The street exploded into chaos.
Kian hit the first attacker with enough force to send the hooded figure crashing across the asphalt. The others moved fast—too fast for humans. Their red eyes glowed like burning coals through the rain.
Ariana backed up until her shoulder met a lamppost, her breath shallow, trembling.
She'd barely processed the first monster.
Now there were four.
Kian didn't hesitate.
Didn't think.
He became something else.
His bones cracked—shifting just beneath his skin, muscles swelling, claws pushing from his fingertips. Not a full wolf, not human.
A hybrid.
A nightmare made flesh.
Beautiful in a terrifying, magnetic way.
"Kian—!" she choked out.
He growled, a sound that vibrated the air.
Stay back.
The command hit her like a physical shove inside her mind.
Mind-link.
She wasn't imagining it.
One of the hooded creatures lunged at her from the side.
Ariana screamed—
And Kian was there, faster than lightning, slamming his claws into the creature's ribs. Blood sprayed across the wet pavement.
He shoved the dying body aside, eyes burning gold as he positioned himself between her and the world again.
"You're not touching her," he snarled.
The next attacker swung with inhuman strength. Kian ducked and ripped the hood away—revealing a twisted face, half-shifted, fangs bared. A were-creature, corrupted, wrong.
"Rogues," Kian spat. "Bloodmoon's doing."
The creature launched at him again. Kian met it mid-air, twisting, throwing it across the hood of their SUV so hard the windshield cracked.
Another rogue grabbed Ariana's arm from behind.
She gasped—
Fire shot up her skin—
A pulse slammed through her nerves—
And the rogue screamed.
Smoke rose from where he touched her.
He jerked back, clutching his burned hand, howling in agony.
Ariana stared at her own glowing palm, horrified.
"What… what did I just—"
Kian froze mid-strike, eyes flicking to her hand, widening.
Oh, he knew exactly what that meant.
But he didn't get to speak—
The last rogue whipped out a tranquilizer gun and aimed it at Ariana.
Kian roared.
"NO!"
The world slowed.
Ariana saw the dart flying toward her chest.
Her heart stopped—
Before the dart could hit, Kian crossed the distance in a blur and shoved her behind him.
The dart sank into his shoulder.
Ariana's scream tore from her throat.
"KIAN!"
He staggered, expression twisting as the sedative burned through his veins.
Not normal tranquilizer…
Something engineered for supernatural bodies.
"Kian, no—" She grabbed his arm as he dropped to one knee.
The last rogue scrambled into the SUV, yelling to retreat while they still had time.
The vehicle screeched away, tires splashing through rainwater, fleeing the moment the dart hit.
Cowards.
Kian tried to stand again—but the sedative was too strong. His vision blurred, wolf form flickering.
His hand gripped Ariana's wrist with desperate strength.
"Ariana…" his voice was rough, fading. "Listen… you can't stay here… More will come… You need to—"
His eyes rolled back.
He collapsed into her arms.
"Kian!" She shook him. Rain mingled with her tears. "Kian, wake up! Please—please don't—"
He didn't move.
The moon disappeared behind storm clouds, leaving them in cold darkness.
Ariana, chest heaving, stared at his still body.
He saved her.
Again.
And now he might die because of her.
"No," she whispered fiercely. "I'm not leaving you here."
Wind whipped around her—soft at first, then stronger, circling.
Her skin tingled.
The pressure inside her chest built again—heat, light, instinct.
Something ancient.
Something powerful.
Something waking.
Her heart thrummed a second heartbeat beneath her own—
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Ariana gasped, clutching her ribs.
"Oh God… what's happening to me?"
Then, from the far end of the street, shadows shifted.
Not rogues.
Not human.
Bigger.
A pack.
Eyes—dozens of them—pierced the darkness.
Ariana lowered herself over Kian's unconscious body, trembling but fierce.
Her voice shook, but she didn't move.
"Stay back," she warned the glowing eyes.
A growl rolled through the night.
Then a figure stepped forward—tall, bare-chested, wolf-like eyes glinting silver.
Not an enemy.
Not a rogue.
A Shadowfang warrior.
He stared at the scene—the dead rogues, the retreating SUV, Ariana holding their fallen Alpha.
He bowed his head slightly.
"We heard the Alpha's call," he said. "We came as fast as we could."
Ariana clutched Kian's body tighter, breath trembling.
"Help him," she whispered.
Another warrior stepped closer, eyes widening.
"Moon preserve us… his mate found him tonight."
Ariana froze.
"Wait—what did you just say?"
The warrior met her gaze, reverent and alarmed at the same time.
"You," he said softly, "are the Alpha's fated mate."
And Ariana's world shattered a little more.