A loud and bone chilling growl echoed through the air, so deep it shook the ground. The air suddenly turned freezing, like winter had come out of nowhere. Even the trees seemed to stop moving.
Laura felt the hairs on her arms stand up. Something was coming. Something very powerful.
Vex's hand froze mid-strike, his eyes widening both with fear and knowing. The claw that was about to tear her throat open trembled slightly.
"No," he whispered, his voice barely audible. "It can't be..."
A huge figure came from the shadows, moonlight catching on its black fur. The wolf was massive, easily twice the size of any Laura had ever seen, its shoulders taller than a man's waist. But it wasn't just the size that made the rogues back away.
There was something about him. A strong, scary energy filled the air, making it hard to breathe. Laura's lungs felt tight, like an invisible hand squeezed them.
The black wolf's eyes glowed silver in the darkness, fixed on the rogues surrounding Laura. A low rumble came from deep in his chest.
"We need to go," one of the rogues whispered, tugging at Vex's arm. "Now."
Then, the black wolf moved, its body changing as bones cracked and reshaped with ease. Laura watched, unable to look away as fur gave way to skin. Within moments, a man stood in its place—tall and wide-shouldered, with black hair that touched his shoulders. He wore only black pants, his muscled chest bare despite the cold.
His right arm and part of his chest were covered in strange marks, symbols Laura didn't know. They seemed to move in the moonlight, like they were alive on his skin.
Lucian Blackwood. The Alpha of Bloodfang Pack.
Even weak as she was, Laura knew who he was. Everyone in the five lands knew of him, one of the most feared Alpha anyone could remember. Stories followed him like shadows, that he'd killed his own father to take over Bloodfang; that he bathed in his enemies' blood; that no one who fought him ever lived to tell about it.
His eyes shined like melted silver in the dark, full of promised danger. He walked slowly, every step careful and smooth, like a hunter enjoying the hunt.
"Alpha Blackwood," Vex stammered, letting go of Laura's hair and stepping back. His earlier confidence melted away easily. The coward.
"We were just—"
"Five against one," Lucian cut in, his voice surprisingly soft yet easy to hear through the clearing. "And a hurt one at that." He tilted his head slightly, watching the rogues with cold eyes. "Not very fair, is it?"
Silence hung in the air. No one dared to speak. Even the forest seemed to hold its breath.
One of the rogues, the one with the missing ear, finally seemed to break under Lucian's stare. With a wild howl, he charged at Lucien with his claws out.
"Die, Bloodfang!"
Lucian didn't even flinch. He stepped aside with amazing speed and, in one brutal move, tore the rogue's throat out. Blood sprayed across the forest floor as the body fell, twitching.
Laura gasped, her hand covering her mouth. It had happened so fast, like a blur of movement that ended in death.
The other rogues froze in fear, their earlier boldness vanishing. They looked at each other, unsure what to do. Run? Fight? Beg?
"We didn't know she was yours, Alpha—!" Vex yelled, fear clear in his voice as he backed away, hands up in giving up. His eyes darted left and right, looking for an escape route.
A cold smile curved Lucian's lips. "She isn't mine," he said, voice soft as it promised death. "But that doesn't mean you can touch what belongs to me."
Vex's face twisted in confusion. "I don't understand—"
He never finished. In seconds, Lucian was on them. Laura could barely follow his moves as he tore through the rogues like they were made of paper. It was easy. Planned and beautiful in its deadly way.
The rogue with the ugly scars tried to change, but Lucian caught him halfway, breaking his back with a sick crack. The one with the black hair got in one hit before Lucian ripped his heart from his chest.
Laura watched, unable to look away. There was something both terrifying and amazing about how he moved, like a dance where every step meant death.
Vex, seeing his friends fall, turned to run. He made it three steps before Lucian caught him by the neck.
"Please," Vex begged, all trace of the mean leader gone. Tears ran down his face as he clawed at Lucian's arm. "I'll leave your land. I'll never come back—"
"No," Lucian agreed calmly, his face showing no emotion at all. "You won't."
He grabbed Vex's head with one big hand and crushed it with a sick crunch. The body dropped to the ground, moved once, then went still.
Quiet fell over the clearing. Only Laura's rough breathing stayed, followed by the steady drip of blood from Lucian's hands onto the forest floor. The smell of death hung heavy in the air.
She blinked up at him, shocked. He had saved her life... but why? The Bloodfang Alpha wasn't known for random acts of kindness. Quite the opposite actually.
Lucian turned toward her, his silver eyes looking her over. For the first time, Laura felt the full weight of his attention, and it was like standing in the path of charging bulls. He stepped closer, standing tall above her kneeling form. His eyes moved across her body, noting the bruises forming on her throat, the torn dress, the blood running from the cut on her head.
His nose flared as he breathed in deeply, and something in her smell made his face grow darker.
"You're bleeding," he said, as if she might not have noticed.
Laura tried to speak, but her voice failed. Her body was finally giving in to the mix of the broken bond and the attack. Black spots danced at the edges of her sight. She swayed where she knelt, fighting to stay upright.
"I..." she tried again, the word coming out as a whisper.
Lucian knelt beside her, bringing his face level with hers. This close, she could see that his eyes weren't pure silver but they had bits of blue in them. Little flecks that made them look like stars. His voice became a low sound as if it was meant for her ears alone.
"You smell different," he said, breathing in again. His dark eyebrows pulled together. "Not like a thrown-away Luna."
She swallowed hard, finding her voice at last. "I'm—"
"Mine," he cut in, the word hanging heavy in the air between them.
Laura felt something strange in her chest, a warmth that shouldn't be there. She had just broken a mate bond. She shouldn't feel anything for anyone, especially not this dangerous man with blood on his hands.
Before she could argue, before she could remind him that she belonged to no one, that she had broken her mate bond exactly to be free—he picked her up in his arms as easily as if she were a child.
His strength was clear. One arm held her back while the other cradled her legs, holding her firmly against his chest. His warmth seeped into her cold skin, chasing away the chill that had settled in her bones. For the first time in hours, Laura felt... safe.
"Put me down," she whispered, but there was no strength behind the words.
"You can barely stand," he replied, not even looking at her as he started walking. "Let alone walk."
The thought should have scared her. This was Lucian Blackwood, the most dangerous Alpha in the five lands. A wolf known for his mean and harsh ways. She should be fighting, trying to get away from his hold.
But her body had reached its limit. The pain of the broken bond, plus the fight and the blood loss, was too much. Darkness crept in from the edges of her sight, the world growing dim and far away.
"Why?" she managed to ask as her eyes grew heavy. "Why help me?"
Lucian looked down at her, something strange passing across his face, something that didn't match the stories she'd heard about him.
As she slipped into darkness, the last thing she heard was his voice, a whisper against her ear: "You're mine now, little Luna."
And then the darkness took her completely.