Ch. Impregnated 5 Impregnated 5

Chapter 5

Thorne spins around.

Nothing.

Her scent—gone.

Even Dean’s faint, boyish breath has vanished with it.

He tries to track them. Instinct kicks in.

Nothing.

She didn’t run.

She erased herself.

He kicks over the ceremonial platform, jerking free of Liora’s hand.

“Move.”

The elders shout behind him, “Alpha! The ritual—”

Two guards block his path. He drops them with a single blow each.

His wolf surges beneath his skin, wild and barely restrained.

He bolts down the sacred mountain, wind howling in his ears.

Straight to her house.

He pushes the door open.

Ash drifts past him on a cold gust. Smoke lingers in the air.

The house is empty.

Everything has been burned.

Even the scent he once knew by heart.

He steps inside.

In the ashes, something glints—half-melted metal.

The toy wolf. Dean’s naming gift.

He picks it up. It burns his fingers.

Still, he doesn’t let go—until his knees give out.

His wolf soul howls inside him, loud enough to make his head ring.

He forces himself upright. Blood drips from the corner of his mouth.

“Where did you go…” he breathes. “How dare you leave like this.”

He hurls the toy to the floor, smashing it apart.

“Didn’t you say you’d never leave me?!”

He sinks down into the ashes, hands in his hair, breathing hard.

He tries to rebuild the link. Tries to reach her.

But there’s nothing.

Even Dean is pushing him out.

She didn’t disappear.

She shut him out.

“Seraphina,” he whispers.

Only silence answers.

The echo of his wolf soul is the only thing that remains—low, raw, unraveling.

He stumbles out the door.

At the sacred hall entrance, the guards await.

“Alpha,” one says quietly, “there are traces of wolf-witch fire. Scent-blocking compound. Everything was erased.”

Thorne stands there, silent.

“Wolf witch medicine,” the guard confirms. “All traces gone. And only the one marked can apply it.”

His fingers twitch.

“…She did it herself?”

“Yes, Alpha. This wasn’t done to her. She chose it.”

There’s a long pause.

He doesn’t move.

Then—

He laughs.

Soft at first. Then sharper.

A bitter, breathless scoff.

“Good,” he says. “Good.”

His voice is low. Tight. Dangerous.

“She wants to disappear?” he murmurs.

“Then she’d better run far.”

He turns toward the night, eyes glowing gold.

Because he’s not done.

Not by a long shot.

5 Chapters