Chapter 2- She’s Back

Nearly losing his footing and colliding with a tree, he sunk his claws into the soft earth, He grabbed at a root and twisted just in time, barely skimming the bark of a tree. The near miss cost him seconds. Above, Carina looped back, laughing as she danced through the canopy.

“Pack report,” Stone growled into the mind-link.

His Beta, Alistair responded first. “Jerrold’s circling in from the west. Headed your way.”

Gunner, his top warrior, replied next. “Tracking Hadrianus. He’s heading north.”

Jerrold—the one Carina kept like a favored pet. For seventy-five years, she’d nurtured him like the son she never had. Hadrianus, her eternal consort, was older than most civilizations. He’d helped her kill Stone’s mate and son.

And Stone had waited a century to return the favor.

“I see Jerrold. Closing in fast,” Alistair said.

Stone exhaled through his teeth. This again? Carina’s maneuver was predictable now—lure and split. But not this time.

“Ready?”

“You don’t have to ask, Alpha,” Alistair replied.

Stone grinned, then exploded forward, paws slamming the ground, claws skimming roots as he weaved through the trees with precision born from centuries of war.

The wind shifted. He could hear Alistair now—fast, focused, heart pounding like war drums.

Jerrold leapt overhead. Carina followed.

He was approaching quickly and angled to the right. He fixed his gaze on the tree ahead, which would undoubtedly be the next pivoting point, where Carina and Jerrold would meet before shooting off in a different direction, leading to a head collision between him and Alistair.

He smiled to himself. This time, Stone and Alistair would be waiting.

Alistair spoke into the mind-link, voice tight with thrill. “Target acquired.”

“Now!”

Carina’s shriek pierced the woods as Alistair shot from the underbrush like a cannonball.

She and Jerrold landed on a branch—then scattered. But the lycans below were faster.

Alistair vaulted ten feet in the air, claws burying deep into the tree. Bark cracked under his weight. At the same time, Stone slammed into the neighboring trunk, shaking the entire structure. Branches snapped. Jerrold screamed.

He fell.

Stone and Alistair pounced before he could hit the ground. Their teeth found flesh. Jerrold howled—then gurgled—then nothing. They tore him apart before his scream could finish echoing.

Carina shrieked above. Her grief was real.

Good.

Acidic blood flooded their tongues, flowed down their throats, and made their stomachs churn as the soil swallowed it up greedily. Pulling away, he and Alistair flung their heads back and howled their victory, drowning out the female's aggression above.

"I will kill all of you! Every single one you hold dear—I will tear them down and spread their limbs from one corner of the country to the next!" She screamed.

“Good luck, leech!” Alistair bellowed. “I’m looking forward to mopping the forest with your crusty old ass!”

She screamed again in fury, hurled pinecones at them like an angry child, and fled. Alistair gave chase, disappearing into the night.

Stone stayed behind to dispose of the body. Shifting into his human form, he dropped to his knees in the blood-soaked dirt. His hands dug into the cold earth. Memory crushed him. He could still hear the cries. Still see their eyes.

His mate. His son.

Gone.

A sob escaped him before he bit it back with a growl. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed fistfuls of earth and hurled them at the torn torso a few yards away.

He yelled out his sorrow, allowing rage to flow out. He should have found solace in killing Jerrold, one of Carina's cherished ones, but he did not. It wasn’t enough. Nothing would ever be enough.

Nothing could ever bring back those he had lost, and he would find no comfort until he had eliminated both of them once and for all.

Sten died with his mate and son a century ago. Now, he was Stone—Alpha of the WolfsBane Pack.. And vengeance was his religion.

"Alpha! She raced across the roadway!" Alistair announced with amazement and pleasure. "Come check it out! You will not believe me!"

Stone exhaled hard, stood, and let his wolf rise.

In seconds, bones shifted, muscle stretched, fur erupted across his skin. His muzzle lengthened, ears sharpening, body surging with power.

It only took two seconds for his bones to realign and his muscles to soften, shift, and harden again, a process that no longer hurt like it did centuries before. He sniffed for Alistair's scent before raising his paws.

He stopped cold, his heart skipping a beat..

A whisper on the wind. A sweet, distant scent and at the same time alluring. It couldn't be mistaken for anything else.

Adeline. His wolf surged beneath his skin, a rush of primal instinct and emotion flooding his senses.

“What is it?” Alistair asked.

Stone’s voice was a rasp.

"Her scent. It is Adeline. She's... She's back!"