on hiding behind thick clouds as if e

mber. His jaw clenched so tight it ached, the fury inside

e chattel, nothing more than a bedwarmer. But now that she

ords of an omega with strange powers, of a secre

s fist against th

steel. His com

th. No wolf, no rogue, no shadow is to be trusted wit

fear flickering in h

pping, a distant howl, the beating of swift paws ag

s eyes

't hide

-

brush, each breath shallow, every step careful. The chill of the night se

de her, was a fragile flame she co

e pack was hunting. Lucien's relentless grip h

eft made her freeze. She pressed herself against a mos

d past - a scou

but for signs. For

mind

to mov

forest floor crunching

w growl shatte

and snarling,

ulse

eamed red in the mo

it lunged - Roran, one of

ut she steadied hers

er circled, waiting fo

did, she wo

stinctively. The baby inside her k

ight

ing beneath his claw, using the

twisting mid-air a

, Aria reache

y begun to understand s

she called on

wrapped around her

confusion, stumbl

ed through the trees, faster

ck rang out - a chilling remin

-

e of the clearing, eyes

voice like thunder

m the shadows, bloodied

smile w

rize was

" Lucien ordered

-

dows, Aria gasp

death, but she knew thi

s Alpha was

y step, the n

ing sentinels. Her lungs burned with effort, her legs numb from running, but the fear in her chest outweighed e

gged back in chains. Or worse, kille

or breath. The moonlight barely filtered through the clouds now, casting strange shadows that

ere ga

to shift, to let the wolf take over, but she couldn't. Not tonight. The child in her womb made the shift dangerous,

stay human. Vul

wasn't much, but it was deep enough to hide in. Aria descended into it carefully, duc

, heart pounding so loudly sh

he told herself

n she h

aves. Footsteps. Not

as h

Not one of

ci

ame before he did, cold and oppressive, like winter pressing down on her lun

dare move

glass. He was not in wolf form, he wanted her alive, that much was clear. But the way his

tered, voice quiet and

breath

lowing faintly in the darkness. He crouched, running his fin

where behind him. O

asting my time," he said. "Fa

it was just him, standing a fe

ight of his attention

e prayed. Plea

invisible thread, he stepped cl

y muscle screami

his head, sn

tomach c

ds away from

en a m

trees, a small deer, startled by the prese

rsuit, sprinting with fluid grace in the wrong d

the stone behind her, her en

come so

cl

, she might n

again before carefully crawling from the ravine. Her clothes were

softly this time, as

placing her hand over her st

she couldn'

connection to her was deeper than she wanted to admit, the mating bond, frayed and rejecte

l was happening inside her body. The burst of light earlier hadn't been a one-time event. The way she

st a cursed o

nside her h

he moon wa

-

doned hunter's cabin. It had been years since anyone had stayed here, she remembered it from a ch

ushed it open, dust billo

the wooden floor,

ealize her hands we

with a pale blue hue, as if moonlig

hem, heart heavy

I?" she w

swer

the cracks in the window, whispering th

it

ore than that

r her stomach, and for the first ti

or he

ted, born into war, carrying a power tha

who would stop at nothing to d