol patterns.
Our response time.
Our weaknesses.
My jaw tightened.
“This isn’t an outsider guessing,” I continued.
“This is someone who knows our territory — and our patrol schedule.”
Andrew’s expression darkened.
“You think—”
”Yes.”
A traitor.
Or someone feeding information to an external force.
Because black magic users did not move blindly.
They calculated.
Argon growled violently.
They dare trespass into our territory.
“Is this a sign of war?” he pressed within me.
My eyes darkened.
Rage unlike anything I had felt before surged through me.
The forest trembled faintly under the pressure of my aura.
“Andrew,” I said coldly, “increase internal surveillance. Quietly. No one is to know we suspect betrayal.”
He nodded immediately.
“And double the guards near the pack house.”
His eyes flickered slightly at that.
“You think she’s connected to this?”
”No,” I replied instantly.
“But we have to remain alert at all times.”
Still, I knew something else.
She was connected to me.
And that made her a vulnerability.
Or a weapon.
The wind howled suddenly, sharp and unnatural.
From the edge of the clearing, a shadow flickered between the trees.
Faint.
Distorted.
Fast.
My blood ran cold.
Andrew saw it too — but a second too late.
We turned toward the direction, but nothing stood there.
No scent.
No presence.
Just distorted glimpses of something retreating into darkness.
They knew I was here.
They were watching.
This wasn’t random black magic.
This was deliberate.
Calculated.
Personal.
My aura exploded outward in a violent surge, cracking branches and forcing warriors to step back.
Let them watch.
Let them test.
But if they so much as dared to step further—
I would burn the world down to ash.
“Find out who’s feeding them information,” I ordered, my voice deadly calm.
“I want names.”
Andrew nodded.
“And Alpha?”
”Yes.”
”Tighten security around the pack grounds and the borders.”
My voice held no doubt.
No hesitation.
Because the moment someone even attempted to breach our defenses—
They would understand why my name carried rumors.
And why those rumors were mercy compared to the truth.
I turned back toward the pack house.
Whoever had set their sights on my territory…
Had just declared war.