Kael's POV
I was halfway to the village when I felt it—a sharp, burning pain in my chest that had nothing to do with my wounds.
The bond.
Something was wrong with Lyra.
My wolf howled inside me, demanding I turn back. But behind me, my pack was tearing itself apart. I could hear them—the snarls of wolves losing control, the screams of those trying to fight the feral madness. Children were crying. Elders were shouting. My people needed me.
But Lyra needed me more.
The bond burned hotter, urgent and terrified. She was in danger. Real danger.
I skidded to a stop, my claws digging into the earth. Every instinct screamed at me to choose. Pack or mate. Duty or bond. The life I'd built for twelve years or the girl I'd known for one day.
"Kael!" Zara's voice cut through my thoughts. She was running toward me in human form, her face pale with panic. "It's Marcus! The human who pushed her through—he's here! He has a gun with silver bullets!"
My blood turned to ice.
Silver bullets. The one weapon that could kill us permanently. No healing. No recovery. Just death.
And Lyra was alone with a man who'd already tried to murder her once.
I didn't think. I just ran.
My pack could survive feral madness—we had protocols, cages, sedatives. But Lyra couldn't survive a bullet to the heart.
The choice made itself.
I burst through the forest into the clearing where I'd left her. What I saw made my wolf go completely silent with rage.
Marcus stood twenty feet from Lyra, pointing a sleek black gun at her chest. Finn was in front of her, his body a shield, hands raised in a calming gesture. Three other humans in tactical gear surrounded them, all armed with similar weapons.
"Don't move, fox," Marcus said calmly. "Silver bullets work on all shifters. You're fast, but you're not faster than bullets."
"You don't want to do this, Marcus," Finn said, his voice smooth despite the gun pointed at him. "Kill her and you get nothing. The Collectors want her alive."
"The Collectors offered me five million for her alive," Marcus corrected. "But they offered me three million for proof she's dead. Either way, I get paid. This way is just easier." He smiled at Lyra over Finn's shoulder. "Nothing personal, babe. Just business."
Lyra was shaking, her face white with terror. But her eyes... her eyes were locked on Marcus with something beyond fear. Hurt. Betrayal. The look of someone whose entire world had been a lie.
My wolf surged forward, ready to tear Marcus limb from limb.
But the moment I moved, all four guns swung toward me.
"The famous Alpha Kael," Marcus said, not even looking worried. "Stay right there, dog. One more step and I shoot her first, then you."
I froze. The bond screamed at me to attack anyway, but Finn caught my eye and gave the tiniest shake of his head. Wait, his expression said. Not yet.
"How did you get here?" Lyra asked, her voice barely a whisper. "The portal closed."
"The Collectors have been opening portals for years," Marcus said. "How do you think they've been harvesting Beastcallers? They send people like me through to do the dirty work." He checked his watch. "In fact, they're opening another portal in exactly three minutes. Wide enough to drive a truck through. We'll take you back, drain your blood, and sell your corpse to the highest bidder. Your precious beastmen can't follow—the portal only stays open for sixty seconds."
"You won't make it to the portal," I said coldly. "My pack—"
"Is busy going feral, thanks to some very expensive dragon fire." Marcus grinned. "Riven didn't cast that spell for free. The Collectors paid him to create chaos. Honestly, this worked out better than I planned."
Riven. That dragon bastard had been working with the humans all along.
"Why?" Lyra asked, and her voice broke on the word. "Why me, Marcus? What did I ever do to you?"
For the first time, something flickered across Marcus's face. Not quite guilt. But close. "You were too trusting. Too easy. Your mother hid her journals in the most obvious place—a music box she gave you. All I had to do was pretend to love you long enough to search your apartment." He shrugged. "You made it easy, Lyra. You believed every lie."
Tears ran down her face, but she didn't look away. "I loved you."
"I know. That's what made it so profitable." Marcus raised the gun, aiming directly at her heart. "Time's up. Say goodbye to your wolf."
Everything happened at once.
Finn shifted mid-movement, his fox form smaller but faster than any of us expected. He lunged at Marcus's gun hand just as the shot fired.
The bullet missed Lyra by inches.
I shifted and leaped, my jaws closing around the throat of the nearest human. Hot blood filled my mouth. The man dropped, gurgling.
Zara came from the side, tackling another human to the ground, her claws tearing through tactical gear like paper.
But Marcus was running—dragging Lyra with him, his arm locked around her throat, the gun pressed to her temple.
"Back off or she dies!" he screamed.
I skidded to a stop, every muscle trembling with the need to tear him apart. Finn circled to the left, looking for an opening. Zara growled low, ready to spring.
"The portal opens in thirty seconds," Marcus said, backing toward a clearing where the air was already starting to shimmer. "Come any closer and I pull the trigger."
"You need her alive," I snarled. "You said the Collectors want her alive."
"They prefer her alive. But dead works too." Marcus's finger tightened on the trigger. "Your choice, wolf. Let me take her through the portal, or watch her brains splatter across the grass."
Lyra's eyes met mine. Even terrified, even with a gun to her head, she was trying to be brave.
I saw her hand move—just slightly, reaching for the bond mark on her wrist. Touching it.
Heat exploded between us. The bond flared to life, burning brighter than ever before. I felt what she felt—her fear, her pain, her desperate hope that I could save her.
And I felt something else.
Power.
Raw, untamed power flowing from her through the bond and into me. My wolf grew stronger, faster, more. The bond wasn't just connecting us—it was amplifying us.
This was what Beastcallers could do. This was why everyone wanted her.
"Ten seconds," Marcus said. The portal behind him was fully formed now, swirling purple and silver. "Last chance."
Lyra's lips moved, forming two words: Trust me.
Then she did something I never expected.
She went completely limp in Marcus's arms, dead weight, dropping straight down.
Marcus stumbled, his grip loosening for just a second.
That's all I needed.
I moved faster than I'd ever moved in my life, powered by the bond, by her gift, by pure desperate love for this human girl I barely knew.
My jaws closed around Marcus's wrist. Bones crunched. The gun fell.
Marcus screamed.
Finn grabbed Lyra, pulling her away from the portal.
But Marcus was falling backward—straight into the swirling gateway.
He reached out with his good hand and caught Lyra's ankle.
"If I'm going," he snarled, "you're coming with me!"
He pulled.
Lyra screamed, sliding toward the portal, Finn trying to hold her but Marcus was stronger, more desperate.
I grabbed Marcus's arm in my jaws, trying to pull him back, but the portal's suction was too strong.
We were all going to get pulled through.
"Let go!" Lyra shouted at Marcus. "Just let go!"
"Never!" Marcus's face was twisted with rage and madness. "You ruined everything! You were supposed to die in the Beastworld! You were supposed to—"
The portal started closing.
Ten seconds until it sealed.
Marcus wasn't letting go. If Lyra went through, she'd be in the human world surrounded by Collectors. She'd be drained and killed before I could reach her.
I had one choice.
I bit down harder on Marcus's arm and pulled with every ounce of strength I had.
His arm separated from his body.
Marcus screamed once, a horrible sound, and fell through the closing portal.
The gateway sealed shut with a sound like thunder.
Silence.
Lyra lay on the ground, gasping, covered in Marcus's blood. Finn was beside her, checking for injuries. I shifted back to human form, my own blood mixing with the dirt.
"Is he dead?" Zara asked quietly.
"If he's not, he will be soon," Finn said. "Blood loss from a severed arm... he has minutes at best."
Lyra was staring at the place where the portal had been, her whole body shaking. "He's really gone."
"He's gone," I confirmed, kneeling beside her. "He can't hurt you anymore."
She looked at me with those honey eyes full of tears. "You saved me. Again."
"Always," I said, and meant it. The bond had shown me the truth—this human girl wasn't my enemy. She was my mate. My responsibility. My everything.
Before I could say more, a roar split the air.
Riven landed in dragon form, shifting to human as his claws touched ground. His face was furious.
"The Collectors just tried to claim what's MINE," he snarled. "And apparently I'm a traitor who sold her out? Someone better explain before I start burning people."
"You didn't cast that feral spell?" I asked, confused.
"What feral spell?" Riven looked genuinely baffled. Then his eyes widened. "Someone set me up. Someone wanted you to think I betrayed you."
"But who—" Finn started.
A slow clap echoed from the forest.
We all spun around.
A woman stepped from the shadows—platinum blonde hair, ice-blue eyes, wearing expensive clothes that didn't belong in a forest.
I knew her. Everyone in the realm knew her.
Vivienne Ashford. The most dangerous alpha female in the Fox Clan. Finn's ex-fiancée.
And she was smiling like she'd just won a game we didn't know we were playing.
"Bravo," she said. "You survived Marcus. How delightful. Now the real fun begins."