Falling For The Demon Wolf-Chapter 70: ZAIN

The forest had never felt so quiet.

Not dead—no. Just... hushed. Like it was holding its breath.

I stood at the ridge above the southern river, wind stirring the edge of my cloak, and tried for the thousandth time to feel her clearly.

But there was nothing.

Not the warmth I’d grown used to, the faint brush of her emotions through the bond. Not even her sadness or uncertainty. All of it—gone. No crackle, no tug.

Just fog.

Thick. Silent. Wrong.

My jaw flexed.

She hadn’t run. I’d let her go. Watched her disappear beyond the trees with my blessing, even if it split something open in my chest to do it. She needed to find out who she was—what the rouge master had told her, what her blood might carry.

And I had sworn I wouldn’t follow.

But this?

This wasn’t distance.

This was a wall.

"She’s muting the bond," Maren said quietly from behind me, as if reading my thoughts. "Isn’t she?"

I didn’t turn around. "Yes."

"She doesn’t trust you."

"She does." I raked a hand through my hair, the tension in my spine flaring sharp. "That’s not why she’s doing it."

"Then why?" Maren asked, stepping to my side. "Why bury herself so deep you can barely feel her?"

"I don’t know." The words came out clipped, low. "But something’s changed."

I turned my head slowly, eyes fixed on the same stretch of trees she vanished into weeks ago. "The bond didn’t fade—it didn’t fray. It was masked. I felt it happen. A cold wave, like snow smothering fire."

Maren was quiet for a beat. "You think she’s in danger?"

I shook my head. "No. If she were hurt, I’d feel it." My chest burned. "This was intentional."

Silence settled again, but it wasn’t comfortable. My wolf strained beneath my skin, restless. Pacing. We’d let her go. We’d trusted her. And now she was slipping through our fingers like water.

Then—faintly—something flickered.

My breath hitched.

Not warmth. Not pain. Just the echo of her—of Violet—curled inward, focused tightly around something I couldn’t reach. Something... guarded.

My eyes narrowed.

It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t guilt.

It was protection.

And suddenly, it all made sense. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

My voice came out rough. "She’s hiding something."

Maren tilted her head. "What?"

I didn’t answer right away. My heart thundered in my chest.

She’s not just gone.

She’s keeping something safe.

And she doesn’t want me to find it yet.

My vision sharpened, breath catching in my throat as a memory resurfaced—Violet’s unplanned random "sickness", just before she left. The quiet moment she’d pressed her forehead to mine. The way her scent had shifted—

My wolf lunged toward the possibility, howling through my bones.

"No," I breathed.

Maren frowned. "Zain—?"

"She’s pregnant."

The words were like stone on my tongue, but once they were free, I knew them for what they were.

True.

Maren blinked. "You’re sure?"

I didn’t answer.

Because I didn’t need to be.

Every instinct in me roared with the truth of it.

She was carrying my child.

And she was hiding.

"Start preparing," I said. My voice was quiet, but it vibrated with steel. "If I can’t feel her through the bond, that means she’s cloaked. Someone helped her."

"You said she needed time."

"She did. I gave it to her." I turned to face the trees fully, eyes dark. "But this? She’s protecting our child. And she’s scared enough to keep me away to do it."

Maren exhaled. "So what do you want us to do?"

I looked back toward the forest.

"Nothing," I said. "Not yet."

She blinked. "Nothing?"

I clenched my jaw. "If I push, she’ll run deeper. If I scare whoever’s hiding her, they’ll scatter."

"Then what?"

"I wait," I said. "And I watch."

"But you won’t wait long, will you?"

"No," I said softly. "Not long at all."

Because even if she cloaked the bond, I still knew the truth.

She was out there.

She was mine.

And now, so was the life growing inside her.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

JADE

I hadn’t meant to be there. Not really.

I’d just wanted some air, to clear my head and escape the tight walls of the pack house. Rhys and I hadn’t spoken since our last argument, and the silence between us had begun to feel more suffocating than the bond itself.

So I wandered. And somehow... I ended up near the southern ridge.

The pack house hadn’t been the same since Violet left, it was dark and hollow.

Everybody walked around feeding that the slightest sound might provoke Zain.

It’s fours heads now rolling in the mud, because he overheard them whispering about how she came and everything changed.

Yeah...speak about loyalty and devotion, Zain had it all.

I stopped dead when I saw them—Zain and Maren standing just beyond the tree line, voices low, serious. I ducked behind a thick pine trunk, heart pounding, shame burning in my cheeks.

I should’ve left.

I should’ve turned around and walked away.

But I didn’t.

Because I heard her name.

Violet.

And then I heard the rest.

"She’s pregnant."

I froze, breath catching.

Pregnant?

No. That couldn’t be—she hadn’t said anything. In her last letter, Violet had only mentioned the rogue camp, the healer, the forest. She hadn’t said a word about—

But Zain’s voice was low, certain. Heavy with something that felt like heartbreak wrapped in iron.

"She’s hiding our child."

The words hit me like a blow to the chest. I pressed a hand over my mouth.

Violet. My sister. Alone in some wild rogue camp, trying to piece together the truth of her bloodline—and now carrying a child?

And not just any child.

Zain’s.

My mind raced, panic bubbling in my throat. She must be terrified. She must think she’s doing the right thing, staying away from him—staying hidden. But if Zain felt even a flicker of that bond again, he’d come for her like a storm. He’d tear the earth open to get to her.

And no one would be able to stop him.

Not the rogues.

Not Cain.

Not even Violet.

I turned and ran.

Branches slapped against my arms and face, but I didn’t slow. My boots skidded in the loose earth as I crossed the main trail, heart hammering louder than my footfalls.

I didn’t stop until I reached the edge of the training field—and I didn’t hesitate when I saw him.

"Rhys!"

He was sparring with one of the newer warriors, his bare forearms streaked with dirt and sweat. At the sound of my voice, his head snapped up.

One look at my face and he tossed the training knife aside.

"Jade?" he said, closing the distance. "What’s wrong?"

I grabbed his wrist, breath still shallow. "It’s Violet."

That was all it took.

He was instantly alert, eyes sharp, shoulders squared. "What happened? Is she—?"

"She’s pregnant," I gasped. "Zain knows. He’s figured it out. He thinks she masked the bond to keep him away. He doesn’t know if she’s alright—but he’s going to find her."

Rhys stilled completely. "She’s with the rogues?"

I nodded. "Yes. And she’s hiding the pregnancy from him because she’s afraid. Not of him—of what it might mean. Of what’s coming."

Rhys swore under his breath, already moving toward the barracks. "We need to slow him down."

"We need to protect her," I said, catching up. "She’s trying to sort through everything alone. She just needs a little more time. If Zain charges into that camp, it’ll cause a war."

"She won’t have time to figure anything out if he loses control," Rhys muttered. "Zain’s not thinking like an Alpha right now. He’s thinking like a mate. And perhaps a father too.

He looked at me, his jaw set. "Come with me. We’re going to find Maren."

"Why?"

"Because she’s the only one he might listen to."

"And if he doesn’t?"

Rhys hesitated, then said grimly, "Then we slow him down ourselves."