Chapter 5 Blaise

He leaned casually against my bike like he owned it, his arms folded across his bare chest, that devilish smile curling at the edges. Moonlight caught the sharp lines of his jaw, the wild tumble of his dark hair, and the raw confidence in his stance. He looked older, stronger, but not by much. His presence was dangerous, too smooth, too sure of himself, and yet every part of me was drawn to him.

His body was built for speed and strength, all lean muscle stretched across broad shoulders and a sculpted chest. His skin carried the warm olive tone of his lineage, and under the moonlight it looked like polished bronze. Dark hair fell in loose, messy strands that brushed his forehead, just long enough to hint at rebellion. And his eyes—goddess, his eyes—were a molten gold that seemed to see straight through me, sharp and hungry, like a predator sizing up his prey.

Jag was tugging at me to go to him. But I froze, Alpha's words screaming in my head..“No breeding out!!” His only rule, and I was about to break it, Goddess help me, I’m in over my head. Jag agreed with a heat of her own.

“Nice ride,” he said, his voice low, edged with heat. “Ninja 350, right? Didn’t think anyone else on this mountain had taste.”

My heart stuttered. He’d noticed my bike before he’d even noticed me.

I swallowed, trying to steady my voice. “She’s mine. Saved almost two years for her.”

His eyes flicked up from the bike to me, and when they locked with mine, my stomach flipped. Something shifted in the air, a pull so sharp and undeniable it was like the mountain itself tilted us together.

*Mate.* Jag’s voice purred inside me, thick with certainty. *Alora… he’s ours.*

I froze. My pulse thundered in my ears. No. It couldn’t be. Not him. He wasn’t a part of my pack; Alpha would have my hide. Everything in me screamed trouble. But trouble was my weakness, bad boys, my heart's desire. I knew it before Jag even whispered it.

Blaise’s smile deepened, like he felt it too. “Figures,” he said with a knowing grin, pushing off the bike. “You look like a girl who knows freedom when she tastes it.” His hand brushed the handlebars with something close to reverence. “Bikes… they’re more than machines. They’re the only things that never lie to you. You ride, they make you feel like you have wings. Soaring to your next dream.”

His words sank into me, echoing the same way I felt every time I gripped the clutch. The bond between us twisted tighter, wrapping around my chest, making it hard to breathe. His fire burned hot within my soul; he had already invaded every fiber of my being. It was almost like I had known him all my life, and his eyes said that he knew me, too. How can this be? No one has ever affected me like this. 

His gaze was hypnotizing, dark gold flames pulling me under. I wanted to drown in it, lose myself in the molten depths of his soul, even if it meant I never surfaced again. My body ached to close the space between us, to feel him, to burn in the blaze he’d set inside me.

And then I heard it—not from him, but through him.

*Mine.*

The voice rumbled deep, savage and sure, his Lycan claiming me without hesitation. The word wrapped around me like chains and wings all at once, binding me even as it set me free.

His smirk widened, dangerous and knowing. He’d heard it too. “Yeah,” he drawled, cocky as sin. “I knew the second I saw you. Didn’t need fate to tell me.”

My breath caught. His Lycan had declared it, but he had owned it, like he’d been waiting for me all along.

“Who are you?” I asked, though part of me already knew.

He grinned—wicked, untamed, all fire and danger. “Blaise.”

My world tilted, the ground no longer steady beneath me. My forbidden mate had a name, and the way he spoke it—low, rough, like a promise and a warning tangled into one—seared through me. His name wasn’t just a word; it was a brand, scorching itself across my soul. Blaise. It fit him too well. He was flame and smoke and sin, and with one look, he had set an inferno raging inside me. I didn’t just want to burn—I wanted to be consumed, devoured, remade in his fire, his realm. I need him as much as I needed my next breath; nothing in my world would ever be the same.