chapter 7

Rose stood in front of the bathroom mirror, the faucet running on high. She splashed freezing water onto her face, her hands shaking as she grabbed the bar of soap. She rubbed it against her palms and began scrubbing her jaw and her wrists. She scrubbed hard, her skin turning a dark, raw red under the bright bathroom light.

But it didn't matter how much soap she used. When she leaned close to the mirror, she could still smell it. It was faint to her human nose, but it was there, the unmistakable, heavy scent of fresh rain, pine needles, and an approaching storm.

Ace's scent.

It was glued to her skin from where his large fingers had pinned her against the door the night before.

She let out a shaky breath, looking at her reflection. She was nineteen, completely out of her depth, and her skin still felt like it was burning from that electric current.

She pulled the high collar of her denim jacket up, trying to hide the red marks on her neck where his thumb had pressed against her pulse.

When she walked downstairs into the kitchen, the power was back on.

The refrigerator hummed quietly, and the lights were bright.

Mira was sitting at the table, a mug of coffee in her hands. She looked tired, her eyes fixed on the window.

As Rose walked past her to grab her bag, Mira's shoulders suddenly went stiff.

Her nose twitched.

Mira dropped her coffee mug.

It hit the wooden table with a loud clatter, brown liquid splashing over the rim.

Mira stood up so fast her chair screeched against the floorboards.

Her face went completely pale, her eyes wide with absolute fear.

"He was here," Mira whispered, her voice cracking as she stepped closer to Rose. Her nose twitched again, inhaling the air around her niece.

"Ace was in this house last night."

Rose froze, her grip tightening on her bag.

She didn't want to tell her aunt about the electric spark. She didn't want to admit how her blood had vibrated when he touched her.

"He came to warn me," Rose said quickly, forcing her voice to stay steady. "He cut the fuses. He told me that you couldn't protect me, and then he left through the window. That's it."

"He touched you," Mira said, her hands trembling as she looked at Rose's covered neck.

"Rose, you don't understand. His scent is all over you. A human shouldn't be able to carry an Alpha's mark like this without getting sick. Why did he mark your skin?"

"I don't know!" Rose snapped, her own frustration bubbling over.

"He's crazy, Aunt Mira. I'm going to the clinic. I need to work."

Before Mira could stop her, Rose turned on her heel and pushed through the front door, eager to escape the heavy, suffocating questions in the kitchen.

The walk to the clinic was a blur. The morning sun was out, but it didn't feel warm. Rose kept her head down, her sneakers clicking quickly against the road, her mind racing.

The second she pushed open the heavy wooden doors of the Community Clinic, the entire building went dead silent.

The buzzing chaos from the day before was completely gone.

The narrow lobby was packed with patients and staff, but the moment the bell above the door chimed, every single head snapped toward her.

Conversations stopped instantly.

People froze mid-step.

Rose slowed down, her instincts kicking in as she felt the shift in the room.

The wolves in the lobby didn't just look at her; they were staring at her like she was a ghost.

She saw their noses twitching, inhaling deeply.

To her, Ace's scent was faint.

But to the sharp, predatory senses of the Nightroot Pack, Rose smelled like she had been completely claimed by their Alpha.

The woman at the reception desk stood up slowly, her hands shaking against the wooden counter.

She bowed her head slightly, her eyes darting to the floor in total submission.

Rose frowned, her spine stiffening.

It wasn't respect for her.

It was terrifying fear of the monster who had left his scent on her skin.

The patients in the chairs shrank back into the corners of the room, clearing a wide, empty path for her as if she were carrying a deadly disease.

"What is wrong with everyone?" Rose muttered under her breath, walking quickly toward the back corridor to escape the staring eyes.

Before she could reach the double doors, a sharp clicking sound echoed from the side hallway.

A tall girl stepped out, blocking Rose's path.

It was Tanya.

Her long, dark hair was pulled back, her eyes sharp and predatory as she stared at Rose.

But the moment Tanya took a breath, her expression turned into something vicious and wild.

Tanya smelled it instantly.

The heavy rain-and-storm scent of Alpha Ace was practically radiating off Rose's jacket.

"You little bitch," Tanya hissed, her voice a low, venomous growl that made the nearby patients flinch.

She stepped directly into Rose's space, her chest heaving with jealousy.

"What did you do?"

Rose didn't back down.

She stood her ground, her jaw tight.

"Get out of my way, Tanya. I have work to do."

"You think you can come into our town and touch what belongs to the pack... to me?" Tanya whispered, her eyes flashing a dangerous, feral yellow.

She cornered Rose against the stone wall of the corridor, her breathing ragged.

"Ace boasts to everyone that he doesn't need a mate. He doesn't want a weakness. Especially not a weak, pathetic human outsider like you."

Tanya reached out, her fingers curling.

Right before Rose's eyes, sharp, thick claws began to slide out from Tanya's fingernails, gleaming under the fluorescent lights.

"A human could never hold the Alpha's mark," Tanya growled, raising her hand, her claws aimed straight for Rose's face. "Let's see how long his scent stays on you when I rip your skin off."

Rose tensed, her heart hammering against her ribs as she prepared to dodge the strike.

But before Tanya's claws could even touch her, the front doors of the clinic flew open with a violent, crashing boom.

The heavy wood slammed against the walls so hard the glass shattered, raining tiny shards onto the tile floor.

The temperature in the lobby dropped instantly, turning the air freezing cold.

A massive, suffocating wave of fresh rain, crushed pine, and a roaring storm flooded the entire clinic, ten times stronger than before.

Ace stood in the shattered doorway.

He didn't look like a man right now.

His broad shoulders were tense, his leather jacket open, and his eyes were completely gone, replaced by a blazing, molten gold that radiated pure, unadulterated fury.

The entire clinic dropped to their knees instantly, the sound of bodies hitting the floor echoing through the silence.

Even Tanya froze, her claws shaking as the dominant, terrifying power of the Alpha locked her into place.

Ace didn't look at the pack.

His golden eyes locked straight onto Rose, his chest heaving as his wolf roared inside his mind, furious that another predator was touching what belonged to him.