The Vaelor's Claim

Aria's pov

​The silence of the forest was gone, replaced by the heavy, vibrating power of the two men standing before me.

​Noah, the one holding me, didn't move. His grip on my waist was like iron, grounding me even as my knees threatened to give way. His scent was everywhere now. It wasn't the earthy smell of my pack; it was rain on hot asphalt and expensive cedarwood. It smelled like power.

 It smelled like money.

​"Let me go," I whispered, my voice trembling.

​I tried to squirm, but it was like trying to move a mountain. 

Noah didn't even flinch. His winter-storm eyes remained fixed on mine, searching my face with an intensity that made my skin prickle.

​"You're shaking, little Omega," the other one said.

​I looked over Noah's shoulder. Cassian was leaning against a charred tree trunk, looking at the destruction of my home as if it were a bored piece of art.

 He was a mirror image of Noah, but while Noah was a silent storm, Cassian was a forest fire. He looked messy, dangerous, and entirely too amused by my terror.

​"Who are you?" I demanded.

"What do you want with my pack?"

​"Your pack is gone, Aria," Noah said almost out of amusement.

His voice was deep, a low rumble that I felt in my chest.

 "The wolves who did this weren't ours. They were scavengers. Bottom-feeders."

​He finally let go of my waist, but he didn't move away. He stood so close I could feel the heat radiating off his body.

 It was a strange, magnetic pull that my Omega wolf wanted to sink into, even as my mind screamed at me to run.

​"Then why are you here?" I asked, backing away until my heels hit the ash of a burned-out cabin. 

"If you didn't kill them, why are you stalking the ruins?"

​Cassian stepped forward, his movements fluid and predatory.

 "We were looking for something. Or rather, someone." His eyes dropped to my chest, to the spot where the mark was still burning white-hot through my tunic.

 "And it looks like my brother found her first."

​"She’s bleeding," Noah interrupted, his voice cutting through Cassian’s teasing tone like a blade.

​He reached out, his fingers brushing the shallow cut on my forearm.

 The contact felt like an electric shock. I flinched, pulling my arm back.

​"I'll live," I snapped.

​A flash of something unreadable crossed Noah’s face. It wasn't anger. It was almost... approval. 

"An Omega with a bite. Interesting."

​"She's more than an Omega, Noah," Cassian said, his smirk fading into something hungrier.

 "Look at the mark. She belongs to the strongest."

​"She belongs to the pack," Noah corrected coldly. "Our pack."

​The way they talked about me, like I was an object, a piece of territory to be claimed, made my blood boil. 

"I don't belong to anyone. My cousin is still out there. I have to find her."

​I tried to push past Noah, but he moved with impossible speed, blocking my path.

​"Your cousin is gone, Aria. If the shadows took her, she is beyond your reach now," Noah said. There was no pity in his voice, only a hard, cold reality. 

"But you? You are standing in the open. The scavengers will be back."

​"I can fight," I said, though my hands were shaking so hard I had to hide them in the folds of my shirt.

​"You can die," Cassian countered, stepping up beside his brother.

 The two of them together were a wall of pure Alpha dominance. The air felt thin and hard to breathe. 

“We may be able to find your cousin tho, but you won't be alive to see her.”

​"You have a choice," Noah said, his voice dropping to that low, commanding rasp. He held out a hand toward me. The golden crescent on my chest thrummed in response to him, the heat and rhythm made my head light.

 "You can stay here and wait for the monsters to return for the rest of you. Or you can come with us."

​"And if I refuse?" I whispered, looking between the two of them.

​Noah’s expression didn't change. He looked like he was made of stone. 

"Then my brother will take you by force. And believe me, Aria... you would much rather it be me."

​Cassian laughed, a dark, melodic sound.

 "Don't listen to him, little wolf. First of all, you don't actually have a choice and secondly, I’m much more fun than he is. But he's right about one thing." 

He stepped closer, his eyes flashing a dangerous amber.

 "You aren't staying here. One way or another, you're coming with us."

"Where are you taking me?”

“Home, little wolf. The Vaelor Estate." 

​At the mention of that place I wanted to run.

To run far away from the brothers. They were the Alphas of the Blackthorne Pack. The most feared, most powerful wolves in the territory.

​I looked back at the ruins of my life. The ash, the bodies, the silence. There was nothing left for me here but death. If I wanted to find Maeve, if I wanted to survive, I had to walk into the lion’s den.

​I looked at Noah’s outstretched hand. Then I looked at Cassian’s mocking smile.

​"I'm coming," I said, my voice gaining strength. "But don't think for a second that I'm yours."

​Noah’s fingers closed around mine, his grip firm and possessive.

 "We'll see about that."

​As he led me away from the ash of my home and toward the dark sleek cars waiting at the edge of the woods, the mark on my chest flared one last time.

​Noah opened the door, but before I could climb in, a hand slammed against the frame, blocking my way.

​I gasped, spinning around. Cassian was inches away. He didn't smell like the rain and cedar of his brother. He smelled like spice, smoke, and something dangerous. He leaned down, his face so close to mine I could see the amber flecks in his eyes.

​"One more thing, little wolf," Cassian whispered, his voice a dark, melodic rumble.

 He reached out, his thumb dragging slowly across my bottom lip. 

"In this pack, we don't share our toys. But for you? I think we might make an exception."

​"Cassian. Enough," Noah growled. It wasn't just a word; it was a vibration that shook the air.

Before I could breathe, Noah grabbed my waist and pulled me back against him. 

I gasped as I felt the hard heat of his body flush against my back, his hands firm and heavy on my hips. The contact made my skin tingle in a way that felt both shameful and electrifying.

​For a split second, I was trapped between them, Noah’s cold, iron-like protection behind me and Cassian’s fiery, predatory gaze in front of me.

​He shoved me gently into the soft leather of the backseat as the door clicked shut, locking me in with their scent.