Chapter 3
Ariana couldn't breathe.
The word echoed in her mind like a thunderclap.
Mate.
She did not understand what it meant, but the way the stranger had said it sent a strange shiver through her body.
The man standing in the doorway looked nothing like the hunters surrounding her. He was taller than all of them, broad-shouldered, his presence filling the entire room like a storm about to break. Rain clung to his dark hair and traced down the sharp lines of his face. His golden eyes burned in the darkness, and they were locked on her.
Not the hunters. Not the shattered kitchen. Only her.
For a moment, the entire world seemed to freeze.
Then the hunter holding the knife laughed.
"Well," he said casually, pressing the blade a little closer to Ariana's throat, "this is interesting."
The cold metal touched her skin, and Ariana flinched.
The man in the doorway moved instantly.
"Don't," he said.
The word was quiet, but something in his voice made the air feel heavier and more dangerous. The hunters noticed it too.
The one with the knife smirked. "Careful, Alpha. One more step and I will spill her blood all over the floor."
Alpha.
Ariana's eyes widened slightly as the realization settled in.
So that was what he was.
Not human. Not hunter. Something else. Something powerful.
The Alpha's gaze never left her face. His jaw tightened.
"What do you want?" he asked.
The hunter shrugged lazily. "You already know."
"The girl," another one added. "The Fifth Blood."
Ariana's stomach twisted. The faint silver glow beneath her skin was still visible, pulsing softly along her veins like a second heartbeat. The hunters had seen it, and now the Alpha had seen it too. There was no hiding it anymore.
The man with the knife tilted his head toward her. "You have been looking for her, haven't you? The council must be desperate."
The Alpha's expression hardened. "I am not here for the council."
"Oh?" the hunter said, raising an eyebrow. "Then why are you here?"
The room fell silent.
Ariana felt the Alpha's gaze shift slightly, dropping to the silver light glowing beneath her wrist before returning to her face. His eyes darkened, and for one terrifying moment, she thought he might attack her himself.
The hunter chuckled. "You see it too, don't you? The prophecy. The Fifth Blood has awakened."
Ariana swallowed hard. Her entire body was shaking. None of this made sense. Only minutes ago, she had been walking down the hallway of her home. Now monsters were fighting over her blood.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she whispered.
The hunter laughed. "You will soon."
The Alpha took one slow step forward.
The knife pressed harder against Ariana's throat, and a sharp sting of pain followed.
"Stop," the hunter warned.
The Alpha froze.
The room felt like it was holding its breath.
Then the hunter's smile slowly widened. "You know something interesting, Alpha?"
Kael Vaughn's eyes flashed dangerously. "Choose your next words carefully."
The hunter ignored the warning. "We were not planning to kill her tonight."
Ariana's heart pounded.
"Not yet," he continued. "The council wants to study the Fifth Blood first."
Ariana felt sick. Study her? Like she was some kind of experiment?
"But now that you are here," the hunter continued, his voice turning darker, "this situation becomes very useful."
The Alpha's expression turned lethal. "You are not walking out of here alive."
The hunter laughed softly. "Oh, I know that."
He leaned closer to Ariana, his breath hot against her ear.
"But she isn't either."
Before Ariana could react, the hunter's arm jerked.
The blade slashed toward her throat.
"No!"
The Alpha moved faster than Ariana's eyes could follow.
One moment he was across the room. The next, he was already there.
The hunter holding Ariana suddenly screamed as a massive black wolf slammed into him, sending both of them crashing into the wall with bone-shattering force. The knife clattered across the floor.
Chaos erupted in the kitchen.
The other hunters lunged forward, their eyes glowing as their bodies shifted into monstrous forms, claws extending and teeth sharpening.
The wolf moved like a storm. Huge, terrifying, unstoppable.
Ariana stumbled backward, staring in shock as the massive wolf tore through the hunters with brutal precision. This was not a fight. It was a slaughter.
One hunter was thrown across the room, crashing through the table. Another tried to strike from behind, but the wolf spun instantly, its jaws snapping shut around the man's arm with a sickening crack.
Ariana gasped.
The last hunter staggered toward the broken doorway. "You have no idea what you've done!" he shouted.
The wolf stepped forward slowly, its golden eyes blazing.
"You think the council will allow the Fifth Blood to live?" the hunter continued.
The wolf let out a low, dangerous growl.
The hunter's gaze flickered toward Ariana one last time. Then he smiled.
"You just started a war."
Before the wolf could reach him, the hunter sprinted into the darkness.
The wolf lunged after him but stopped.
Ariana's legs suddenly gave out. The strange silver light beneath her skin flared violently again, sending a wave of pain crashing through her body.
She cried out as she collapsed to the floor.
The wolf immediately turned back toward her.
Its massive form shifted mid-step as bones cracked and muscles twisted, and within seconds the Alpha stood before her again. His chest rose and fell with controlled fury.
Ariana looked up at him weakly. "You're going to kill me too," she whispered.
His expression darkened. Slowly, he crouched in front of her.
Rain dripped from his hair as his golden eyes searched her face. For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then his voice came out low and conflicted. "No."
Ariana blinked.
"But I should."
Fear tightened in her chest. "Why?"
The Alpha looked down at the faint silver light still glowing beneath her skin, then back at her. His voice dropped even lower.
"Because the moment I saw you, my wolf claimed you."
Ariana's breath caught.
The Alpha straightened slowly. His eyes turned cold again, but the tension in his body had not disappeared. It had only grown stronger.
"You are the Fifth Blood," he said. "And that means every supernatural ruler in this world will want you dead."
Ariana stared at him. "Then why did you save me?"
For the first time since he arrived, the Alpha hesitated.
The answer clearly was not one he liked.
Finally, he spoke.
"Because whether I want it or not…"
His golden eyes burned.
"You belong to me."
Ariana's heart skipped.
Before she could respond, a deep, terrifying howl echoed from the forest outside. Then another. And another.
The Alpha's expression changed instantly.
Not anger. Not surprise.
Recognition.
He turned toward the dark forest.
Ariana followed his gaze and saw it too.
Lights moving through the trees.
Dozens of them.
Torches. Hunting lights.
Coming toward the house.
The Alpha's voice dropped to a dangerous whisper.
"The council already knows."
Ariana's blood turned cold. "Knows what?"
His gaze returned to her.
"They know the Fifth Blood is alive."
Outside, the forest erupted with movement.
And the Alpha's pack was nowhere in sight.