Blood on the Snow

The forest didn’t wake with birdsong that morning. It woke with howls.

From the cabin, Lena heard them echo through the trees—long, low calls that rolled like thunder across the pines. The sound raised every hair on her arms, her bond-mark throbbing in time with the chorus. It wasn’t music. It was war-drum.

When Kade opened the door, the world outside was sharp with cold, dawn light spilling blue over the snow. Wolves already filled the clearing—shifting, snarling, sharpening blades and teeth alike. Their breath steamed in the air, their voices low with anticipation.

Lena pulled her borrowed cloak tighter, trying to look smaller. They hadn’t forgotten what Kade had said last night. Mate. The word still lingered in the air, poisonous for some, sacred for others.

Now, as eyes flicked toward her, Lena saw only division. A few wolves dipped their heads in acknowledgment. More sneered. One spat on the ground.

She forced herself not to flinch.

Kade’s hand landed at the small of her back, a command as much as a comfort. “Stay close.”

She looked up at him, at the scar that slashed through his brow, the wild golden fire in his eyes. “Do I even have a choice?”

His lips curved in something that wasn’t a smile. “Not anymore.”

He led her through the camp, the crowd parting for him. Weapons glinted in the pale light—iron-tipped spears, blades etched with runes, claws already extended. The Blackwood wolves were beautiful and terrifying, a storm wrapped in flesh.

And she was walking into it unarmed.

Mara appeared from the throng, her dark hair braided with wolf teeth, her smile sharp. “Bringing your little lamb to the slaughter, Alpha?”

Kade’s growl vibrated through Lena’s bones. “Careful, Mara.”

But Mara only tilted her head, eyes gleaming. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to pick her bones clean when the shadows are done with her.”

Before Lena could snap back, Kade’s hand tightened at her back, steering her away. His silence was louder than any threat.

At the edge of the clearing, he stopped, crouching in the snow. He scooped up a handful and crushed it between his fingers, his nostrils flaring as he scented the wind.

“They’re near,” he said, more to himself than her.

Lena’s chest tightened. “How can you tell?”

He looked at her then, sharp and unyielding. “Blood leaves a trail.”

A whistle cut through the air. The pack shifted, wolves sliding into formation. Kade’s second-in-command—a broad, ash-furred male named Darius—strode forward, his voice carrying. “Tracks lead east. Fresh. The shadows are moving fast.”

Kade straightened, towering, his presence a force that pulled every eye to him. “We hunt east. We take their heads, burn their bodies, and send Ronan his warning.” His gaze sliced through the crowd. “Leave none alive.”

The pack howled as one.

Lena’s heart hammered. She wanted to scream at them—at him—that she wasn’t part of this, that she hadn’t chosen a war. But the bond pulsed, hot and insistent, dragging her forward as Kade began to move.

They marched.

The snow crunched beneath boots and paws, the forest thickening as they descended into shadow. Lena kept close to Kade, her breath frosting the air, her eyes darting to every movement between the trees. The wolves moved like water, silent despite their numbers, their bodies blending with the dark.

Kade leaned toward her once, his voice brushing her ear. “Watch. Learn. You’ll see what a pack is.”

She wanted to snap that she didn’t want to see, didn’t want to belong. But when the wind shifted, carrying a stench so foul it turned her stomach, the words died.

Rot. Iron. Blood.

The shadows were near.

Darius signaled with a sharp whistle. The pack fanned out, circling.

Through the trees ahead, Lena saw them—wolves, but wrong. Their fur patchy, their eyes milky, their bodies scarred and thin. They slunk low, twitching with hunger and madness. She counted six. No, seven. No—God, more.

Her stomach dropped.

“They’re…” She swallowed. “They’re sick.”

“They’re Ronan’s,” Kade said flatly. “Sick is the point. He feeds them poison. Makes them savage. Makes them his.”

Lena’s throat tightened. “Like weapons.”

“Like monsters,” Kade corrected, his voice low with loathing.

The shadows moved fast, their heads snapping toward the scent of intruders. One let out a shriek that didn’t sound like any wolf should.

And then the snow exploded.

The first wave hit the Blackwood wolves like a storm of teeth and claws. Snarls ripped the silence apart. Blood sprayed across the snow, steaming in the cold.

Kade shoved Lena back against a tree, his body shielding hers as he shifted mid-motion, fur bursting across his skin, bones cracking and reforming in a blur. In seconds, the Alpha wolf stood before her, massive, black as midnight, eyes blazing gold.

He roared, a sound that shook the ground, and hurled himself into the fight.

Lena pressed against the bark, heart hammering, the bond searing through her veins. She couldn’t look away—Kade tearing through shadow wolves like fury incarnate, his fangs ripping, his claws shredding, his body a blur of lethal strength.

The pack fought with terrifying unity—shifting mid-blow, flanking, striking in pairs. But the shadows were endless, and they were mad.

And then one broke through.

A wolf larger than the rest, its muzzle torn and bloodied, its eyes glowing faint white, barreled toward Lena.

She froze, her breath stuck in her throat.

The beast lunged.

The shadow wolf’s weight hit her like a battering ram. Its stench—rot, rust, something sour and wrong—filled her nose as she tumbled into the snow. Its teeth snapped inches from her face, strings of foul saliva dripping onto her cheek.

Lena screamed, throwing her arms up, but she was no match for its strength. The beast pinned her, claws digging through her cloak, snarling, thrashing, insane with bloodlust.

Move, Lena. Move.

She thrashed, kicking at its belly, but the wolf didn’t budge. Its milky eyes locked onto hers, empty and starving. The bond burned, not with Kade’s desire this time, but with something deeper—something primal. A voice inside her that didn’t sound like hers roared Fight.

Her hand brushed against the dagger at her belt—the one Kade had shoved there before leaving the cabin. She hadn’t even noticed she was carrying it.

The wolf lunged for her throat.

With a cry, Lena thrust the blade upward.

Steel met flesh. Hot blood splashed across her hands as the wolf jerked, howling, then collapsed heavy and twitching into the snow.

For a heartbeat, the world went still. Her chest heaved, her pulse thundered, her hands shook around the hilt. She had killed it. She had killed a wolf.

The bond flared white-hot.

Her vision blurred, her ears filled with a ringing, and suddenly she felt him—Kade—in her veins. Not just his rage, but his pride, raw and searing.

Then his voice, ripping through the din.

“LENA!”

She staggered to her feet just as another shadow wolf came at her from the left. Too fast, too close—

But Kade was faster.

He slammed into the beast mid-leap, sending it crashing into a tree. His fangs closed around its throat, tearing it open in one savage snap. Blood sprayed across the snow.

The black wolf whirled, blood dripping from his muzzle, golden eyes burning into her.

She knew what he saw: her wide eyes, her trembling hands still gripping the bloodied dagger. She expected fury—at her recklessness, her weakness. But instead—

He bowed his head.

Just slightly, but enough for her to feel it in her bones. A wolf’s acknowledgment. A claim not just of possession, but recognition.

Before she could catch her breath, more shadows broke from the trees.

The pack closed in, howls splitting the air. Darius ripped through two at once, his blade glinting in the pale light. Mara spun with a spear, her braid whipping, her snarl feral as she drove it through another’s chest.

And Kade—God, Kade was a storm. Every movement was brutal grace, a predator unleashed. He didn’t fight like the others. He fought like he was dancing with death, each kill a promise, each roar a warning.

Lena couldn’t stay still. The bond was fire under her skin, dragging her into the rhythm of the fight. She moved without thinking, darting forward, slashing at a shadow that tried to flank Mara. The blade bit deep. The wolf shrieked and fell.

Mara’s eyes snapped to her, wide with shock. Then, slowly, a feral grin spread across her face.

“Maybe the little lamb’s got teeth after all.”

The battle raged, blood turning the snow crimson. Shadows fell one by one until silence began to creep back through the trees, broken only by the sound of ragged breathing.

Lena stood panting, her dagger slick with gore, her cloak torn and stained. Her body shook, but her heart—her heart thundered with something sharp and electric.

Alive.

She had never felt so alive.

Kade shifted back, his massive wolf form collapsing into human flesh. Naked, bloodstained, his body a map of power and violence, he strode toward her, chest heaving.

“Mine.” The word rumbled from him, guttural, raw. He didn’t care who heard. He didn’t care that the pack stood watching.

Lena opened her mouth—to deny him, to argue, to scream—but nothing came out. Because some traitorous, savage part of her thrilled at it. At being claimed not with chains, but with fire.

Darius wiped his blade clean, surveying the carnage. “Seven down. But this was only a scouting pack.”

The silence that followed was heavy.

Mara broke it, her tone sharp. “Ronan sent them close. Too close. He’s testing us.”

“He’s testing me,” Kade growled, his hand clamping around Lena’s wrist. “He wants what’s mine.”

Lena jerked against his grip, fury sparking even through her exhaustion. “I’m not yours—”

His head snapped toward her, eyes blazing. “You carry my mark. You bled for me. You killed with me. You are mine.”

The pack stirred, restless, their whispers carrying through the clearing. Some approving. Some doubtful. Some already calculating.

Darius cleared his throat. “The council will demand to see her.”

Kade’s jaw flexed. “Then they’ll see. And they’ll understand what happens when anyone—wolf or shadow—threatens my mate.”

Lena’s stomach twisted. The word—mate—rolled through her like thunder. She didn’t want it. She didn’t choose it. But the bond pulsed, deep and unrelenting, and a terrible truth rooted itself in her chest.

She wasn’t running anymore. Not really. Not from this. Not from him.

Snow crunched underfoot as the pack began to move, dragging bodies, burning them in pyres that stank of smoke and charred flesh. Shadows consumed by fire.

Lena stood amid it all, blood still tacky on her hands, and wondered which was worse—dying at the fangs of monsters, or living at the mercy of the Alpha whose bite had already changed everything.

Kade came to stand beside her, close enough that his heat seeped into her bones. His voice was low, meant for her alone.

“This was only the beginning.”

She didn’t look at him. She couldn’t. The bond seared her, dragging her gaze down to the blood on her palms.

But in her chest, against her will, a dangerous truth whispered back.

And some part of me wants more.