The Killing Hollow, Moments Later
Ariana felt the hairs on her arms stand on end. The stench of rot curled down her throat, making her gag. Lucian's body stayed planted between her and the darkness, shoulders tense, claws half-shifted.
She peered around him. "Tell me that's not another rogue."
"It's not a rogue."
"Tell me it's not Kael."
Lucian actually laughed — a low, humorless sound. "I'd take Kael and his pompous pack over what's out there."
Ariana gritted her teeth. "Reassuring."
The Beast Appears
A shape moved between the trees — too big for a wolf, too fast for a bear. Yellow eyes blinked open like coals in the gloom, and Ariana's breath caught when it stepped forward.
It looked like a wolf, if wolves were half bone and half shadow. Its fur was mangy and gray, stretched over ribs like barbed wire. Its muzzle dripped black saliva, and something about its eyes made her wolf shrink back.
"What the hell is that?" she whispered.
Lucian didn't take his eyes off the creature. "Carrion hound. Pack elders used to send them after banished wolves. Half-spirit, half-dead. Haven't seen one in years."
"Lucky me," Ariana muttered. "My ex rejects me, I move in with a feral rogue, and now we're fighting zombie dogs?"
Lucian snorted despite himself. "Stay behind me."
The First Strike
The carrion hound lunged. Lucian shoved Ariana aside, meeting it head-on with a roar that shook the trees. Claws scraped against rotten hide, black blood splattering the leaves.
Ariana scrambled up, heart pounding. Her wolf, Lyra, snapped at her mind — Fight, don't freeze!
She grabbed the rusty dagger, but her hands shook. She'd just fought two rogues — this thing was different. Wrong.
Lucian grunted, throwing the beast off for half a second. He spun toward her, eyes blazing.
"Focus! It feeds on fear — you're basically serving yourself on a platter!"
"Oh, thanks!" she shot back. "So helpful!"
The Bond Cracks Open
The carrion hound lunged again. Ariana dodged, but it clipped her side with a claw that felt like ice. She hissed in pain, warmth spilling down her hip.
Blood. It loved blood.
The hound's eyes locked onto her. She saw her own terror reflected in its gleaming teeth.
Lyra snarled. We are not prey.
A growl ripped from Ariana's throat. Heat flared under her skin — the wolf fighting to break out fully.
Lucian was suddenly there, pressing his back to hers. His body radiated heat, steady and solid.
"Shift, Ariana," he murmured, voice low and rough. "I've seen your wolf. She wants out."
She met his eyes — his pupils blown wide, his fangs bared in a feral grin.
"And if I lose control?"
He chuckled darkly, leaning so close she felt his breath on her cheek. "Then I'll bite harder."
Her breath hitched — the heat between them sharper than the fear. Lyra howled.
The Shift
The carrion hound lunged again. Ariana felt her bones snap, fur rippling along her arms, claws bursting through her fingertips. She didn't stop it this time. She let the pain wash through her, let Lyra drag her fully under.
When the world came back, she stood on four legs — not quite as big as Lucian's wolf, but sleek and bristling with rage.
She didn't think — she leapt. She slammed into the hound's side, teeth sinking into the rotting fur. The thing screeched, its foul blood coating her tongue.
Lucian's wolf — huge, black, eyes blazing gold — tore into the other flank. Together they drove the thing back, ripping and tearing until it crumbled into bones and black mist.
When it was done, Ariana staggered back, chest heaving. Lucian shifted halfway, his shirt torn, eyes burning as he wiped a smear of black blood from her snout.
"Look at you," he rasped. "Pretty little monster."
A Tense Human Moment
Ariana forced the shift back, bones cracking painfully into place. She stood naked but for the shredded remains of her ceremonial dress, her skin slick with black ichor and sweat.
Lucian didn't look away. If anything, he looked… amused.
"You're staring," she snapped, folding her arms over her chest.
"I just watched you tear apart a carrion hound with your teeth," he said, voice wicked. "Forgive me if I'm a little… impressed."
She tried to glare at him, but her lips twitched. "You're impossible."
"And you're magnificent," he said, quieter this time. "Never forget that."
Ariana's throat bobbed. The bond between them thrummed like a live wire — hot, tense, too much.
She cleared her throat. "Any chance you packed spare clothes in that magical satchel of yours?"
Lucian's grin turned wolfish. He slipped off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. It smelled like pine and smoke — like him.
"Lesson three," he murmured, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. "When you run with rogues, always bring a spare pair of pants."
---
The Laugh and the Hook
Ariana burst out laughing — raw, breathless, a little wild. The sound made Lucian's grin soften into something dangerously close to tender.
"Don't get used to that, Thorn," he teased.
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Shut up and lead the way, mighty rogue Alpha."
Lucian's eyes glinted as he turned toward the deeper woods. "Gladly. Because whatever sent that carrion hound? It won't stop at one."
Ariana's smile faded. She clutched his jacket tighter around her shoulders, adrenaline already prickling her skin.
Lyra growled in her head: Let them come.