Dom
There was a rhythm to being Alpha.
Wake before the sun. Walk the perimeter. Check the scent markers. Attend to the reports and complaints, the needs, the numbers. Keep the peace. Keep the wolves safe.
It was a rhythm I'd learned to live inside.
But lately, I was off-beat.
Because no matter what part of the estate I started my day in, I always ended up searching for her.
Lena.
It was like my body had developed a second instinct—one I couldn't silence even if I tried. I could go maybe an hour or two at best, pouring over border issues or planning resource rotations… and then I'd feel it. That pull. That ache in my chest that didn't settle until I saw her again.
Today was no different.
I'd just finished a training update with Sam and Mara near the barracks and was headed back toward the east wing when I felt it—tight, insistent, like something tethered inside me had started to strain. I caved without a fight.
