Chapter 35 – The Breaking Point
The morning sun filtered weakly through the dense canopy, casting dappled shadows over the devastated clearing. Rowan stood amidst the remnants of the battle, the acrid scent of blood and smoke still clinging to the air. His heart pounded with a relentless rhythm, each beat echoing his determination to find Giselle.
Malric’s lip curled. “You are losing control, Alpha. Allowing your emotions to cloud your judgment. This is why tradition exists. This is why Luna’s are chosen, not claimed blindly by fate.”
Rowan took a step forward, his towering form looming over the Elder. “Careful, Malric. I’m not a boy you can scold. I’m your Alpha. And if I find out that anyone in this pack had a hand in what happened tonight, I don’t care how old or honored they are—I will tear them apart.”
Malric bristled, his face hardening into cold steel. “You forget yourself.”
“No,” Rowan said, his voice lowering into a dangerous calm. “I’m just finally remembering who I am.”
The silence that followed was thick, tense, unyielding. And then, slowly, Rowan turned away from the Elder without another word. His gaze swept across his gathered packmates—warriors, healers, scouts—still watching him with wide eyes and stunned silence.
Elder Malric approached, his expression a mask of stern authority. "Alpha Rowan," he began, his voice measured, "the pack needs its leader now more than ever. We cannot afford to lose you to a personal quest."
Rowan's eyes narrowed, a flicker of anger igniting within them. "This is not a personal quest," he retorted. "Giselle is my mate. She was taken from us, and I will not stand idly by while she's in danger."
Malric's gaze hardened. "Your duty is to the pack. We must focus on healing and rebuilding. Pursuing a rogue wolf endangers us all."
"She is not a rogue," Rowan growled, his voice rising. "She is one of us. And I will bring her back."
The tension between them crackled like a live wire, drawing the attention of nearby pack members. Malric stepped closer, his tone icy. "If you leave now, you do so without the council's blessing. Consider the consequences."
Rowan met his gaze unflinchingly. "I am the Alpha. My decisions are my own. Stand in my way, and you'll see just how serious I am."
Without waiting for a response, Rowan turned and strode away, his resolve unshaken. He would find Giselle, no matter the cost.
Rowan faced the wolves that were still watching them with curious looks. “I’m going to bring her back,” he told them all, voice calmer now, but no less resolute. “And when I do, she will stand beside me, as Luna of this pack.”
He held their gaze, one by one, daring anyone to speak against him.
No one did.
The fires from the battle had long since been doused, the scent of blood still heavy in the air, but Rowan’s mind was consumed by only one thing: Giselle.
His boots barely touched the earth as he strode to the edge of the forest, heart hammering in his chest. Without hesitation, he dropped to his knees, the shift rippling over him in a cascade of snapping bones and rippling fur. His wolf burst forward, thick and massive, his fur the color of midnight and his eyes glowing with a golden fury.
‘We will find her,’ his wolf snarled into the silence of their mind.
‘She’s out there. She’s alone, terrified… and I should have never let her be locked away,’ Rowan growled internally.
‘You tried to protect her. You fought the Elders. You warned them. But now… now it’s our turn.’
Rowan threw back his head and let out a mighty howl, one that echoed through the forest like a promise of retribution.
He took off into the woods, his massive paws digging into the damp soil, muscles flexing with each powerful stride. Branches clawed at his sides, and cold wind tangled through his fur, but he didn’t slow.
Every scent, every broken twig, every faint disturbance in the trees was examined with a feverish intensity. The woods whispered and moaned around him, but none of it mattered—not the cold, not the pain—nothing but her.
‘She needs us,’ his wolf growled. ‘We’ll tear apart every tree in this cursed forest to find her.’
A sound behind him caught his attention—pounding paws, several of them, gaining quickly. Rowan slowed, then skidded to a halt in a wide glade, muscles tense. The familiar scents reached him before the shapes did.
His Beta, Kalen, emerged first, flanked by a small group of trusted warriors. Their wolves were powerful, well-trained, and loyal. Kalen shifted mid-stride and stood tall, bare-chested, breath fogging in the chill.
“You didn’t think we’d let you run off alone, did you?” Kalen’s voice rang through the quiet.
Rowan shifted back too, chest heaving, sweat clinging to his brow. “This isn’t your burden.”
“You’re wrong.” It was Garen, one of the fiercest warriors Rowan had trained personally. “She’s our Luna. That makes her our responsibility too.”
One by one, the others nodded or voiced their agreement.
‘Alpha,’ Kalen’s voice came through the pack link now, quieter. ‘We swore to protect our pack. That includes her. You say she’s not a traitor, and we believe you.’
‘We’ll find her,’ Garen added. ‘No matter what.’
Rowan swallowed the lump in his throat. For so long, the weight of leadership had been a solitary burden, but here—now—he felt the strength of his pack behind him in a way he hadn’t in years.
‘Thank you,’ he said simply, humbled and grateful.
Then, to all of them through the link: ‘Fan out. She was taken east, toward the ravine. We start there.’
Wolves burst into motion, disappearing between trees like smoke, determined and deadly. Rowan paused one moment longer, raised his head to the moon, and whispered to the wind: I’m coming for you, Giselle. Just hold on.
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