CHAPTER 1 THE HUNTED ROGUE

I heard the wolves before I saw them.

Their paws thundered against the dry ground behind me, shaking loose stones from the cliffs of the Ash Barrens.

“Spread out!”

“She's heading east!”

“Don't let her escape!”

I ran faster.

My lungs burned, and every breath tasted like dust, but I didn't slow down.

Slowing down meant dying.

My boots struck the cracked earth as I pushed deeper into the Barrens. The wind tore at my clothes, carrying the scent of ash and old blood through the air.

Behind me, the hunters were getting closer.

I glanced over my shoulder.

Four wolves.

No.

Six.

My stomach tightened.

There were six of them now.

“Damn it.”

I turned sharply between two dead trees.

The hunters shouted behind me.

“There!”

“She turned left!”

I smiled despite the pain in my chest.

They had taken the bait.

I knew these lands better than they did.

The Ash Barrens had been my home for years. I knew which paths collapsed beneath a wolf's weight. I knew where the ground swallowed careless travelers. I knew which ravines had only one way in and one way out.

And I knew how to disappear.

I ducked beneath a low branch and kept running until the ground suddenly dropped away.

A narrow ravine opened before me.

I stopped.

Dead end.

Behind me, the hunters were closing in.

One of them laughed.

“Got you.”

I looked down into the ravine.

Then back at them.

Six men stood across the path, weapons drawn.

Their clothes carried the colors of a pack I didn't recognize.

Pack hunters.

My jaw tightened.

“Move aside,” I said.

The tallest hunter stepped forward.

“You don't give orders here, rogue.”

“I wasn't asking.”

He laughed.

“You think you're dangerous?”

“I know I am.”

He raised his weapon.

“Then prove it.”

I bent down slowly.

His eyes narrowed.

“What are you doing?”

I grabbed a handful of loose dirt and threw it into his face.

He cursed.

I moved.

My foot slammed into his knee.

He dropped with a cry.

Another hunter lunged at me.

I ducked beneath his arm, grabbed his wrist, and twisted.

The weapon fell.

I kicked it away.

“Get her!”

Three men rushed me at once.

I backed toward the ravine.

Exactly where I wanted them.

One charged.

I stepped aside.

His momentum carried him forward, straight onto the unstable ground I had noticed earlier.

The earth collapsed beneath his feet.

He screamed as he fell.

The others stopped.

For half a second, nobody moved.

I smiled.

“You should watch where you step.”

The hunter who had been hit first wiped the dirt from his face.

“You little—”

He charged.

I reached for the small blade hidden against my thigh.

He swung.

I blocked.

Pain shot through my arm.

I struck his ribs.

He staggered.

I struck again.

He fell.

But there were still four.

And now they were angry.

Very angry.

One of them growled.

“She's stronger than we were told.”

Another looked at me carefully.

“She's not worth bringing back alive.”

My grip tightened around my blade.

That sentence told me everything I needed to know.

There would be no trial.

No questioning.

No mercy.

I was a rogue.

To them, that was enough.

“Then come,” I said.

The four hunters attacked.

I fought.

I ducked beneath a fist and drove my elbow into someone's throat.

A blade grazed my shoulder.

I hissed and kicked the attacker backward.

Another grabbed me from behind.

I slammed my head against his face.

He released me.

I spun and drove my knife into the ground beside his hand.

He froze.

“Next time,” I whispered, “I won't miss.”

He stared at me.

For the first time, I saw fear in his eyes.

Good.

Fear kept people alive.

Sometimes.

A howl suddenly echoed across the Barrens.

Everyone froze.

Another howl answered.

Then another.

My blood went cold.

Those weren't the hunters' wolves.

These howls were deeper.

Stronger.

Organized.

The hunters looked at each other.

“What is that?”

One of them swallowed.

“Pack patrol.”

“No.”

Another voice came from behind us.

“Not a patrol.”

The hunter turned pale.

“Alpha.”

My stomach dropped.

Heavy footsteps approached from the other side of the ravine.

Wolves emerged from the dust.

One.

Two.

Ten.

More followed.

They moved with frightening discipline, surrounding the area within seconds.

Their weapons were drawn.

Their eyes were fixed on us.

I stepped backward.

The hunters immediately lowered their weapons.

“Alpha Kael,” one of them said.

So this was him.

Alpha Kael Draven.

I had heard stories.

Every rogue had.

The Alpha of Ironfang.

Powerful.

Ruthless.

Untouchable.

A ruler who could tear through an enemy before they even realized they had been attacked.

I had never believed every story I heard.

But when he stepped out from behind his warriors, I believed them.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, and completely calm.

While everyone else looked ready for war, he looked like he had already won.

His dark eyes moved across the ravine.

The fallen hunters.

The broken ground.

Then me.

His gaze stopped.

I raised my knife.

His warriors immediately lifted their weapons.

“Drop it,” one ordered.

I didn't move.

The warrior stepped forward.

“I said drop the knife.”

“I heard you.”

“Then do it.”

“No.”

Several weapons pointed directly at me.

The hunter beside me laughed nervously.

“She killed two of ours, Alpha. She's dangerous.”

Kael didn't look at him.

His eyes remained on me.

“Who are you?”

I said nothing.

His expression hardened.

“I asked you a question.”

“And I decided not to answer.”

One of his warriors looked shocked.

“You're speaking to the Alpha.”

“I noticed.”

The warrior moved toward me.

Kael lifted one hand.

“Stop.”

The warrior immediately obeyed.

That told me more about Kael than any rumor could.

His men didn't question him.

They feared him.

I kept my knife raised.

Kael took one slow step toward me.

I prepared myself.

If he attacked, I would fight.

Even if I couldn't win.

I would never beg.

Never again.

Kael stopped several feet away.

His eyes narrowed.

For the first time, something changed in his expression.

Confusion.

He inhaled slowly.

Then again.

His gaze moved over me as if he was trying to understand something that made no sense.

I frowned.

“What?”

He didn't answer.

Instead, he studied me.

The wind shifted between us.

Kael's expression became even more unreadable.

One of his warriors spoke.

“Alpha?”

Kael didn't respond.

His eyes remained locked with mine.

I tightened my grip on the knife.

“What are you looking at?”

His jaw tightened.

“You.”

“That much is obvious.”

His eyes darkened.

“Your scent.”

My heart skipped.

“What about it?”

He took another step closer.

I immediately stepped back.

His gaze sharpened.

“You're a rogue.”

“Yes.”

“But…”

He stopped.

“But what?”

Silence.

The hunters watched us nervously.

Kael looked at me as if I were a puzzle he had never seen before.

I hated it.

I hated being studied.

I hated feeling exposed.

I raised my knife higher.

“If you're going to kill me, do it.”

His eyes met mine.

“You're not afraid?”

“Of dying?”

I swallowed.

“No.”

That wasn't entirely true.

I was afraid.

I was terrified.

But fear had never saved me.

Kael's gaze remained fixed on mine.

Then he said something that made every instinct inside me scream.

“You are not what you smell like.”