Chapter 1 Prologue – The Storm That Took Her

The past-Twelve Months Ago

The sky cracked open like a wound.

Lightning split the clouds, throwing white veins across the bruised sky. Rain poured in sheets, slicing the forest with icy precision. The air was thick with danger, the kind that crawled down your spine and whispered that something terrible was about to happen.

Alpha Kade Black stormed through the trees, his massive form soaked and snarling, eyes glowing like twin moons in the darkness. His wolf was pushing at the surface, claws tearing through skin, rage boiling just beneath the edge of control.

"She ran this way!" shouted one of his warriors behind him.

"She wouldn't just run," Kade growled, jaw tight, muscles tensed. "Not unless someone made her."

He could still smell her. Her scent clung to the bark, sweet like lilacs after rain, but muted. Fading. As if she were... slipping away from him.

No. Not again.

Branches cracked underfoot as he charged through the woods, lungs burning, heart pounding. The wind howled through the trees like a ghost mourning something lost. And deep inside, Kade felt it-the gnawing fear that he was too late.

They'd fought.

Not even a full hour ago, Evelyn had stood in their shared room, hands trembling, eyes hollow, voice low as she whispered, "I can't do this anymore, Kade. I feel like I'm fading beside you."

And he'd said nothing.

No apology.

No promise.

No chase.

He'd stood there like a stone, watching her pack a small bag, her fingers shaking. Watching her slip off the bond mark with trembling fingers and place it gently on the dresser like it didn't mean anything. Like he didn't mean anything.

And still, he said nothing.

Until now.

Until she was gone.

Up ahead, the trees thinned, revealing the edge of the cliff-the place where the land dropped off into jagged rocks and violent waves below.

"Evelyn!" he bellowed over the thunder, eyes scanning every shadow.

A soft sob answered him.

His head whipped left.

There-half-collapsed beside a fallen tree, her knees scraped, hair soaked and tangled, was Evelyn.

She was breathing heavily, eyes wild, cradling something to her chest-a small bundle, wrapped in his old shirt.

His heart stopped. "Evelyn..."

She looked up.

And that look-gods, that look-wasn't the way a mate should look at her bonded. It was broken. It was empty.

"You didn't come," she whispered, voice cracking. "I waited. I waited so long, Kade."

He dropped to his knees beside her, rain streaming down his face. "I'm here now."

"It's too late."

Lightning flashed-and in that brief second of illumination, he saw her tears mixing with rain.

"What's in your arms?" he asked hoarsely.

She hesitated.

Then slowly, she unwrapped the bundle.

A tiny newborn.

His hair.

Her lips.

His scent.

"Kade, this is our daughter."

The ground shifted beneath him.

A child. Their child.

And she hadn't told him.

"Why-why didn't you-?"

"Because you never listened," she said, voice barely more than a whisper. "Because I couldn't bear the thought of you rejecting her like you did me."

He flinched.

Before he could speak again, the sound of growling echoed from the trees behind them.

Kade rose instantly, shielding Evelyn and the baby with his body.

Rogues.

Three of them emerged from the forest line-scarred, lean, eyes glowing with madness.

"She's ours now," one of them growled. "And that child too. She's not your Luna anymore, Alpha."

Kade's roar shook the trees.

He shifted mid-charge, his black wolf crashing into the first rogue with bone-shattering force. Claws tore, blood sprayed, and fury danced in every movement. The second rogue lunged for Evelyn.

She screamed, clutching the baby, stumbling toward the cliff's edge.

"Evelyn!" Kade snarled, slashing down the last rogue in a blur of red and silver. "Don't move!"

But her foot slipped.

The muddy ground gave way.

He reached for her-he was so close-

She fell.

Down.

Down.

Down.

Screaming his name as the wind tore her voice away.

"EVELYN!"

Kade dove after her.

But the storm swallowed her whole.

And he hit rock-hard.

Everything went black.

Back to Present Day

"Alpha Kade, you need to see this."

The scout's voice dragged him out of the past.

Kade turned, stiff, jaw set like granite. A year had passed since that night. A year of grief, rage, regret. His pack whispered that he'd gone cold, that their Alpha had died when his Luna fell. And maybe they were right.

He hadn't felt alive since.

The scout led him toward a rogue village deep in the neutral territories. It was supposed to be a simple negotiation. Establish trade routes, offer protection.

But something was wrong.

The moment he crossed the border, his wolf stirred.

Something familiar was nearby.

Then he saw her.

She stood near the healer's tent, laughing softly as she bandaged a child's arm. Her eyes were bright, her hair now shorter, messier-but unmistakable.

Evelyn.

Kade staggered back.

It couldn't be.

She was dead.

She'd died in his arms. He remembered the silence after the fall, the blood on the rocks. The empty pain of digging through rubble and never finding her.

But here she was.

Smiling.

Alive.

And...

With another man standing beside her.

Holding her hand.

A ring on her finger.

No bond mark on her neck.

She looked up-and met his eyes.

Her smile faltered.

Confusion flickered.

Then... nothing.

Not fear.

Not recognition.

Just... blank.

Like he was a stranger.

His chest clenched.

"Alpha?" his Beta asked.

Kade didn't answer.

Because at that moment, every instinct screamed the same thing:

She didn't remember him.

Not their marriage.

Not their child.

Not the bond.

Not him.

And worst of all...

She looked happy.