Page 11 of The Alpha's Shattered Bonds

My heart fluttered, caught between relief and disbelief at the effect Tyler’s arrival had wrought.

In a heartbeat, Logan stood again in human form, his voice sharp like splintering wood. “Seraphina’s a skilled witch. Youreally think her showing up here is a mere coincidence?” He moved forward, angling his robust body between us as if he intended to impede my approach to Tyler.

“No.” Tyler’s response was direct, a fierce determination etching every line of his face. Shock overwhelmed me again at that single word, fear mingling in my chest. Surely, Tyler didn’t think I meant any harm. Surely, he didn’t doubt my intentions.

Then, Tyler moved past Logan, his vivid blue eyes meeting mine, searching. “I don’t believe Seraphina’s return is a coincidence. The Moon goddess has brought her back to us in our time of need.” His gaze softened as it searched me, uncertainty flashing for just a moment. “Please tell me you’ll come to the pack and see if you can help?”

I looked between Logan and Tyler, a tumultuous swell of emotions crashing within me. Tyler stood as an unwavering shield while Logan’s taut fists and clenched jaw contorted with unresolved anger. In that charged moment, the forest held its breath—awaiting our next actions, the tension palpable.

“It’s not why I came,” I said, finally breaking the silence. “But I will help if I can.”

Tyler’s face lit up, and my heart warmed at the affection evident in his expression despite our troubled past. I quickly turned my gaze back to Logan, whose barely contained anger anchored me to the present.

“Lead the way,” Tyler said, gesturing to Logan and the rest of the patrol. “I’ll escort Seraphina from here.”

Logan looked as if he meant to argue again, but Tyler was the pack’s alpha. After a tense moment, Logan bowed his head inacknowledgment of Tyler’s command. Turning, he shifted into his wolf and led his warriors ahead, leaving me and Tyler to walk alone together.

Chapter Five

Tyler

I could hardly breathe. Seraphina was here, walking beside me, as real and radiant as the sun flooding our land. It felt surreal, as though I had stumbled into one of the countless dreams that had haunted me over the last two years—dreams in which I’d reach for her only to have her slip through my fingers. Yet here she was, flesh and blood, returning home as if the Moon goddess had finally twisted the strands of fate back in my favor.

I had been out gathering more of the kuppik herb for the packmates in the infirmary. I had thought the unsettled feeling in my chest was due to my worry about the illness afflicting our pack. But then I’d caught her scent—sweet and mesmerizing like honey drizzled over warm bread—something primal ignited within me. I had known this unsettled feeling in my chest was a forewarning that everything was about to change.

Now, so near to her, my mate’s scent washed over me in intoxicating waves, soothing the broken pieces of my heart while simultaneously sending a jolt of electricity coursing through my veins. My wolf still stirred restlessly, but I’d chosen to remain in human form. I knew the instinct to claim Seraphina was too strong in my beast’s form, so I kept him under wraps.

As we walked, I surreptitiously stole glances at her. I couldn’t believe how stunning she looked, even with her obvious tiredness. A soft breeze tousled her hair, catching the sunlightand making her raven locks glint like obsidian. Beneath her fatigue lay a strength that had always captivated me—a warrior’s spirit that refused to be eroded despite the inevitable trials she faced.

I longed to reach out to her, but I had to content myself with walking beside her. Logan and the rest of the patrol ahead of us, in their wolf forms, gave us a semblance of privacy. Yet, I knew their hearing was even better in their beast forms, so I reluctantly tamped down the many questions teeming in my head. Every question that I wanted to broach might unlock a topic that was better faced in privacy.

Still, questions crowded my head as we trudged on through the snow. Where had she been? I noticed that she wore black leathers I’d never seen before. A brown leather saddle bag was on her back that looked like it was designed to be worn by her wolf.

In the first few months of Seraphina’s disappearance, I’d tried to trace her through her university contacts. She didn’t have any friends in the pack, so I was the only one who tried to find her. Despite getting in touch with all of her university friends that the dean forwarded to me, none of them had heard from her. As the second year of her absence slipped by, I’d begun to despair that I would ever see my girl again.

Yet here we were. Soon, our town of Nahachoh embraced us—the stone houses and the mountains standing guard over our lives. Seraphina walked gracefully alongside me, her presence stirring both hope and anticipation. Her words from earlier, the only ones she’d uttered so far in my presence, tortured me:“It’s not why I came back, but I will help if I can.”I longed to ask herwhyshe’d returned. Had she missed me as much as I’d missed her? Could there still be hope for Seraphina and me?

While I tortured myself with this line of thought, covertly feasting on the sight of her, I continued to flank her, aware of how hostile Logan and the other packmates in the patrol were. Anger roiled through me at how close they’d come to harming Seraphina.

But I steeled myself, knowing that we were about to meet with yet more mistrust from the rest of the pack. We followed the patrol to the Council Chambers, which stood like a stronghold beneath the towering peaks of the Nuvuja Mountains. The walls were constructed of coarse, sun-bleached stone, the same as most of the pack’s homes, exuding an air of rugged strength. Even in the summer, the mountainous region of our far north clung to its snow-covered peaks, creating an otherworldly backdrop against the biting cold.

As we stepped into the council room, the sunlight filtered in through the tall, narrow windows, casting a pale glow on the intricate carvings that decorated the stone walls—depictions of our ancestors and their great battles and triumphs over darkness. Jewels and fixtures of polished silvery giak adorned the chambers, bearing witness to the rich resources our homeland offered. Ashen-blue tagiu, velvety kayunil, and deep crimson ivis shone, too—each gem capturing a different aspect of our long, proud history, lighting up the air with whispers of ages gone.

Too soon, the relative peace was interrupted. Elder Darius strode in, his presence immediate and imposing. With dark brown eyes and stern features framed by silver-gray hair, he was dressed in a silvery-gray tunic and trousers favored forofficial meetings. There was nothing formally scheduled today, but Darius never hesitated to present himself with the utmost formality, as though the world around us was a ticking clock waiting for him to issue some edict.

A tide of packmates swarmed in behind him. As predicted, word had spread among the pack. Logan and his patrol unit had shifted back into their human forms and had furnished themselves with clothes from the closet in the corridor. Logan was nearest, still seeming intent on lingering too close to Seraphina, his dark eyes prickling over her with an alertness that drove my wolf wild.

Everyone’s eyes prickled over me, too, their curiosity understandable. The whole pack knew that after canceling the mate ceremony with Linda, I had searched frantically for Seraphina. She was the reason I had remained single these two years. Yet, I knewthatwas hardly going to help turn the tide of animosity the pack harbored toward her. If anything, it heightened their distrust of her.

Seraphina spoke, her quiet voice instantly stealing my attention from the crowd. “Will you show me one of the infected?”

I opened my mouth to say that I reckoned she needed to rest first. She looked drained from her journey and the fight with Logan and the other Silver Moon warriors. But before I could speak, a chorus of angry protests erupted, echoing off the stone walls.

“Tom will be carried off next, mark my words,” Jackie declared, her voice laced with desperation as she cast a wary glance toward the door. Her husband, Elder Tom, was among the afflicted, andI knew she was picturing him lying unconscious in the infirmary with so many of our other packmates.

At the thought of those suffering, I remembered why I’d been out in the wilds this morning.

“Justin,” I called the attention of one of our packmates nearby. “Can you take these to Linda in the infirmary?”

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