Caleb's POV

The first time I saw Zara Accalia Lykaios was a wrinkled, crumpled up, printed photograph of her lab ID that Solomon had swiped from the Western Territory. A stroke of luck, combined with Sol's horrible sense of direction, introduced us at the Southern border seven months ago.

I stumbled on Sol, bored out of my mind while pretending to work patrol. Our instant connection was so strong that my wolf Aquilo, successfully kept hidden for five years, attempted shifting.

Within one introduction, a handshake, all the question marks in my life dissolved. The detachment and indifference I grew up with melted into nonexistence, replaced by a new purpose in my life. Every doubt, insecurity, and worry that I kept to myself growing up different in the Southern territory made complete sense.

That wrinkled, faded picture was the last piece to a puzzle I wondered about as long as I'd wondered about anything. One look and I knew, deep down, that my and Aquilo's five-year wait for our mate ended. A primal instinct ripped through me, I promised Solomon to do whatever was needed to keep her safe, and we formed our plan for rescuing her.

Without knowing if she needed or wanted to be rescued.

Before we met, I saw Zara through so many pictures that I felt like I knew her. Despite her father's wealth, she flashed a polite, guarded smile. Hiding behind her mask, we didn't know which side she was on. She spent a lot of time locked down but when she was permitted outside Cassius' remote island packhouse, she wore a distant, wistful look like she knew more was out there. Even Lumi sat on the banks of the water and stared in our direction across the border. Little did they know how close we were, how much we wanted to take them home.

When I first met her in person, even dirty, tear-stained, and imprisoned, I couldn't speak. My breathing labored, so I pretended to pass out. My eyes weren't closed, they couldn't tear away from her. Even with her back to me, moaning and flustered with heat, sweat soaking her long, light blonde hair to her neck and back, she was beautiful.

Aquilo scratched and clawed at me until I had an internal headache. Sol and I weren't sure how much of Cassius had been brainwashed into her. My heart exploded with pleasant surprise and relief when I found none of his traces in her spirit.

Where he's cold, she's warm. Where he's harsh, she's soft and kind.

Solomon warned me she was sheltered but Zara's naivety was on a whole other level by itself. I laughed until my sides hurt when one of the Southern patrol guards told me she stopped with Cole and rescued a turtle in a thunderstorm.

If I needed a specific example of how she's not Cassius' daughter, that was it.

I was glad that not all of that beautiful innocence was stripped away one silver lash at a time by her sham of a father figure. If I hadn't been bound head to toe in silver then I would've shifted and Aquilo would have ripped any and all throats for her. But, like Solomon, I was a trapped bystander, forced to watch my little mate beaten and bloodied until she passed out.

'You should tell her,' Aquilo pushed me.

He pushed me all the time with Zara. Lumi was a next-level problem. How the animal wanted me to mark her upon sight annoyed me to no end. He flooded my mind with suggestive images of us together, stirring interest in my loins with each possible chance. My dreams were wet nightmares, leaving me tossing, soaked with sweat, and hard as a brick. It didn't stop when we were awake, disappearing only when I insulted or pushed her away, turning Aquilo's anger on me.

Nothing could have pushed me away when I saw Zara at the top of the stairs before the Southern territory's fake ball, a smokescreen social event to give the warriors a chance to say goodbye to their mates. Her long hair was pulled back off her face, curling down her back. Her feather-delicate features and curves were on display with her strapless, torso-hugging dress and the same wistful, faraway look cast over her icy, blue-green eyes.

She looked nothing like anyone else I'd ever met, pale as a porcelain doll with a heart bigger than this entire country deserved. Solomon's only salvaged restraint from not tearing every wolf in this country down to a carcass was in knowing what alternative waited for us. In her circumstances, she had more valid reasons to despise this entire country than I counted.

'And yet, she wants to help them.' Aquilo's pride swelled. 'Our mate is beautiful.'

Beautiful was an understatement describing Zara. She was untouchable. The constant influx of comments from the Southern pack offered me daily reminders of her physical beauty but her open, loving heart was her true beauty.

She is but for the hundredth time, I can't tell her. If Cassius finds out, then he'll kill her.

The crowd of people moving around me blurred away. One look over my shoulder pulled me back into the same trance I fought every time I saw her. Long-distance recon was a struggle of my patience but her presence up close struck into my resolve like a battering ram.

I squeezed my eyes closed for a few moments, like I blocked out her image. Aquilo put up his best protest, howled, and clawed in my mind until a tingling sensation rippled over my skin and raised the hairs on my forearms.

Given five years' experience hiding Aquilo, I thought ignoring Zara would have been easy. With my fake contacts, no one saw when he pushed up to the surface, every damn time Zara was in my presence. So my only option was to play the asshole card while I teased her and forced her away.

I was in trouble the first time I saw her board that private plane.

When she pushed into my room, peppering me with questions that she deserved the answers to, I was so close to telling her I was as much of a stranger in this country as her. She gagged on my scent, which was overkill but had to hide Aquilo's scent. With the South's warm, humid weather, I reapplied three brands of body spray before I sweated them off.

Alpha Sandolf granted me more freedom than Zara or Solomon ever experienced, but his disposition changed the first time his eyes took in Aquilo's form. He warned me that if anyone knew about him, then the target went on my back.

And if Cassius knows, then he'll make more lab rats and kill both Zara and Sol. We can't risk that, Aquilo.

'You could be nice to her.'

And you could stop harassing me every time we see or smell her.

Zara's scent hit me the closer she descended down the stairs. My lips moved on their own, curling up when she used the side furthest from where I stood. While she found my awful scent repulsive, hers was my personal aphrodisiac. During her heat, our prison cell smelled like I was dropped into a dry, icy freezer, yet there was a subtle, sweet smell interlaced.

'She smells like Istas.'

Her full, pink lips pulled into an adorable pout when she saw my feet moved me closer to the bottom of her side stairs and her blonde eyebrows tensed together. She wore more makeup, in particular her eyes lined in blue and lashes darker, but the face I studied, or wasted more time looking at pictures of than my pride admitted to anyone, grabbed my full attention.

Her beautiful, doll-like features were highlighted when she came closer. Her eyes popped like the clearest blue-green seaglass. Even though they glared at me, my heart pounded harder in my chest.

'She's cute when she's irritated at you.'

She is. You're not helpful.

Aquilo pushed an image into our mind, where my hand wrapped around hers. I pulled her back upstairs, ripped her white dress off, and used every minute of the privacy time to ourselves.

Not helpful.

"Caleb?" Zara's soft voice washed over my ears, which snapped my attention to the fact I squeezed my eyes and put a vice grip on her wrist.

"Sorry." I dropped her wrist like it was on fire but not before a rush of warmth spread through my palm from the contact.

'Smooth, Caleb,' Aquilo goaded me.

That was your fault.

"You know..." Zara's eyes flashed at me, the green highlights dancing with a spark of humor. "For the son of an Alpha, you should know that's not the nicest way to escort a lady."

"Show me a lady and I'll escort her," the words slipped out of my mouth before they registered in my brain.

'Solid burn.'

Her eyes rolled and a quiet scoff escaped her lips, then she stepped away from me. My hand reached out, pulled hers back, and tucked it into the crook of my elbow. She stopped walking away from me but her spine stiffened.

"How about a truce?" I suggested. "For tonight?"

Dipping her chin down, beneath her lashes, her eyes searched mine while she considered my words. Finally, her lips pulled into a small, almost shy smile. "I can pretend you're not a jerk for a few hours if you don't act like one," she responded.

'Solid burn, returned.'

"All I can promise is I'll try." My chest pulled with tension when she shuffled closer and my mouth spread into a smile.

I led her under the foyer stairs and through the large, informal packhouse room where I spent most Christmases comparing with Theo over who got better presents. We passed through the back doors, where Zara's lips parted with a soft gasp.

Despite the façade, Luna Sierra put up a nice effort. White lights wrapped around every tree in the yard Theo and I grew up in, wrestling ourselves past the point of fatigue. Soft music filtered through the hum of conversations.

Zara's eyes scanned over the faces and stopped on her friends Elena and Cole. Ten years ago, Cole was a farm kid who came to my parents when he was chosen by Cassius for the Central Territory's warrior development program. He shared the story of his late sister, which fueled his hatred for Cassius that my father shared.

During the months Cole lived here, he became quick friends with Theo because of their affinity for punching things. He was more than happy to go into Cassius' pack with the full intention of taking it down. A stroke of luck landed him in charge of Zara's security, before Solomon changed everything.

'Pretty sure Theo and Cole haven't punched their mates...'

Not helpful.

'...They put pups in them.'

I pinched the bridge of my nose with my free hand's thumb and index finger.

We don't know that. Raina's been here for a week and honestly, I don't want to know.

'Takes once.' He followed up his opinion with a mental image of me and Zara that I preferred went undescribed.

That's not going to solve anything.

Fortunately, my attention was pulled out of this internal mess of a conversation when Zara's hand moved up to my shoulder. She stepped so close, one of her breasts rubbed over my bicep.

Stepping up onto her toes, her nose skimmed my cheek and warm breath fanned into my ear. The temperature of my body trapped under this monkey suit cranked up ten degrees. My skin flushed with heat and blood rushed down between my thighs.

"Talking to your wolf, huh?" she whispered into my ear. Before I answered, she hummed, "Lumi can feel him."

Aquilo puffed up like a proud peacock at her words, almost waving a paw back. Ever since we saw Lumi's snowy white fur, bristling in the wind like the long green grasses Aquilo itched to run through, he was a wolf obsessed. He circled around my mind, chasing his own damn tail, when she laid her head in my lap.

Before I answered, Zara pulled back and put more distance between us. "Sorry." Her eyes averted from mine. "That falls under the category of stuff you refuse to talk about."

'She's baiting us, but you should tell her the truth.'

If I wanted advice on biting her neck and licking myself, then I'll ask you.

Alpha Sandolf interrupted everyone when he cleared his throat. His added, 'Eyes up here, everyone,' mindlink halted the conversations and directed everyone's attention where he stood with Luna Sierra, Theo, and now Raina.

She wore a floor-length, shiny, black dress and a tight smile. Theo fell over himself at the sight of her. Our brief exchanges about their... introduction showed that despite her small size, she was the perfect match for his 'act first, think later' mentality.

Servers passed around trays of toasting champagne while Alpha Sandolf welcomed everyone. Zara and I both found glasses thrust in our faces and accepted them.

"Again, I'd like to thank everyone for coming out tonight and acknowledge the reason we're all assembled." Sandolf's eyes darkened and shifted to Raina. "I'm honored to introduce Miss Raina, Theo's mate and future Luna of Red Valley. We'll accept her into our family with a pack ceremony later tonight."

With that, he raised a glass and toasted, "To our fallen Silverback allies, who we'll prove haven't died in vain."

After a unison repeated, "To the Silverback pack," we took small sips of our champagne. One fizzed sip up my nose was enough.

"This war..." Zara's eyes shone like mirrors when her glass lowered. "It's... terrible."

"War is." I frowned at the idea she learned any of the details we'd received.

The Northern warriors planned to attack the Central Territory's secondary packhouse while we took the main one while Cassius was distracted with the Northern fight. The plan was simple but Cassius must have snuffed it out because they ambushed the Northern pack on their own territory border. Armed with new weapons from the West, the Silverbacks never stood a chance.

It was a slaughter.

"It's unnecessary," Zara added in a whisper. "I know the Central territory, the warriors -"

"Did exactly what Cassius and Baron led them to." I passed our glasses onto a nearby server tray since neither of us drank from them further.

"No, they're good men," she insisted, shaking her head. "Cassius took them from their families so I bet their loyalties are weaker."

"Which is why we need to take him out," I clipped. "And you need to be as far away from that plan as possible."

"Right." She fell into a somber silence, like her voice no longer mattered. Truth was, we had all the intel we needed from Cole, the ins and outs of the Central packhouse. The most important thing was that Zara stayed safe, as far away from the war as possible.

She's so much more important than she realizes.

She's everything to Istas' future.

"How about I tell you something that's true?" My eyes shifted to the makeshift stage platform Luna Sierra put on the deck and tracked how she stepped down with Alpha Sandolf, Theo, and Raina. "In the spirit of tonight."

"Humor me," Zara replied in a flat tone, but a tiny spark of interest flashed in her eyes.

"I'm adopted." I nodded at my family, mingling with a semi-circle that had converged on them since Raina was fresh social meat. "That's my stepmother, stepfather, and stepbrother."

Her eyes traveled in the same direction as mine, pulled wider, and tears beaded up at the corners when they lifted back to mine. My fingers twitched to wipe them away.

'With your luck, you'll probably jab her eyes.'

"I'm sorry," she whispered in a soft, husky voice. "Did you know your real parents?"

"Sort of," I confessed. "They died when I was three. My birthday was close enough to Theo's that Sierra had our legal documents changed."

"Really?" Her eyebrows lifted, so I nodded. Fragments of memories, all happy except the day I lost my parents, remained ingrained in my memory. They were supplemented with decades of the warm, loving life Sandolf and Sierra blessed me with and a brotherhood bond with Theo and Cole.

Zara's aquamarine eyes filled with emotion, looking at me not with the usual pity I expected but understanding.

"I'm so sorry." Her chin dipped down and her voice was soft and wistful, "I know how that feels, never met my mother and Solomon... until, well you know."

Glad for a subject change, I asked, "Have you heard from him?"

"No." Her head shook. The lingered shine of tears in her eyes tugged discomfort in my chest. "Not since he put me here."

"I'm sure he's fine," I replied. "The chip on his shoulder has gotten him through some tough situations."

"I hope so." Her long lashes batted while she blinked the tears dry. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Telling me something that's true." Her voice was soft but struck into my chest. The pain that underlaid her voice, unnoticeable to most but I heard every sense of it, drew my hand up to her soft, smooth cheek.

"I told you it's complicated," I whispered as a warm sensation trailed down my fingers while they stroked over her cheek. She leaned into my touch and intensified the sensations but I didn't pull back. "It doesn't mean -"

"I know what it means." She pulled back too fast for my preference, curling my fingers through empty air as we fell into an uncomfortable silence.

My eyes roamed around us for a diversion until my ears gave me an idea. "Dance with me," I offered with an outstretched hand.

"Umm..." Her eyes darted around to the obvious fact. "No one's dancing."

"There's music." My fingers curled inward a few times in invitation. "Someone needs has to start."

"Do you know how to dance?" Her eyes sparkled, prompting a smile on my face.

"Sure." I winked then reached for her hand again. "Youtube videos."

"Okay..." she dragged the word, then placed her hand in mine. Tucked in my palm, I wrapped my fingers around hers and led her near the piano band that I didn't know existed within our pack until tonight and pulled her close.

Her small frame tucked in between my arms. A rush of sensations I preferred stayed suppressed lit up upon contact. Her hand was soft against mine, my skin rough from continuous training and using my best acting skills with Solomon and the others as rogues.

Even now, I still couldn't get all the dirt out from under my fingernails, but she didn't notice. Her posture stiffened, too occupied with my other hand. I placed it on her bare upper back, where her soft skin was etched with firmer scars she chose not to display.

The evidence of a cruelty she didn't deserve still hung on a board in my own damn bedroom. Aquilo threw his own personal celebration when we learned she rejected Lucus and wanted to slit Torak's throat for carrying her away.

Once Zara's innocence was stripped and she arrived in the Eastern territory, she covered herself more and her personality receded. She left the East saddled with bad news, a broken version of her former self.

Since her stiff discomfort lingered, I slid my hand down to her lower back, pressing my fingers into the barrier of clothing. A knowing smile spread across her lips when we danced in step together and I wasn't terrible. "Can I tell you something else that's true?"

"I..." She stilled when I tugged her closer. "Would like that."

My heart pounded in my chest and Aquilo almost somersaulted like my personal cheerleader at our close proximity. One of her hands held mine gently, the other started on my shoulder. When her torso brushed flush with mine, her hand moved higher and rested on the nape of my neck.

"You're making this difficult..." I whispered.

The contact of her soft, delicate fingers raised goosebumps on the skin right below my hairline. My control and restraint both slipped since the closer we moved, the closer I wanted us to be. I released her hand then traced down the gentle slope of her jawline.

Like last time, her lower lip was soft against the pad of my thumb. I traced over a path that ended when my eyes dropped to her lips. Her breathing sounded as elevated as mine felt and my pulse raised when one breath separated us.

"Liar." Her warm breath washed over my mouth while her eyes trained on mine. "The only one who's making this difficult is you."

Sliding my eyes closed and leaning to close the gap between us, Aquilo's voice in my head grabbed my attention.

'She's not wrong.'

The mental reminder flipped my eyes open.

No, but this is.

My head turned and her lips brushed at the corner of mine, a press of soft, warm skin that I wanted to turn my head and fully capture. Both our eyes flipped open at the light contact and hers filled with confusion. The hurt and sting of rejection swirled through her irises when I pulled back.

"I can't..." I whispered-begged her for things I had no right to ask her.

Time and patience, my little mate.

Nothing else matters and everything will make sense once I get you home.

"Me neither." A sense of warmth and comfort left my body where she broke off contact.

Her beautiful eyes filled up with tears and my body's swayed movements stopped after hers did. My chest tightened and my stomach felt like it was punched when she took one step back, then another, and another. The two feet of space she put between us felt cavernous.

She offered a husky whisper, "Goodbye Caleb," then turned on her heels and threaded through the couples dancing around us.

My fingers twitched to reach for her but my feet stayed grounded. With heavy guilt weighing down my chest, I watched while she stepped into the packhouse, then out of sight.

'You screw up! Our mate is leaving.'

''It's for the best.' Another voice in my head interrupted Aquilo's whines of protest. I looked up and found Theo's gaze on me, then down at his small mate Raina. Her dark eyes narrowed and lips pursed, like she wanted me dismembered.

'Doesn't feel like it.' I scrubbed my hand over the back of my neck.

'She'll come around.' He lowered his eyes to Raina, then captured her lips with his.

I turned away from their open affection and deserved the pain that burned in my chest from how I pushed too far this time. Zara hadn't said the words but I knew from the look on her face.

She's leaving.