The battle was wrong.
Thorne knew it long before anyone said a word.
The enemy had been loud before his arrival, demanding, aggressive, eager to provoke a confrontation. And yet, the mont he stepped onto the field, everything shifted. They stalled. Delayed. Sent word after word, each more pointless than the last, as though buying ti for sothing else entirely.
It was a tactic he had seen before.
A distraction.
He stood inside the war tent, his eyes fixed on the spread map before him, but his mind was nowhere near it. An unease crawled beneath his skin, refusing to be ignored. His jaw tightened as he scanned the markings again, his fingers pressing harder against the table with each passing second.
Sothing was off.
Very off.
Footsteps approached behind him, and he didn't need to turn to know who it was.
"We've sent word to their side. We should get a response soon, your majesty," the head guard said, stepping in.
Thorne humd, though it lacked any real acknowledgnt. His focus remained on the map.
"Tell again," he said slowly, "how many coaches did they ruin?"
The guard frowned, confusion spreading across his face as he stepped closer. "Coaches? My king, I'm afraid there were no reports of coaches being destroyed."
Thorne's eyes darkened slightly. "And yet it is written here that fifteen were lost alongside their stable horses." His finger tapped the parchnt. "Strange, isn't it? The genesis of a conflict built on details that do not even align."
The guard opened his mouth, likely to correct himself or question the report— But the tent flaps were thrown open.
"My king! My king!" A warrior stumbled in, breathless, his entire body shaking as he dropped to his knees.
Thorne turned around, the unease in his chest spiking into sothing far worse. "What has happened?" he demanded.
The guard couldn't et his eyes. His shoulders trembled, his breathing uneven, like a man who had seen sothing he could not unsee.
"Speak," Thorne growled, sharp and commanding. "Now."
The man swallowed hard. "The palace has been attacked, your majesty."
For a second, everything stopped.
The air, the voices, the world itself.
Then it ca rushing back all at once.
Thorne didn't speak. Not when his ears rang loudly, not when his heart dropped into an octave.
He moved. The chair behind him crashed to the ground as he turned, already walking out of the tent with terrifying speed. "Prepare my horse," he barked, "We ride now."
Within monts, Thorne was mounted, his grip tight on the reins. His heart was no longer steady; it pounded violently against his ribs. He shouldn't have left. He knew it. Every nerve in his body was against it. He should've stayed!
Adina. His mind reached for her instantly, tugging at the mind link, but there was nothing. They were too far apart for it to connect well.
His fear grew even more at this. Adina, sweet pregnant Adina. How could he have let this happen?
He imdiately tried Caelum. The beta was another alternative, except he got nothing but the sa cold, dead silence.
His heart tripped; Caelum has never not responded to any of his calls. He's never not spoken to the beta, and so he knew this… this was more.
He tried Thessara too, still, it was the sa cold silence.
Thorne was losing his mind. Sothing had happened. Sothing terrible.
"Ride!" he ordered, and the soldiers surged forward behind him, but even they could not match the speed at which he pushed his horse. The wind tore past him as he rode, his thoughts spiraling, each one worse than the last.
There was no response. No link. No sign. Nothing!
It didn't make sense.
It didn't make sense.
Another rider caught up beside him, breathless. "My king, there's word from the palace—"
Thorne didn't slow. "Speak!"
"The Beta… he has been found. He's been severely wounded. He's unresponsive."
The words hit, but they didn't land fully. Because if Caelum had fallen, then who had protected her?
Was she safe? He'd vowed never to let a thing like this ever happen again, especially to Adina, and yet… he couldn't even protect her.
Thorne's heart stuttered once. Then raced even faster.
By the ti the palace gates ca into view, sothing inside him had already begun to crack. His wolf howled internally.
Smoke curled faintly into the sky. The gates were damaged. And the ground… stained.
There was blood. Too much blood.
Thorne didn't wait for the guards. He jumped off his horse before it had even fully stopped, boots hitting the ground as he ran straight into the palace.
There were bodies everywhere. His people, his guards, all scattered to pieces like they were nothing but at. They were torn apart, mauled.
The scent hit him instantly. That sll of rot and decay. These were beasts.
His chest tightened violently upon the realization. This was Carter. Carter had co back. And he hadn't co alone.
Thorne's steps didn't slow, even as his mind pieced it together faster than he could breathe. His gaze darted across the destruction, every sign pointing to one thing and one thing only.
This had been planned.
Every second, every move. Including dragging him away. That war that demanded his presence. How had he been so blind to it all? How had he let himself be played like this?
His stomach twisted at the thought of Adina.
No.
No—
He ran into the palace, heading straight to her room, jumping past scattered body parts and blood. The door to her room was open, he scanned around but she wasn't
there.
"Adina!" He yelled but got no response. He dragged his hand over his face, panicking hard.
"Thessara!" He called and still no response. He ran about, fear enveloping every part of him.
"Adi—" his voice weaned off as he passed his office only to stop, gaze catching sight of her.
He stepped inside, and everything stopped. Adina.
She was on the floor, just beside the desk, her body slumped slightly, her clothes soaked in blood. Her hair clung to her face, her skin pale, her entire fra trembling like she could barely hold herself together.
She didn't even notice him at first. Her eyes were unfocused and distant. Like she was no longer fully there.
A broken sound left her lips, barely human.
"Adina." He called, and she raised her head, gaze landing on him.
"T-Thorne." She stamred, struggling to get up on her feet.
His gaze landed on her stomach, and his blood ran cold. Their pup, their baby wasn't there anymore. Her stomach was still swollen, but there was no baby in it.
The loud ringing in his ears was back again, his heart pounded so hard anyone could hear it.
"Adina…" his voice ca out lower than intended, rougher than it had ever sounded before.
"Where is our child?"
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