06⁓ No Harm Will Come To You

Ayla's Point Of View

I didn’t know how far I had run. My lungs burned. My feet bled. My entire body screamed in protest with every step I took.

But I kept going.

I had to.

Anywhere was better than there.

The night air stung against the open cuts on my legs, the rags I wore soaked with blood… some his, some mine. I couldn’t even tell anymore.

But I could still hear him… Damon. His laughter. His drunken slurs. His belt sliding from its loops. The look in his eyes before I snapped.

Before I stabbed him.

Over.

And over.

And over.

“Don’t think about it,” I muttered to myself, clutching my torn shawl tighter to my body. “Just go. Just run.”

Every shadow in the woods looked like a threat. Every snap of a branch made my heart lurch. ‘What if they’ve already found him? What if his men are out here looking for me?’

I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t even know where I was. I’d never been allowed beyond the forest’s edge. All I knew was the inside of Damon’s filthy cabin and the sharp taste of fear that never left my tongue.

Now it was replaced by something else.

Panic.

Pain radiated through my body, especially my foot. I could barely see in the dark, but I had to keep going.

“Just a little more. Just a little…”

Crack!

My foot caught on something, hard and thick. A tree root. Pain exploded up my leg as I crashed to the ground with a gasp.

“Shit!”

Tears sprang to my eyes as I looked down. A long, jagged root had torn through the sole of my foot. I could barely see the wound, but I felt the warmth of blood trickling out.

I clenched my jaw, bit down on a cry, and forced myself back up.

‘You didn’t survive all that just to give up now.’

I stumbled forward, slower now, limping. Every step was agony, but I had no choice.

That’s when I heard it.

A sound. Soft. Low. Like footsteps, fast. Purposeful. My heart jumped. “No no no” I whispered. “Not now. Not already.”

I veered right, forcing my legs to move, to run again even if it felt like my bones might snap. My breath hitched as branches tore at my arms.

Then… bam! I hit something solid. Someone. My vision swam. A man. Tall. Strong. Warm.

Shit.

I screamed, voice cracking. “Please!” I sobbed. “Don’t kill me. Please… just let me go!”

My voice wasn’t even mine. It was high, shaking, desperate. My fists pounded against his chest, weak and useless.

“Please…” I cried again. “I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to be free”

Was he one of Damon’s men?

Had they already found out I killed him?

My heart pounded in my ears. I tried to squirm out of his grip, but his arms were like iron around me… tight, unmoving, terrifying.

‘Oh God, this is it. This is where I die.’

Then suddenly… he bent his head. What? I froze. His face dipped toward my neck. What the hell is he doing? ‘Is he sniffing me? Is he a pervert?!’

“Stop… what are you… Don’t touch me!” I shrieked, thrashing harder. But then… his chest rumbled. A low sound. Like a growl. And then, one word.

“Mine!”

It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t a whisper. It was a claim. I stopped. Every muscle in my body locked. My mind raced.

Mine?

What… what was he talking about?

His?

I tilted my head up to look at him, still panting, terrified. His eyes… goddess, his eyes, they were glowing. Not metaphorically. Literally glowing. Gold, molten, dangerous.

He looked at me like he’d waited a lifetime. Like he knew me. Like he owned me. My voice was a whisper this time. “What… are you?” He didn’t answer. He just held me closer, like letting go wasn’t even an option.

“You… You don’t understand,” I stammered, pressing against his chest. “I have to keep running. They’ll find me. He’ll find me. Please…”

But his arms didn’t loosen.

His voice was a low, growling thunder that vibrated against my bones. “You’re safe now. I’ve got you.” I didn’t know whether to scream or cry.

I had escaped one monster… And now I had landed in the arms of something even more dangerous.

Because no man should look at me like that.

No man should sniff me.

And no man should say mine like he meant it with every drop of blood in his body.

And yet… I didn’t move. I didn’t run. He didn’t let me go. Not fully.

He stepped back just a fraction, still keeping a firm grip around my waist like I’d disappear if he loosened it.

I finally got a better look at him.

Tall. Broad shoulders. Silver black streaked hair falling messily into those piercing, ice-blue eyes. His jaw was clenched so tight I swore I heard his teeth grind. And something about him, everything about him… felt... lethal. Not just dangerous. Lethal.

He stared down at me, his brows pulling together as his nostrils flared.

Then I heard it. A low growl, dark and vibrating deep in his chest. It wasn’t just angry. It was furious. His voice came out rough, raw.

“What happened to you?” His eyes swept over my body, my torn dress, the bruises, the blood-soaked edges of my shawl. He took another sharp inhale. “Who did this to you?”

I opened my mouth, lips trembling.

“I…”

But I couldn’t get the words out.

Everything I’d pushed down… the fear, the pain, the numbness, came crashing back all at once. The only thing that had kept me going until now was adrenaline. Survival.

Now it was gone.

And so was my strength. The world tilted. My knees gave out beneath me. I didn’t even have time to panic before his arms tightened around me, catching me effortlessly.

The last thing I thought of before everything went black… Was that voice again, deep, possessive, dangerous.

‘Mine.’

**********

Warmth.

That was the first thing I felt.

Soft sheets cradled my aching body. A fire crackled somewhere close, its glow flickering behind my closed eyelids. The scent of herbs and smoke lingered in the air, faint but unfamiliar. My fingers twitched against fabric, rhick, clean, too soft to be anything I’d slept on in months.

I jerked upright.

Well… tried to.

Pain screamed through my ribs, and I let out a small cry as the room spun violently around me.

“Easy,” a voice said. Deep. Calm. Familiar.

My heart stopped.

I turned my head slowly, breath catching in my throat. He was there. Him. The man from the woods. The one who’d caught me, held me… sniffed me.

He was sitting in a chair across the room, elbows on his knees, hands clasped. Watching me. Those ice-blue eyes glowed in the firelight. His gaze pinned me like a knife.

“You’re awake,” he said, voice low, almost gentle.

I blinked. “Where am I?”

“Safe.”

The word didn’t comfort me. Nothing about my life had ever been safe.

I looked down, my dress was gone. I was wearing a large shirt that nearly drowned me, sleeves falling over my hands. Someone had bandaged my feet. My arms. My side.

“Did you…?” I started, swallowing hard. “Did you touch me?”

His brows drew together. “I had someone tend to your wounds. A healer. A woman.”

I didn’t believe easily, but something in his tone made me pause.

He stood and moved to the fireplace, poking at the embers, and I took the moment to study him again. His presence filled the space, commanding, wild, restrained in a way that felt... unnatural. Like he was holding back something dangerous.

“You passed out,” he said, turning back toward me. “You were nearly dead on your feet.” I looked away. My voice cracked. “Maybe that would’ve been better.”

“No,” he said sharply, the word like thunder.

I flinched.

Silence followed.

Then, softly, more human, he asked, “Will you tell me what happened to you?”

I didn’t answer right away.

My hands curled around the edge of the blanket. My heart pounded loud in my ears. I thought of Damon. Of the blood. The collar. The cage. The nights I tried to forget. And I thought of what this stranger could be.

“You could be one of them,” I whispered.

He frowned. “One of who?”

“His men. Damon’s. You could be tricking me. Playing some sick game.”

His jaw tightened, eyes narrowing slightly, but he didn’t snap.

Instead, he moved.

Slow. Careful.

He walked over to the bed, and my breath hitched as he sat beside me, close enough that his heat seeped into my skin.

Then, gently… so gently, he took my hand. Rough fingers, warm and grounding, wrapped around mine. His eyes locked with mine, golden and intense. “Trust me,” he said, voice like velvet over steel.

“You’re mine now. And no harm will come to you.”