For a few moments after his warning, the forest fell into an uneasy silence.
The kind of silence that didn't feel natural.
The wind moved softly through the branches above us, stirring the leaves with a whispering sound that should have been comforting. Instead, it made the darkness between the trees feel deeper, heavier somehow, as if the forest itself was holding its breath.
I forced myself to focus on the scents around me.
Damp earth. Pine. Tree. Flower. Cold night air.
And beneath all of that— Something else.
My wolf stirred instantly.
Not fear. Alertness.
The scent came again, faint but unmistakable.
Rogues.
My shoulders tensed as the realization settled in. Rogues often wandered close to pack borders, hoping to find injured wolves, lone travelers, or anyone weak enough to become easy prey. Packs kept them away from their territories when they could, but the borderlands were never completely safe.
And tonight, I had walked straight into them.
"You feel it now," the stranger said quietly beside me.
I didn't look at him.
"Yes."
The word left my mouth before I could stop it.
He shifted slightly, his attention turning toward the darker part of the forest. The movement was subtle, but it changed something about the air around him. A moment ago he had seemed relaxed, almost casual in the way he stood.
Now there was a sharpness to him.
A readiness.
"How many?" I asked.
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, listening to something I couldn't yet hear.
"At least four," he said after a moment.
Four. That wasn't good.
Rogues rarely attacked strong opponents unless they believed they had the advantage. Three rogues against a lone wolf might not normally worry me, but tonight was different. The ache of the broken mate bond still pulsed faintly in my chest, leaving my wolf unsettled and my instincts slightly off balance.
I hated that Kael's rejection might have weakened me.
The thought flashed through my mind like a spark of anger.
I pushed it away. Now was not the time for that.
Another sound came from the forest.
A soft crunch of leaves under weight.
Closer this time.
My wolf rose fully to the surface of my mind, restless and alert. The instinct to shift tugged at my body, muscles tightening with the familiar pull of transformation.
Not yet.
If I shifted too soon, I might waste energy I would need later.
The stranger stepped slightly to the side, placing himself between me and the deeper forest without making a show of it.
"You should move," he said quietly.
"Move where?"
"Anywhere but here."
The bluntness of the statement almost made me laugh, though the situation was far from amusing.
"This is the path out of the territory," I said. "If I turn around now, I walk straight back into Blackthorn lands."
He glanced briefly over his shoulder, toward the direction I had come from.
"I doubt that's what you want."
It wasn't.
The thought of turning back, of stepping once more into the territory where everyone had seen Kael reject me, made something inside my chest twist painfully.
"No," I admitted.
The stranger studied the forest again.
"They're circling."
My stomach tightened.
Rogues liked to do that. They rarely rushed into a fight unless they believed their target was completely helpless. Instead, they surrounded their prey slowly, closing in until escape became impossible.
A low growl rolled through the darkness.
It was distant, but unmistakable.
My wolf answered with a growl of her own deep inside my mind.
The stranger exhaled quietly.
"Stay close if your are not moving."
I frowned.
"I don't need protection."
His gaze flicked briefly toward me.
"I'm not offering protection," he said calmly.
"I'm offering strategy."
Before I could respond, movement flickered between the trees ahead of us.
A shadow slipped through the darkness.
Then another. My heartbeat quickened.
Four figures emerged slowly from the forest.
They stepped into the moonlight one at a time, their movements loose and predatory. Even in human form, there was something wild about them. Their clothes were worn and torn, their expressions sharp with the kind of hunger that came from living too long without the structure of a pack.
I saw one of them smiled when he saw me.
"Well," he said, his voice rough with amusement, "this is interesting."
His eyes moved slowly over me, taking in the fact that I stood just beyond the pack border.
"Looks like someone got lost."
Another rogue stepped forward beside him, sniffing the air.
"Not lost," he said with a grin. "Rejected."
The word cut deeper than I expected.
Rogues had sharper noses than most wolves, and the scent of a broken mate bond was not something that faded quickly.
The first rogue laughed softly.
"Even better."
His gaze shifted briefly toward the stranger standing beside me.
"And who's this supposed to be?"
The stranger didn't answer. He simply watched them.
The stillness in his posture was unsettling. He didn't look nervous or angry or even particularly interested in what was happening. If anything, he seemed almost… patient.
The rogues noticed it too.
Their confidence faltered slightly.
The one in the middle narrowed his eyes.
"You planning to say something?" he asked.
Silence stretched between them.
Then the stranger spoke.
"Leave."
The word was quiet.
But it carried a weight that made the air feel heavier.
For a moment, none of the rogues moved.
Then the one who had spoken earlier scoffed.
"You think you can order us around?"
He took a step forward, his gaze returning to me.
"She crossed the border alone. That makes her fair game."
My wolf snarled inside me.
I stepped forward slightly.
"I'm not prey."
The rogue's grin widened.
"Everyone says that."
Before I could react, he shifted.
The transformation was fast, his body folding and reshaping into the form of a large grey wolf that landed on the forest floor with a heavy thud.
The other two followed instantly.
Four rogue wolves now stood in the clearing, their yellow eyes glowing in the moonlight.
My wolf surged forward inside me.
Now.
The instinct to shift pulled hard at my body, claws threatening to tear free from my hands.
Beside me, the stranger moved slightly.
Not away. Closer.
Just enough that his shoulder nearly brushed mine.
"Don't rush," he said quietly.
The calmness in his voice made me hesitate.
"You said there were four," I murmured.
"There are."
The largest rogue wolf lowered its head, growling low in its throat.
Then it lunged.
Everything happened at once.
My wolf burst forward, claws breaking through my skin as the first wave of transformation began to take hold.
But before the rogue could reach me— The stranger moved.
Fast. Far faster than I expected.
His hand shot forward, catching the wolf mid-lunge and forcing its head violently to the side. The impact sent the rogue crashing into the dirt with a snarl of pain.
For the first time since meeting him, something dangerous flickered in the stranger's eyes.
Not anger. Something colder. Something controlled.
The other three rogues circled us immediately.
My wolf fully surfaced now, my senses sharpening as adrenaline flooded my body.
Four rogues. One stranger. And me.
The first rogue recovered quickly, shaking itself before rising again.
Its yellow eyes fixed on us with renewed fury.
The circle tightened.
I felt the stranger shift his stance slightly beside me.
"Looks like they've decided not to listen," I said.
His gaze never left the wolves.
"No, exactly as I expected." he replied calmly.
The second rogue crouched low, preparing to attack again.
And this time— All four wolves lunged at once.