CHAPTER ONE

ROSE POV

The full moon hung low, a cold silver eye watching over Mooncrest, its light slicing through the canopy like a blade. Every step I took was calculated, measured. My heart beat in my chest like a war drum, its rhythm echoing in my ears as I moved through the shadows, careful not to disturb the dead leaves beneath my feet.

The forest surrounding Mooncrest Pack had been my cage for ten long years, but tonight—tonight, I was going to escape.

I had memorized the layout of Mooncrest Park like the back of my hand—where the guards patrolled, the gaps in their watch, the dead zones where I could slip by unnoticed.

My body was a whisper of motion, my breaths shallow as I slithered through the underbrush, the cold air biting my skin. The walls of Mooncrest were miles behind me now, but the chill in my bones told me that I wasn’t out of danger yet.

A twig snapped.

I froze. My senses went on high alert, my wolf immediately alerting me to the danger. I could feel it, that presence in the air—heavy. Dark.

A ripple of panic tore through my chest.

No...

I couldn’t get caught.

I glanced over my shoulder. Nothing. Just the moonlight dancing on the trees.

I exhaled slowly, just a little too soon.

The presence shifted closer. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, my wolf instinctively growling, warning me that danger was near.

And then, the voice.

"Going somewhere, little wolf?"

I didn’t need to turn around. His voice was too familiar, too dark. Alderon Kane. The Alpha. The monster.

For ten years, I had avoided him like a plague. And now, standing just behind me, he was the last thing I ever wanted to face again.

My pulse quickened, but I didn’t let it show. I couldn’t.

He stood there—shirtless, his sculpted chest glistening with sweat, the glow of the full moon bathing his muscular body in an eerie, ethereal light. His skin shimmered with every breath he took, but it was his eyes that locked me in place. Those molten gold eyes that seemed to pierce through the night, and through me, like they could read through my soul.

The anger.

It instantly filled me.

For ten years, I had suppressed it, ignored it, buried it beneath the hatred and fear that twisted my gut every time I thought of him. Waiting. Planning for the right moment. First, I had to escape, and my escape plan was going well until that moment.

His presence was suffocating. It wrapped around me like a physical thing, pressing in, twisting in the pit of my stomach. His scent, dark and sharp, was like poison in my veins. It was so familiar, so wrong, that it made me want to scream.

"You really thought you could run?"

His voice was colder now, almost amused, as if this was all a game to him. But the anger, the disgust, burned inside me hotter than it ever had. I wouldn’t let him win.

"You're mine," he added, his voice low, full of twisted ownership.

I felt the heat of his fingers brushing the back of my neck before I even saw him move. It was slow, deliberate, as if he knew he could break me with the slightest touch. I wanted to kill him.

The moon hung above us, a silent witness. My body trembled, not with fear, but with a sudden undeniable pull that ripped through me like a shard of glass. A feeling I had never felt before.

The realization slammed into me like a freight train. we were mates.

His scent burned my lungs, the force of it leaving me breathless and weak in the knees. His fingers grazed my cheek, sending a shockwave through my body. I wanted to push him away, to fight him. To never feel that pull again.

But I couldn’t.

The bond was too strong.

Mate.

The word burned through my mind like fire.

I took a step back, trying to escape the suffocating grip of it, but it was useless. I could feel him everywhere, in my veins, in my heart. His.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms as I fought the tremor that threatened to overtake me. He couldn’t have me. not after what he did to my family, ending my father's life in the most brutal way, and turning my sister into a sex slave for his men. tears streamed down my cheeks, but I quickly wiped it off.

But Alderon wasn't done either.

He stepped forward, his towering presence making me feel small, insignificant. He was everything I hated and feared, and yet, the bond refused to let me completely turn away.

"You’ll never escape me, little wolf."

His words slid into my skin like a curse, his voice thick with something dark and possessive.

I turned.

I ran.

But as I fled through the forest, my heart thundered with desperation, the bond remained, pulling, twisting. He was still there, still watching.

I was his and even the ten years of harboured hate couldn't change that.

I kept running, my legs aching with every step, my chest tightening as the full force of the bond clawed at my insides. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe. All that mattered was getting away, putting distance between myself and the suffocating presence of Alderon Kane.

But I couldn’t outrun him. I couldn't outrun the truth.

My lungs burned, each breath a struggle, and my legs threatened to give way beneath me. The cold air bit into my skin, but it did nothing to ease the fire consuming me from within. It wasn’t just the fear or the pain—it was the bond. It was pulling me back, always tugging, always urging me to return to him. I gritted my teeth against it, but it was relentless.

The world around me blurred as I stumbled, my vision swimming. Every tree seemed to blur into the next, the ground beneath my feet turning uneven and unpredictable. My body screamed in protest, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

Not until my knees gave out. Not until my body betrayed me completely.

I collapsed onto the cold, hard forest floor, my hands scraping the earth as I tried to catch my breath. My heart hammered against my ribs, each beat echoing in the silence. My body trembled uncontrollably, the strain of running for so long finally taking its toll.

I didn’t know how long I lay there, struggling to regain some semblance of control. The darkness crept in, curling around me like a lover's embrace. My eyelids fluttered, and I fought to keep them open, but the weight of exhaustion was too much.

Then, finally, the world went black.