chapter 6

The walk back from the clinic was really long for Rose.

The cold night air cut through her jacket. Her skin felt really hot. Her mind was a mess of images: flesh fixing itself, claws ripping through skin, a man's jaw opening wide on the clinic table. The people who lived in the woods. The Nightroot Pack.

Her aunt's words kept repeating in her head like a song, keeping rhythm with the sound of her sneakers on the road. The forest was next to her, a big wall of dark trees under the cold moon.

After that loud wolf howl echoed through the clinic window, the woods felt alive, like lots of eyes were watching her. She kept her head down, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, almost running until she finally reached the porch of her aunt's house.

With shaky hands, she put the key in the lock, turned it, and slipped inside, slamming the heavy door shut behind her. She locked the deadbolt with a click, leaning her back against the solid wood as she finally let out a deep breath.

The house was really dark. The shadows were long and deep down the hallway. As Rose stood there trying to calm her racing heart, she realized something was wrong. The air inside the house didn't smell like her aunt's cooking anymore. It didn't smell like wood or the soap she used on her sheets.

The air was thick, suffocating, and heavy with the smell of rain, crushed pine needles, and a big storm coming. Rose froze, her whole body locking into place. Her brain quickly recognized the scent. It was the smell that had filled the grocery store the day before. The scent of Alpha Ace.

"Aunt Mira?" she called out, her voice shaking a little.

She already knew her aunt wasn't there.

The silence that answered her was scary, like something was waiting.

Her heart was racing like a speeding car.

Reaching out with one hand, she flipped the light switch on the wall.

Nothing happened.

The hallway was still really dark.

She flipped it up and down a few times, feeling a spike of panic as she realized the power was out.

Had he cut the fuse?

Had he trapped her in the dark?

Slowly, Rose looked toward the living room.

A pale beam of moonlight cut through the window, illuminating the center of the room.

There, sitting on her sofa, was a big dark shape.

Ace.

He didn't move at first.

He sat with his arms stretched across the back of the couch, his broad shoulders making the small room feel even smaller. His dark leather jacket shone a little in the moonlight.

Even in the shadows, Rose could feel his piercing gaze on her.

As she stood frozen by the door, Ace slowly stood up.

The movement was smooth, silent, and really scary, the movement of a predator that knew its prey had nowhere to run.

He stepped into the moonlight, his rugged features sharp, his dark hair a little damp from the mist outside.

"You're late," Ace said.

His voice was really low, a vibration that rattled inside Rose's chest.

Rose swallowed hard, forcing herself to stiffen up. She refused to drop to her knees. She refused to show him how much she was shaking.

"What are you doing in my house?" she demanded, her voice dropping into a firm tone. "How did you get in here?"

Ace didn't make an excuse. He didn't lie.

He simply took a step forward, his heavy boots clicking quietly on the floor.

"I go where I want in Nightroot," he said calmly, his eyes never leaving hers. "Right now, I am here because of you."

"I don't have anything for you," Rose said, pressing herself harder against the door. "If this is about the clinic..."

"This has nothing to do with the clinic," Ace interrupted, his voice dropping lower as he took another step closer.

"You have been a distraction since the second you stepped into my town," Ace growled low.

"A normal human girl would be on her knees, shaking in fear after what she saw today. A normal outsider would have packed her bags and run.

"You...

"You stand there.

"You look at me like you have a right to defy me."

He tilted his head, his ringed eyes searching her face with an intensity that felt really violating.

"My wolf has been pacing the borders since yesterday because of you. There is something about you that doesn't make sense, Rose.

"Tell me the truth.

"What are you hiding from me?"

"I'm not hiding anything!" Rose gasped. "I'm a student. I came here to help my aunt. That's it!"

"Lie," Ace whispered.

Before she could blink, his large hand shot out, his fingers wrapping around her jaw. His thumb pressed firmly against her skin, right over her pulse.

The exact second his bare skin touched hers, a violent surge of heat flared beneath Rose's skin.

It wasn't a human reaction.

It felt like a current of electricity detonated in her veins, a sudden primal fire that rushed from her jaw straight down to her fingertips.

Her dormant hybrid blood, the secret hiding in her blood that wasn't supposed to wake up until her twentieth birthday, gave a sudden, violent spark, responding directly to his dominant Alpha presence.

Ace's eyes widened, the rings in his irises flashing with sudden brilliance in the dark.

He let out a rough growl deep in his chest.

He felt it too.

His grip on her jaw tightened instinctively.

Slowly, deliberately, Ace released her jaw.

He didn't step back.

He let his hand fall, his dark gaze tracking the way she trembled against the door.

He leaned down, his lips brushing close to her ear.

"Your aunt thinks her blood protects you in this town, Rose," Ace murmured. "Let me make one thing clear."

He pulled back enough to look into her defiant eyes one last time.

"Mira cannot protect you from me.

"I own every tree in this forest.

"I own every soul in this town.

"Before the month is out...

"I will own you."

Without waiting for her to reply, Ace turned on his heel.

He walked toward the open window.

With one powerful movement, he vanished into the misty, rain-slicked night, leaving Rose completely alone in the suffocating silence of the dark house, her skin still burning from his touch.