The emergency call came at 2:13 a.m.

Elena was still awake, curled up in her window seat with a cup of cooling chamomile tea, when her private line rang. One of the neutral territory healers she worked with sounded panicked.

“Miss Voss, we need you. There’s been an incident near the eastern border. Silverfang scouts ambushed a small group of Volkov wolves. Three injured, one critically. Silver poisoning. The Volkov response team is already on site, but they’re requesting your help.”

Elena’s heart clenched. She knew what this meant. Nikolai would be there.

“I’m on my way.”

She changed quickly into dark clothes and grabbed her emergency healing kit. Twenty minutes later, her driver pulled up to the coordinates. The scene was chaotic — flashing emergency lights, armed Volkov wolves securing the area, and the metallic scent of blood thick in the air.

And there he was.

Nikolai stood at the center of the command post, issuing orders with lethal efficiency. Even exhausted and wracked with guilt, he radiated raw Alpha power. The moment she stepped out of the car, his head snapped toward her. Their eyes met across the distance, and the fated mate bond ignited like gasoline on fire.

Nikolai’s wolf surged so violently she could see his shoulders tense from twenty yards away. His silver-flecked eyes glowed in the darkness as he strode toward her, ignoring the reports being shouted at him.

“Elena,” he said, voice rough with a mixture of relief and desperation. “You came.”

“I came for the injured,” she replied coolly, though her healing gift was already flaring beneath her skin, reaching desperately for him. “Not for you.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw, but he didn’t push. “One of my scouts is critical. Silver blade to the chest. The others are stable but in pain. We need to move fast.”

They fell into tense, reluctant cooperation. Elena worked on the most severely wounded scout while Nikolai coordinated security and kept watch. Her golden light bloomed brightly in the darkness as she knelt beside the young wolf, pouring her power into closing the silver wound. The effort drained her quickly, but she didn’t stop.

Nikolai stayed close — too close. His cedarwood and wild forest scent wrapped around her like a drug, making her hands tremble slightly as she healed. Every time he shifted, the bond pulsed between them, hot and demanding.

When the immediate crisis was stabilized, the head of the response team approached them.

“Alpha, we’ve secured the area, but we need to transport the critical case back to the main medical center. The roads near here are compromised. We only have one reinforced vehicle available right now.”

Nikolai’s gaze flicked to Elena. “We’ll take it. Miss Voss and I will escort the patient.”

Elena’s eyes widened. “I can drive separately—”

“No time,” Nikolai said firmly, though his voice softened when he looked at her. “The silver is still spreading. We need to move now.”

The ride was inevitable.

---

The armored SUV was spacious, but with Nikolai in the driver’s seat and Elena in the passenger seat beside the secured medical gurney in the back, the space felt suffocatingly small.

The tension was thick enough to choke on.

Nikolai’s hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as he navigated the dark forest road. His scent filled the entire vehicle — deep, masculine, wild. Elena’s body reacted against her will. Heat bloomed low in her belly. Her healing gift surged restlessly, golden light flickering faintly at her fingertips as it yearned to touch him, to soothe the guilt and exhaustion radiating from his powerful frame.

She kept her gaze fixed out the window, but she could feel him looking at her every few seconds.

“Elena…” he started, voice low and rough.

“Don’t,” she whispered. “Just drive.”

Silence fell again, but the bond refused to be quiet. It thrummed between them like a living current. Nikolai’s wolf was barely contained — she could sense it pushing against his control, desperate to claim what it knew was rightfully theirs.

The scent overload was devastating.

Every breath she took brought more of him into her lungs. Cedarwood. Leather. Wild forest after rain. Pure, potent Alpha male. Her thighs pressed together involuntarily as warmth spread through her body. The bond was growing stronger every day he pursued her, making resistance feel like fighting gravity.

Nikolai’s breathing grew heavier. His knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. “I can smell you,” he rasped suddenly, voice strained. “Your scent is driving me insane. Vanilla and jasmine and sunlight… it’s all I can think about.”

Elena’s cheeks flushed. She clenched her hands in her lap, trying to suppress the golden glow threatening to spill from her skin.

“Stop talking,” she said, but her voice lacked conviction.

“I can’t.” His voice dropped even lower, rough with need. “Every time I’m near you, my wolf wants to pull over, drag you into the back seat, and mark you until you smell like me. Until you can’t deny what we are anymore.”

The explicit words sent a bolt of heat straight through her. Elena bit her lip hard, fighting the wave of desire crashing over her. Her healing gift flared brighter, responding to his pain, his longing, his dominance.

“You don’t get to say those things to me,” she whispered, voice trembling. “Not after everything.”

“I know,” Nikolai said, agony clear in his tone. “But I can’t lie to you anymore. I’m dying inside, Elena. Every rejection kills me a little more. But I deserve it. I deserve every cold shoulder, every slammed door. I just… I can’t stop trying.”

The car filled with heavy, charged silence again. The scent of their combined arousal and emotional turmoil was overwhelming. Nikolai’s hand twitched on the gear shift, inches from her thigh. Elena’s breathing grew shallow. The bond pulled at them both mercilessly, demanding closeness, demanding connection.

When they finally reached the medical center, Nikolai parked and turned to her. His silver-flecked eyes were dark with hunger and regret.

“Thank you for coming tonight,” he said quietly. “Even if it was only for them.”

Elena met his gaze for one long, painful moment. The golden light of her gift reflected in his eyes.

Then she opened the door and stepped out without another word.

But as she walked away, she could feel his stare burning into her back — desperate, devoted, and utterly shattered.

The push and pull was becoming unbearable.

And both of them knew it was only a matter of time before something broke.