CHAPTER 4

For a heartbeat, no one moved.

Rain hammered the roof. The fire sputtered. Evelyn’s pulse roared in her ears.

The stranger stood framed by the splintered doorway, water dripping from his coat, his eyes locked on her like she was the last piece of a puzzle he’d been hunting for years.

The Alpha in front of her—her protector—let out a low, warning growl that vibrated through the floorboards.

Evelyn grabbed the back of his arm to steady herself. He tensed beneath her touch, but didn’t step away.

“Excuse me?” Evelyn managed. “I don’t belong to anyone.”

The stranger’s smirk widened. “Don’t you? You ran from your wedding. Ran into the forest. Right into his territory.” His chin tipped toward the Alpha. “That makes you something very valuable to people you don’t even know”.

“I am not—” Evelyn started.

“—a prize?” the stranger finished. “A possession? A tether?”

The word hit her like ice water.

Her protector stiffened, golden eyes flashing with a wild, possessive fury she didn’t know how to read.

The stranger gave a humorless laugh. “Oh, he didn’t tell you yet? Typical.”

Evelyn stepped forward despite the Alpha’s attempt to hold her back. “Tell me what?”

The stranger opened his arms as if presenting her to herself.

“That you, runaway bride, are the first human tether born in almost fifty years.”

Evelyn blinked. “The first what?”

“A tether,” the man repeated, slowly, as if explaining to a child. “A human who amplifies a werewolf’s strength and control. A living anchor.”

She stared. “That sounds… insane.”

“Maybe,” he said casually. “But so is walking into Briarwood and surviving a rogue attack without getting torn apart. So is ending up here, with him. With us.”

Her protector growled again, deeper this time. He couldn’t imagine what they would do to her if he ever let her go.

The stranger’s eyes narrowed. “You should have kept her hidden, Alpha. But you never were good at following rules.”

“Leave,” the Alpha snarled, his voice edged with a guttural echo of the wolf beneath his skin, “and don’t ever come back”.

The stranger didn’t move. “I can’t, actually. I’ve been sent for her, I have to take her back, come what may.”

Evelyn’s stomach dropped. “Sent by who?”

“You’ll meet them soon enough.” He turned his attention fully to her, ignoring the Alpha as though he was nothing more than a common guard dog. “But for now,” His gray eyes sharpened. “You’re coming with me.”

“No,” Evelyn said instantly. “Absolutely not, I am going nowhere with you.”

The Alpha shifted slightly, blocking more of her from view. “You set one foot closer to her,” he growled, “and I rip your throat out.”

The stranger sighed, almost bored. “You can try. But I doubt you’ll succeed. Not tonight.”

Evelyn’s fingers tightened on the Alpha’s arm. “What does that mean?”

The stranger’s smile became cruel. “It means he’s too injured to win another fight.”

Her protector bristled. He knew what he said was true, but he would go down fighting to keep her by his side. There was no way he could stand by and just watch him take her away, no way!

Evelyn’s throat tightened. She hated how true that felt. He staggered earlier. He was bleeding. His breathing was still uneven.

If the stranger attacked—

A wolfish growl slipped from the Alpha’s throat, loud enough to make her heart seize.

Before she could react, the stranger reached inside his coat.

Evelyn gasped and shoved the Alpha instinctively. “Watch out—!”

But it wasn’t a weapon he drew.

It was a small, silver charm.

The Alpha’s body jerked.

Evelyn felt it—the shift in him. The strain. The sudden collapse of the wild energy he’d held together by sheer force.

His knees hit the ground.

“Stop!” Evelyn screamed. “What are you doing to him?!”

The stranger dangled the charm between two fingers. “Suppressor rune. Wolves lose all transformation ability near it.” He shot the Alpha an amused glance. “Not so dangerous now, are you?”

The Alpha snarled, trying to rise—but the effort looked agonizing.

Evelyn dropped beside him. “Hey—hey, stay still. I’ve got you.”

His hand caught hers, fingers tight, trembling. He tried to speak, but his voice cracked.

The stranger stepped closer. “You see now why she needs to come with me willingly? Even injured, you’d tear me apart if she ran.”

Evelyn glared up at him. “If you think I’m going anywhere with you—”

“Oh, you will.” His smile held something dark and triumphant. “Because you care what happens to him.”

Her breath froze.

He saw it.

Worse—the Alpha heard it.

His grip tightened on her hand, desperate.

“Get away from her,” the Alpha rasped. “Evelyn—run.”

She stood, planting herself between the two men. “I’m not leaving you.”

“That,” the stranger said, pointing to her with the charm, “is exactly why she belongs with us.”

“You don’t even know me!” Evelyn snapped.

His expression darkened in a way that churned her stomach. “Oh,” he said softly. “But we do.”

The door behind him creaked.

Evelyn’s breath halted.

A second figure stepped into view.

A woman.

Tall, elegant, hair black as midnight. Eyes silver—the same silver as the charm.

And when she smiled, Evelyn felt something cold curl down her spine.

“Hello, dear,” the woman purred. “We’ve been waiting for you a long, long time.”

Evelyn stumbled backward—

Right into the Alpha, who weakly wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her behind him despite his trembling.

The woman tilted her head.

“How sweet. He thinks he can still protect you.”

Her silver eyes flicked to the suppressor charm.

“Break it,” she ordered the man.

He lifted the charm overhead.

The Alpha surged forward with a roar—

Too slow.

The charm shattered.

And the moment it did—

Every wolf in the forest howled at once.

Evelyn’s blood turned to ice as the cabin walls trembled.

Because they weren’t howls of warning.

There were howls of arrival.