Earlier that day
The boardroom was thick with tension—oak walls, leather chairs, and the faint scent of fear.
Across the table, a man in a suit two sizes too big tried to keep his voice steady. "I-I'm afraid the investment didn't... perform as expected. The market turned. It was volatile from the start."
Three men sat at the head of the table.
Silent.
Unflinching.
Deadly.
Alpha Lionel—the one in the center—rested a hand against the carved armrest. Tall, broad-shouldered, his golden-brown eyes glinted like a predator holding back just enough not to devour the room.
To his right, Joseph leaned forward, arms crossed, wearing a sharp, cruel smile. The faintest scar traced his jawline—a reminder that some enemies didn't live long enough to brag.
And on the left, Matthew, the quietest of them all, tapped a silver ring against the table in rhythm with the man's faltering heartbeat.
"You lost our money," Lionel said simply. His voice was smooth. Controlled. Dangerous.
The man nodded quickly. "Yes, but…but I'll try to recover some of it, maybe half—"
Joseph laughed, low and humorless. "You'll recover all of it."
"With interest," Matthew added calmly, though his eyes glinted with promise.
"You have three days," Lionel finished, rising from his seat. "If we don't get every last dollar back, hell will break loose."
They walked out as the man sank into his chair, face pale and soaked with sweat.
—
Outside, the black SUV waited. The forest beyond the city loomed in the distance, quiet and alive.
"Human world gets more pathetic every time," Joseph muttered, sliding into the passenger seat.
"Still," Matthew smirked, "their lies entertain me."
Lionel slid into the driver's seat and turned the engine over. "Let's go. I need to breathe real air."
They drove north, out of the city, away from skyscrapers and suffocating noise, into the woods—their retreat in the human world, hidden and untouchable.
A log cabin sat beneath a canopy of ancient pines. A fire crackled in the hearth inside. Their clothes shifted from tailored suits to bare skin in moments as they moved through the house with practiced ease.
"You know," Joseph said as he opened a bottle of whiskey, "Mother's on my ass again."
Lionel groaned. "About the mate thing?"
"Yep," Matthew replied, flopping onto the couch. "She wants one of us to 'just pick a respectable she-wolf and get on with it.'"
They all laughed.
"I told her I'd rather let a rogue claw my face off," Joseph added.
Lionel poured a drink. "I said the same last week. She nearly shifted in fury."
They laughed again, and then—
Everything changed.
The laughter stopped.
The air turned heavy. Electric.
Matthew sat up straight. "Did you feel that?"
Joseph dropped the glass, letting it shatter. "What the hell—"
Lionel's eyes flashed gold, breath caught in his chest.
A tug—low and insistent—dragged at the core of their beings. Like a string pulling tight, a whisper that became a command.
They moved as one.
Out of the cabin.
Into the woods.
Barefoot, shirtless, unarmed—not that they needed weapons.
The forest greeted them like it remembered their bloodline. The deeper they walked, the stronger the pull became. Like a fire calling them home. Like a heartbeat echoing through the trees.
She was there.
Not seen, not heard—but felt.
Her presence lit up every nerve in their bodies, igniting instincts they had long kept caged.
Joseph stopped in his tracks, voice ragged. "She's calling us." "Not with words," Matthew breathed, "but with soul."
Lionel's pupils dilated. "Our mate." Silence fell around them. Not the silence of calm, but of destiny.
Somewhere, in the heart of this forest… she waited. And the world as they knew it began to unravel.
The forest throbbed with energy, the air thick with something wild and ancient. Every step the Alphas took brought them closer—closer to the presence that had ripped through their senses like lightning through stone.
They didn't speak. They didn't need to.
The bond spoke for them now.
She was near.
Lionel moved ahead, body taut, muscles coiled with restraint. His golden eyes scanned the dark woods, glowing faintly. Beside him, Joseph's nostrils flared, scenting the air, while Matthew's fingers twitched at his sides, claws threatening to emerge.
Then the wind shifted.
And they saw her.
Curled on the forest floor, barefoot and trembling, her blonde hair tangled with leaves, her clothes soaked from the damp earth. Her skin was pale under the moonlight, but her presence—gods, her presence—burned like fire.
Back to presence
Andrea stumbled to her feet, heart racing as the whisper brushed against her ear like breath.
Happy birthday…
The voice wasn't hers. It came from everywhere and nowhere. It was soft, ancient, and full of something she couldn't name. Then came the pain—sharp, overwhelming, like fire under her skin. Her vision spun, her knees buckled.
And everything went dark.
Lionel growled low in his chest, a sound born of pain and awe. "We need to get her back. Now."
"She's too weak," Matthew said, crouching beside her. His eyes narrowed, voice tight with fury.
Lionel leaned down, brushing a knuckle against her cheek. Her skin was warm, but fragile. Like porcelain under pressure. Like she might break if the wind blew wrong.
"She's been alone," Matthew said again, softer this time—quiet and furious all at once.
Not anymore.
Joseph stepped forward and shrugged off his coat, wrapping it gently around her trembling body. Lionel gathered her into his arms, lifting her like she weighed nothing, like she already belonged there.
Andrea sighed—barely audible, but it reached them all.
The three Alphas exchanged a look.
Not confusion. Recognition. She was theirs. Hidden from them for nearly eighteen years. Buried in the human world. Abandoned.Broken.
But no more.
They turned in unspoken unity, walking through the forest in silence, their steps in sync, the bond thrumming between them like a living current.
As the cabin door closed behind them, the moon slipped free of the clouds, casting silver light over the trees.
And somewhere deep in the roots of the earth, in the heart of the old magic, the bond sealed.
The Alpha's mate had been found.
And fate would never be the same.