Branches tore at my clothes as he moved through the forest like he was part of it. Every step was controlled, effortless. I struggled to keep up, lungs burning.
"How… do you know they're coming?" I gasped.
"Because," he said calmly, "if I were them, I would."
That didn't make me feel better.
Behind us, the howls grew louder, closer. My former pack. They were hunting me.
"They're really hunting me…"
"Yes," he said, glancing back briefly.
"Why? What did I do?"
"You exist," he said. "That alone makes you dangerous."
Fear twisted in my chest. "Dangerous? Me?"
He stopped at the edge of a cliff. Below stretched a wide valley, dotted with lights—another pack's territory. My stomach turned.
"You have two choices," he said.
I laughed weakly. "This sounds bad already."
"You can run alone. Probably die within a few days," he said.
"And the second?"
"Come with me."
I hesitated. "I don't even know your name."
"Lucien," he said, small smile. Calm, confident. Dangerous.
Trusting strangers wasn't my skill. But neither was surviving on my own.
"Fine," I whispered.
Lucien's smile widened slightly. "Good choice."
We descended toward the valley. Shadows moved behind us, silent but aware. Alpha Kaiden watched from the forest edge, silent, eyes sharp. Not angry. Worried.
I realized something terrifying: even my mate feared me now.
Lucien glanced at me, calm as ever. "Stay close. Survive. That's all that matters tonight."
Every instinct screamed danger. Every sense told me my life had just changed.
And it had.
Forever.