CHAPTER 4

NEAH

"What do you mean he's asking for me?"

I was already pulling on my sneakers with one hand and holding the phone with the other. My heart was hammering so loud I was sure Theo could hear it through the line.

"Exactly what I said. He crossed the border bleeding and half conscious. Shane and Miles have him pinned down but he keeps saying your name. Over and over. Like it's the only word he knows."

"That doesn't make any sense. I don't know anyone outside this pack."

"I know. That's why I'm calling instead of handling it myself. Something about this feels wrong, Neah. Get here fast but be careful."

He hung up before I could ask anything else. Classic Theo. Give you just enough information to terrify you and then disappear.

I grabbed a jacket and headed for the back door. My brain was running through every possible explanation and none of them were good. I didn't know wolves from other packs. I had never left Iron Valley territory except to visit the studio in town. There was no reason for a stranger to know my name, let alone drag himself across a border to say it.

The tree line behind the packhouse was dark. The moon was half hidden behind clouds and the only light came from the security lamps along the training path. I knew these woods like the back of my hand. Every root, every turn, every shortcut. I could run this trail blindfolded.

I made it to the southern border in twelve minutes. My human legs couldn't match wolf speed but I was fast for what I was. When I broke through the last line of trees I saw them.

Shane and Miles were crouched on either side of a man lying face down in the dirt. He was big. Even on the ground I could tell he was tall and broad. His clothes were ripped and dark with blood. One arm was stretched out in front of him like he had been crawling when his body finally gave out.

Theo stood a few feet back, arms crossed, watching the tree line on the other side of the border. His whole body was rigid. Whatever he was sensing out there, he didn't like it.

"I'm here. What happened?" I dropped to my knees beside the man. The healer in me kicked in before the scared girl could take over. I pressed two fingers to his neck. Pulse was weak but there. His breathing was shallow and ragged. I could smell the blood before I saw it. A deep gash across his back that looked like claw marks. Three of them, parallel, tearing through his shirt and into the muscle underneath.

"He came out of the trees about twenty minutes ago," Miles said quietly. "Stumbled onto our territory and collapsed right here. We were on patrol and heard him before we saw him. He was mumbling something and when we got closer we realized he was saying your name."

"Has he said anything else?"

"Just your name and one other word. Over and over." Shane looked at me and I could see something in his eyes that I couldn't quite read. Not fear exactly. More like confusion mixed with something heavier.

"What word?"

Shane hesitated. Looked at Miles. Miles looked at Theo. Theo looked at me.

"Mate."

The word hit me like a punch to the chest. I actually rocked back on my heels. "That's not possible. I'm human. I can't be anyone's mate."

"We know that," Theo said from behind me. "But his wolf doesn't seem to care. When Shane got close to you just now his body tensed. Even half dead, his wolf is reacting to you."

"That's insane."

"I agree. But here we are."

I looked down at the man again. I needed to focus on what was real and what was real was that he was dying in front of me. Whatever mate nonsense his wolf was spouting didn't matter if he bled out on our border.

"Help me turn him over. Carefully. The wound on his back is deep and I don't know what else is going on underneath."

Shane and Miles moved in sync, gently rolling him onto his side and then his back. I pulled my jacket off and pressed it against the worst of the bleeding. Then I looked at his face.

My breath caught.

He was younger than I expected. Maybe mid twenties. Strong jaw covered in a few days of stubble. Dark hair matted with dirt and blood falling across his forehead. His features were sharp and angular, almost severe, but there was something about them that made it hard to look away. Even beaten and bloody he was striking.

His eyes opened. Just barely. Dark blue, almost black in the dim moonlight. They found mine and locked on like I was the only thing in the world.

"Neah." His voice was wrecked. Barely a whisper. But he said my name like he had been searching for it his whole life.

"How do you know my name?" I pressed harder on the wound. "Who are you?"

His hand moved. Slowly, like it took everything he had. His fingers wrapped around my wrist. Not tight. Not threatening. Just holding on like I was the only thing keeping him here.

"Had to find you." Each word cost him. I could see the pain rippling through his body with every breath. "Before they do."

"Before who does? What are you talking about?"

His eyes started to flutter. He was losing consciousness. I pressed harder on the wound and looked up at the guys. "We need to get him to the clinic now. He's losing too much blood."

"Neah, we don't know who this is. We can't just bring a stranger into the pack." Miles was right but I didn't care.

"He'll die if we leave him here."

"She's right," Theo said, already moving forward. "We bring him in, patch him up, restrain him, and figure out who he is when he's conscious enough to answer questions. Shane, grab his legs. Miles, take his shoulders. Neah, keep pressure on that wound."

We moved fast. The guys carried him like he weighed nothing even though he was easily the biggest wolf I had ever seen outside of Alpha Marcus. I kept pace beside them, my hands pressed against his back, his blood soaking through my jacket and onto my skin.

His fingers were still wrapped around my wrist. Even unconscious, he wouldn't let go.

We got him to the clinic and I went to work. Cleaned the wound. Stitched what I could. Applied the herbal compounds my mother taught me that would speed wolf healing. His body was already trying to repair itself but the damage was extensive. Whoever did this wanted him dead.

It took two hours to stabilize him. By the time I finished, my hands were shaking and my shirt was covered in his blood. The guys had taken turns standing guard outside the room. Theo hadn't moved from the doorway the entire time.

"He's stable for now. The healing should kick in by morning if his wolf is strong enough." I washed my hands in the sink and tried not to think about the word Shane had said earlier.

Mate.

It wasn't possible. It couldn't be. I was human.

I turned around to check his IV line one more time and froze. His eyes were open again. Clear this time. Focused. Staring straight at me with an intensity that made the air in the room feel thinner.

"Thank you," he said. His voice was still rough but stronger now.

"You can thank me by telling me who you are and why you know my name."

He was quiet for a long moment. Then he tried to sit up, winced hard, and let out a breath through his teeth.

"My name is Liam. Liam Ashford."

The room went dead silent. Even Theo shifted behind me. I knew that name. Everyone in every pack within five territories knew that name.

Liam Ashford. Alpha of the Shadow Peak Pack. The youngest Alpha to ever build a billion dollar empire. The most feared wolf of his generation.

And he was lying in my clinic, holding my wrist, calling me his mate.

"That's not possible," I whispered.

His dark blue eyes didn't waver. "There's something else you need to know. The wolves who did this to me are coming. And they're not coming for me."

He looked past me toward the window where the moonlight cut through the blinds.

"They're coming for you."