Chapter 6

Hazel's heart tightened at the raw pain in his voice. She had never seen Ryder like this. "What are you talking about?"

"The mating urge, my beast knows you're my mate," he said hoarsely. "To him, that's all that matters. He wants to claim you... and once he takes over, I don't know how much control I'll have left.".

 "I need to get out of here," he snapped, throwing his legs over the side of the bed, trying to flee his own dark impulses.

Hazel lunged forward, grabbing his thick wrist. "Wait, Ryder. Don't go. You won't hurt me."

Ryder whipped his head back. His eyes weren't human anymore; they burned with a pitch-black desire "If I stay, I will mark you," he warned, his chest heaving. "I won't be able to stop."

Hazel stared at him, her heart pounding so hard it hurt.

Only yesterday, the thought of him touching her had filled her with fear. But now... after seeing the way he'd fought against his own instincts, after hearing the desperation in his voice, something inside her had changed.

It wasn't that she wasn't afraid anymore.

She swallowed, her fingers tightening around his wrist.

 "Maybe I want you to," she whispered

 Ryder’s jaw dropped slightly in shock, his gaze hardening a second later.

He leaned over her, his shadow swallowing her whole. "You don't have a clue what you are getting into, Hazel. I only gave you a taste of it last time, and it hurt. A real mate mark is agonizing."

"I know exactly what I am doing," she defied him, pulling his shirt to drag him down. "I want you, Ryder. All of you".

That was the exact moment his thin thread of control snapped entirely. Ryder slammed his lips back down onto hers. He tasted like wild adrenaline. Hazel felt his teeth sharpening against her bottom lip, his massive frame shaking as he tried to hold back his strength.

 He was a monster fighting his own nature, but she didn't want a protector right now. She wanted him to claim her, to pin her soul to his for eternity."Ryder," she whimpered into his mouth.

"Yes?" he replied, his mouth still hovering inches from hers.

"Mark me. Now." He pulled back for a fraction of a second.

He stared at her, his chest rising with heavy breaths. His dark eyes never left her neck, locked on the soft skin like he was fighting the last bit of control he had left.

"Damn it, Hazel..."

He grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her closer. Then his teeth sank into her flesh.

"Ahh!"

Hazel screamed. The pain hit so damn hard that tears instantly filled her eyes. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as her whole body trembled.

The pain didn't disappear.

It spread through every inch of her body until she couldn't tell where it ended and where she began. Her breathing turned uneven, each breath shaking harder than the last. Tears slipped down her cheeks without her even noticing.

Every muscle in her body felt impossibly heavy.

Her arms slowly lost their strength as she fought to keep her eyes open but her eyelids refused to listen.

.

.

The next morning, Hazel woke slowly to the quiet stillness of the room. Thin rays of sunlight slipped through the heavy curtains, casting pale streaks across the bed. Still half asleep, she turned toward the other side, expecting to find Ryder beside her.

Her hand touched nothing. The sheets were cold. Maybe he had left before dawn to deal with urgent Alpha duties.

A strange ache settled deep inside her chest, making her frown. It didn't make sense. Just yesterday, she had been terrified of him. She had seen him as a dangerous man who wanted to own her, control her, and lock her away forever.

Now the space beside her felt... wrong.

Her fingers rose to the fresh mark on her neck.

She gently caressed it, feeling a shiver run through her. The skin was still slightly swollen and sensitive, a lasting reminder of his mark. It was hard to ignore. She was reminded of the bond that now connected her to him.

She sat up, smoothing down her wrinkled dress. She needed to wash her face and clear her head.

The instant her bare feet touched the cold stone floor, a strange heat surged through her body.

It spread from her chest to her fingertips, making every nerve tingle.

"What the hell...?" Hazel whispered, staring at her trembling hands.

The room around her suddenly blurred.

The walls of the bedroom rippled like water. The bed, the fireplace, even the morning sunlight began to dissolve before her eyes.

A wave of dizziness crashed over her. She reached for the bedside table, but her hand passed through empty air.

"No..."

Darkness swallowed everything.

It felt as though an invisible force had seized her, dragging her through an endless void where neither time nor distance seemed to exist.

Then she hit the ground hard.

A sharp cry escaped her lips as she rolled across damp earth before her knee slammed into a jagged rock.

Pain exploded through her leg. The soft fabric ripped apart instantly, exposing torn skin as bright crimson blood spilled over the stone and soaked into the dirt beneath her.

She pushed herself upright with a shaky breath. Every step sent a sharp ache shooting through her injured knee, forcing her to limp as blood stained the torn fabric of her dress.

She didn't recognize anything around her, and every direction looked the same. All she knew was that standing still somehow felt even more terrifying. So she kept moving.

Hazel stopped so suddenly her breath caught in her throat. She watched in disbelief as flowers pushed through the frozen ground one after another, blooming within seconds.

Someone stood in the middle of the clearing as though she'd been waiting there all along.

"Welcome, Hazel," the woman said, as if she'd known her for years.

"Who the hell are you?" Hazel asked, her voice shaking violently as she took a small step back.

"I am Selene," the witch replied, "You were wasting far too much time back at that castle, so I decided to hypnotize your senses and draw your spirit out here."

Hazel's eyes widened in total shock, her stomach twisting. "How... how could you do that to me?"

"We can sense ancient magic, child. Once it's awakened, calling its owner becomes easy".

"What do you want from me?" Her voice trembled with fear as she felt the fresh mark on her neck throb in protest. "What powers? I can't even feel my wolf. I'm just a powerless human. I'm nothing in their world!".

"I want to teach you," she said, her pale eyes boring straight into Hazel’s soul. "I want to teach you how to control your powers, how to use them for good before the dark forces in this territory find out what you truly are".

"What powers?" Hazel repeated, a hot tear slipping down her dirt-stained cheek. "I don't have anything".

"Come," Selene said simply, extending a slender hand. "Let me show you."

Hazel stared at the offered hand for several long seconds before slowly reaching for it. The instant their hands touched, a powerful wave of heat rushed through Hazel's body, stealing the air from her lungs.

"Don't fight it," Selene whispered. "Just breathe."

The ground disappeared beneath her feet, and for one terrifying second she felt like she was floating between two worlds.

Hazel stumbled backward. "What... what just happened?"

"You crossed space without taking a single step," Selene said. "Very few people can do that."

Hazel stared at her hands, still trembling from everything that had happened. She looked up at Selene, completely overwhelmed.

"How...?" she whispered. "How was I able to do all of that?"

Selene's eyes slowly dropped to the fresh mark on Hazel's neck. "Your mate's mark."

Hazel frowned, her fingers instinctively brushing over the tender skin.

"The mark?"

Selene nodded. "It didn't give you your power, Hazel. That power has always been yours. The mating bond merely awakened a small part of it.".

Hazel stared at her in disbelief. "So... none of this would've happened if he hadn't marked me?".

"...your power would have remained asleep a little longer. The mark simply unlocked a tiny piece of what was already sleeping inside you. The rest is still hidden."

"But you have to be careful, power like yours is a blessing only in the hands of the right person. In the wrong hands... it becomes a curse capable of destroying everything it touches."

Before Hazel could ask another question, the warm breeze suddenly turned cold. Selene's body began to fade into thousands of tiny silver lights.

"Wait!" Hazel called, "Where are you going? I still have so many questions about you!"

"We will meet again. And next time... your training begins," Selene said.

Hazel reached for her, but her fingers closed around empty air.