CHAPTER 1: Intruder in My Territory

Jax POV

I sensed the disturbance in the air a split second before I heard the sharp crack of a tree at the far right edge of the forest.

'Someone is in my territory. Who dares? ... An omega?'

I could smell him now. The metallic stench of blood hit me hard - he was bleeding profusely. What the hell was an injured omega doing in my territory?

I listened to his staggering steps and shallow, labored breaths as they drew closer. Then, through the trees, I finally saw him emerge.

He looked pale, weak, and incredibly fragile. He clutched his right rib with his left hand, staggering forward like he might collapse at any second. He was covered in more blood than that slender body of his should be able to produce.

As he got closer, I could see his eyes properly. The bruised circles beneath them didn’t erase the striking beauty of those classic almond-shaped eyes, with color like sea glass.

My gaze slid down to his well-structured cheekbones and over his entire face. Even battered and broken, he was breathtakingly handsome.

I was still lost in admiration when the omega suddenly crashed into my chest, smearing blood across my shirt.

“Please… he wouldn’t stop,” he whispered in a husky, broken voice. He could no longer hold himself up.

“Who wouldn’t stop?” My voice dropped dangerously low. For some reason, my heart softened at the sight of him. Something deep inside me stirred - a powerful urge to protect him from anything and everything that might hurt him.

Before he could answer, I sensed another presence… an alpha.

Sure enough, the next second I saw an angry alpha storming toward us. Two unwanted visitors in my territory in one hour? My reputation must really be losing its bite.

“Mr. Wilder, he is mine,” the alpha said, his voice was thin and brittle. Good, at least he was scared of me.

“If you can return him to me, we’ll be on our way. I’m very sorry for the disturbance we caused you.”

“You did this to him?” I asked.

The alpha smirked arrogantly. “The little omega needed to learn who he belonged to. A few bites and scratches ought to remind him.”

His words ignited a fury in me far stronger than they should have.

“If you want to get out of here alive, leave this instant,” I thundered, my voice dropping to a deadly growl. “Or I’ll call your pack to come and carry your dead body. And as for the omega, he is mine now. You dare not lay a hand on what is mine.”

The alpha withdrew immediately, I could sense this wasn’t over, but that would be a problem for another day. Right now, I needed to figure out what to do with the dying omega still bleeding in my arms.

I carried him inside my lair to clean him up so his wolf’s healing powers could kick in properly. He clung to me desperately, like the last twig keeping him from falling off a ledge. His slender body felt far too frail against mine, and his skin burned with fever.

I laid him gently on the bed and went to the kitchen to fetch a bowl of water and a towel. When I returned, I was surprised to find him already sitting upright.

“How are you still able to move around in this state?” I asked.

“Willpower,” he answered quietly. “With everything I’ve been through in life, it takes nothing but willpower to keep going.”

“You’ve been through a lot at just 24?” I asked.

“Close. I’m actually 25,” he replied with a cheerful tone that caught me off guard. “And you’d be surprised by everything I’ve had to endure.”

“Let’s leave your life history for another day,” I said, soaking the towel in the bowl of water. I gently wiped the blood off his face. “But since you’re strong enough to talk, who was that alpha? And why were you trying to escape from him?”

“That’s Alpha Knox from the Blackfang Pack,” he began. “My pack, the Lunar Reavers, asked for his pack’s alliance during the Lunar Sangre war. When the time came to repay them, he demanded me as payment. My pack handed me over without hesitation. Nobody fought for me- not my parents, not my siblings, and not even the alpha I was betrothed to.”

He paused, then continued softly, “So when you said I was yours… when you held me tight and told him to leave your territory, I felt protected in a way I’ve never felt before.”

His words tugged at something deep in my chest. For a second, I let the feeling linger- then I quickly pushed it away. I am not sticking out my neck for anyone anymore. Not after what happened the last time.

“I only told him off because everyone and everything in my territory is under my protection,” I said. “But once you get better, I am sending you on your way. Whatever happens after that is none of my business. Now continue with your story. How did you get so brutalized?”

He paused, the cheerfulness slowly fading from his eyes. “Whenever he goes deep into his rut, he would always come for me. I always resisted and fought back while he savagely attacked, his claws and teeth tearing into my back. But this time I managed to break free and ran as far and as fast as my willpower could carry me.”

“How long has this been going on?” I asked, fury burning in my chest.

“It’s been going on since I was 20,” he answered quietly. “It’s been five years now.”

For the entirety of my life, I had never felt the need to strangle someone as badly as I did right then at the mere thought of that alpha.