Word of a rogue wolf had been creeping through Alpharidge for two weeks now, and the rumors were starting to feel less like gossip and more like a warning. Queen Laura could not sit still. She paced the length of the great hall, the hem of her deep green gown brushing the marble with every sharp turn. Her fingers twisted the heavy silver chain at her throat, a nervous habit she had never quite shaken.
"Take more trackers," she told the guards, voice low but firm. "Double them if you have to. We cannot let this thing wander our lands unchecked."
The men nodded as one, a quick chorus of "Yes, Your Majesty," before they filed out, boots echoing down the corridor.
Alpha Theron watched her from the arched doorway, arms crossed, shoulders set the way they always were when he was trying not to worry. He stepped closer, voice softer than the stone walls around them.
"Laura. We do not even know if it is hostile. Could just be a drifter passing through."
She stopped pacing long enough to meet his eyes. "Two weeks, Theron. Our best noses have caught the scent half a dozen times, but never the wolf itself. You really think that is coincidence?"
He did not answer right away. Instead he reached out and pulled her gently against him. She let her forehead rest on his chest for a second, breathing in the familiar cedar and leather smell of him.
"What if it is here for Adrian?" she murmured. "His ceremony is in two days. He turns twenty-two, takes the alpha title officially. Everything changes."
Theron's arms tightened. "Then we keep him safe. Like we always have."
Before she could reply, the heavy doors swung open and Prince Adrian strode in, tall, easy-moving, twenty-one-going-on-invincible. He flashed his mother a grin that was half mischief, half reassurance, crossed the room in a few long steps, and dropped quick kisses on both her cheeks.
"Still fretting over our mystery guest, Mother?" he teased, though his eyes flicked to his father, checking for the real mood in the room.
Laura sighed, the sound half exasperated, half fond. "Someone has to."
Adrian laughed under his breath. "We have got patrols on every border, extra sentries, the works. If that rogue so much as sneezes inside our territory, we will know. Relax a little. My birthday is practically here. Maybe the Moon Goddess will throw me a mate as a present. Stranger things have happened."
His mother gave him a long look, the kind only mothers can give. "I am allowed to worry. It is in the job description."
"Fair." He softened, reaching out to squeeze her hand. "But I am heading into the woods today. Been too long since Willow got to stretch his legs properly. I need it."
Laura's brows knit. "Not alone."
"Daniel is coming," Adrian said quickly, anticipating the argument. "And a handful of guards. I will be back before you start imagining the worst."
She studied him another beat, then nodded, reluctant, but she knew better than to cage him completely. "Two hours. No more. And if anything feels off…"
"I will bolt straight home," he finished for her, already backing toward the door with that restless energy he could never quite hide. "Promise."
Theron caught his son's eye and gave a small nod, the silent version of be careful.
Adrian flashed one last grin and disappeared into the corridor.
Out in the forest the air turned cooler, thick with pine and damp earth. Adrian walked ahead of the others, shoulders loose, anticipation humming under his skin. Daniel kept pace beside him, quiet but alert, while the guards fanned out at a respectful distance.
Inside his head, Willow was already pacing, tail lashing with impatience.
Finally, the wolf growled. You have kept me cooped up for weeks.
"Two hours," Adrian reminded him silently, amused. "Do not get greedy, Willy."
Do not call me Willy.
Adrian snorted out loud. Daniel shot him a sideways look. "Talking to your other half again?"
"Always."
They reached the clearing Adrian liked best, a wide bowl of grass ringed by ancient oaks. He stripped off his shirt, kicked away his boots, let the change start. Bones shifted, muscles tore and rebuilt in that familiar, searing rush. Around him the guards followed suit, fur rippling over skin until a small pack stood ready.
Adrian, Willow now, threw his head back and howled. The sound rolled through the trees, deep and wild, pulling an answering chorus from the others.
Then they ran.
Paws pounded earth, wind tore past fur, the world narrowed to scent and speed and the pure joy of being free. For those first glorious minutes, everything else, the rogue, the ceremony, the weight of a crown waiting, fell away.