“Killian…” My voice shook. “That wasn’t him.”

His grip on my shoulders tightened, hard enough to make me wince. His eyes scanned the trees, unblinking. “Stay close. Don’t move until I tell you.”

“I’m not ”

“Raine.” His voice was sharp, Alpha-sharp. The kind that demanded obedience. “Do. Not. Move.”

For a moment, I wanted to scream at him. At both of them. Killian, with his impossible dominance, and Luka, with his twisted obsession. But then the whistle came again low, hollow, slicing through the forest like a blade.

Every hair on my body rose.

Killian’s nostrils flared. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Not wolf. Human.”

My heart stopped. “Then who ”

A shadow moved between the trees. Then another.

Killian snarled, dragging me behind him. “Hunters.”

The word froze my blood.

From the treeline, a figure stepped into the moonlight. A woman. Tall, leather jacket, hair bound back tight, a silver crossbow slung casually over her shoulder. Her eyes flicked from Killian to me, sharp, calculating.

“Well,” she said, her voice cool as ice. “That saves me some trouble. Two wolves in one night.”

“I’m not ” I started.

“Shut up,” Killian snapped, shoving me further behind him.

Her smirk widened. “Protective. Cute. You must be Killian.”

His growl deepened. “And you must want to die.”

“Not tonight.” She tilted her head. “But you might.”

The whistle came again, and this time it wasn’t her lips. It was answered from deeper in the woods. My pulse spiked. There were more.

Killian swore under his breath. His hand shot back, blindly gripping mine. The heat of his skin seared, steadying me even as the forest spun around us.

“We run,” he muttered.

“What about Luka?” My voice cracked.

His head turned, eyes flashing silver fire. “Forget Luka.”

I almost argued. Almost. But then the woman lifted her crossbow, the silver tip of the bolt glinting under the moonlight.

“Run,” Killian snarled, hauling me into the trees.

We tore through the forest, branches whipping, lungs burning. Behind us, the whistle echoed again. And again. Closing in.

I stumbled, nearly falling. Killian’s arm snaked around my waist, dragging me up without breaking stride. His breath was hot against my ear, harsh, furious.

“Do you understand now?” he growled. “Why I told you to stay away? Wolves. Hunters. Luka. This world will eat you alive.”

I gasped, struggling to keep up. “Then why didn’t you leave me behind?”

His grip tightened. His voice was raw. “Because I can’t.”

The words shot through me like fire.

But before I could answer, before I could even process, something whizzed past my face fast, sharp.

A silver bolt buried itself in the tree beside me, hissing smoke as it burned into the bark.

Killian yanked me down just as another bolt sliced the air where my head had been. He pressed me flat to the earth, his body covering mine, his chest rising and falling like a beast barely chained.

The whistle came again. Closer. Surrounding us.

Killian’s lips brushed my ear, voice so low it shook through me.

“They’ve found us.”

Killian’s weight pinned me to the ground, his hand clamped over my mouth. His chest pressed into my back, heat searing through me even as fear froze my blood.

“Don’t move,” he breathed, lips brushing my ear. “They can’t smell you if you’re still.”

I trembled under him, every nerve on fire. My wolf whatever was awakening inside me whimpered, restless, begging to rise.

Another whistle cut through the trees, closer now.

Killian’s hand slid from my mouth to my cheek, holding my face down into the earth. His entire body vibrated, a low growl rumbling in his chest.

“Three,” he whispered. “Maybe four.”

My pulse thudded. “Hunters?”

His jaw tightened. “Worse.”

The crack of a branch split the silence. Boots on leaves. My heart clawed against my ribs.

Killian sprang to his feet, dragging me with him in one fluid motion. “Run when I tell you,” he muttered.

“Run where? They’ll ”

“Trust me.” His silver eyes locked on mine, fierce and unrelenting. “Just this once. Trust me.”

I didn’t have a choice.

A figure stepped from the shadows crossbow raised.

“Now!” Killian roared, shoving me hard into the trees.

I stumbled forward as he lunged, shifting mid-air, his body tearing into fur and muscle, a monstrous black wolf slamming into the hunter. The forest erupted into chaos, snarls, screams, the metallic twang of crossbows firing.

I bolted. Branches tore at my arms, my lungs burning. Behind me, Killian’s growl thundered like a storm, followed by a man’s scream cut short.

Then another whistle. Right ahead of me.

I skidded to a halt too late.

A hunter stepped into my path, a crossbow already leveled at my chest. Her eyes were ice-blue, her smile thin. “Got you.”

I froze. My breath hitched.

The silver tip glinted as she pulled the trigger

And suddenly, Luka was there.

He moved faster than sight, ripping the bolt from the air before it touched me. His hand closed around the hunter’s throat, lifting her clean off the ground. His golden eyes burned as he looked at me, not her.

“You see?” Luka’s voice was a dark caress. “Even fate can’t kill what’s mine.”

The hunter gagged, clawing at his grip.

“Luka!” I screamed, panic ripping through me. “Don’t ”

But he did. With a sickening crack, he snapped her neck and dropped her lifeless body at my feet.

Then he smiled.

And the forest went dead silent.

From behind me, Killian’s voice shattered it.

“Get away from her.”

Killian’s growl was a storm made flesh. He stalked out of the shadows, his body half-shifted wolf claws glinting, silver eyes blazing. Every line of him screamed violence.

Luka only tilted his head, golden gaze fixed on me. He didn’t even bother to face Killian. His hand brushed a stray leaf from my hair, fingers lingering too long, too possessive.

“Why would I?” he murmured. “She’s exactly where she belongs.”

I flinched back, heart hammering. “I’m not ”

“Don’t,” Killian snapped, cutting me off. His eyes flicked to mine, sharp and desperate. “Don’t give him anything, Raine.”

Luka chuckled low, finally turning toward his brother. His grin was cruel, feral.

“Still pretending you’re her savior, Killian? You can’t protect her from me. You never could.”

Killian bared his teeth. “Try me.”

For a heartbeat, the world held still. The air between them crackled two predators circling the same prey. My stomach twisted. Prey. That was me.

I found my voice, weak but loud enough. “Stop both of you. There are hunters ”

A sharp whistle split the night. Then another.

Killian froze. Luka’s smile only widened.

“Ah,” Luka said softly. “Your other suitors have arrived.”

And just like that, bolts rained down from the treeline.

Killian lunged, tackling me to the ground as silver hissed through the air. Luka blurred into the shadows, his laughter echoing. Hunters shouted, boots pounding closer.

Pinned beneath Killian, my chest crushed by his weight, I gasped for breath. His face hovered inches above mine, eyes wild, fangs bared.

“Don’t move,” he rasped, voice shaking with fury and something darker. “Or I’ll lose you.”

The whistle shrieked again so close it rattled my bones.

“Killian ” My breath tore from me, crushed beneath his weight as another bolt hissed into the dirt beside us, burning smoke into the soil.

He snarled above me, shielding my body with his. “Stay down.”

“Like hell,” I snapped, shoving at his chest. “You’ll get yourself killed ”

“Better me than you.” His eyes flared, feral silver in the dark. “Do you even understand what silver does to us?”

Before I could answer, a hunter’s voice rang out from the trees.

“There! Don’t let them shift!”

Killian moved in a blur, dragging me to my feet and shoving me behind him. His claws unsheathed, gleaming in the moonlight. His growl was low, lethal.

Three hunters stepped into the clearing, crossbows raised.

Luka’s voice floated from the shadows, mocking.

“Three against one, brother? Hardly fair. Unless… you count me.”

“Shut your mouth,” Killian snarled, muscles coiled to strike.

But Luka only leaned against a tree, golden eyes locked on me. “Tell me, Raine. Do you want me to save you again?”

I stiffened. “You call that saving? You killed her ”

“She would’ve killed you.” Luka’s lips curved, slow and cruel. “I don’t apologize for protecting what’s mine.”

“You don’t own me!” The words ripped from me louder than I meant, echoing in the night.

The hunters blinked, startled. Killian glanced back at me just for a fraction of a second, but it was enough.

A bolt flew.

“Raine!” Killian roared.

Something slammed into me, his body shoving me aside. I hit the dirt hard, the breath torn from my lungs.

Killian staggered, silver bolt buried deep in his shoulder, smoke hissing where it seared his flesh. He dropped to one knee, teeth bared, eyes blazing with pain.

I scrambled toward him. “Killian ”

But a hand closed around my wrist, yanking me upright.

Luka. His grip was iron, his voice silk.

“Choose, little wolf. Stay with him bleeding, dying. Or come with me, and live.”

Killian’s growl shook the ground. “Don’t touch her!”

The hunters raised their weapons again, bolts gleaming. Luka tightened his grip, pulling me against him.

“Decide, Raine,” he whispered, lips brushing my temple. “Now.”