Asher
The team from Teckspark is approaching the pack’s land, and I feel a sudden shift in the air.
Liam sends me a mind link, notifying me of their arrival. Without hesitation, I rise from my seat and move to the window.
As I peer outside, a sleek car pulls up to the pack’s entrance. My eyes narrow instinctively, trying to focus on the passenger seat.
There’s someone seated there, but I can’t quite make out her face. Something about her presence stirs an unease in me, like a bond I share with my pack.
The moment she steps out of the car, however, my entire body freezes as I take her in.
She’s a fully grown woman, her posture confident and poised. There’s something familiar about her that makes my wolf stir restlessly.
Her movements are deliberate as she takes in her surroundings, but I can’t look away from her face. It’s as though I’m trying to place her.
My heart pounds in my chest, and a strange sensation settles in my gut.
Who is she? Why does her presence feel like a shock to my system? The questions swirl in my mind, but I can’t focus on anything else except the mystery that seems to radiate from her.
“Alpha, they’re waiting for you,” Liam’s voice snaps me out of my trance. I nod curtly.
But deep down, I know this woman’s arrival is going to change the course of my life, and I’m not sure if I’m ready for it.
Kaidos, my wolf, is pacing around in my mind like he’s lost his damn mind. For weeks, he’s refused to communicate with me. But now, at the sight of this woman, he’s more restless than he’s been in ages.
I take a closer look, and what I see stops me cold. My jaw drops. At first glance, she almost looks like Ally.
But as I focus on the details, the differences become glaringly obvious.
Ally had long chestnut hair that framed her slim, petite figure. Her hazel eyes used to pierce through me in a way that left me breathless.
This woman, however… She’s something entirely different. Her short, rich, auburn hair shines in the sunlight, and her vivid blue eyes hold a depth I can’t explain. She’s curvier than Ally, with full, kissable lips that make my mouth go dry.
My eyes drift to her figure. She’s about 5 ‘3″, and everything about her screams confidence.
Her hips sway in a way that has my pants tightening uncomfortably. Damn it. I clench my fists, trying to keep my composure, but it’s impossible to ignore the reaction she’s pulling from me.
What the actual fuck is happening? Only Ally ever had this effect on me. No one else-not even Maya, my supposed chosen mate. So why is my body betraying me like this now, of all times, over a stranger? My wolf’s behavior only makes it worse. Kaidos is losing it, his energy radiating through me in a way I haven’t felt in years.
I shake my head, trying to ground myself. ‘I have Maya,’ I remind myself bitterly, but Kaidos growls low, clearly unimpressed by my reminder.
I snap myself out of the whirlwind of thoughts swirling in my mind about this woman. But I can’t let it show. They’re here for the app, and that’s where my focus needs to be.
After letting them wait a few minutes, the standard protocol for anyone entering my pack, I make my entrance.
By then, the tension in my body has eased slightly, the unwelcome bulge in my pants subsiding. But even so, I’m still locked in a mental tug-of-war with Kaidos, who hasn’t stopped pacing or growling since he laid eyes on her. The internal battle is enough to make an annoyed expression visible on my face as I step into the room.
Before I even realize it, I’m standing right in front of the team. My eyes instinctively find ‘her’, and for a moment, the world feels still.
“Hello, Alpha,” she says confidently. “I’m Zoe.”
The sound of her voice sends a shiver through me. Kaidos, who’s been restless, suddenly freezes. And then, with a force that leaves me breathless, he whispers a single word in my mind: ‘Mate.’
I manage to keep a neutral face, though internally, I’m anything but calm. My throat tightens, and I repeat her name, needing to hear it again, to confirm. “Zoe?”
She nods as if this is just business as usual for her.
The more I look at her, the more I realize something is… different. My wolf is reacting to her, yet she doesn’t seem to notice.
I study her closely, searching for any sign of a wolf. But there’s nothing. No wolf. No pack scent. Nothing to suggest she’s anything other than human.
She’s human? My mind races with confusion. How can this be? A human mate? It doesn’t make sense. But Kaidos doesn’t care. He’s already claiming her in his mind, growling possessively and flooding me with feelings I haven’t allowed myself to feel in years.
I clench my fists at my sides, trying to maintain control as my heart pounds relentlessly in my chest.
Alethea was my mate. I rejected her, yet Kaidos-my stubborn wolf-never fully did. He clung to her, refusing to let go of the bond, even when I tried to move on. Now, standing here in front of me is a woman who somehow resembles her yet feels completely different. Kaidos is pacing, growling, and calling her ‘mate.’
The situation is baffling, to say the least, but I can’t let my confusion show.
I maintain a composed look nodding curtly to the group before turning on my heel and walking away as I head toward my office at the end of the hallway.
The moment I reach the door, I push it open and leave it ajar. I take my seat behind the massive mahogany desk, leaning back slightly in my chair as I wait for her to follow. My fingers tap rhythmically against the armrest.
Kaidos is unusually quiet now, but his energy is restless. Alethea is still alive, and I know what we shared, or rather, what I foolishly pushed away. So how can there be another? How can Kaidos react to this woman in the same way he once did with Alethea?
I hear footsteps approaching, I brace myself. Whatever this woman Zoe has stirred in me, I’ll uncover it.
She quietly closes the door behind her. I gesture toward the chair in front of my desk, silently inviting her to sit. She hesitates for a fraction of a second before settling into the seat.
For a while, neither of us spoke. The room is heavy with a battle of wills as we silently assess each other.
Her gaze flickers around the office before landing back on me, with her an unreadable expression. I can feel Kaido’s pacing in the back of my mind, urging me to say something.
But I hold my tongue.
Finally, she breaks the silence.