Nadia’s POV:
“Nadia!!!” A loud, shrill scream filled the forest, “Stop running, you know you can’t escape us.”
My heart slammed harder against my ribs as I heard the respeated shouts. It was midnight, and I was moving so fast through the forest that it was a miracle I hadn’t slipped and fell over a hundred times.
“Your scent is everywhere,” another voice shouted, “Your uncle wants you alive. Just come with us, and we will make sure you are returned to your pack, completely unharmed.”
Cold fear ran down my spine as I heard their growls and shouts.
I knew they were lying. How could I not? Just three nights ago, my uncle Carl had ambushed my father with the help of the deadliest cult in existence—the Crimson Council. I had watched him tear my father apart with my own eyes. And the so-called “pack” they claimed? It no longer existed.
Now, even thinking of Carl’s name made my stomach churn with a mix of disgust and fear.
The forest floor was wet and the ground was full of twisty vines and low shrubs, but I didn’t dare slow down.
If they caught me, they would kill me…
“Got you!” a growl cut through the night, and I froze as a massive wolf burst out of the trees behind me.
I barely had time to react or even scream before the wolf slammed into me. Pain exploded through me as the impact knocked all the air out of my body.
Just moments after we crashed on the forest floor, the jaw of the wolf was already inches away from my throat. I scrambled back with a desperate shove, while also kicking as hard as I could.
“I got her,” the wolf growled into the night.
Seconds after his call, another wolf walked out from behind the trees. This one was only half shifted.
But he somehow scared me more than the wolf whose jaw was almost at my throat. This wolf was bare chested, and his eyes were yellow and sick.
“Well done,” he chuckled with a sadistic grin on his face, “I can’t believe it took us this long to catch a wolfless of all things.”
I struggled harder as I slowly shifted my right hand towards the hidden pocket on my leg.
“Hold still,” the second wolf said with a sneer on his face as he slowly made his way over to us. “You made me spend three days on the run chasing you, when you knew all along that there was no way you would have been able to escape. You know, you should have just stayed still and let yourself be killed, like the weak little bitch you are.”
Just as he was about to reach me, my hand brushed against something cold. My dagger. I grabbed the dagger and shoved it upward. The blade was silver so it sank smoothly into the shoulder of the wolf who was pinning me down.
The creature howled and jerked backward, and I quickly took the opportunity to roll away and scramble to my feet.
Blood ran down my arm from where the wolf had pinned me down, and I was pretty sure I had a concussion. But I raised the dagger at the two wolves and began to take slow steps backwards.
The eyes of the wolf I had just injured gleamed with anger. The other wolf was smiling now, his gaze held respect now.
“Leave me alone!” I hissed under my breath, “Or I will cut both of you up.”
The half-shifted wolf chuckled, “I really wouldn't recommend that, girl,” he said as he took a step forward.
Despair washed over me, and my grip tightened over the dagger.
But I was not going to go down without a fight, so as the first wolf lunged again, I brandished my dagger and side-stepped him. But no matter how much I wished I could forget it, the truth was that I still didn’t have a wolf—meaning that even if I moved before the wolf did, I was still powerless beneath its claws.
A sharp pain filled my side as the claws of the wolf tore right through my stomach, the only reason he did not cut me in half was luck.
A scream escaped my lips and I fell down, then, gritted my teeth and tried to scramble up. I placed my hand on my bleeding stomach and held the dagger straight. It was my only saving grace, and no matter how much pain I was in, i refused to let it drop.
“Do you really think you have a chance?” the wold hissed as it lunged once again, this time, I tried to move earlier, but he had been expecting that.
He turned to face me and slammed his fist into my stomach. The blow knocked every ounce of air from my chest, sending me collapsing hard onto the floor.
Then came the howl, bouncing off the unseen walls of the forest, high and echoing.
It was powerful enough to make the very ground beneath my feet tremble.
The two wolves froze and exchanged confused glances. I was completely trapped under the wolf, struggling to breathe beneath its massive frame. Then, without warning, a savage kick ripped the wolf right off me, sending it flying backward through the trees. Stunned by the sudden loss of pressure, I stared at the airborne wolf before my gaze snapped back—revealing the towering silhouette of the man.
And it was in that same moment that the half shifted wolf saw him too.
“Who are you?” the rogue hissed, his tone holding a note of fear, “This is not your business, you can leave and we won’t hurt you. All we want is her.”
My vission was already blurry from the pain so it took me a second to realize exactly what i was looking at.
“Who am I?” the man’s voice was deep, and rich, but the moment he spoke, his aura spilled out of him. “I’m the collector of your little life.”
I should have known.
It was him.
The rogue wolf froze, and the second one, the fully turned wolf rushed forward. He was far too lost in rage to realize that he had just lunged himself at an alpha.
A very foolish move.
Even though he was in human form, the alpha turned to face the wolf with outstrectched claws, and punched him straight on the snout.
The force of his strike was so immense that it resounded across the forest. Once again, the wolf was sent flying, but this time, the alpha did not let him land.
He rushed forward, grabbed one of the arms of hte wolf and then slammed him down so hard on the floor.
The wolf screamed, but he was quickly silenced by the man crushing its throat with his bare hands.
“Now,” the alpha growled as he turned to face the remaining surviving wolf.f “What do I do with you?”
Even through my pain clouded gaze, I could feel and see the cloud of despair that filled the rogue’s wolf expression.
He wanted to run, he knew he had to. There was no way he could win against an alpha. But he also knew that if he turned his back, then, he would be killed quickly.
So, he did the only thing he could. He lunged at the alpha.
The man simply smiled and nodded, “Good,” he growled under his breath, “You at least have some courage,”
The fight that happenped next could not even be called one. It was a solo massacre. The alpha dodged the first clumsily thrown claw, and then, cut off his throat with a simple, lazy swipe.
In seconds, the fight was over, and with the end of the wolves, silence returned to the forest.
I clutched my dagger tightly as I stumbled to my feet and took multiple steps backwards.
Now that he was no longer moving as fast as a blur, I could see the man’s features clearly.
He wore black from head to toe and had a long coat hanging from his shoulder. He also had a mask covering the upper half of his face, but his eyes were what attracted me the most.
They were gold, and they glowed brightly in the darkness.
My breath caught as the man began to walk towards me, I was already far too weak to take on normal wolves, not to talk of actual alphas.
I raised the dagger at him instinctively, “Don’t come any closer,” I hissed, trying to project strength in my voice, “I have a silver dagger,”
His lips curved into a smirk, but he did not look at the dagger, he kept on walking without stopping.
It was only when he walked close enough to stare in my eyes that he stopped and whispered, “Do you feel it the way I do? That… sense of familiarity?”
I shuddered as I tried to swipe at him when he reached me, but he lazily slapped the dagger away from my hands.
And before I could blink, his hand closed around my wrist.
His grip was strong and unbreakable. His golden eyes narrowed as he pulled me towards him and leaned down at my neck,
His voice as he spoke was low and dangerous, but his next words sent a long shiver running down my spine,
“Why...” the man hissed, his voice seductively smooth, “Do you smell like you belong to me?”