ACE The pack house felt like a prison. For a week, I'd been trapped here, handling territorial disputes and pack politics while every instinct in my body screamed at me to go to Denver. The mate bond was a constant ache in my chest, pulling me toward her like a magnetic force I couldn't ignore. But I'd made a promise to my pack. They came first. They always had to come first. "Alpha?" Marcus knocked on my office door, interrupting my hundredth review of the same security report. "What is it?" "You wanted me to check on the situation in Denver." My head snapped up. I'd sent Marcus three days ago to do what I couldn't—make sure Lily was safe. The not knowing was killing me slowly. "And?" Marcus stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "She's okay. I saw her talking with a