Page 14 of Finding Forever with the Alpha Pack

Wolves pour onto the field, responding to my call, their eyes gleaming under the darkening sky. I stand tall, unyielding, though the sight of the mud-streaked field, streaked red with blood, sends a vicious tremor down my spine. “Find Griffin,” I shout, my voice cutting through the chaos like a blade. “He should be here somewhere.”

My breath comes fast, ragged, as my eyes scan the field, desperate for any sign of him. But all I see is carnage. I can feel him, faint but present—a ghost at the edge of my consciousness. Whatever they’ve done to him, it’s keeping me from locking onto him fully.But he’s alive. He has to be.

Nicolai is the first to shift back, his body colliding with mine, arms wrapping around me like a lifeline. His warmth is grounding, but it does nothing to quell the fury boiling in my veins. I’m trembling, not from fear, but from pure, unadulterated rage. I want to tear the earth apart, burn everything in my path, until I find Griffin.

“Can you feel him at all?” Nicolai’s voice is a low rumble as he presses a soft kiss to my cheek, trying to soothe the storm raging inside me.

“Barely,” I grit out, my voice raw with frustration. “I know he’s alive, but I can’t lock onto where he is. Whatever was done to him...” My wolf claws at my insides, desperate to be free, to track him down herself. She doesn’t care about reason, only about finding her mate. I clench my fists, nails biting into my palms, trying to keep her contained.

Nicolai tightens his grip, sensing my struggle, while my eyes lock onto Ethan. He’s prowling through the field, nose to the ground, searching for his brother’s scent. My heart thunders in my chest. The bond I share with Griffin pulses weakly—like acandle flame flickering in a storm, on the verge of being snuffed out. My breath catches. He’s out there, somewhere, bleeding, unconscious—but alive. We have to find him before it’s too late.

‘I can find him if you let me loose.’The voice, smoky and insistent, echoes in my head, each word like the crackle of embers on the wind.

“No.” I speak aloud, my voice wavering as I step away from Nicolai.

‘The lunar wolf isn’t as strong as I am. I can find him...’The ember wolf’s voice wraps around me, warm and seductive, like a thick blanket of heat. The scent of burning wood fills my senses—so strong, so real, despite the lack of fire nearby. The smoke clings to me, as if my skin itself is smoldering.

‘Let me loose. Let me find our mate before it’s too late,’she coaxes, the allure in her tone undeniable. The lunar wolf is silent, absent, a mere flicker in the background. I can barely feel her.

“Gracie?” Ethan’s voice cuts through the haze. He stands before me, completely bare, his eyes full of concern. He knows. Of course, he knows. The ember wolf or the lunar wolf. Surrender or stay.

Tears blur my vision as I stare at him, my heart aching. Ethan feels it too—the pull, the fight inside me, the burning need to find Griffin. “I have to find him, Ethan.” My voice cracks, the weight of every second pressing down on me. Every moment I delay is another moment Griffin might not survive.

“I know.” Ethan’s gaze is steady, his expression full of understanding. “I feel it too. The bond... it’s burning brighter.”He glances at Nicolai, who’s approaching with a dark, unreadable look. “Maybe we were both meant to burn.”

Nicolai reaches out, his eyes filled with anguish. “Grace, what’s happening? Why does the bond feel... different?” He’s already pieced it together, but he needs to hear it, needs confirmation of the path I’m about to take. “They’re going to hunt you. Ember wolves are put down on sight.” His voice cracks as he cups my face.

“I’d turn for you too, Nic,” I whisper, swallowing back the flood of emotion. “I love you. I love all of you so much.” My lips crash against his, pouring every ounce of my love into the kiss. But the ember wolf... she’s growing hotter, the fire inside me rising.

Reluctantly, I pull away and step back into Ethan’s arms. His grip is firm, comforting. His heat seeps into me, steadying me for what’s to come.

“If you’re sure this is the only way,” Nicolai says, his voice soft but resolute. “Then I’m with you. To the end.”

I nod, more for myself than anyone else.‘If I let you out,’I address the ember wolf in my mind,‘I want to keep my white fur. They need to believe I’m still the lunar wolf.’

‘Deal,’she purrs, her voice full of satisfaction.‘It gives us a tactical advantage.’

Her power presses against me, demanding release. I steal one last kiss from Ethan before I surrender completely. As I shift, my body contorts, fur erupting from my skin. The instant my paws hit the earth, the world sharpens, and the pull toward Griffin is undeniable.

‘I told you I could find him. This is who you were meant to be,’the ember wolf whispers in triumph.

I glance back at Ethan, his eyes wide in shock. “Your eyes... they’re red-orange.”

My heart thuds in my chest as I look at Nicolai, waiting for his reaction. His brow furrows. “She’s very calm for an ember wolf.”

‘For now...’my wolf hums, satisfied, as we move, a slow, deliberate trot in the direction of the pull.

The moment my mates shift,I bolt, paws pounding against the earth, sending mud splattering in all directions. The damp ground squishes between my toes as I race across the field, my breath steady but my pulse quickening. The pull towards Griffin is relentless, like an invisible thread drawing me closer, each beat of my heart in sync with his. I can feel him, as if my hands are pressed against his chest, his heartbeat echoing through our bond.

Trees blur in my peripheral vision as I leap over fallen trunks and duck under low-hanging branches, my body moving with breakneck speed. The wind stings my eyes, and yet I don’t falter. Ethan and Nicolai are just as vivid in my senses, their presence warm and fierce, tethered to me as strongly as Griffin. Something has changed in our bond—it’s deeper now, stronger than before, like the pack itself has merged with every fiber of my being.

‘You were not in the right skin,’the ember wolf whispers, her voice a flicker of heat in my mind.‘I am created through carnage, through murder. You were the victim of both.’Her words simmer with an unspoken rage as she urges us to make a sharp right, forcing us to climb the jagged edge of the mountain.

We slow, my breath coming in ragged puffs as we follow a narrow, treacherous goat trail winding upward. My muscles strain with the incline, each step deliberate, the silence of the forest broken only by the crunch of rocks beneath my paws. My nose twitches, catching a scent. A tuft of black fur clings to a jagged stone, weathered and frayed from the elements.

I stop, sniffing the air, my heart hammering.‘It’s Griffin’s,’I whisper through the bond, my voice trembling with both fear and hope.

‘We will get him back,’the ember wolf growls, her determination seeping into my bones. Her confidence fuels me, filling the cracks of my doubt with a fierce, unyielding fire. Wewillmake it out of here alive. I can feel it.

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