Chapter 67

• Stefano’s POV
• For the past three days, I had been on an unrelenting chase. My wolf’s fur, matted and stiff with layers of dried blood—not my own—held the stench of lives I’d ended. None of it mattered. I would’ve torn through an army to reach her. Two nights back, I managed to capture a bastard who’d given up one critical piece of information: they had taken her somewhere near these woods. They planned to sell her off to Alpha Matteo. Rage like I’d never known took hold of me, but fury wasn’t all. Guilt and anguish flooded my veins as I ran. If she was harmed or dead, it would be on me.
• No sign of Matteo’s men in the area offered a sliver of hope that I wasn’t too late, but the weight of anxiety drove me to run harder. The forest opened into a small valley, one I recognized from years back when I’d raided the nearby village of shifters and witches. Now, it lay deserted, save perhaps for a few lingering souls up on Sae Hill, once revered by the witches.