The howls multiplied, echoing through the trees like war drums. Aria's spine stiffened as the sound wrapped around her, feral and unmistakably deliberate. They weren't just warning howls, they were signals. Coordinated. Calculated.
Kael's face darkened with a growl. "They're closing in."
Joran bared his teeth. "Four points of approach. North, east, south, west. They're trying to trap us."
"Aria," Kael said without looking at her, "shift. Now. You run."
"No."
His eyes snapped to hers. "You run, damn it!"
"I'm not leaving you behind to face a pack alone."
"It's not about me," he snarled, stepping toward her. "It's about them getting their hands on you. If they capture you, this war starts tonight. And it ends with blood in every valley between here and the eastern hills."
She trembled, torn between fury and fear. But his voice softened before she could answer.
"Please, Aria. If the mate bond means anything to you, go now. I'll hold them off."
The bond between them tugged sharp and hot. She felt his instinct colliding with hers. He was trying to protect her. Not because he thought she was weak but because she mattered.
She clenched her jaw. "Only if you give me a head start and swear you'll follow."
Kael hesitated. "Fifteen seconds. And I swear on the moon, I'll find you."
Joran tossed her a bundle of cloth. "To carry after the shift. Just go."
Aria turned, heart pounding, and ran for the cover of the trees.
And as she ran, she shifted.
The forest blurred around her dark trunks, silver moonlight, mossy ground flashing beneath white paws. Her wolf was sleek, strong, wild. She let it lead. Let instinct take over.
Behind her, she heard the first crash of impact Kael's roar, followed by a frenzy of snarls and growls. The fight had begun.
The rogues had come prepared.
Aria veered toward the river, knowing the current could help hide her scent. She splashed through the water, every muscle straining. Her thoughts flickered with flashes of Kael's arms around her, the pain in his eyes, the way he said please.
She hated the weakness that stirred in her chest. Hated that she felt tethered.
But she couldn't deny it.
The bond was real.
Suddenly, something darted across her path a shadow too fast for a deer, too quiet for a bear.
Another wolf.
A rogue.
Aria leapt sideways, narrowly avoiding the lunge. The enemy wolf snapped at her tail, saliva spraying. She turned sharply and skidded across the forest floor before pouncing on the intruder.
Teeth met flesh.
She slashed across his eye, forcing him to yelp and retreat. Blood sprayed across the moss.
But two more wolves emerged from the darkness behind him.
She was outnumbered.
Not outmatched.
Not yet.
She ran again, zigzagging through trees, trying to gain enough space to shift back and regain the use of her hands and claws.
But they were herding her now.
Forcing her east.
Away from Kael.
Away from the pack.
Panic surged. Her wolf resisted. This wasn't a fight she could win alone.
Her body was burning, muscles aching, but she pushed harder.
Run, mate, run, her instincts cried.
Then came the voice.
Not spoken.
Not whispered.
Heard deep in the bond.
"I'm coming."
Kael.
His voice lit a fire inside her. Her strength surged anew. She snarled and leapt across a ravine, landing in a narrow path flanked by thorns.
Behind her, the rogues hesitated.
Too narrow.
Too dangerous.
She shifted mid-run, rolling into a crouch and grabbing the cloth Joran had given her. It wasn't enough just enough to cover herself as she scrambled up the rocky slope beyond the bramble.
Then, another scent hit her.
Not rogue.
Not Kael.
Something else.
She froze, sniffing the air.
Human.
Armed.
And watching.
A gun cocked.
She turned and saw the glint of metal between the trees.
A tranquilizer? A silver-tipped dart?
Aria didn't wait to find out. She dove sideways, rolling down the hill just as the shot cracked through the night.
It missed.
But only barely.
She ran again, breath ragged, heart slamming.
Now it wasn't just wolves hunting her.
It was someone else.
Someone who knew what she was.
And they weren't trying to kill her.
They were trying to take her alive.
Back at the pack's edge, Kael tore through his third rogue, blood coating his fur. Joran was holding his ground, but barely. The assault had been a diversion.
Kael knew it now.
They didn't want to take the territory.
They wanted Aria.
He felt her pain through the bond. Felt her panic. Her fear.
Then something else.
She was being hunted.
By more than wolves.
By something far more calculated.
Far more dangerous.
Kael roared into the night, shifting back mid-charge, muscles rippling, teeth bared.
"I'm coming, Aria," he growled aloud. "And may the gods help anyone who lays a hand on you."
He ran toward her, faster than he ever had.
But was he already too late?
As new enemies surfacea and Aria is driven into unfamiliar territory, can Kael reach her before she's taken or will her enemies finally claim the blood-moon wolf they've long been hunting?