The forest was endless.

Branches clawed at her skin, thorns ripped through her thin dress, and roots tangled beneath her feet like hungry hands trying to pull her down. Every breath felt like knives, raw in her throat, but she couldn’t stop. She wouldn’t stop.

Not after what she’d done.

Not after what he’d done.

Aurelia crashed through the underbrush, blood running down her arms, legs, her temple. Somewhere behind her distance now she thought she could still hear him screaming. But his voice was fading. Drowned by the sound of the forest waking.

The wind howled. The trees groaned.

And then came a sound that didn’t belong.

A low growl.

Her feet skidded to a stop. Her heart thudded painfully.

It hadn’t come from behind.

It came from ahead.

She turned slowly.

Nothing.

Silence again.

Her body trembled. Every inch of her was scraped and bruised, her muscles screaming for rest. But she moved forward, deeper into the trees, keeping low. Hiding.

A flicker of silver eyes to her right.

A rustle to her left.

No...

She wasn’t alone.

Suddenly, a howl split the sky deep and commanding. Not like the wild wolves she’d heard in the past. This was different. Intelligent. Calling.

Then there were more answers, surrounding her, closing in.

Aurelia ran again, panic strangling her.

She didn’t know whose territory she’d crossed into. She didn’t care. All she knew was that something worse than her stepbrother might be hunting her now. And these weren’t men with cruel hands and broken minds.

These were wolves.

Not just wolves.

Shifters.

Their footfalls were nearly silent, like death moving through the trees. She could sense them now one in front, one behind, two to her sides. Herding her like prey.

She didn’t scream.

She knew better.

But her legs finally gave out, and she tumbled forward, her body crashing into a moss-covered slope. Her hands clawed at the earth as she tried to rise again

A sharp pain exploded in the back of her head.

Then nothing.

She awoke to the sound of a heartbeat.

Not hers.

It was deeper. Stronger. Steady like a drum against her skull.

Her eyes opened slowly, blearily, and at first all she could make out was firelight flickering across stone walls.

Where...?

She tried to sit up but chains rattled at her wrists.

Her body seized in panic.

No no not again

She thrashed, but she was too weak. Her limbs trembled from exhaustion and shock. The cold of the room bit through her torn clothes.

That’s when she saw him.

Standing in the shadows, just past the fire, arms folded.

Tall. Still. Watching.

His presence filled the room like smoke unignorable, thick, and dangerous.

He stepped forward.

And she froze.

He had the bearing of a warrior shoulders broad, posture regal, his midnight hair brushing his jaw. Scars cut across his collarbone, like marks of war, not shame. But it was his eyes that made her blood run cold.

Icy silver. Sharp as blades.

He looked at her not with pity. Not even curiosity.

But with possession.

“You’re awake,” he said, his voice low and commanding. “Finally.”

Aurelia stared back, silent, every instinct screaming danger.

He stepped closer, kneeling so their eyes were level. “You crossed the western border.”

Her voice came out as a whisper. “I didn’t know…” Then she suddenly recognized him from the descriptions she had heard. That was Alpha Thorian and suddenly she screamed

“You smelled like blood,” he interrupted. “And fear.”

She was still startled .

He leaned in, studying her face. “You don’t belong to my pack. You don’t wear a mark. You’re not claimed.”

She jerked against the chains. “Let me go.”

“Why were you running?” he asked, ignoring the demand. “Who hurt you?”

Her jaw locked. She wouldn’t answer. Not him. Not anyone.

His eyes narrowed. “You were found in our sacred woods, disrupting a patrol. That alone is punishable.”

Still she said nothing.

The firelight danced across his face, casting his features into something carved from steel and moonlight. “I am Alpha Thorian of the Crescent Fang. This is my territory.”

Alpha.

She pretended to feel a shiver rip down her spine.

She was chained in the den of a predator.

And he looked like he didn’t mind the idea of keeping her there.