Three hours earlier, before the rogues attacked...
Caleb Draven pressed his back against his bedroom wall, sweat running down his face. His hands shook as he gripped the stone windowsill so hard pieces crumbled under his fingers.
"Stay in control," he whispered to himself. "Stay human."
But inside his chest, his wolf clawed and growled like a caged beast. It wanted out. It wanted her. Mate, the wolf howled in his mind.
Find mate.
Claim mate.
Now.
"No." Caleb's bright eyes blazed in the darkness. "I won't let an omega weaken everything I've worked for."
His wolf's reaction hit him like a punch to the gut. Pain burst through his body, doubling him over. When he tried to reject the mate bond, his own wolf fought back. Mine, it growled. Ours. Touch her or die trying.
"I am the future Alpha," Caleb gasped between waves of pain. "I choose my own path."
