Chapter Two: The Hunter’s Daughter

I pressed myself against the cabin wall. Outside, the howls grew louder. Closer.

“How many are there?” Kade asked. He tried to sit up and collapsed back down with a grunt of pain.

“Six. Maybe seven.” I poured water over the worst of his wounds. He did not flinch. “My father’s best hunters.”

“Your father.” His silver eyes locked onto mine. “Marcus Steele.”

It was not a question.

“Yes.”

“Then you are truly insane.” He laughed, harsh and bitter. “The alpha’s daughter. Hiding the rogue who killed his entire pack. Do you have a death wish, princess?”

“I did not kill my pack.” I cleaned the claw marks across his chest. They were deep. Too deep. Whatever attacked him was not normal. “And do not call me princess.”

“You did not deny the death wish.”

I ignored him. The wounds needed stitches. My hands shook as I threaded the needle. I had done this before. Patched myself up after training. After my father’s lessons. But never on someone else. Never on someone who might die anyway.

“They will search the border,” Kade said. “Every inch of it.”

“They won’t search here. Nobody knows about this cabin.”

“They will smell me.”

“I will mask it.” I had herbs. Wolfsbane mixed with sage. It dulled scents, confused tracking. My mother taught me before she died. Before my father forbade me from learning anything useful.

The first stitch went through his skin. Kade did not move. Did not make a sound. He just watched me with those unnerving silver eyes.

“Why?” he asked.

“Why what?”

“Why save me? You know who I am. What they say I did.”

I pulled the thread tight. “Because you are my mate.”

The words hung between us. Raw. Undeniable.

“That bond means nothing,” he said. “It will only get you killed.”

“Maybe.” I moved to the next wound. “But I cannot let you die.”

“You do not know me. You do not know what I have done.”

“Did you kill your pack?”

Silence. Heavy and dark.

Outside, the howls stopped. Footsteps. Voices. Too close.

“Aria!” My father’s voice boomed through the trees. “Aria Steele, answer me!”

My hands froze. The needle slipped. Blood welled up fresh from Kade’s chest.

“Go,” Kade said. “Answer him. Before he comes looking.”

“He will sense you.”

“Not if you are convincing.”

I looked at the door. At my father’s voice getting closer. At the rogue bleeding on my floor who was supposed to be my enemy.

At my mate.

I grabbed my cloak and stepped outside.

The night air hit me cold and sharp. Seven wolves surrounded the cabin clearing. Elite guards in human form, armed with silver blades. And at the centre, my father. Alpha Marcus Steele. The most feared wolf in North America.

His eyes found me immediately. “What are you doing here?”

“I needed space. After training.” I kept my voice steady. Submissive. Everything he expected from his weak daughter.

“We are tracking a rogue. Have you seen anything?”

“No, Alpha.”

His nostrils flared. He was scenting the air. Searching for lies. For blood. For any trace of the monster they hunted.

Please, I thought. Please let the wolfsbane work.

“Beta Richards said he lost the trail near here.” My father stepped closer. Too close. “The rogue was injured. Bleeding heavily. He could not have gone far.”

“I have been here for an hour. I have seen nothing.”

My father studied me. His gold eyes saw everything. Saw through everything. I was never good at lying to him.

“Search the cabin,” he said.

No.

“Father, please. This is my place. You promised I could have one place that was mine.”

“I promised nothing.” He moved toward the door. “You are my daughter. You own nothing I do not allow.”

Beta Richards stepped forward. So did the others. Seven wolves between me and the cabin. Seven wolves who would find Kade and kill him and drag me back in chains.

I did the only thing I could think of.

I shifted.

It was not a graceful shift. Not smooth or controlled like the elite wolves. My bones cracked and reformed. Pain tore through me. But I let my wolf out. Let her surge forward in a desperate gamble.

I threw myself at my father’s feet. Submitting. Begging.

He looked down at me, disgusted. “Pathetic.”

But he stopped walking toward the cabin.

“Please,” I said through the pack bond. “Do not take this from me too.”

For a long moment, he just stared. Then he turned away.

“The rogue went north. We continue the hunt.” He looked back once. “Return home in one hour. Thomas Crane arrives tomorrow. You will greet him properly.”

They left. All of them. Disappearing into the trees like shadows.

I waited until their scents faded completely. Until I could not hear their heartbeats or their footsteps or their whispered conversations about the weak alpha daughter who was not worth her bloodline.

Then I shifted back and went inside.

Kade was standing. He should not be standing. Should not be conscious. But he was pressed against the wall, silver blade in hand, ready to fight.

Ready to die protecting me.

“They are gone,” I said.

He lowered the blade. Barely. “You submitted to him.”

“I had no choice.”

“There is always a choice.”

“Not for me.” I picked up the needle again. “Sit down before you bleed out.”

He did not move. Just kept watching me with those silver eyes that saw too much.

“Who is Thomas Crane?” he asked.

My stomach twisted. “My future mate.”

“You have a mate.” His voice went cold. Dangerous. “Me.”

“A mate I cannot claim. A mate who is hunted by every pack in North America.” I met his gaze. “Thomas Crane will keep my pack strong. Will keep my father’s alliance secure. Will keep me alive.”

“Will keep you trapped.”

Yes. But I did not say it.

“The ceremony is in three days,” I said instead. “You have until then to heal. To run. To disappear before they find you here.”

“And you?”

“I will do what I have always done. Survive.”

Kade moved closer. Fast. Predator fast. He grabbed my wrist, gentle but firm. The bond flared between us. Electric. Undeniable.

“I do not run,” he said. “Not anymore.”

“Then you will die.”

“Maybe.” His thumb brushed across my pulse point. “But so will anyone who tries to take what is mine.”

The possessiveness in his voice should have scared me. Should have made me pull away.

Instead, my wolf purred.

Outside, a branch snapped.

We both froze.

Someone was still here.

Someone was watching.