Page 15 of Wolf of the Storm
Jax is pacing between the stones, barely containing the aggressive energy that radiates from him in waves. He stops when he sees me, gold already bleeding into his eyes. "She saw me." His voice is rough, hovering on the edge of a growl. "Late night, around eleven. I was running the northern perimeter in wolf form, and she was out on the cliff path with her camera."
Everything in me goes still. "How close?"
"Close enough that she got photos. Multiple shots." Jax's hands clench into fists. "I saw the flash. She got a good look, Declan. Long enough to know that wasn't any normal wolf."
The connection between Eliza and me flares hot and protective in my chest, warring with the cold dread of exposure. "Did she see your face? Could she identify you in human form?"
"Full wolf," Jax says. "But that's not the worst part. She's asking questions."
"What kind of questions?" My alpha instincts are screaming now, caught between protecting my mate and protecting my pack.
Callum steps forward from where he's been standing in shadow near one of the taller stones. Our pack's detective has that sharp, analytical look that means he's been working. "I've been keeping tabs on her movements since she arrived. Today she spent three hours talking to Martha Riley."
My breath hisses out. Martha is ninety-three, sharp as ever, knows the island and remembers everything.
"It gets worse." Brennan looks up from the laptop balanced on one of the flat stones, his fingers still flying across the keyboard even as he speaks. "Eliza Warren. Twenty-nine years old. Investigative journalist based in London. She's broken major stories—corporate corruption, environmental scandals, illegal wildlife trafficking. She's won awards. Published in major outlets across the UK and Europe. She's thorough, she's relentless, and once she gets a scent, she doesn't let go."
"Of course she doesn't," I mutter, though part of me feels a surge of pride at my mate's accomplishments even as dread settles in my gut. "Because fate has a twisted sense of humor."
"There's more." Torin speaks for the first time, and the quality of his voice makes everyone go quiet. Our seer stands at the eastern edge of the circle, his eyes distant and gleaming with that otherworldly light that appears when he's Reading something the rest of us can't see. "Her arrival isn't random. It coincides exactly with the summoning ritual I've been tracking."
My wolf snarls inside my chest. "What summoning ritual?"
"Someone's been working old magic along the coastline." Torin turns to face me, and the power radiating from him makes the standing stones hum in response. "Blood magic, tied to the new moon cycle. They're calling something. Something that doesn't belong in this world. I felt the first stirrings the same night Eliza arrived in town."
"You think she's involved?" The words taste like ash.
"I think she's a catalyst." Torin's expression is grave. "Whether she knows it or not. The timing is too precise. Her arrival, your mate recognition, the summoning—they're woven together. Connected."
"The ocean's disturbed too," Torin continues, his gaze going distant again. "I can feel it in the tides, in the deep magic. Something ancient is stirring in the waters. Whatever's being summoned, it's powerful enough to upset the natural order."
The weight of it hits me all at once. Our pack has protected the Isle of Skara and its surrounding waters for generations. We're guardians, bound by ancient oaths to keep the balance between the human world and the supernatural forces that most people no longer believe in. If something is being called here, something powerful enough to disturb the ocean's magic and trigger old rituals, we have a responsibility to stop it.
And my mate might be the key to it all.
"She needs to leave." Jax's voice cuts through my spiraling thoughts. "Tonight. We scare her off, make her think Stormhaven is too dangerous or too boring or whatever it takes. She goes back to London, we handle the summoning situation, problem solved."
"She won't scare easily," Callum says quietly. "I've read her published work. She walked into cartel territory to expose wildlife trafficking. She went undercover in a corporate office for six months to break a corruption story. This woman doesn't run."
"Then we make sure she understands the consequences of staying." Jax stalks toward me, his wolf rising behind his eyes. "We've protected this territory for too long to let one human compromise everything. Mate or not."
Every alpha instinct I possess roars to life. I'm moving before I consciously decide to, crossing the space between us in two strides and getting in Jax's face. My eyes shift to wolf-gold, and I feel the power of my alpha status crackling in the air between us.
"You will not touch her." The words come out rough, barely human. "You will not threaten her. You will not go near her unless I give you explicit permission. Am I clear?"
Jax holds my gaze for three heartbeats, his wolf fighting the compulsion to submit to his alpha. Finally, he looks away, baring his throat in acknowledgment. "Clear."
I step back, fighting to regain control, but my wolf is still snarling, still ready to defend his mate against all threats. Even threats from within our own pack.
"She's mine." My voice is steadier now but no less absolute. "Fate or coincidence, she's mine. And I will protect her from anything that tries to harm her. Including all of you."
Silence falls over the circle. The wind picks up, whistling through the standing stones, carrying the crash of waves from the cliffs below.
"You're compromised." Jax's voice is quieter now but still edged with frustration. "Look at yourself, Declan. Since she arrived, you've been standing at your window staring at Clifftop House instead of sleeping. How are you supposed to make rational decisions about pack security when you can barely function without being near her?"
I can't argue with him. The connection to Eliza is affecting my judgment, clouding every decision I try to make. I can barely think past the need to see her, touch her, claim her properly. Every instinct I have screams at me to go to her right now, to mark her as mine before something else happens.
"I know." The admission costs me, but I force it out. "I know I'm compromised. What I feel for her is stronger than anything I've experienced. But that doesn't change the facts. She's my mate. I won't let anything happen to her."
