The Rescuer's Secret

The scent hit me like a physical blow.

Powerful. Sweet. Intoxicating.

I froze mid-step, my wolf suddenly alert and straining forward within me. Every muscle in my body tensed as I inhaled again, drawing that bewitching fragrance deeper into my lungs.

"Sir?" Hudson, my Beta, questioned beside me.

I barely heard him. My focus had narrowed to that single scent—feminine, distressed, and somehow calling to something primal in me. It cut through the stench of blood, wolfsbane, and the rogue wolves that had just fled upon seeing me.

"What is that?" I growled, my eyes fixed on Julian Bennett.

The young Alpha candidate stood before me, naked and clutching my unconscious daughter in his arms. He'd been spinning some tale about rescuing Camille from rogues, but something about his story felt wrong from the moment I arrived at this clearing.

"Sir, we need to get Camille medical attention," Julian said, trying to step around me.