“Tyler, you’re incredible. I couldn’t ask for a better wolf,” Bella reassured her, grateful for Tyler’s unwavering loyalty and unique gifts.
Tyler was remarkable. Few wolves could match her speed, and only two from their pack had ever managed to outpace her when she was in full wolf form: the current Alpha and the former one. Even as a pup, Tyler had drawn admiration from the pack. Her beauty was as striking as her speed. With pale silver fur that shimmered under the moonlight, Tyler was often mistaken for being white. Her delicate gray snout and paws added to her ethereal appearance.
Bella smiled at the memory of her first run under the full moon with the pack. Her mother had been so proud, telling her that she looked like the moon itself as she ran, her radiant fur glowing like a celestial being.
What Bella had always loved about Tyler was her ability to blend seamlessly into her surroundings, especially in the snow. Those winter nights had been some of the most fun of her teenage years. Tyler’s pale silver fur was perfect camouflage against the pristine white snow, allowing Bella to playfully taunt the boys during their winter games. She would hide in a snowdrift, mind-link them with a teasing message—“You’ll never find me!”—and wait. The hunt was always thrilling, especially for Alpha Luke’s wolf, Maddis, who had a particular love for the chase. It must have been his Alpha genes, Bella mused, making him not just good at hunting but excellent at it.
It was a memory she cherished from her younger years, back when things were simpler and untainted by the complexities of adulthood.
Tyler had always been exceptional, a wolf that could run like the wind itself. Even in human form, she was a force to be reckoned with. Bella couldn’t help but smirk, remembering how she had once outrun Benzy and his wolf, Apollo—Beta or not, he’d never been able to catch her. “Still faster than you,” she thought with a chuckle. How she would love to tease him now about still being slow.
She and Tyler had spent much of their childhood teasing the pack boys. “You’re all slowpokes!” she would yell, throwing leaves, mud, or snowballs at them depending on the season. Her antics never failed to rile them up, prompting a game of chase that she and Tyler always loved. The boys’ wolves would leap into action, determined to prove her wrong.
They were all destined to be the pack’s strongest and fastest—the future Beta, Gamma, and Delta, tasked with protecting the Alpha and the pack. But back then, they were just kids playing games.
Bella and Tyler rarely lost those games. Not because they weren’t outmatched—they were faster, after all—but because of who they were up against. The boys would strategize, using their wits to corner her. Splitting up, setting traps, and forcing her into tight spots—it was their favorite tactic, and they were good at it. If all else failed, they’d call for backup. Maddis would come charging in, his speed unmatched, and Luke would take her down.
It had all been in good fun, a cherished memory from a time when the world felt safe and familiar.
Bella sighed heavily, shaking her head. “No, that’s enough of a trip down memory lane.”
“Agreed,” Tyler huffed, though her tone carried a hint of irritation. The nostalgia hurt, especially now, given everything that had changed. Luke was no longer the playful boy she had known but an angry, hateful man—at least, when it came to her.
His Beta still stood by him, a sign that Luke was likely still respected and admired by his pack. It was just her he couldn’t forgive. His anger toward her had festered for years, undiminished by time. Bella had once hoped it would fade, that with the passing years, his fury would lessen. But it hadn’t.
She couldn’t understand it. All she had done was leave three tiny claw marks on Luna Mia’s face—a wound that had healed without leaving a single blemish. In contrast, her own wounds had been far more severe, her punishment harsher than she could have imagined. Yet, Luke’s anger burned as fiercely as ever, as though two decades of friendship between them had meant nothing.
Bella closed her eyes, pushing back the ache in her chest.
“Don’t go there,” Tyler whined softly in her mind. The past hurt her too.
Luke had spent the past week consumed with finding her. His men had been tirelessly investigating her whereabouts, but she hadn’t returned to her apartment. Someone had taken her elsewhere, somewhere beyond his reach for now. He couldn’t entirely blame her for disappearing—she had every reason to run. After all, he had once ordered her to leave his pack, banishing her to the human world with nowhere else to go. She had likely sought refuge with Ben Billy, the only person who would offer her the safety and protection she needed.
She felt like she belonged in that world now, Luke thought bitterly. Seven days had passed, and his wolves stationed near her apartment had yet to spot her.
The morning after her escape, the Feds came for him. He hadn’t resisted. There was no point. She had run straight into their arms, bloodied and battered, and the evidence against him was undeniable. He had hoped to encounter her again during their investigation, thinking that if she were close enough, her wolf, Tyler, would sense Maddis, his wolf, and recognize him as her Mate. It could have solved everything.
But she hadn’t been anywhere near him. She was at the hospital, receiving treatment for her wounds. Unlike in the pack, where rapid healing was natural, in the human world, her injuries would have to heal at a normal rate. Drawing attention to herself with superhuman recovery would only raise suspicions. She was smart, he acknowledged, carefully hiding her nature while ensuring her injuries were documented—something that only deepened the charges against him.
The charges were severe: kidnapping and causing grievous bodily harm, compounded by the fact that he had taken her across state lines against her will, making it a federal case. Though he hadn’t laid a hand on her himself, the men he’d sent to retrieve her had injured her so badly that the blame fell squarely on him. They were acting on his orders, after all.
