~Theo's POV~
~Flashback~
I stood in the woods far away from my pack but just enough to see it burn down to the ground. Everything was still sharp in my memory, just like the night my parents died. That night never left me, not even for a second.
I was only nineteen when Alpha Zeus and his warriors from the Moonstone Pack came charging through our borders. The screams had pierced the night like a blade, cutting through the silence with a violence I wasn't ready for.
Blood had stained the ground, thick and dark. I still remember the smell, it clung to my skin for days afterward. My father had stood tall, even when outnumbered. I watched him fall, his chest caved in by Zeus's claws, and I did nothing.
I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. All I could do was stare and scream his name until my throat was raw. That night, I lost not just my father but my entire family. They left me with nothing.
I buried that helpless boy and swore I'd never feel that powerless again. I ran far away and was found by a kind hunter, he took me to the Silver pack. I joined the warriors training and when I was strong enough, I started over.
The Alpha of the Silver pack at the time had no child and he took me as his. And when he saw my potential he crowned me the Alpha which some people in the pack were against. But I didn't care about what they thought.
Few years later I built the Silver Pack from the ground up, found others like me, wolves who had been broken, forgotten, left behind. I trained them myself. I made warriors out of those who had nothing left.
And together, We became a force they couldn't ignore. And when the time was right, I went back not as a boy, but as an Alpha. I walked into the Moonstone Pack and tore down everything they had built, piece by piece. I was patient.
I worked from the inside, gained their trust, studied their weaknesses, and when I struck, I didn't miss. Alpha Zeus and his son Bryce were my prisoners now. That should have made me feel something. Peace. Satisfaction. Relief. But all I felt was... empty.
My parents and siblings were still gone. My family still lay in unmarked dirt. Revenge didn't erase that. Then there was Daphne. I found her during the attack. She wasn't loud or powerful, just quiet, always watching.
I knew she was mated to someone, Alpha Bryce. It should have ended there, but when I got close, I felt it-the bond. My wolf felt it before I did. She was mine.
Only she didn't feel it.
She looked at me like I was a monster, and maybe I was. I didn't want her. I never planned to have a mate. I never thought I'd find my mate in a place like this. Not after all these years. And definitely not in the heart of enemy territory.
I had already given everything I had to get revenge. I didn't have space in my life for softness, for love. But something about her made it impossible to walk away. And then I found out she was pregnant.
I stood in the Moonstone Pack's ruined courtyard with her scent wrapped around me, my heart pounding in ways I didn't understand. She wasn't carrying my child, but my wolf didn't care. He still called her mate.
I didn't know what twisted game the Moon Goddess was playing. Why me? Why her? Why now? I had taken down my enemies. I had won. But standing there with Daphne and that unborn child, I wasn't sure what winning even meant anymore.
All I knew was I wasn't going to leave her here. She would go with me back to my pack and face whatever fate is waiting for her.
Then everything spiralled faster than I could keep up. Daphne was bleeding in the car, and before I could think, I had materialised right inside the hospital, right by her side. I hadn't used that power in years. It drained me in ways I'd forgotten.
My bones felt like they were on fire, and my skin throbbed from the strain, but I stayed. I couldn't leave her, not while she was in pain. Not while she bled. I didn't even know the reason behind everything that was happening to her.
But I took her from that pack, so I'd be responsible for her now. I watched her cry after the doctor said she lost the baby. I felt for her, but then she should be happy she had nothing tying her to Alpha Bryce anymore.
I stood there in her room, listening to the doctor speak, trying to convince them she'd be safer if I took her home. I knew the pack had better healers and better protection. But my voice sounded thin, like it wasn't even mine. My hands were shaking. My vision swam.
I needed to leave this place by all means, and I couldn't leave her here. I couldn't breathe for a second, so I turned and rushed out of the room, my chest tight, my head spinning. I needed space.
I pushed into the bathroom down the hall and leaned over the sink, gripping the edges like they were the only thing holding me together. That's when I saw it. My hands were covered in glowing red veins, crawling up my wrists like fire under the skin.
The pain came in waves-deep, sharp, hot. I clenched my jaw and rode through it. I had known there would be consequences for using that ability again, but I didn't care. I hadn't even thought twice.
I had done it for her. A woman I barely knew. A woman that was pregnant for another man.
I didn't recognise myself anymore.
I splashed water on my face and closed my eyes, letting the cold settle into my skin, calming me just enough to breathe without my chest ripping open. But it wasn't enough. I needed something stronger.
Something to pull me out of this mess of feelings I didn't want to deal with.
Sex.
It was the one thing that always worked. Something fast, something rough, something to shut my head off. I needed to get back to the Silver Pack. Back to control. Back to something familiar.
I dried my hands and headed out, walking fast through the hall. The hospital felt too clean, too bright, too still. My boots echoed against the floor as I turned the corner toward Daphne's room.
But when I stepped inside... she wasn't there. The bed was empty. The monitors were off. The IV stand stood alone, untouched.
She was gone.
I turned quickly, my heart thudding just once, sharp and fast. I stepped out of the room and caught the eye of the nearest nurse. "Where is she?" I asked, voice calm but low, dangerous.
The nurse frowned. "Who, Alpha?"
"The girl in this room," he said, pointing back over his shoulder, jaw tight. "Daphne." She glanced at a clipboard, flipping a page, clearly confused. "She was supposed to be under watch. I-"
I didn't wait. I looked at the other staff nearby, all of them wearing the same blank expression.
It hit me then.
She'd escaped.
The thought made me pause, but only for a second. A slow smile tugged at my lips, cold and knowing. That wasn't a smart move to pull on me. Did she really think she could run from me now?
I lifted my head and mindlinked my guards. "Someone's slipped out," I said, my voice hard.
"Female. Petite, soft face. Looks scared. Search the road between here and the pack. She's not far. I ended the link and turned away from the nurses without another word. My boots echoed against the tile as I walked out of the hospital.
Outside, the cool air hit me, but it did nothing to cool the heat crawling up my arm. I glanced down. The veins on my hand were still red. Flaring. Burning.
I needed relief.
Without thinking, I got into my car, slammed the door, and the driver drove toward the pack house. All I wanted right now was sex.
That was the only thing that ever helped.
