Page 32 of The Pack

Magnus exchanged a glance with Tobias, who shrugged slightly before Magnus leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

“We’re a pack,” Magnus said simply.

“That much I figured,” I said, trying to ignore the way his knowing silver eyes seemed to pierce through me. “But you don’t exactly seem like you grew up together.”

That earned a low chuckle from Killian. “Not quite, lass. Though we’ve been through enough shite together that it feels like it.”

“Let me guess,” I said, folding my arms. “You all just happened to meet while running from the ferals and decided to team up?”

“Not exactly,” Callum said, his voice softer than the others. “It wasn’t that simple.”

Magnus nodded, his dark hair catching the firelight. “Callum and Tobias are brothers. They used to live in the Irish countryside, but their lives fell apart after the Collapse, and they found themselves a little lost. Killian found them first.”

“Wait. How old are you all?” I asked, and my gaze darted between them. They all appeared to be in their mid-thirties, butthat couldn’t be right, not if they were alive during the time of the Collapse.

Magnus gave me a faint smile, his expression softening slightly. “We’re older than we look,” he said, his tone laced with something that felt almost like amusement.

Callum chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “A little older,” he added, his gray eyes twinkling with a mix of warmth and mischief.

“How old?” I pressed, looking between them.

Killian leaned back, his fiery hair catching the light. “Two hundred and some change, lass,” he said casually, like he was telling me the weather forecast.

My jaw dropped. “Two hundred?” I repeated, staring at them like they’d grown extra heads. “How is that even possible?”

Thorne, ever stoic, folded his arms over his chest and gave a faint nod. “The shifter virus slows aging, at least some of the early variants do. We stopped counting after a while.”

Tobias glanced at me, his dark eyes calm. “We’ve seen more than most. Lived through the Collapse and everything that came after.”

I knew enough about that the Collapse to know that it wasn’t just a single event two hundred years ago—it was a slow unraveling of everything humanity had built. The virus hit first, spreading like wildfire and turning people into wolves—or worse, ferals. Chaos followed, governments crumbling under the weight of fear and panic. Cities fell, industries shut down, and society as we knew it dissolved into nothing more than a pure fight for survival.

And these men had lived through it all.

Killian’s angular features lit up with amusement. “Anyway. I found Callum and Tobias while I was on the run myself. Just a scrappy kid tryin’ to survive after being bitten.”

“He bit us,” Callum said, his voice flat.

I blinked, surprised by the bluntness of his words. “You turned them?”

Killian’s grin faltered slightly, and for the first time, I saw something like guilt flicker across his face. “Didn’t mean to,” he said quietly. “It just… kind of happened.”

“He’s felt guilty about it ever since,” Tobias said dryly, his dark eyes narrowing. “Even though it’s probably the best thing he’s ever done.”

Killian’s grin returned, wider this time. “Aye, well, you’re welcome, mate.”

“And Magnus?” I asked, glancing at the dark-haired man who seemed to command so much respect without even trying.

Tobias let out a low sigh. “I went to him for help. He’s our cousin—used to work for the police and he always had a knack for bailing me out of trouble. Only this time…” He trailed off, his jaw tightening.

“This time, helping you changed everything,” Magnus finished, his voice calm but laced with steel. Magnus’s gaze met mine, and I saw a flicker of something deeper—regret maybe, or anger—but it was gone too quickly to truly identify.

“And Thorne?” I asked, turning to the white-haired man who had remained silent until now.

His blue eyes locked on mine, and for a moment, I thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then he spoke, his voice cold and clipped.

“I was sent to hunt Killian,” he said, his words cutting through the quiet like a blade. “Back in the early days of the Collapse, I was part of the SAS, a special British forces unit, that focused on tracking down wolves who’d escaped into the countryside. At the time, Killian was my target.”

I looked at Killian, whose grin had faded completely.

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