....The Alpha's Choice ....
The battlefield was chaotic.
Wolves clashed in the dirt, bodies hit the ground hard, and the night was thick with snarls and the smell of blood. The moon hung above everything like a cold witness, shining down on the violence below.
Lorenzo fought without hesitation.
His claws cut through flesh. His wolf tore through anything that tried to get close. But even as he moved with deadly speed, his mind wasn't in the fight.
It was with her.
With Elena.
Her scream , that broken, strangled sound hit him through the bond so hard his knees almost buckled. She barely had a voice, yet somehow she forced out a sound that shouldn't have been possible.
And it tore him apart.
A rogue's jaws clamped onto his shoulder, but he barely felt it. He ripped it off him and snapped its neck like it weighed nothing.
His wolf was pacing inside him, restless, panicked.
She needs us.
Go.
Now.
Lorenzo slammed another rogue into the ground, the impact cracking the earth beneath them. His vision flickered. His control. His breathing.
He wasn't about to lose control.
He had already lost it.
Then Marcus and Kieran burst through the fight and took place at his sides like they had been waiting for the exact second he'd break.
His Beta.
His Gamma.
His brothers.
Both of them were bleeding, panting, covered in dirt ,but still fighting like hell.
"Alpha!" Kieran shouted, deflecting a blow aimed at Lorenzo's ribs. "You're slipping! Every time she screams through the bond, your wolf shoves forward. You're half-shifted already!"
Lorenzo gritted his teeth, saying nothing.
He couldn't speak past the pressure in his chest.
Couldn't think around Elena's fear.
Couldn't breathe without feeling her pain pressing against his ribs from the inside.
Marcus stabbed a rogue clean through, shoved another off his leg, and yelled over the chaos:
"Lorenzo — go to her!"
"I can't leave you here" he growled, but his voice was shaky, rough.
Marcus didn't let him finish.
"Yes, you CAN," he snapped, his tone carrying command Lorenzo rarely heard from him. "And you WILL."
Kieran turned, his face fierce and determined even with blood dripping down his cheek. "Alpha, listen. The bond is ripping you apart. If you stay, you'll lose it , and when you do, you won't just kill rogues."
He swallowed hard.
"You'll kill us too."
Lorenzo froze.
Just… stopped.
His claws dug into the dirt, trembling.
Because deep down , he knew they were right.
His calm was gone. His control was shot. His wolf was taking over every second Elena's pain hit him through their connection. One more scream, and he would shift fully , not into his Alpha form but into something feral. Something dangerous.
Marcus met his eyes, unflinching. "Trust us. Let us handle the fight. Your place isn't here."
Elena's scent carried on the wind then , faint but unmistakable.
Warm. Scared. Overwhelmed.
It punched the air from his lungs.
His wolf surged. His body tensed like it wanted to run without him. He didn't choose to step back , his instincts dragged him.
Marcus and Kieran both watched him with grim understanding.
He wasn't abandoning them.
This wasn't weakness.
This was the mate bond taking control.
He met their eyes, his voice low but filled with steel.
"Protect the borders. If even one rogue gets past"
Marcus cracked a tired smile. "We know. You'll murder us yourself."
Kieran snorted. "Go, Alpha. She's calling you."
And that was it.
Lorenzo turned.
And he ran.
The forest blurred around him. Branches snapped against his arms. Dirt scattered beneath his feet as he sprinted faster than he ever had. His lungs burned, but he didn't slow.
He couldn't.
Elena's presence pulsed through him in waves , fear, confusion, and something else he couldn't ignore. Something that made his chest ache.
She's reaching for you.
She needs you.
Go.
He pushed harder, muscles screaming, heart pounding.
By the time the packhouse came into view, it felt like someone was gripping his ribs and dragging him forward.
Her scent hit him like a punch.
Shaky.
Soft.
Desperate.
Waiting for him.
Calling him home.
And in that moment, Lorenzo understood , tonight would change everything.
He was either going to save her…
…or destroy anyone who tried to stand between them.