Chapter Five

Anna’s POV

The smile on the scarred rogue’s face widened as more wolves stepped out from the shadows, their eyes fixed on me with the same predatory hunger.

Moonlight filtered through the trees, revealing at least a dozen rogues surrounding the clearing. Some carried swords stained with fresh blood, while others remained in their wolf forms, pacing slowly as though they already knew I had nowhere left to run.

Only then did I understand how badly I’d miscalculated.

I hadn’t cornered one of the wolves responsible for the destruction of my pack.

I’d walked straight into the trap they had laid for me.

The scarred rogue folded his arms across his chest and let out a low chuckle.

“Our Alpha was right,” he said. “Your need for revenge blinded you. He knew the moment you recognized me, you’d chase without thinking.”

My fingers tightened around the dagger in my hand until my knuckles turned white.

“Then tell your Alpha he underestimated me.”

His laughter echoed through the clearing.

“I don’t think so.”

Without another word, he lifted his hand.

The rogues attacked.

They came at me from every direction, leaving no opening to escape. I barely had time to duck before a blade sliced through the air where my head had been. Another rogue lunged from my left, forcing me to spin away before driving my dagger toward his chest.

He twisted at the last second.

The blade cut across his shoulder instead.

His pained growl had barely faded when another attacker rushed me from behind.

I dropped to one knee, swept my leg beneath his feet, and shoved him straight into the rogue charging toward us. The two crashed together, buying me only a heartbeat to breathe before another wolf appeared in front of me.

They never stopped.

Every time I forced one back, another stepped into his place.

It felt as though they had done this before.

As though they had trained for it.

A fist slammed into my ribs, knocking the air from my lungs. I stumbled backward, pain exploding through my side, but instinct forced me to keep moving.

Stopping meant dying.

Or worse…

Being captured.

I ducked beneath another swinging blade and drove my elbow into the attacker’s jaw before kicking him hard enough to send him crashing into a nearby tree.

The victory lasted only seconds.

Someone grabbed my wrist from behind.

I reacted instantly, twisting my body and slamming the heel of my palm into his nose. Blood poured from the impact, forcing him to loosen his grip just enough for me to break free.

I sprinted toward the narrow gap between two rogues.

I was almost through.

A heavy body slammed into my back before I could escape.

The force sent both of us tumbling across the forest floor. My dagger slipped from my fingers and landed several feet away.

“No!”

I lunged toward it.

A boot came down on the weapon first.

The scarred rogue looked down at me, amusement dancing in his eyes as he kicked the dagger farther into the darkness.

“You won’t be needing this.”

I pushed myself back to my feet, breathing hard as blood trickled down my arm.

The circle around me grew smaller.

The rogues no longer looked impatient,They looked confident.

They knew the outcome before the fight was over.

One of them stepped forward, a thick rope wrapped around his hand.

Another pulled a pair of wolfsbane restraints from his belt.

My stomach tightened.

They hadn’t come here to kill me but to take me alive.

Rage burned through every inch of my body as Four rogues rushed me together.

I fought with everything I had left.

I landed a punch that sent one sprawling across the ground before driving my knee into another’s stomach. The third caught my arm and twisted it painfully behind my back.

I cried out but refused to stop struggling.

The fourth rogue grabbed my other wrist.

“Hold her!”

I drove my head backward, connecting with someone’s face. He cursed loudly as blood poured from his broken nose.

For one brief moment, I managed to tear myself free.

I took two steps.

That was all.

Something wrapped tightly around my waist and yanked me backward.

I hit the ground hard enough to rattle my bones.

Before I could recover, two rogues pinned my arms while another forced my legs still beneath his weight.

I thrashed violently beneath them, refusing to surrender.

“Get off me!”

The rogues suddenly stepped back, their confident smiles disappearing one after another.

Then he emerged from the darkness.

Kael.

He walked into the clearing with the same calm confidence he carried everywhere else, his black shirt torn in several places from the battle back at Ironfang. Blood stained the sleeves and the front of his clothes, but judging by the way he carried himself, none of it belonged to him.

His gray eyes swept across the clearing before settling on me.

For a brief moment, everything else seemed to disappear.

His gaze moved over the torn fabric of my dress before lingering on the blood running down my arm and the bruises darkening my wrists where the rogues had held me.

It lasted only a second.

Long enough for me to notice the subtle tightening of his jaw.

Something cold and dangerous flickered behind his eyes before his expression became unreadable once again.

I couldn’t make sense of it.

After spending the past year arguing with me every chance he got, why did seeing me hurt seem to anger him?

Kael finally shifted his attention to the rogues surrounding me.

His face remained calm, Too calm.

“Release her.” His voice was quiet.

There was no shouting,Yet the command carried so much authority that even I felt the urge to obey.

None of them could moved an inch

kael took another slow step forward “Let me make this very clear.”

His gaze settled on the rogue gripping my wrist.

“If a single bruise appears on her body, none of you will leave here alive.”