POV: Kai, Ethan, Logan (alternating)
KAI
I slammed my hand on my desk, sending papers flying everywhere. For the third time in ten minutes, I'd lost focus during the important border meeting with nearby pack leaders. All because I kept thinking about Maya's scared face in the kitchen yesterday.
"Sir?" Beta Chen looked worried. "Should we continue with the patrol schedules?"
"Yes, sorry," I muttered, trying to gather the scattered papers. But my mind wasn't on pack security. It was on a small omega with frightened amber eyes who'd nearly fainted when I tried to help her.
Something was badly wrong with Maya. The way she'd screamed when Jamie touched her arm, the way she protected her wrist like it was made of glass. And the look in her eyes when she'd looked at me—like she was seeing something impossible.
I'd felt it too. A strange tug in my chest, like an unseen rope pulling me toward her. When our eyes met, my wolf had stirred restlessly, wanting to get closer to her.
That had never happened before.
"The eastern border needs extra guards," Beta Chen continued, but his voice sounded far away.
I needed to find Maya. Right now.
ETHAN
The medical supplies crashed to the clinic floor as my hands shook violently. I looked at the mess of bandages and antiseptic bottles, wondering what was wrong with me.
I couldn't stop thinking about Maya's "burn."
As a doctor, I knew burns. I'd handled hundreds of them. Burns didn't make people scream when touched softly. Burns didn't require thick bandages wrapped around entire hands. And burns definitely didn't make someone's whole body shake with pain.
Maya was lying about her hurt. But why?
The clinic door opened and my father walked in. "Ethan, are you alright? You left the border meeting suddenly."
"I need to check on Maya," I said, not bothering with excuses. "Something's wrong with her wrist, and it's not a burn."
"Son, if Maya says she's fine—" "She's not fine!" I interrupted, shocking myself with my intensity. "Dad, I can feel it. Something's hurting her, and she won't let anyone help."
Alpha David studied my face carefully. "Feel it? What do you mean?"
I didn't know how to explain the weird link I'd felt when Maya looked at me yesterday. Like a thread had formed between us, quivering with her pain and fear.
"I just know she needs help," I said eventually.
My father nodded slowly. "Then go find her. Trust your feelings."
I was already moving toward the door.
LOGAN
The training dummy exploded under my hand, sending stuffing and wood chunks flying across the practice yard. My wolf was going crazy inside me, pacing and growling for no reason I could understand.
"Whoa!" my training partner jumped back. "What's gotten into you today?"
I didn't answer because I didn't know. All morning I'd felt antsy and angry, like something important was missing. And every time I thought about Maya's frightened face yesterday, my wolf got more agitated.
Why did I care so much about one omega's problems?
But I did care. More than I should. More than made sense.
I'd even found myself walking past the kitchen three times this morning, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. When I didn't see her, sadness had hit me like a physical blow.
This was ridiculous. Maya was just a pack member. A helper. I barely knew her.
So why did my wolf act like she mattered more than anything else in the world?
"Logan!" A young voice called out. I turned to see Tommy, a six-year-old omega pup, running toward me with tears dripping down his face.
"What's wrong?" I knelt down to his level.
"The big kids took my lunch money again," Tommy sobbed. "And Maya's not here to stop them."
"Maya stops bullies?" I asked, shocked.
"She always helps us little ones when the older kids are mean," Tommy explained. "But she hasn't come to the playground all day. We looked everywhere."
A cold feeling settled in my stomach. Maya wasn't in the kitchen. She wasn't on the playground helping kids. Where was she?
"Don't worry," I told Tommy, standing up. "I'll find Maya and get your lunch money back."
But as I searched the pack house, calling her name, I found nothing. Maya had disappeared.
KAI
I met my brothers at the main door, all of us looking frantic.
"Any luck?" Ethan asked excitedly.
"Nothing," I said. "She's not in the servants' quarters, the garden, or anywhere else I checked."
"The omega children said she didn't show up to help them today," Logan added. "That's not like her."
We stood there, three future pack leaders, worrying over a missing omega like she was the most important person in the world.
"This is crazy," I grumbled. "Why do we all care so much?"
"I don't know," Ethan said quietly. "But I feel like something terrible will happen if we don't find her."
Logan nodded grimly. "My wolf's been going crazy all day. Like Maya's in danger."
Before any of us could reply, Sophia appeared in the doorway. Her normal perfect smile was replaced by fake concern.
"Are you looking for Maya?" she asked sweetly.
"Yes," I said instantly. "Have you seen her?"
"Actually, I have." Sophia's eyes sparkled with something that made my wolf snarl. "She came to me this morning, very upset. She said she needed time to think about something important."
"Where is she?" Ethan demanded.
"She asked me not to tell anyone," Sophia said, studying her nails. "She was very specific about needing space from... certain people."
The way she said it made my blood boil. "Sophia, if you know where Maya is—"
"I promised not to tell," Sophia interrupted. "But don't worry. She's safe. Just... dealing with some personal problems."
Logan stepped forward, his warrior reflexes clearly triggered. "What kind of personal issues?"
Sophia's smile turned sharp. "The kind that might change everything for our pack. Maya has some big choices to make. Life-changing ones."
"What does that mean?" I growled.
"It means," Sophia said slowly, "that by tomorrow, everything you think you know about Maya Rivers will be different. And some people might not like what they learn."
With that cryptic threat, she turned and walked away, leaving us standing there with more questions than answers.
ETHAN
"She knows something," I said as soon as Sophia was gone.
"Obviously," Logan mumbled. "The question is what."
I thought about Maya's terrified response to anyone touching her wrist. About the way she'd stared at Kai like she'd seen a ghost. About the strange pull I felt toward her that made no logical sense.
"What if Maya's hiding something bigger than just an injury?" I said quietly.
My brothers looked at me sharply.
"Like what?" Kai asked.
Before I could answer, a bloodcurdling scream echoed from the bush behind the pack house. A scream that sounded exactly like Maya's voice.
We ran toward the sound, our wolves taking control as fear flooded our systems. But when we reached the edge of the forest, we found only Sophia standing there with a happy smile.
"False alarm," she said happily. "Just me practicing my vocals for the talent show."
But her eyes guaranteed that the next scream we heard would be very, very real.