CHAPTER 2

Evelyn's hand hovered over the doorknob as her pulse thundered in her ears. Rain hammered against the cabin roof, the storm raging just beyond the threshold-but somehow, the storm inside her chest was louder.

He stood there barefoot, chest rising and falling with ragged breaths, the remains of a torn shirt clinging to him. Muscles tense. Jaw clenched. Gold eyes glowing with something wild—and something frighteningly human.

“You know my name,” she whispered.

“Yes.”

His voice was gravelly, low, and resonant. “Now shut the door.”

Another howl echoed through the woods, closer this time. A cluster of answering howls followed, sharp and chilling. The sound raised the tiny hairs on the back of her neck.

Evelyn slammed the door shut and backed away. “What are they?”

"Rogues," he said. "Wild. Untethered. They smelled blood.

“Your blood?

"Any blood." His gaze flicked to her tattered wedding dress. "They caught your scent, too."

Her stomach twisted. “So, they’re looking for me.”

“No.” He took a slow, deliberate step toward her. “They’re hunting you.”

Evelyn swallowed hard, clutching her damp skirt. “And you’re… what? The nice wolf?”

His lip twitched - almost a smile, but too grim to be one. “Nice isn’t the word anyone uses for me.”

"Well, you didn't eat me," she muttered. "That's a good start."

He expelled a sharp breath, perhaps amused, perhaps frustrated. Hard to tell.

Outside, the storm howled again.

Inside the cabin, he staggered.

Evelyn gasped. "You're hurt."

He glanced at his shoulder as if remembering the wound for the first time. Blood trickled down his arm. The torn skin was deep, angry. “It will heal.”

She stepped closer despite every instinct screaming at her not to. “You're bleeding everywhere. Just—sit down.”

He raised a brow. “Why?”

"Because I don't know who you are, or what you are, and I'm wearing a soaking wedding dress in the middle of nowhere and everything hurts-and helping you is the only thing in this moment that doesn't feel completely out of control."

He stared at her for several seconds. Something softened in his expression-not much, but enough. He wanted to resist her touch, but something stopped him. Her unique scent was all around the cabin, and his wolf was howling his head off for release.

He sat.

Evelyn walked quickly to the little kitchen area and discovered an old tin box full of bandages and antiseptic. When she returned, he was watching her with unnerving intensity. He noticed the way she walked and the still scared look on her face.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she muttered.

“How am I looking at you?

"Like you're deciding if you made a mistake saving me."

He grinned, tilting his head. “I didn’t.” That smile transformed his face, and she couldn’t help but stare at him.

“See something you like”, he smirked at her.

Her cheeks warmed-annoyingly. “Just hold still.”

She knelt beside him and gently cleaned the wound. His breath hitched once when the antiseptic stung, but otherwise he didn't flinch. His skin radiated heat, far more than human. She tried not to stare. Tried not to imagine how strong he must be in either form.

Focus, Evelyn.

“You heal fast?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“How fast?”

His eyes met hers directly, their expression unreadable. "Faster with help."

"What kind of help?"

His eyes dropped to her hand on his shoulder.

Her breath caught. “Oh,” she blushed.

“Yes,” he murmured. He imagined taking her right there and then.

The air between them thickened, humming with something she didn't understand. She pulled her hand back, heart pounding. "Well, tough. You're getting bandages, not magic healing touch."

A faint smirk arced his lips. “As you wish.”

She wrapped the bandage tightly. Her fingers brushed his skin again—this time accidentally—and warmth surged up her arm. Not normal warmth. Something deeper. Sharper.

She pulled away fast. “There. Done. Good enough?”

“For now.”

He rose, towering over her again. “They'll come back tonight, “he said shoving the thoughts of tangling with her off his mind.

“The rogues?”

“Yes.”

“Why? You chased them off.”

“You misunderstand.

His voice dropped into something darker.

"They weren't here for me."

Evelyn blinked. "But I'm nobody. I don't even live here."

"You crossed into their territory. Alone. Injured. Weak. On the run." He stopped. "Wearing white. They see that as blood. Or prey.

She wrapped her arms around herself. “So, what do I do? Stay here forever? Hope they get bored?”

He stepped closer, close enough that she could feel heat radiating from him, close enough that the gold of his eyes trapped every thought inside her head.

“I'll protect you,” he said.

The words were simple, firm, and absolute.

But the intensity behind them hit her like a physical force.

She swallowed hard. "Why? You don't even know me."

A beat of silence.

"Yes," he said quietly. "I do.

Her heartbeat faltered. “How?”

Another howl ripped through the forest, shattering the moment.

He grasped her wrist-not roughly, but with an undeniable strength-and pulled her from the door. “They’re close.”

She stumbled after him. "Wait, what do you mean you know me? You've never seen me before."

“I have,” he said, moving her into the back room. “Not like this. But I’ve sensed you for months.”

“Sensed me?”

He stopped and turned. The look he gave her rooted her to the floor.

“You’re my tether.”

She blinked. “Your—your what?”

Before he could answer, something slammed into the cabin wall hard enough to shake the floorboards.

Evelyn screamed.

Instantly, he stepped in front of her, a low, frightening growl ripping from his throat—human form or not, it was unmistakably wolf.

The wall cracked.

A claw tore through the wood.

He snarled, "Get behind me."

Evelyn did.

The cabin wall splintered.

A massive rogue wolf burst through, eyes wild, teeth bared, hunger dripping from every inch of it—

And the man in front of her shifted mid-air, bones snapping, body contorting, silver-black fur exploding across his skin—

With a roar, the Alpha wolf shook the room. And Evelyn realized, panting and quivering: She was not trapped with monsters.

She was standing behind the most powerful one.