Kade POV
Kade couldn't sleep.
He lay in his bed and stared at the ceiling and tried not to think about her. Rose. Just thinking her name made his entire body ache. He'd tried everything. He'd worked out until his muscles screamed. He'd run through the forest until his lungs burned. He'd done pushups until his arms gave out. Nothing worked. Nothing stopped the pull.
His instincts screamed that she was his.
Pack law said she belonged to Chase. It said Kade was supposed to submit. Supposed to accept that the Alpha got the best mate and the Beta got whatever was left over. That's how it had always worked. That's how it was supposed to work.
But every time Kade closed his eyes, he could still smell her. Could still feel the way electricity had shot through him when his hand touched hers. Could still hear the sound of her breathing in that room, small and terrified and entirely his.
The Alpha has no right to her.
The thought came to him hard and fast and it terrified him because it was true. Chase could smell her but that didn't mean he understood her. Chase would claim her because that's what pack law said, but he wouldn't love her the way Kade could. Wouldn't protect her the way Kade would. Wouldn't choose her over everything the way Kade already had.
Kade sat up in bed and ran his hands through his hair.
He was about to challenge the only man he'd ever been loyal to. About to commit treason. About to tear apart everything he believed in. It was insane. It was suicide. Chase could destroy him in a fight. Chase was the Alpha for a reason. He was stronger. Faster. More powerful.
But Kade didn't care anymore.
For the first time in his entire life, there was something that mattered more than his Alpha. Something that made all his years of service feel meaningless. Someone who was worth throwing everything away for.
He pulled on clothes and left his room.
The compound was quiet at this hour. Most of the pack was sleeping. Kade moved through the darkness like he knew exactly where he was going, which he did. The training grounds. That's where Chase would be. The Alpha didn't sleep much. Especially not now. Especially not with everything falling apart.
Kade found him standing alone in the darkness, hitting the same punching bag Kade had been destroying just hours before.
Chase stopped the moment he sensed him there. The Alpha turned and his eyes went dark. Dangerous. Ready for a fight.
For a moment they just looked at each other.
Kade could feel the power radiating off Chase like heat from a fire. This was the man who'd led the pack for seven years. This was the man who'd eliminated challengers without hesitation. This was the man who could tear Kade apart with his bare hands if he wanted to.
But Kade didn't flinch. Didn't look away. Didn't show any sign of backing down.
"I'm going to her room tomorrow night," Kade said, and his voice was steady even though his heart was racing. "And if you try to stop me, we're going to have a problem."
Chase's jaw clenched. "You're my Beta."
"I know."
"You swore loyalty."
"I did."
"And you're going to throw that away for a girl you've known for two days?"
Kade took a step closer. "I'm going to throw it away for my mate. For the woman I'm supposed to spend my life protecting. For the only thing that matters anymore."
He could see Chase processing that. Could see the Alpha's instinct warring with something else. Something that looked like understanding.
"The council will execute her if she becomes too much of a problem," Chase said finally.
Kade had already known that. Had already accepted it. "Then we'll leave. Both of us. You, me, and her. We'll leave the pack and start something new."
"You can't leave. You're the Beta. The pack needs you."
"Let them have someone else." Kade's voice was hard now. Resolved. "I'm done being second. I'm done submitting. I'm done pretending that loyalty matters more than love."
Chase's hands clenched into fists. For a second Kade thought he was going to fight him right there. Thought the Alpha was finally going to push back.
But then something shifted in Chase's expression. Something that looked like resignation.
"Go to her tomorrow night," Chase said quietly. "But Kade, understand what you're doing. You're starting a war inside this pack."
Kade nodded. He already understood. He was about to choose Rose over everything. Over his position. Over his loyalty. Over the man he'd served his entire adult life.
He was about to say something else when a voice cut through the darkness.
"Well, this is interesting."
Kade's entire body went rigid.
Sienna stepped out of the shadows like she'd been waiting there the whole time. Chase's sister. Pack princess. The woman who'd always treated Kade like he was beneath her. She was smiling, but it was the kind of smile that meant someone was about to get hurt.
"What are you doing out here?" Kade asked, but he already knew. She'd heard everything. She'd been standing there listening to him declare war against her brother.
"I could ask you the same thing," Sienna said, stepping closer. "Talking about leaving the pack? About my brother's mate running away with his Beta? That's interesting, Kade. That's very interesting."
"Sienna," Chase said, and there was a warning in his voice.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to say anything." She was looking at Kade now and her smile was growing wider. "Not yet. But you might want to think about what you're doing. You might want to consider the consequences."
She started walking away, still smiling.
"Oh, and Kade? You should know that I've been talking to Blake Richardson. He's very interested in your little situation here. He's very interested in a rare omega who makes the Alpha and Beta fight each other. He thinks it might be the perfect time to challenge your territory."
She disappeared into the darkness before either of them could respond.
Kade looked at Chase and saw his own fear reflected back at him.
Sienna was going to start a war. She was going to tell the rival pack about Rose. She was going to use this whole situation to destroy everything Chase had built.
And it was Kade's fault.
By declaring that he was going to choose Rose, by showing that the pack's hierarchy was fracturing, by letting Sienna hear him threaten to leave, Kade had just handed her the weapon she needed to burn everything down.
"We have to move faster," Chase said, his voice cold and hard again. "We have to figure out what we're doing before Sienna goes to the council with this information."
"I know," Kade said.
"The council will execute Rose if they find out about this. They'll execute you for treason. And they'll execute me for not controlling my own pack."
Kade nodded. He understood the stakes now. He understood that by choosing Rose, he'd put all of them in danger. He understood that Sienna was about to blow open the secret they'd all been keeping.
"Tomorrow night," Kade said. "I'm going to her room. And we're going to run."
Chase looked at him for a long moment. "Then tonight, I need to prepare for a war I didn't know was coming."