EMMA'S POV & MARCUS'S POV
Emma drives through the night like the world is chasing her.
Because it is.
Marcus is behind her somewhere. She can feel him through the bond even though the connection should be dead. But it's not dead. It's alive and burning and it's pulling her toward him like gravity. She tries to ignore it. She tries to drive in the opposite direction. But the bond keeps tugging and her wolf keeps screaming and by three in the morning, Emma realizes she's been driving toward the compound the whole time.
Not away.
Toward.
She grips the steering wheel and wants to scream. Her entire plan was to disappear. To run deeper into the mountains. To raise this baby alone and never look back. But she can't outrun an alpha who's bonded to her. She can't hide from a connection that's written into her bones.
The bond is pulling her home.
Emma takes the exit toward the Stone pack compound and her heart is beating so hard she thinks it might break through her ribs. She's been gone for three months. She's carrying his child. She doesn't know what he's going to do when he sees her. She doesn't know if he'll be angry or relieved or if he'll try to keep her there against her will.
She only knows that she can't keep running.
The compound appears through the trees as the sun starts to rise. The massive gates loom ahead and the guards at the entrance straighten when they see her truck approaching. They recognize her. Of course they do. Their alpha's rejected mate is coming home.
Emma parks at the gate and gets out on shaking legs.
The guards stare at her. They can smell the pregnancy. They can smell the life inside her. Their eyes go wide with understanding. Within seconds, they're pulling out their phones. The news is spreading through the pack like fire.
She's back.
And she's carrying the heir.
Marcus hasn't slept in seventy-two hours.
He sits in his office with documents spread across the desk that he's not actually reading. His second in command Derek tried to talk to him this morning about pack business and Marcus barely heard him. Everything feels far away. Everything feels like it doesn't matter.
Only one thing matters.
Finding her.
Marcus can feel the bond inside him. It's been pulsing for three days now. That shift in the connection. That new signature. His child. Emma's carrying his child and she's been running and he's been searching and he can't find her and it's going to destroy him.
He's been alpha for thirteen years and he's never felt this helpless. Never felt this broken. His pack is falling apart because he's falling apart. Territory disputes are being ignored. Council meetings are being missed. He's neglecting everything because the only thing that matters is that Emma is out there somewhere alone and carrying his baby.
Derek knocked on his office door earlier and told him that he'd found Emma's number. That he'd called her. That she'd refused protection and hung up the phone.
Marcus listened to this news and felt something inside him crack.
She doesn't want his help. She doesn't want to come back. She wants to run from him and raise the baby alone and pretend he doesn't exist.
He deserves that. After what he did, he deserves worse than that.
But he can't accept it.
Alpha instinct is screaming inside him. The bond is screaming. Every wolf in his body is demanding that he go find her. Demand that he bring her back. Demand that he protect what's his.
Marcus stands up from his desk because sitting is making him crazier.
He walks to the window of his office and looks out at the compound. The guards at the gate are moving. Something's happening. He can feel it through his alpha connection to the pack.
Then her scent hits him.
Marcus's entire body goes still.
Emma.
She's here. She's actually here. The bond inside him roars to life like someone lit it on fire. Every nerve ending in his body is suddenly aware of her location. Every inch of him is focused on the fact that she's somewhere on this compound and she's close and he can almost feel her.
Marcus doesn't think. He just moves.
He's down the stairs and through the main hall and bursting through the front doors in seconds. The morning sun is blinding and for a moment he can't see anything. Then his eyes adjust and he sees her standing in the courtyard near the gate.
She's real.
For three months he's been searching territories and calling in favors and tearing through pack lands like a madman. For three months he's been haunted by the possibility that she was gone. That she'd disappeared forever. That he'd destroyed her and she'd just vanished like she was never real.
But she's standing right there in the morning light.
She's pale. Too pale. Her clothes hang loose on her frame and there's a softness to her belly that wasn't there before. She's pregnant. Three months pregnant. Carrying his child. Looking at him across the courtyard like she's terrified and angry and broken all at once.
Marcus feels his knees almost give out.
She came back.
He doesn't know why. He doesn't know what changed. But she's here and she's looking at him and the bond between them is screaming.
Emma feels the moment he steps outside.
The bond jolts awake inside her like someone just flipped a switch. She can feel him before she even looks up. Can feel his presence like a weight in her chest. Can feel the alpha power that rolls off him in waves that make every wolf around them whimper.
When she finally looks at him, the world stops.
Marcus looks destroyed.
His clothes hang on him like he's lost weight. His eyes are hollow and dark and there's something broken in the way he's looking at her. Like she's the only real thing left in his world. Like he's been drowning for three months and she's the surface he's finally reaching for.
Their eyes lock across the courtyard.
And the bond between them trembles.
It's not complete. It's not healed. But it's alive and it's connected and it recognizes itself in her. The broken pieces are reaching toward each other. The connection that was supposed to stay severed is suddenly thrumming with recognition.
Emma can't breathe.
Marcus takes a step toward her and his movement breaks something loose inside her.
The bond pulses and for a moment, Emma swears she can feel what he's feeling. The desperation. The guilt. The raw need to protect her and keep her safe. The love that he never stopped feeling even when he was supposed to be choosing someone else.
And then he's moving.
Not running. Walking. But with the intensity of a predator who's finally found what he's been hunting.
Every guard in the courtyard steps back.
Every wolf recognizes the claiming in his movement.
Emma should run. She should get back in the truck and drive away and never look back. She should remember what he did. She should remember the way he chose Elena. She should remember the agony of the bond breaking.
But her feet won't move.
And the baby inside her responds to his nearness by kicking hard enough that Emma catches her breath.
The bond recognizes him.
The baby recognizes him.
And Emma realizes with horror that she's not sure if she's strong enough to keep them apart.
Marcus is five feet away from her now and his eyes are locked on hers like if he looks away for even a second, she'll disappear again.
"Emma," he says and her name sounds like a prayer.