A chill crawled up my skin, she wasn’t human and I was certain of it. Something in the way her smile lingered felt… wrong, like a ghost sent to mark me.

I stumbled back from the window, my heart pounding, and I locked the door, then the windows. My hands trembled on the latch and I kept whispering under my breath, as if the act itself could ward her off.

Moments later, footsteps echoed outside the door, slow, heavy, settling right in front of it. Guards, maybe or someone else but either way, I didn’t feel safe.

“Where is Rhydian?” I whispered again. The only name that made my heartbeat calm and race at the same time.

I crept back to the window, just enough to peek.

The palace gates were swarmed by rogues, snarling, clawed, monstrous. Soldiers fought to keep them from breaking through. Steel flashed, bodies fell and blood covered the visible ground, yet my eyes searched the chaos for him.

Finally I saw him,

Rhydian, running straight into the storm, unafraid. His body moved like something born for war, every move he made depicted purpose, power, and control.

Even from that distance, he didn’t look human, he looked… inevitable.

He charged into the fray, and then, mid-run, he leapt and his body arched through the air, and when he landed, he was no longer a man.

A massive wolf stood where he’d fallen.

I froze, my breath hitched and my heart stumbled in my chest, and something unfamiliar twisted deep inside my stomach.

I pulled the curtains shut at once, pressing my palm to my mouth as if I’d witnessed something I shouldn’t have. Like I had seen him bare, stripped of everything human.

And somehow… I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Everything was too still, even the bells had gone quiet, and all I could do was sit in the dimly lit room and hope that it is all over and Rhydian comes back to the room to ease my unrest.

I heard it a faint click, it was the door. I froze.

I hadn’t heard footsteps this time approaching the door, at least I knew the door was locked.

Before I could react, the lock turned from the outside, and the door creaked open slowly, how was that even possible?

“Rhydian?” I said with a trembling voice.

A man stepped in, he was tall, cloaked in dark furs, his eyes had a strange shade of gray that looked like dangerand dread. I didn’t recognize him, he wasn’t one of Rhydian’s guards.

For a heartbeat, I thought he might be here to protect me, maybe sent by the King after Rhydian’s negotiation earlier that day.

Until he smiled and my heart dropped to my stomach.

“I’ve heard tales of the King’s blade taking a human for a mate,” he said, his voice was low, crawling like oil through the air.

He gently closed the door behind him.

“Curious thing, isn’t it? A cursed wolf choosing something so… fragile.”

I took a step back, my hand trembling as it searched for anything, a weapon, a wall, something solid, anything at all.

“Stay back,” I warned, though my voice barely carried any weight.

He laughed softly, the sound sending a shiver down my spine.

“Oh, I’m not here to hurt you,” he lied easily.

“I only need to see what makes you his.”

Before I could scream, his hand caught my chin, forcing me to look at him. His nails pressed against my skin like claws.

“I can smell it,” he whispered.

“There’s power in your blood. If I mark you first, maybe it becomes mine.”

His head lowered, I could feel his breath on my neck, but he paused. Then ran his eyes along my petite body.

“You are not bad-looking too, I can see it now” he said resting his eyes on my nipple that peeked through the simple dress I wore.

“Don’t you even dare, or Rhydian will gauge your eyes out” I said, hoping that Rhydian’s name will scare him,

“Not when I have your power” he said strengthening his grip and running his fangs on my neck and that was when I screamed.

“RHYDIAN!” The sound tore through the walls like thunder, I wasn't sure about him hearing me, but it was the only name I could call to save me.

“Save me!!” I said again, and a heartbeat later, the door exploded inward, the hinges snapping off.

And he was there, not the Rhydian I knew but someone else, entirely.

He was half-man and half-beast, covered in blood that wasn’t his. His eyes glowed red, both of them, his chest heaved with rage, his claws still wet and dripping.

And I could see him look at the rogue with so much rage, the scar on his face crinckling.

The rogue barely had time to turn before Rhydian was on him.

It wasn’t a fight between two men, it was slaughter. He didn't ask any questions or even know what happened, he just started detaching the man limb from limb.

The man’s scream was short and sharp and then, silence. His body parts hit the floor with a heavy, final thud.

I couldn’t move, my whole body shook and my heart was beating so fast I thought it would burst.

Rhydian stood there, panting, the little light in the room illuminated his fangs, his trembling hands and I could see his control was slipping.

His eyes found me, and I felt my breath catch, fear crippled me where I stood but something still drew me to him.

The air between us crackled, and his chest rose and fell in quick bursts, he moved before I could think, fast, so fast and suddenly I was in his arms, my back against his wall, out faces only an each from each other, he was looking at my neck, resisting the urge to mark me.

Her scent.

That’s what he’d later tell himself drove him mad, the mix of blood, fear, and something else.

His lips brushed my skin, dangerously close to the pulse that screamed beneath it. I felt my knees weaken and my lungs forget to breathe for a moment.

His claws dug into the wall beside my head as if he fought the urge to tear the world apart.

“Rhydian” I whispered, but his name broke on my lips.

He froze.

And then, he pushed himself away, violently, as though I burned him.

He stumbled, hitting the wall with one hand clutching his head.

His breathing was ragged, almost pained like he was trying to gain back his sanity.

He looked… broken.

“You should fear me,” he rasped, his voice was hoarse, and his entire body trembling.

And I wanted to. I truly did, but our eyes met I saw the way his hands shook, the way his eyes softened for just a heartbeat.

So instead of cowering away in fear, I took a step forward. My knees trembled, but I reached for him.

My hand touched his arm, and heat surged through me. His skin burned under my palm but where my fingers pressed, the trembling eased, and I placed the other hand on his bare face and I could see relief in his eyes.

Like the voices in his head had quieted down…

We stayed like that for a moment, and I just stared into his eyes, taking in the vulnerable side of him and accepting it.

If I couldn't be of any use to him, at least I could help him do this.

He blinked, looking at me with those mismatchedeyes.

Then I summoned the courage to speak,

“If I should fear you,” I whispered, my voice soft but certain,

“then why do you tremble when I look at you?”

The room was silent again, and from the emotions that flashed through his eyes, I could tell he trembled again.

The only thing that sounded in the room was the sound of our breaths one steady, and one haggard and broken.

And in that silence, something inside both of us bonded.