POV: Raevan
The war drums were already beating.
I heard them the instant Soraya’s voice shattered inside my skull—thin, trembling, barely there, but hers. A fragment of thought threaded with agony. A whisper carved into my bones.
Zarek. Palace. Scouts. Dungeon.
Then nothing.
Silence so violent it felt like someone ripped the world in half.
I didn’t think. I didn’t breathe. I just moved.
My roar split the Ashra courtyard in two, echoing off sandstone pillars and startled guards. Wolves froze as I strode through them, snapping orders in a voice that didn’t sound like mine.
“Mobilize every unit. Prepare the siege engines. Gather the riders—NOW.”
Some dropped what they were doing. Some stumbled into formation. Some simply stared—wide-eyed, pale, afraid.
Kaide barreled toward me, panting. “Raevan—what happened?”
I didn’t slow. Didn’t blink. Didn’t care.
“She called for me.”
The words scraped out like a blade.
Kaide went rigid. “Soraya?”
“She’s alive.” My voice broke with rage. “She’s alive—and in Zarek’s palace.”
Kaide swore quietly. “Raevan, you can’t—”
“I’m going to burn the desert until I find her.”
“Raevan—STOP.”
His hand clamped around my arm.
No one stopped me. No one touched me. Not unless they wanted my teeth in their throat. But Kaide did it anyway.
And for a breath—just one—I didn’t tear him apart.
“Think,” Kaide growled, stepping into my line of sight. “You’re about to pull the entire Ashra empire into war over one woman.”
I snarled. “She’s not just one woman.”
“I KNOW THAT,” he snapped.
The courtyard fell deathly silent.
Wolves froze mid-stride. Guards inhaled sharply. Even the wind seemed to hush.
Kaide lowered his voice. “I know what she is to you, Raevan. I know what losing her will do to you. But if you start a war now—while half our soldiers are injured, while our borders are weak, while elders fight you at every step—”
He shook his head sharply.
“—you’ll get her killed.”
The words hit like a punch.
My chest heaved. My wolf clawed at my ribcage, furious, demanding blood.
But Kaide wasn’t finished.
“And Soraya—she’ll blame herself for every life lost.”
That one struck deeper.
I closed my eyes, fists trembling. Images of her flashed—her small shoulders shaking as she apologized for things she never caused, the way she avoided crowds because she feared being hated, the way her guilt settled into her bones like sand.
She’d never survive believing she caused a war.
I exhaled shakily.
Kaide stepped closer, voice softer. “We’ll get her back. You and me.”
My eyes snapped open. “We?”
“You can’t go alone. You’ll lose yourself before you reach the palace. And if Zarek gets his hands on you—”
He shook his head. “He wants you dead. He wants her alive. That alone tells us how dangerous this is.”
I forced air into my lungs.
My army had formed ranks by now—hundreds of wolves, ready to march at one command. Their eyes burned with loyalty and fear.
If I moved them now… Ashra would ignite. The desert would drown in blood. Soraya would drown with it.
Kaide laid a hand on my shoulder.
A brother’s hand.
A lifeline.
“Raevan,” he said quietly. “We can save her. But not like this.”
My jaw clenched. “The scouts…”
“We’ll rescue them too,” he said. “But first, her.”
Slowly—painfully—I lifted my hand and motioned for the soldiers to stand down.
A wave of confusion rippled through the courtyard.
Kaide’s relief was almost palpable.
I turned to my general. “Tell the troops to remain on silent alert. No movement unless ordered. No sound leaves these walls.”
“Yes, Alpha,” he said, though he looked like he expected lightning to strike next.
Kaide leaned toward me. “If elders find out—”
“They won’t,” I said sharply. “We’re leaving. Now.”
He blinked. “Now?”
“Do you expect me to sit through a Council lecture first?”
“…fair.”
We slipped through the inner hallways, moving like shadows. Wolves crossed paths with us but didn’t question—perhaps sensing something feral simmering under my skin.
Kaide muttered, “You sure you don’t want at least one more warrior?”
“No. Two men move faster than a battalion.”
“And more stupidly,” he grumbled.
I shot him a glare.
“Fine, fine,” he sighed. “Let’s just not die on the road.”
We reached the stables. The moon shone white on the backs of the desert horses. My black stallion snorted when he saw me, pawing the sand restlessly as if sensing the storm in my blood.
Kaide mounted his horse beside me.
“You’re shaking,” he noted quietly.
I stared ahead, voice low and lethal.
“He touched her, Kaide.”
Kaide said nothing.
“He touched her,” I repeated through clenched teeth. “He locked her in a golden cage. He chained our scouts to threaten her. He—”
My throat closed around the rest.
Kaide’s jaw flexed. “And we’re going to end him for it.”
I turned my stallion toward the palace gates. The guards scrambled, surprised, but I gave them a single cold command:
“You saw nothing.”
They bowed immediately.
Kaide gave me a dry look. “Always subtle.”
I kicked the horse into a gallop.
Sand exploded beneath the hooves.
The wind tore at my cloak.
The moonlit dunes stretched ahead—vast, silent, waiting for blood.
And as we crossed the threshold of Ashra territory, leaving behind the fortress and the eyes of our people, my wolf surged forward inside me, howling a promise so violent it shook my bones.
Zarek will pay.
But first I would tear his palace apart stone by stone until Soraya was free in my arms again.