CHAPTER 2:The Alpha Who Should Not Want Her

Kael Blackwood did not move for several seconds.

The wind rolled across the cliffside and carried the scent again, faint but unmistakable. His wolf stirred beneath his skin, restless and alert in a way it had never been before.

Mate.

The word repeated like a low growl in the back of his mind.

Kael clenched his jaw.

“That is impossible,” he murmured.

His wolf disagreed.

The scent drifting through the forest carried something strange. Human, yes. But beneath that was something older. Something that did not belong to any pack he knew.

Kael turned sharply and began walking back toward the large stone house behind him.

By the time he pushed open the front door, several members of his pack were already inside the main hall. Conversations quieted the moment they saw his expression.

“Something wrong, Alpha?” one of them asked.

Kael ignored the question.

“Who entered our territory today?” he said.

The pack exchanged brief looks.

“No one reported crossing the border,” another wolf answered.

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

“That scent did not appear by accident.”

One of the younger wolves stepped forward cautiously.

“There was a bus from the city this morning,” he said. “A human girl got off in town.”

Kael stilled.

“A human.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

His wolf growled immediately.

Mate.

Kael exhaled slowly.

“Where is she now?”

The younger wolf shrugged.

“Probably still in town.”

Kael shook his head.

“No.”

The scent was already deeper in the forest.

He could feel it.

His wolf felt it even more clearly.

“She went past the town,” he said quietly.

The room fell silent.

“Past the town?” another wolf repeated. “That means she’s near the old forest road.”

Kael’s gaze hardened.

The old forest road led to only one place.

The abandoned house near the river.

His wolf surged again.

Mate.

Kael turned toward the door.

“I’m going to find her.”

The wolves exchanged uneasy glances.

“Alpha,” one of them said carefully, “if she’s human, bringing her here could cause problems with the council.”

Kael stopped walking.

“She is in my territory.”

That alone was answer enough.

He stepped outside and shifted before anyone could say another word.

Bones cracked and stretched beneath skin as the massive black wolf emerged. His fur caught the fading sunlight and his eyes burned with sharp focus.

The scent reached him again the moment his paws hit the forest floor.

Stronger now.

Closer.

His wolf surged forward immediately.

Mate.

Kael ran through the trees with unnatural speed, moving silently across the forest floor as the scent pulled him deeper into the mountains.

By the time the small house came into view, the sun had already begun to set.

Lights glowed faintly through the dusty windows.

Someone was inside.

Kael slowed as he approached the edge of the clearing. The scent filled the air around him now, thick and undeniable.

Human.

But beneath it was something else.

Something familiar.

Something that made his wolf uneasy.

Kael shifted back into human form behind the trees and pulled on the spare clothes tied to his pack belt.

Then he walked toward the house.

Inside, Aria stood near the kitchen table sorting through a box of old photographs when a sudden knock echoed through the front door.

She froze.

Her first instinct was to ignore it.

The house was supposed to be empty. No one in town had mentioned neighbors nearby and the forest outside had been silent for hours.

The knock came again.

Slow.

Deliberate.

Aria walked toward the door cautiously.

“Hello?”

No answer came from the other side.

Her hand hovered near the handle.

“Who’s there?”

A deep voice finally spoke.

“You should not stay in this house.”

Aria frowned.

“That depends on who’s asking.”

There was a short pause.

Then the voice replied calmly.

“The Alpha of this territory.”

The answer was so unexpected she almost laughed.

“Right,” she said through the door. “And I’m the queen of England.”

Silence followed.

Then the voice spoke again.

“Open the door, Aria.”

Her heart skipped.

She had not told anyone her name.

Slowly, she unlocked the door and pulled it open.

The man standing on the porch was tall, broad-shouldered, and far too confident for someone claiming to be a local authority.

His dark eyes locked onto hers the moment the door opened.

For a second neither of them spoke.

Then Kael’s wolf roared inside his mind.

Mate.

Aria felt a strange warmth ripple through her chest as their gazes held.

The man in front of her looked just as surprised as she felt.

“Who are you?” she asked.

Kael stepped closer slowly.

His eyes had darkened in a way that made her pulse quicken.

“I’m the man whose land you just walked into.”

Aria crossed her arms.

“That still doesn’t explain how you know my name.”

Kael studied her carefully.

His wolf was pacing wildly beneath the surface.

Mate.

But something else in her scent made his instincts uneasy.

Something that did not belong.

“You smell like a human,” he said slowly.

Aria blinked.

“That might be because I am one.”

Kael shook his head.

“No,” he murmured.

“There’s something else.”

His gaze sharpened.

And then he caught it.

Faint.

Buried beneath the human scent.

A bloodline he recognized immediately.

Kael’s expression darkened.

“That’s impossible,” he whispered.

Aria frowned.

“What is?”

Kael looked at her again, this time with a completely different expression.

His wolf still growled the same word.

Mate.

But Kael had just realized something else.

Aria Hale carried the scent of the one Alpha he hated most.

And if he was right…

The girl standing in front of him was the daughter of his greatest enemy.