The night was thick with the scent of ash and pine, the wind stirring the air like breath across skin. Aria had circled the rogue patrol for nearly an hour, silent as a shadow, her wolf senses heightened. She watched them now from a rocky ridge, six of them, all male, bearing the same jagged claw mark burned into their shoulders. Her stomach twisted at the sight.
They were branded. Not by nature. But by force. Controlled.
Not hunters. Not survivors.
Weapons.
Aria clenched her jaw. She recognized the mark as the symbol of a war pack from the outer territories. They didn't operate alone. Someone had sent them. But for what? And why here?
She dropped low, careful not to shift any pebbles as she pulled back from the ledge. She didn't have enough numbers to fight them alone. But neither could she leave Kael's territory unprotected. As much as it infuriated her, she couldn't ignore the pull inside her chest, the one that screamed every time danger crept toward him.
She ran through the trees, faster than the wind, moving on instinct.
Kael sat at the edge of the training grounds, fingers wrapped around a mug of steaming black coffee. The heat did nothing to settle the storm churning in his chest. His warriors sparred behind him, but he barely noticed. Every noise blurred into the background. Only one sound mattered: the echo of her voice, the growl of her resistance, the memory of her scent.
Aria.
She haunted him like a fever dream.
He had only touched her once, but it had changed everything. The bond refused to be silenced. His wolf prowled just beneath his skin, snarling at the absence of its mate.
He hadn't wanted this. Not like this. But now that he'd found her, the hunger inside him grew each day. Not just for her body though that fire was unbearable but for her presence. Her spirit. Her defiance.
He drank the rest of his coffee in a single gulp, trying to drown it all.
Then he smelled her.
A sudden gust brought her in her scent winding around him like smoke. She wasn't trying to hide this time. She wanted him to know she was here.
Kael stood.
She stepped from the trees.
Her dark hair was wind-tossed, eyes sharp and alert, her body tense with urgency.
"I need to speak with you," she said, not wasting a breath on greetings.
Kael's heart slammed against his chest. She was even more dangerous when she wasn't running.
"Aria," he murmured.
Her jaw tightened. "Now."
He motioned toward his private quarters beside the training hall. The moment the door closed behind them, the tension inside exploded.
"You have rogues on your land," she said. "Marked ones. Branded with the Blackclaw Scar."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "You're sure?"
"I've fought them before. They don't move without orders. Someone sent them here."
His instincts flared. "How many?"
"Six in the outer woods. Probably more."
Kael cursed under his breath. "And you tracked them back here... why?"
Aria crossed her arms, frustration dancing behind her glare. "Because as much as I hate this bond between us, I'm not heartless. If you fall, they'll spread like disease. And I don't intend to live in a world where they rule."
Kael took a step closer. "You came back because of the bond."
"No," she said, too quickly.
"Yes." His voice deepened. "You came back for me."
Aria backed up until her spine pressed against the wooden wall. "Don't flatter yourself."
But her breath caught as he closed the distance between them, the heat between their bodies sparking into something wicked.
"You think I want this?" she hissed.
Kael's fingers brushed her cheek, his touch fire and restraint all at once. "You don't want me. But you do."
Her hands trembled slightly as she pushed him away but her skin lingered on his, betraying her.
"I'm not some girl to be claimed as territory," she snapped.
"I'm not claiming you." His voice was rough now, eyes glowing faintly. "I'm recognizing you."
Aria's lips parted to argue but then he leaned in, not kissing her, just close enough for the heat of his breath to skim her skin.
Her pulse went wild.
"I don't want this," she whispered.
"I know." His voice dropped. "But what we want... doesn't matter anymore, does it?"
Their lips brushed a ghost of contact that burned through her resolve like wildfire. She kissed him back before she could stop herself, fiercely, hungrily. It wasn't love. It wasn't surrender. It was fury and desire all twisted together, tearing down walls neither of them had built.
Her hands curled in his shirt. His fingers tangled in her hair.
For a moment, there was no war, no bond, no danger.
Just heat.
Just need.
Then she pushed him back with a gasp, eyes wide.
"We can't," she said. "We shouldn't."
Kael stepped away, breathing hard. "You're right. We can't half-feel this. Not with everything coming."
Aria swallowed. "If we give in... we lose ourselves."
Kael looked at her for a long moment. "Or maybe we find something we were never meant to survive."
Outside, the moon broke through the clouds again brighter, bolder. And from the edge of the forest, yellow eyes blinked from the darkness, watching the Alpha's den.
While they wrestle with desire, who in the shadows is preparing to strike and what secret do the branded rogues truly carry?