"D-Don't tell us, Javrian. Did you claim that woman!?"
The silence that followed Vera's question hung in the mountain air like a blade waiting to fall.
The words seemed to echo off the rocky peaks, each repetition making the reality sink deeper into the pack's consciousness.
Kael's massive frame tensed, his scarred arms crossing over his chest as he stared at their leader with disbelief. "Javrian... tell me this isn't true."
"You claimed a human?" Vera's voice cracked with shock, her gray eyes wide as she took a step back. "An enemy human?"
Darius, still young and impulsive, couldn't contain his outrage. "She's Avriantya royalty! Her bloodline has hunted our people for generations! How could you—"
"She's the reason half our scouts are dead!" Kael's voice rose to a roar, his own anger finally breaking through. "Her family's policies, her marriage to Victor—it all led to the massacres in the borderlands!"
The accusations came faster now, overlapping in a crescendo of betrayal and confusion.
"You've lost your mind over a pretty face—"
"This is exactly what the Empire wants, to divide us from within—"
"We trusted you to lead us, not to bed our enemies—"
"ENOUGH."
The word didn't just silence them—it crushed them.
A wave of killing intent so pure, so concentrated, rolled off Javrian like a tsunami of death. The very air seemed to thicken with menace, pressing down on their chests until breathing became a struggle.
Even the wind stopped.
Kael, despite his massive size and battle experience, found himself taking an involuntary step backward. Vera's hands trembled. Darius's face went pale as moonlight.
But it was more than just fear. This was the concentrated fury of an apex predator whose territory had been threatened, whose mate had been insulted.
Javrian's silver eye blazed like liquid mercury in the darkness, his scarred face a mask of deadly calm as that suffocating pressure continued to pour from him in waves.
When he spoke, his voice carried the weight of absolute authority—not just as their pack leader, but as something far more primal and dangerous.
"Luna is not just any woman." Each word was delivered with surgical precision, cutting through their protests like a blade through silk. "Luna belongs to me now."
His arm tightened protectively around the unconscious Luna, drawing her closer to his chest.
"...And I protect what's mine—with my life, with everything I am. Test that if you're feeling suicidal."
The killing intent intensified, making even Lila flinch despite her earlier bravado.
Badump.
'What... is he saying?' Luna's heart jolted once against her ribs—not from overwhelming emotion, but from the sheer unexpectedness of those words.
Her eyelids trembled slightly, the only sign she was awake. She had been conscious throughout the entire mountain journey, feeling her bare body under the cloak pressing tightly with every step he took.
She'd kept her eyes closed, clinging to the warmth of his chest simply because it was there—not from hope, but because warmth was warmth.
She'd expected him to agree with them. Expected to be left behind like everyone else always left her.
But he didn't.
Her fingers, already gripping his cloak, tightened just a fraction.
The fabric was all that separated her bare skin from the mountain air—somewhere along the way, when she opened her eyes due to the jolt of his movement, she found his dark cloak wrapped around her naked form.
The realization should have brought shame, should have made her pull away.
Instead, she found herself pressing closer to the solid wall of his chest, seeking more of that steady warmth that seeped through his shirt and into her chilled skin.
His body was different from what she thought a man should have—broader, more defined, and hard yet warm.
Even through the fabric, she could feel the firm ridges of muscle beneath her cheek, the steady rise and fall of his breathing.
Her own body, splayed against his abdomen, registered every contour—the hard planes of his abdomen, the thickness of his arms that held her so effortlessly.
It was strangely comforting, like being sheltered by something immovable and strong.
Her breathing remained steady, controlled, but something in her chest shifted—not hope, not love, just... confusion.
'Why... does it matter?' Her body, drained from shock and the night's events, began to relax despite herself.
She seemed not to care even if he left her somewhere; either way, there was no reason for her to live.
The fatigue that had been building throughout this endless night finally began to pull at her consciousness. Her body grew heavier in his arms, the adrenaline and shock wearing off. The solid warmth of his chest, the steady cadence of his steps, the protective circle of his arms—it all lulled her toward sleep.
Her grip on the cloak loosened as exhaustion won over wariness, her breathing deepening as she sank further into the unexpected comfort of his embrace.
As sleep started to claim her, one simple question whispered through her tired mind, knowing how he was giving her warmth only to make her suffer later:
'Why are you so cruel?'
"So let me make this clear," Javrian continued, his voice dropping to a whisper that somehow carried more menace than any shout. "Anyone who threatens her, insults her, or even thinks about harming her will answer to me. And we all know how that conversation ends."
The pack stood frozen, caught between their loyalty to their leader and their shock at this unprecedented situation.
But it was Lila who broke the silence.
Her silver hair fell like a curtain over her face as she lowered her head, her muscular frame trembling—not from fear, but from a pain so deep it made her physically ache.
'First Victor...' The thought tore through her mind like claws raking over old wounds. 'That bastard Victor killed my parents during the border raids. Slaughtered them like animals while they tried to protect our village.'
Her fists clenched at her sides, knuckles white with the force of her grip.
'I spent years training, becoming strong enough to tear him apart myself. Years of dreaming about the moment I'd sink my claws into his throat and watch the life drain from his eyes.'
She had joined Javrian's pack not just for survival, but for the promise of revenge. The chance to hunt down the monsters who had destroyed her family.
'And now she—' Lila's gaze shifted to the red-haired woman nestled against Javrian's chest.
The worst part.
'And now...' Her chest tightened with a different kind of anguish. 'Now she's taken him too.'
Lila had never spoken of her feelings for Javrian. How could she? He was their leader, the last of the pure bloodline, carrying the weight of their entire people's future on his shoulders.
But she had loved him. Quietly, desperately, from the moment he had saved her from the slavers who'd captured her after her parents' death.
She had watched him carry burdens that would have broken lesser men. Had seen him make impossible choices to keep their pack alive.
Had dreamed, foolishly, that someday he might see her not just as a packmate, but as someone worth bearing his children.
'I loved you first,' she thought, the words burning in her throat. 'I was here when you needed someone to trust. I bled beside you in battle. I would have died for you without question.'
"Haah..." Lila's breathing heaved before her head turned upward toward the night starry sky, as she, with a blank gaze looking toward Javrian, muttered in her mind,
'You are just mine, Javrian... just mine.'