CHAPTER 5

Killian

Before I could even react, Tiffanie’s face twisted with a flash of raw, agonizing pain. She tore away from me and bolted out of the hall doors like the hounds of hell were chasing her.

I moved to follow, instincts roaring to life, but Finn, my foolish nephew, stepped directly into my path. He grabbed my wrist.

I shot him a glare so cold it could freeze blood. He dropped my hand instantly, as if burned.

“I’ve made my decision, Uncle,” Finn said, voice laced with defiance and arrogance. “Liora is the one I want. There’s nothing you can do to stop it. Besides, her wolf is a white wolf. Powerful. They say white wolves heighten an Alpha’s strength. Even for a Lycan like you. Her power would benefit me greatly.”

I turned slowly to Liora, who was clinging to Finn’s arm like a vine. I studied her. The too-sweet smile, the sickly perfume that masked something rotten underneath, the way she tried so hard to look innocent and delicate. Fake. Everything about her screamed fake.

She was nothing compared to the woman who had just fled.

I hadn’t sensed a wolf in Tiffanie earlier, yet the raw, blinding power that wafted off her had nearly knocked me off balance. I could still remember the first time she collided with me in her father’s office. Those wide, shocked eyes, her unexpected beauty, and the strange absence of any scent that should have marked her as ordinary. Human or wolf, she was anything but ordinary. I hadn’t known then that she was the Beta’s daughter. But seeing her here tonight, cowering in terror while they tried to break her, something primal in me had wanted to unleash hell on every single one of them.

If she truly had no wolf, she was vulnerable. Any rogue could find her. Tear her apart.

I owed her father nothing. In fact, letting his daughter die might even settle old scores. But the mere idea of Tiffanie in pain made my wolf snarl in pure horror, clawing at my insides to get out.

“She could be our mate, Killian. We have to find her”, my wolf, Loki, growled inside my head. 

“She is not our mate," I growled back at my wolf silently. “I am misinterpreting this. It is only guilt and duty.”

I finally looked back at Finn, my face carefully blank. “You have no idea what you just lost.”

Without another word, I sprinted out of the hall and into the night.

Her faint lavender scent lingered in the air, but it was weak. Too weak. I shifted mid-stride, bones cracking and reforming as my massive black wolf tore through the trees. The forest blurred around me. Her scent grew stronger the deeper I went, but she had run far too deep.

I skidded into a small clearing, paws digging into the soft earth. There, scattered on the ground, were the shredded remains of her dress.

A low, dangerous growl ripped from my throat. Fear and fury clouded my vision. Had rogues found her already? Had they taken her to tear her apart?

“Threat! I can smell her fear here,” my wolf warned sharply.

“No,” I snarled back, sniffing the air frantically. “If they had taken her, she wouldn’t be dead yet. I can still smell her. She is alive. She has to be.”

I pushed forward, but her scent suddenly scattered everywhere. Looping, confusing, impossible to track cleanly. I stopped, hackles raised.

“Damn it. This feels like a trap,” I growled under my breath, ears twitching at every shadow. “My enemies could be using her scent to lure me in. Draw me out alone and strike.”

I was seconds away from turning back and sending my warriors to search the neighboring packs when a tiny, painful moan pierced the night.

A strong, intoxicating scent slammed into me. Flowers, sweetness, and raw, desperate arousal. It nearly brought me to my knees. My wolf howled inside my head.

My head snapped to the right. There, by the edge of a large lake atop a small cliff, was Tiffanie.

She was curled into a tight ball on the ground, sobbing. Her skin pulsed with visible waves of heat, long swells rippling across her body.

It could not be.

The curvy girl was in heat. Full, devastating heat. I could smell her wolf now. Strong, awakened. And the slick sweetness of her arousal cutting through the night air.

I forced my wolf back under control, shifting quickly into human form as I approached. My clothes reformed around me in the way of our kind.

“Tiffanie,” I said, voice low and tense. “What is going on? Talk to me.”

“Leave me!” she cried, fear and apprehension dancing wildly in her beautiful eyes. Yet even as she spoke, her body leaned toward me, trembling. She folded her arms tightly over her bare chest, trying desperately to hide her nakedness as another wave of pain wracked her. “Please. Just go away.”

Another brutal wave of heat hit her. Her eyes rolled back, a sharp gasp escaping her lips. Before I could react, she lunged forward and jumped on me, her heated body pressing flush against mine. Her nipples hardened against my chest through the thin fabric of my shirt. Her hands clutched desperately at my shoulders.

“Please,” she begged, voice breaking with raw need and pain. “Make it stop. It is burning me inside. I can’t. Please, do whatever it takes. Just make it stop!”

I could feel the dangerous truth settling in my bones. This was not a normal seasonal heat. This was her first heat after turning. Wild, uncontrollable. If left unchecked, it could kill her.

My own body reacted violently, sparks flying where her warm skin touched mine, my member hardening instantly. I fought for control even as her scent wrapped around me like a drug.

“You have to mate, Tiffanie,” I growled, voice rough. “You need a wolf to take care of this heat, or it will destroy you.”