Rain hammered through the forest, turning the dirt path into mud that sucked at Aria's boots. Her cloak clung to her skin, heavy with water, and her breath came in sharp, panicked bursts.
She didn't dare look back.
But she could feel him.
A presence moving through the storm
Like a shadow with teeth.
Another howl rose, closer this time. Low. Deep.
Wolves didn't make that sound.
Only one creature did.
An Alpha King.
Aria pushed harder, heart beating so violently she thought it would burst. Every branch she hit scratched her skin, every root threatened to trip her, but she didn't stop.
She couldn't.
Her aunt's words echoed in her skull, slashing through her fear.
"If he marks you tonight, you'll never escape him again."
Aria didn't understand why.
She didn't understand any of this.
But she understood one thing:
He was coming for her.
Lightning split the sky, illuminating the forest for a single heartbeat, and in that heartbeat, she saw him.
A massive dark wolf on the ridge above her, eyes glowing gold, fur dripping with rain.
Staring straight at her.
Aria's lungs froze.
He didn't move.
He didn't growl.
He only watched her…
As if deciding how to take her.
Her pulse throbbed painfully. Something in her chest tugged toward him, a strange pull, like a string tying them together. She pressed her palm hard against her sternum, fighting it.
"No," she whispered. "Stop. Stop."
But her body didn't listen.
The wolf took a step forward, muscles rippling under midnight fur. He was enormous, larger than any wolf she'd ever heard of, he was too large to be natural.
Alpha Kings weren't natural.
Aria stumbled backward, splashing into a shallow stream. Cold water soaked her legs, but she forced herself through it, slipping on rocks as she tried to reach the other side.
The wolf leaped.
Not at her, but above her.
He cleared the entire stream with one effortless jump and landed ahead of her, blocking her path.
Aria gasped, skidding to a stop.
He shifted.
Bones cracked.
Muscles twisted.
Fur receded.
A tall, sculpted and deadly figure rose from the darkness
Kairo Blackthorn.
The Alpha King.
He stood there bare-chested in the rain, skin glistening, dark hair dripping down his jaw, golden eyes burning into her like fire under frost.
Aria had seen drawings of Alphas before, but none looked like this.
None had presence like this.
He didn't speak at first.
He didn't need to.
His gaze dragged over her body slowly, deliberately, lingering on her trembling lips, her soaked dress, the rise and fall of her chest. Not with softness… but with claiming.
Her stomach flipped in terror.
"Run," Aria whispered to herself.
Her body refused to move.
Kairo's deep, resonant, and far too calm voice finally cut through the rain.
"You are difficult to catch."
Aria swallowed hard. "Stay away from me."
A slow, humorless smirk pulled at his mouth.
It wasn't kindness.
It wasn't amusement.
It was hunger.
"Aria Moonstone," he murmured, stepping closer. "Promised to me since your first breath… and still you run."
She backed away, boots slipping in the mud. "I didn't choose this."
"You didn't have to." His eyes flashed. "Fate chose for us."
His bare feet splashed through the stream as he walked toward her, smooth, confident, unhurried. Predator approaching prey.
Aria's chest clenched painfully as the strange pull deepened, tugging at her ribs, her throat, her blood.
"What… what is this?" she whispered, pressing a shaking hand over her heart.
"The bond," he said simply.
Lightning cracked behind him, outlining his body in white flame.
His power rolled through the air, thick and suffocating, sliding against her skin like hot breath.
"It's stronger than I expected," Kairo added quietly, voice dropping lower. "Much stronger."
Aria flinched when he reached her, his hand coming up, not roughly, but not gently either. His thumb brushed a wet strand of hair off her cheek, his touch warm despite the cold storm.
Her breath hitched.
His gaze darkened at the sound.
"You feel it," he murmured. "Don't lie to me."
Aria forced herself to lift her chin, even though her knees trembled.
"I feel nothing."
His eyes sharpened.
Lies.
Kairo's fingers slid down her throat, resting over her pounding heartbeat. Her entire body shivered and it was not from cold.
From him.
"Your pulse disagrees," he whispered.
Her stomach tightened.
Her skin felt too hot.
His scent was like forest, rain, and something dark, and it wrapped around her like a snare.
"No," she breathed. "Let me go."
Kairo leaned in, so close she felt the heat of his breath against her ear.
"I crossed kingdoms to find you," he said softly. "Did you truly think I would let you go?"
His hand slid behind her waist, pulling her flush against his bare torso. Heat struck her like lightning. Aria sucked in a sharp breath, her thighs clenching involuntarily.
His eyes flared with something primal.
Not yet.
Not here.
Not now.
But the tension… it was already alive.
Kairo lowered his forehead to hers, voice dangerously low.
"Run again," he whispered. "And I will carry you to the kingdom myself."
His thumb brushed her lower lip.
"And you won't like how I decide to calm you."
Aria's breath faltered.
This man…
This king…
He wasn't merely claiming her.
He was warning her.
He would break kingdoms for her, but he would also break her if she defied him.
Without another word, Kairo lifted her into his arms, one arm under her knees, the other gripping her waist possessively.
Aria gasped, grabbing his shoulders.
He didn't even glance at her.
"You belong to me," he said simply.
"Tonight, you return to your rightful place."
Then he vanished into the storm, carrying her with the effortless strength of a creature carved from shadows and power.
And Aria realized something terrifying:
Running from him had been hard.
Running from the bond would be impossible.