Chapter Two- Amelia

Gasps rippled through the market. People backed away. My heart was in my throat.

And somewhere across the crowd, three pairs of eyes locked on me at once.

The first was sharp amber — Mateo Mason. I didn’t know his name yet, but the way he stared at me made my skin burn. His expression was a mix of disbelief and hunger.

Beside him stood Jason Grim — silver-eyed, leaner, all coiled energy and calculating intensity. His hand twitched like he was holding himself back from moving toward me.

And behind them, towering and still, was Dimitri Moore — dark hair falling into eyes so deep and stormy they felt like they could pull me under.

The air shifted. I felt them before they moved. My chest tightened, my pulse syncing to some strange rhythm that wasn’t mine alone.

The man who had grabbed me scrambled away, muttering something about “monsters.” But I barely noticed.

Because those three men…

They were still staring.

Like they’d just found something they’d been looking for their entire lives.

And the terrifying part?

Somehow, deep down, I knew I’d been looking for them too.

Mateo POV:

The market was crowded, the kind of place I usually hated. Too many scents, too many heartbeats, too many ways for things to go wrong.

Jason and Dimitri walked just behind me, arguing quietly over which stall sold better meat. I was only half listening—until it hit me.

Her scent.

It sliced through the noise and chaos like a blade.

Sweet, but not cloying — a breath of wildflowers after rain, laced with something richer, darker. My wolf stilled inside me, ears pricked, every muscle ready. Then the hunger hit, deep and raw, and I had to swallow hard before my fangs slid down.

The bond slammed into me so hard my knees almost buckled. I’d imagined this moment a thousand times, but the reality was something else entirely. This wasn’t just recognition. This was need.

“Mate,” I growled before I could stop myself.

Jason’s head snapped toward me, his silver eyes widening as he caught the scent too. Dimitri froze like someone had locked him in place. We didn’t need words — we all felt it.

And then I saw her.

Standing in the middle of a small storm. A man stumbled away from her, face pale, eyes full of fear. Around her, fruit stalls rattled as if the air itself had shifted. Her hood had fallen back, revealing pale hair that caught the light like silver.

Her gaze swept the crowd and landed on me first. Amber met eyes the color of a summer storm. My heart kicked hard, the bond tightening like a tether yanking me forward.

I took a step before I even realized I’d moved.

The fear in her eyes didn’t make me stop — it made me want to go to her more. To tell her she was safe now. To wrap my hands around the bastards who’d put that look on her face and break them apart piece by piece.

But then her breath caught. She looked at Jason, then Dimitri, the same spark of recognition flickering each time.

Three bonds. One girl.

I’d thought it was impossible. Hell, I’d thought finding her at all was impossible. But here she was.

And the way she looked at us…

She knew.