05⁓ Mine!

Kael's Point Of View

"Who did this?!"

My voice cracked through the forest like a thunderclap, sharp and unforgiving. The trees fell silent. Even the wind dared not rustle the leaves.

Blood stained the forest floor… fresh, vibrant, and steaming in the early morning chill. The air was thick with the iron scent of it. The body lay at the center of the clearing like a twisted offering, young, female, torn apart by claws that didn’t belong to beasts, but men.

My men.

I stepped closer, my boots crunching through the underbrush. My eyes scanned every face standing before me. Twelve of them, all from my rogue unit. Each one avoiding my gaze, shoulders taut, jaws clenched, but none brave enough to step forward.

“She was innocent,” I growled, the words dragging through my teeth like knives. “She wasn’t a threat. She was running.” I pointed at the claw marks, the torn fabric of the girl’s clothing. “You chased her. You hunted her.”

A murmur rippled through the group, but no one confessed.

“You think because we’re rogues, we’re monsters?” I roared. “You think being exiled means we throw away every scrap of honor we ever had?”

I turned to the largest among them… Dren. Muscular, brutal, the kind who never asked questions before tearing flesh. His eyes flicked to the corpse for a moment before returning to the horizon.

“Dren,” I snapped. “Look me in the damn eyes.” He did. Reluctantly. “You were on patrol last night.”

“I didn’t touch her,” he said, voice low and defensive.

“But you saw it happen.”

His jaw worked. The silence stretched.

“I asked who did this,” I said, stepping closer, nose to nose now. My voice dropped, quiet and deadly. “If no one confesses, all of you are guilty.”

Dren’s lip curled. “She was trespassing…”

“She was a child!” I snapped, cutting him off. “And last I checked, our law is simple: we don’t kill unless we must. We don’t slaughter for sport.”

I turned slowly, letting my gaze settle on each one of them. “Though we’re rogues… that doesn’t make us savages.”

A growl built in my chest, vibrating through my bones, spilling through the link I shared with my wolf. He was just beneath the surface now, pacing with rage.

“We protect what the packs won’t. We live by our own code, not descend into rabid madness.” None of them moved. None of them spoke.

I took a breath, tasting the chill morning air. The sky above was slowly shifting from bruised purple to pale gold. The forest should’ve been waking with birdsong. Instead, it held its breath.

Then, finally, a shaky voice from the back, “It was Varn. He lost control.”

I turned slowly.

Varn stood half-shrouded in shadow, lips twitching, blood still under his fingernails. His eyes glimmered with something close to pride, until he saw my expression.

My voice was low, lethal. “You killed her?” He shrugged, voice rough. “She was fast. Ran like prey.” I took a step forward. “She was begging,” I hissed. “Do you remember that, Varn? When she screamed?”

And then, he smirked.

That was all I needed.

Before anyone could blink, I was in front of him. My hand shot out, fingers closing around his throat like a steel trap. I slammed him into the nearest tree, the crack of bark and bone ringing through the clearing. His feet left the ground, his body flailing uselessly.

“I thought…” he choked, eyes bulging.

“You thought?” I growled, voice like gravel dragged through flame. “No. You didn’t think. You didn’t pause. You didn’t listen.”

I threw him to the ground with a force that made the earth shudder. His body landed hard, air knocked from his lungs. Before he could even recover, I was on him again, boot pressed to his chest, crushing down until he wheezed.

The pack stood frozen.

“Watch,” I snarled. “Watch. Because this is what happens when you disgrace my pack.”

And then, I struck.

One precise movement. Fast. Brutal. My hand gripped his jaw, and with a clean, practiced twist, I snapped his neck. A sharp crack. His body jerked once. Then stilled. Eyes wide, mouth open, surprise forever frozen on his face.

Silence.

The forest held its breath. Not even a bird dared to call.

I straightened, standing over his body. My chest rose and fell, not from exhaustion, but rage. Cold, searing rage.

Blood had been spilled.

Unjustly.

And I would never allow that under my command.

I turned to the others. My voice came low, controlled, every word edged with steel. “I don’t care what the packs say about us. I don’t care that we’ve been thrown out, cast aside, hunted like dogs.”

I walked forward, slow and deliberate, my gaze burning into theirs. “That doesn’t mean we stop being men. We are rogues, yes, but we are not monsters.”

Not a single wolf dared look away.

I stopped at the girl’s body again, staring down at her small, broken form. The forest was too quiet. Too still. Her blood still warm in the dirt. Her eyes, lifeless and open to the sky.

I swallowed hard, jaw locked. “Bury her,” I said quietly. “With respect.” I stood over Varn’s lifeless body, the scent of blood curling in the cool night air.

His eyes were still open.

Good.

Let the bastard stare into nothing and remember the moment he crossed a line we don’t cross. I turned slowly, my eyes sweeping over the rest of the pack. No one moved. No one even breathed.

They needed to feel this.

“Have you forgotten,” I said, my voice low and thunderous, “the reason this rogue pack came into existence?”

A ripple of discomfort passed through the ranks. Shoulders shifted. Throats cleared. No one answered.

So I kept going. Loud. Raw.

“We didn’t break away because we wanted to kill without rules. We weren’t banished because we couldn’t be tamed. We left because we were done letting councils, alphas, and titles define who we are.”

I took a step forward. My boots crushed leaves, and it sounded like thunder. “We formed this pack to prove that we’re not the beasts they say we are. Not the animals they painted us to be.”

“We only fight when we’re attacked.” My voice sharpened. I let silence follow my words for a moment. Let it settle in their bones.

Then I walked toward the fire pit at the center of our camp, every step measured, my chest rising and falling slowly. Controlled. Focused.

“We swore we would be something different.”

“Not murderers. Not monsters. Not what they call us.”

I turned my back to the flames and looked each one of them in the eye.

“If that oath means nothing now, say it. Out loud. I want to hear it. If you’ve given up on what this pack was built to be, then leave. Right now. I won’t stop you.”

No one moved. Even the trees seemed to listen.

“We are wolves. But we are also men. And if we forget that… then we deserve the chains they tried to put us in.”

A murmur rippled through them. Questions hung in the air, but none dared voice them yet.

“But hear me now.” I raised my voice once more. “If any of you… any, think this pack will become a gang of killers and cowards, you’d better pray I don’t find out. Because I’ll make what I did to Varn look like mercy.”

Silence.

Then Garron, one of my oldest, knelt. Fist over heart. “We haven’t forgotten, Alpha. Not truly.” One by one, the rest followed, heads bowing, voices echoing in the night like a vow.

“We haven’t forgotten.”

“We haven’t forgotten.”

I nodded once, the tight knot in my chest refusing to loosen.

“Riven,” I said, my voice low and rough, “I need to run. Clear my head before I break something I can’t fix.”

He nodded, silent as ever, eyes understanding.

I turned without another word, my muscles tightening as I bolted into the woods, the trees swallowing me whole.

The cold air bit at my face. My boots pounded the earth, lungs burning, heart thundering in rhythm with my wolf, who paced just beneath my skin, still restless, unsatisfied, wild.

But then, I froze mid-step, my body locked.

There.

A scent.

My wolf reared.

Snarling. Clawing. Howling.

The scent wrapped around me like a snare… sweet vanilla, soothing lavender, and that wild bite of crushed roses. And something else… something raw and untamed. Earthy. Feminine. Pure. But it wasn’t just a scent.

It was a call. A tether. A scream in the silence.

My body moved before thought could catch up. I chased it. Hard. Swift. Unrelenting. Trees blurred. My boots barely kissed the ground. The forest melted into scent and sound and instinct.

“She’s close,” I growled under my breath, my voice rough with hunger I didn’t understand.

I kept walking towards the scent until a body slammed into mine. I caught her reflexively, arms wrapping around trembling limbs. Her scent hit me full-force. Stronger now. Intoxicating.

She gasped, twisting in my hold, fists striking uselessly against my chest. Her skin was cold. Her breath ragged. Panic bled from her like smoke from fire.

“Please,” she sobbed, voice breaking. “Don’t kill me. Please… just let me go!”

I stared.

Her.

She wasn’t what I expected.

She was more.

Messy hair, dark and tangled like forest shadows. Blood on her lip. Dirt on her cheek. Wide eyes, piercing amber and wild. Bruised. Broken. Beautiful.

And mine.

She flailed again, but I tightened my hold, firm but careful. I wouldn’t hurt her. Couldn’t.

I dipped my head, slow… deliberate… drawn to her like gravity. My nose brushed her neck, and I breathed her in.

Warmth. Softness. Wild roses. Home. My wolf exploded inside me. A low growl rumbled from my chest as my lips hovered at her throat.

I exhaled one word. Raw. Absolute.

“Mine!”