𑣲Claim.

Xior's POV

I never intended to buy her.

I came to this cursed market for one reason. The healer. I'd spent three years tracking his movements, following whispers and rumors across territories. He moved like smoke, never staying in one place long. But my spies finally found him. He would be here tonight, under the blood moon, selling his services to the highest bidder.

I needed him. Desperately.

But then I saw her.

She stood on that platform looking so small, so fragile among the other slaves. Her hands were shaking. I could smell her fear from where I stood at the back of the crowd, hidden beneath my cloak. It was the same fear I'd known once. Raw. Helpless.

The slave trader paraded her around like meat. I should have looked away. Should have focused on finding the healer before he disappeared again.

Then that scarred bastard climbed onto the platform.

The sound of his hand striking her echoed across the square. She flinched but didn't cry out. Didn't beg. Just stood there with her chin up, taking it.

Something in my chest cracked.

I was eight years old again. Watching my parents torn apart by rival pack wolves. Holding my five year old sister while she screamed, both of us covered in our parents' blood. I became alpha that night. A child king with a terrified little girl clinging to me in the darkness.

I saw that same terror in this human's eyes. That same desperate strength trying to hold back the breaking.

The bidding started. My mouth opened before my brain caught up.

"Ten."

The crowd went silent. Good. Let them fear.

That ugly alpha tried to outbid me. Fool. I would have paid a hundred gold pieces. A thousand. Whatever it took to wipe that smug look off his scarred face and get her away from his filthy hands.

"Fifty," I said, and the market erupted.

Now she sat in front of me on my horse, her body stiff with fear. I could feel her trembling. Smell the uncertainty rolling off her in waves. She had no idea who I was or where I was taking her.

I didn't know why I cared.

We rode hard through the night, putting distance between us and the market. The blood moon lit our path, turning the forest red. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, restless. It had been quiet for so long, beaten down by years of sleepless nights and endless duties. But now it paced inside me, focused entirely on the fragile human in my arms.

Mine, it whispered. Ours.

I pushed the thought away.

Behind us, hoofbeats. I glanced back and saw Kade, my beta, riding to catch up. He'd been searching the market for the healer while I handled other business. His face was grim even from a distance.

We reached a clearing and I pulled my horse to a stop. The girl tensed, probably thinking I'd brought her here to claim her. Use her. Whatever humans imagined alphas did with their slaves.

I lifted her down from the saddle and stepped back. She stumbled, caught herself, then looked up at me with wide eyes. Even in the shadows of my hood, she was trying to see my face.

Kade rode into the clearing and dismounted. He took one look at the girl, then at me, and his eyebrows rose.

"My lord," he said carefully. "The healer is gone. He left the market an hour before we arrived. My sources say he's heading east toward the mountains."

The words should have filled me with rage. Three years of searching, and I'd missed him by an hour. Because I'd been busy bidding on a human girl instead of hunting for the one man who might cure my curse.

But I felt nothing. Just looked at her standing there in the moonlight, barefoot and afraid but still not crying.

"I know," I said.

Kade's eyes widened. "You know? Then why did we—" He looked at the girl again. Understanding dawned on his face. "My lord. You can't be serious."

"Take her to the camp," I told him. "Give her food and water. A tent. Whatever she needs."

"Xior." Kade rarely used my name. "We came here for the healer. He's our only chance to break the curse. To let you sleep again. And you spent fifty gold pieces on a human instead?"

I finally pulled back my hood. Let the moonlight show my face. The girl gasped softly. I didn't look at her. Couldn't.

"The healer will surface again," I said. "We'll find him."

"And the nightmares? The lack of sleep? You can barely function some days. We need—"

"I said we'll find him." My voice came out harder than I intended. Alpha command leaked into it, and Kade immediately bowed his head in submission.

Silence fell over the clearing. The girl watched us both, trying to understand what we were saying. She couldn't know that I hadn't slept properly in seventeen years. That every time I closed my eyes, I saw my parents dying. Heard my sister's screams. Felt the weight of a crown I never wanted crushing down on a child's shoulders.

She couldn't know that when I looked at her on that platform, I saw my sister at five years old. Alone. Terrified. With no one to save her.

I'd saved this one instead.

This cold and scared human with a weird scent that made me dizzy.

Kade finally raised his head. His expression had softened. He'd been there that night too. He knew.

"What's her name?" he asked quietly.

I realized I didn't know. I turned to her. She stood frozen, staring at my face like she'd seen a ghost.

"Your name," I said. "What is it?"

She swallowed hard. Her voice came out barely above a whisper.

"Aradia.”