Leo followed Aleksandr deeper into the forest, though calling it following was perhaps not entirely accurate.
Aleksandr moved like he belonged to the wilderness more than he belonged to any room built by wolves' hands. Even surrounded by trees older than the pack itself, beneath branches heavy with frost and moonlight, there was something unmistakably commanding about him. He did not simply walk through the forest, the forest seemed to adjust around him.
Leo could see branches bent away from his broad shoulders, loose stones crunched beneath his steps. The shadows appeared to gather at his back rather than swallow him.
It was something Leo had noticed long before he came to Mologa.
Aleksandr carried power in a way most wolves misunderstood.
Leo had noticed how others saw his mate. They saw the obvious parts first, the size of him, the strength in his frame, the quiet danger that simmered beneath his calm expression. They saw the Alpha who could silence a room with a single glance and make trained warriors reconsider their choices without ever raising his voice.
But Leo had always been drawn to the things others missed.
Aleksandr's patience. His restraint. The way he had held back when they had first met and how he had instantly calmed Leo's anxiety.
The way Aleksandr's hands, capable of breaking through almost anything, became impossibly gentle when they touched something fragile.
A child, an injured wolf. Him.
The thought settled warmly somewhere beneath Leo's ribs despite the cold air surrounding them.
Even now, in the middle of a forest where someone had stolen two pups from their families, Aleksandr's presence steadied him in a way he could never properly explain.
His scent reached Leo every few moments as they moved.
Cedar, smoke and winter air.
Something deep and grounding that belonged entirely to him. It was not merely the scent of an Alpha.
It was Aleksandr.
And after weeks of knowing him, Leo still found himself affected by it in ways that embarrassed him slightly. The bond between them was not something he could reason away. It existed beneath logic, beneath pride, beneath every carefully constructed wall he had built around himself.
His wolf had recognized Aleksandr before his mind ever had.
Safe.
Mine.
Home.
Leo pushed these thoughts away as he watched Aleksandr stop ahead of him.
The Alpha tilted his head slightly, listening.
There was always something unsettling about watching him become completely still. Aleksandr was not a naturally motionless creature. Even at rest, there was a quiet intensity to him, like a storm waiting patiently beyond the horizon.
But when he hunted, that intensity sharpened. The man disappeared and the predator emerged.
Leo slowed. "What is it?"
Aleksandr did not answer immediately. The moonlight caught the side of his face, revealing the tension gathered around his eyes. For a brief moment, Leo saw something almost no one else ever saw. Uncertainty. It vanished so quickly that Leo wondered if he had imagined it.
A heartbeat later, Aleksandr was the Alpha again.
"Nothing."
Leo narrowed his eyes. It was a small gesture. One that would have gone unnoticed by anyone else.
But Aleksandr noticed. He always noticed. "You don't believe me."
"No."
With them spending so much time together, for days now, Leo had picked up on Aleksandr's tells and could gauge when his mate seemed to be lying. Their physical and emotional proximity had also deepened their bond.
The corner of Aleksandr's mouth moved slightly. Not a smile but almost one.
"You are very difficult to impress."
"I am very easy to impress." Leo countered.
Aleksandr looked at him. "You questioned me in front of a patrol."
"You were lying."
"I was assessing."
"You were lying while assessing."
A quiet breath escaped Aleksandr. After an almost smile, it was an almost laugh.
For anyone else, it might have been meaningless. For Leo, it was enough. A small reminder that beneath the weight of the title, beneath the expectations and fear surrounding him, Aleksandr was still there.
Still himself.
The moment disappeared when Dimitri called from ahead. They reached him within minutes and saw that the older tracker stood near a fallen tree with one hand resting against the bark as he studied the ground.
The forest seemed different here. The trees had grown closer together, their roots were twisted across the ground like ancient veins beneath the soil. The air smelled different too.
Less like the pack territory, with barely there scent and familiarity of the pack that Leo had inhaled and felt ever since he had arrived in Mologa.
This was more untouched, more isolated.
Leo understood it immediately.
They had crossed into a place where few wolves traveled.
Dimitri lowered himself and brushed away damp leaves. A faint trail appeared beneath them. The trail was not obvious. But deliberate.
"Someone has been using this route," Dimitri said.
Aleksandr crouched beside him.
The Alpha's fingers moved over the marks carefully, his expression unreadable.
Leo watched him. He had never encountered anyone like his mate previously. Even when he was a kid and lived in the countryside with his grandmother.
There were times when Aleksandr reminded Leo of a blade left uncovered, a sword unsheathed. He looked beautiful, useful.
But also dangerous.
Always one careless touch away from drawing blood.
But right now, beneath all that strength, Leo could sense something else. A desperate need to find answers. He could tell that Aleksandr wasn't doing this for his pride or to maintain his reputation in the pack.
He was doing it for the children. Aleksandr genuinely wanted to have the pups back safely with their families. So much so that sometimes he seemed to be radiating that desire, that need. And Leo realized that was something he had never felt before from his fellow peers or colleagues. That desire to do good for someone else, without a selfish thought. Perhaps that's what made him such a good Alpha.
Aleksandr looked toward the northern trees.
"How far?"
Dimitri followed his gaze. "Hard to tell. The trail becomes difficult beyond that cliff."
"Then we continue." The Alpha's command came naturally and several wolves immediately shifted forward.
Leo stepped closer. He was hesitant to say it but knew he had to. "Aleksandr."
The Alpha looked at him.
"We've been searching for hours."
The words were gentle, but the meaning was clear. They needed to stop. Not because they had failed. Because exhaustion created mistakes. And mistakes were exactly what their enemy wanted. Also, they'd had a long day. They needed rest.
Aleksandr looked back toward the trail and Leo watched the battle unfold silently in his mate's eyes. Duty warred with instinct, fear with hope.
Finally, Aleksandr exhaled. A quiet surrender. "One more hour."
Leo almost smiled. Because that was yet another attribute he had noticed in Aleksandr, compromise always sounded like a victory reluctantly granted.
For the next hour, the wolves searched and they found enough to confirm what they needed. A broken branch marked with fresh scratches. A narrow passage hidden between rocks. The remains of a small fire pit. Not abandoned long ago.
All of this indicated that someone had been here. Someone had stayed here. The territory was not as abandoned as previously seemed. But whatever existed beyond the cliff remained out of reach for tonight since the forest had already taken back too much darkness.
Aleksandr eventually called them back.
No one argued. They had a direction. For the first time in weeks, they had something they could follow.
And sometimes that was enough.