My fingers tightened around the strap of my bag. I took one sharp breath, another, and then my body moved before my mind caught up. My legs surged forward, pounding against the earth.
I ran.
Branches tore at my arms, roots clawed at my feet, but I didn't stop. My lungs burned, my heart hammered, and still I pushed harder. The forest closed in around me, wild and merciless, but it was better than what I left behind.
Better than Caius. Better than Liana. Better than being their pet.
The night air whipped against my face, sharp and cold. My robe snagged on thorns, ripping, but I hardly felt it. All I could hear was the drum of my pulse and the frantic thud of my footsteps.
Then came another sound.
Heavy. Thudding. Behind me.
I froze mid-stride, stumbling as the ground shifted under my feet. At first, I thought it was just my imagination, the sound of my heartbeat filling my ears. But then it came again...louder. Closer.
A growl.
Not a wolf's. Deeper. Rougher. My blood turned to ice.
I risked a glance back.
Through the trees, a massive shadow moved, its hulking form crashing through brush and snapping branches like twigs. The stench of musk and rot filled the air, and my chest seized with terror.
A bear.
Not just any bear, a black eastern bear usually caught and used for wars. It was huge, towering, its eyes glinting with wild hunger.
Panic shot through me. My legs moved before my mind caught up, pumping as fast as they could. I tore through the undergrowth, branches slapping my face, scratches burning across my skin. The roar shook the ground beneath me, rattling through my bones.
It was chasing me.
My wolf whimpered inside me, small and useless. Shift. Please, shift, I begged her, but nothing came. No strength, no claws, no fangs—just me, weak and broken, prey to the monster at my back.
The forest blurred. My vision swam with tears, my throat raw from gasping. I didn't know where I was going, only that I had to keep moving.
Then the ground vanished beneath me.
One second I was running, the next I was airborne.
I screamed as my body pitched forward over the edge of a small cliff, my arms flailing, nothing to grab. The world spun, trees and sky and rock tumbling together, until I hit the ground with bone-jarring force.
Pain exploded in my skull, white-hot and blinding. My breath ripped from my lungs.
The last thing I saw was the night sky spinning above me, the moon a cold, pitiless eye staring down.
Then everything went black.
I don't know how long I was out for, or if the bear had finally gotten me and is now keeping me as his midnight snack but my head felt like it was about to explode.
My consciousness was gradually coming back and when I finally woke up, it was to pain all over.
A searing ache in my head, the taste of copper in my mouth, every limb heavy and trembling. My eyes fluttered open, but the world was a blur of shadows and movement. I tried to lift my hand to my head, but something stopped me. Something cold and hard biting into my skin.
Bars.
Iron.
I was in a cage.
Fear surged through me, sharp and dizzying. I shifted weakly, trying to sit up, but the movement sent waves of agony through my skull. My vision doubled, then cleared just enough for me to see the clearly.
The cage was small, barely large enough for me to curl into. My knees were drawn to my chest, my robe torn and filthy, my hair damp and matted with blood. My breathing was shallow, ragged.
And the cage was moving.
No, being dragged.
The earth trembled with each thud my head colliding with the floor of the cage with each movement, I could swear it was about to split open and maybe my miserable life will once again end.
Lifting myself up as much as I could, I turned my head and froze.
Two massive animals that looked like wolves, but were much larger than any wolf I had ever seen. They pulled the cage by thick iron chains clenched in their jaws. Their coats gleamed in the moonlight, one dark as midnight, the other silver-shot, their muscles rippling beneath fur. Their eyes glowed faintly, feral but intelligent, like they knew exactly what they were doing.
They weren't ordinary wolves.
And They weren't from my pack either.
I tried to speak, to demand they stop, but all that came out was a broken rasp. My throat burned, my lips cracked.
I gripped the bars, fingers shaking. "Where… where are you taking me?" My voice sounded weak, pitiful, lost beneath the steady drag of chains.
The wolves didn't answer. They only moved faster, their paws thudding like drums against the forest floor.
Fear and confusion tangled inside me. Who were they? Why me? Where was I going?
I would have actually loved being eaten by the bear than being in this situation right now.
My head throbbed harder, the world tipping sideways again. The iron rattled, the chains groaned, and my body sagged against the bars. I felt like nothing more than cargo, an object. A successful hunt.
The bear had chased me, but something else had found me. Something worse.
And deep inside, my wolf whispered one word, low and trembling, as if she already knew what awaited us.
My eyes grew larger in realization.
Lycans.
I think I may have fainted again because now
I woke to the jolt of movement. And when I tried to move, I realized I couldn't. My arms were bound in front of me, the rough scrape of rope biting my wrists. Cold iron pressed against my back.
My breath hitched, foggy and shallow, as the reality sank in. I was still inside the iron cage, my body slumped awkwardly against its bars, and the whole thing was being dragged across the forest floor. The growl of chains rattling echoed through the night.
Two massive wolves flanked me, their fur dark as shadows, muscles flexing with every pull. Soldiers. Their eyes glowed faintly in the moonlight, gleaming with cruel satisfaction.
Panic clawed up my throat. I tried to push myself upright, but my limbs were too weak, trembling from the fall and blood loss. My head spun. My tongue was heavy and dry.
Where were they taking me?
The forest smelled of damp pine and smoke, and faintly, fire. The scent of a camp.
As the cage jolted to a stop, the wolves shifted into men, voices rough.
"She's light," one of them muttered. "Half-dead already. Won't last long."
"Doesn't matter. The Alpha will want to see her before anything."
Alpha.
The word sent a chill down my spine, deeper than the cold of the cage.
A shadow stirred ahead of us. A tent, set apart from the firelight. And from it, a scent rolled out, sharp, wild, powerful. It struck me like a punch to the chest, burning in my lungs. My wolf, buried and half-silent all my life, stirred weakly against my ribs as if waking for the first time.
The flap of the tent pulled back, and he stepped out.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. His hair was tousled like he'd been sleeping, his chest bare under a dark cloak. But his eyes, amber fire locked on me, sharp enough to flay me alive.
The soldiers bowed their heads instantly. "Alpha Darius. We found her laying beyond the boundaries of the woods half dead. Thought you'd want her brought in."
His gaze never left mine. It was like being pinned in place by a predator, stripped bare under his stare.
Darius moved closer, each step silent, deliberate. He stopped right before the bars of the cage. For a long moment, he just breathed me in, nostrils flaring. His jaw tightened, his hands curling into fists at his sides.
Then, low and dangerous, his voice came out in a growl that made my heart stop.
"Mate."