The word, now uttered, hung between them, a desperate vow in a bargain. "I'll come with you."

Kael Stormfang nodded once, swiftly, his face a mask of indifference. Then he turned and started off, waiting for her to come after him. Aria did not linger long, glancing back at the ravine that had almost been her tomb with a fleeting memory, before sending her battered body into motion. The trip was a wordless one, with Kael setting a merciless pace that she strained to keep up with. He strode through the dense forest with a fluid, feral ease, a monarch in his kingdom.

The Stormfang domain was a world apart from the neat, closely cropped grass of the Nightbane pack. Here was a more ancient, more feral land. The trees stood more densely, their branches crossing above in a dense thicket of leafy cover that shaded the forest floor. The air was thick with the smell of wet earth, moss, and the wild, raw, musky smell of a pack living in harmony with the wild, but not in dominance over it.

Aria's injured arm thudded with every step, and a spell of dizziness, her new best friend the past few days, was on the brink of overwhelming her. She stumbled, leaning against the bark of a birch tree, a gasp of pain escaping her lips.

Kael came to a halt, facing her. His gold eyes swept over her, devouring every inch. "We rest here," he commanded, his voice leaving no room for refusal.

He took her to a tiny, crystal spring that welled up between moss-covered rocks. She drank the cool, invigorating water and watched him vanish into the underbrush and reemerge a moment later with a clump of broad, greenish-black leaves. He mashed them between his palms, and a strong, medicinal scent was released.

Stretch out your arm," he ordered.

Gingerly, she obeyed. His fingers were unexpectedly soft as he examined the bruised and swelling tissue where Valerius had struck her. Calloused and warm against her flesh, his fingers evoked an unwelcome response in her. He was a stranger, an enemy, but this was the first tenderness she had been shown by anyone since her world had collapsed in around her. He pressed the mashed leaves against her flesh as a poultice with expert fingers, the cold paste immediately halting the burning agony.

What's your name?" he asked softly as he secured the poultice with a strip of leather from his pack.

Aria, she repeated.

"Aria," he said, practicing how it would sound. He gazed at her, his eyes sharp and alert. "You were a fighter. I could see that in your eyes when you challenged them. Most pack wolves, homeless and alone, would have given up."

It disturbed her. It was as if he could perceive the hard, desperate center of her that had been forged over the past several days. "I have a reason to fight," she told him quietly, her hand falling automatically to her belly. She caught herself, not wishing him to have seen.

If he had, he did not indicate it. He finished tying the bandage and stood. "Can you continue?"

She nodded, rising to her feet. "Yes." They continued walking for another hour, and then the forest thinned. Woodsmoke and the smell of a hundred wolves assailed her, and she saw through the trees the center of the Stormfang pack. It was not the rock fortress of the Nightbane. It was a rambling, thriving village constructed harmoniously into the landscape. Dark timber lodges and living wood were clustered among ancient trees, linked by twisting, torch-lit paths. It was disordered, alive, and throbbed with raw, intimidating, yet seductive energy.

As they emerged from the forest, a hush settled over the pack. All of them turned to regard her. All eyes—gold, brown, green—locked onto her. She could feel their anger, their distrust, as a physical force. She was Nightbane. She was the foe. She involuntarily moved closer to Kael, the only shield she had among this pack of potential foes.

Kael seemed oblivious to the unease he had caused. He strode purposefully to the center of the village, to a big, open-air lodge with a huge, yowling fire pit in the middle. The pack parted before him, their gazes dropping in respect to their Alpha. He led her to the edge of the fire's light and turned to speak to his people.

His voice when he spoke was a crisp, authoritative sound that reached to every part of the village.

"Let me introduce Aria," he declared, his gold eyes sweeping across the motionless crowd. "She was hunted on our territory. She is a wolf without pack. She is under my personal protection today and forward."

There was a muttering rumble that spread through the gathered wolves. One of the older bulls, face chiseled like oak, stepped forward. "Alpha, she is a Nightbane. Her scent is on her everywhere. Why should we trust her?"

Kael's eyes turned icy. "You will trust me," he snarled, dropping his voice to a low, threatening growl that stifled argument. "My word is binding. She will be safe, she will be nourished, and she will be respected. Anyone who hurts her, anyone who defies this edict, will suffer the consequences. In person.".

The threat was real, the potential for immediate and ruthless retribution looming above them. The pack crept back into a chastened, reluctant quiet.

His supremacy won, Kael refocused his piercing gaze on Aria. The fire crackled in his eyes, making them gleam like a predator's. The pack faded into a distant roar in her mind until all that remained was the two of them, frozen in a silent, high-stakes confrontation.

He stepped closer, his voice a low whisper for her ears alone. "Here, you will be safe," he promised, his voice a curious mixture of reassurance and threat. "But don't fool yourself for an instant, little wolf. You belong to me now."