CHAPTER 2 — “The Alpha in the Dark”

Aeris nearly couldn’t breathe.

His chest burned with each breath. The dark trees reached for him, branches slicing his skin, roots trying to trip him.

He fell hard onto the cold ground. Tried to get up. Fell again.

Blood dripped from his cuts, leaving a red trail on the dirt.

“Keep going,” he whispered, voice low.

But his legs gave out. He crashed face-first into the earth.

He tried to push himself up, but his arms wouldn’t move.

Maybe this was the end. Alone, far from his pack, dying in the woods.

Maybe it was better like this. No one would spit on his body here.

His sight blurred. The pain faded, replaced by the cold heaviness.

And then he felt it.

A huge presence, close.

The air around him thickened. Heavy footsteps, slow and strong, moved toward him.

A shape moved through the trees,too big for a man, but too smooth for an animal.

The shadow stopped. A man stepped into the clearing.

Not just a man.

Power flowed from him like heat from a fire. It pressed on Aeris, making it hard to breathe.

The man paused a few feet away. His face was hidden in the shadows.

“You’re bleeding out,” his voice was low and sharp.

Aeris tried to speak, but no sound came.

“You’re on my land,” the man said, crouching but not close. “Do you know whose territory this is?”

Aeris shook his head weakly. The world spun around him.

“The Seven Territories. My land.”

Fear hit Aeris, colder than the ground.

Everyone knew the Seven Territories. It was ruled by Killian, the Alpha who showed no mercy. Stories said he killed whole packs with his bare hands. His wolf was dark, strange, and wild.

“I’m sorry,” Aeris gasped. “I didn’t know. I’ll leave, I swear.”

“You can’t even stand,” the man said.

It was true. His body was done.

Killian moved closer. His scent hit Aeris,pine, ash, and something fierce, dangerous.

“Who did this?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Aeris whispered.

“It does to me,” Killian said, eyes glowing in the moonlight, not fully human, not quite wolf. “Tell me.”

“My pack. Bloodfang.”

“They hurt you and threw you away?”

Aeris nodded, shame stabbing him deeper than the pain.

Killian froze. “Bloodfang?”

He waited, expecting Killian to finish him. To kill him.

But Killian did something different.

“Don’t touch me,” Aeris begged, flinching. “I’m cursed. Everyone says so.”

Killian grabbed his wrist sharply.

A sudden burst of light, warmth, exploded inside Aeris’s head.

The cold disappeared. Something inside him pulled tight, as if a thread connected him to Killian.

Killian jerked his hand back like he’d been burned. His eyes widened with shock.

“No,” he whispered. “That’s not possible.”

The pull got stronger. It hurt, but it also felt right, like a piece falling into place.

“What did you do?” Killian’s voice shook.

“Nothing! I didn’t do anything!”

“You…” Killian stared at him. “You don’t even have a scent.”

Aeris knew. Every day he remembered.

“I’m broken,” he said. “I’m”

“Mate.”

The word hit the night with silence.

Aeris froze. “What?”

“You’re my mate,” Killian said, like he was accusing him.

“That can’t be. I don’t have a wolf.”

“I felt it.” Killian’s eyes glow brighter. “The bond. It’s real.”

No broken thing got a mate. No broken thing led an Alpha.

“You’re wrong,” Aeris whispered.

Killian reached out slowly, brushing his bruised cheek.

Suddenly, the bond flared hot and bright.

Pain from Killian’s touch faded. The swelling near his eye shrank. The cut on his lip eased.

Killian pulled back, staring at his hand like it betrayed him.

“Your wounds,” he said softly. “They’re healing.”

Aeris touched his face. His skin was smoother, still sore, but better.

“How?”

“I don’t know,” Killian said quickly. “Mates shouldn’t heal from a touch. It doesn’t work like that.”

But they both knew it had.

Killian’s wolf eyes appeared near the surface. He growled softly, fierce and dark.

“My wolf wants to kill everyone who hurt you,” he said, full of anger.

“No,” Aeris begged. “Please. They’re not worth it.”

“Not worth it?” Killian’s voice lowered, dangerous. “They tortured you. Left you to die.”

“They punished me. For being broken.”

“You’re not broken,” Killian said sharply. “You are mine.”

Aeris felt scared but also strangely safe.

No one claimed him before.

Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe a trick.

But for now, he belonged to someone.

Killian knelt down again. His arms slid around Aeris,one behind his back, one under his legs.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking you home.”

“I have no home.”

“You do now.” Killian lifted him easily, like he was light.

“But I”

“No arguing.” Killian’s glowing eyes held him tight. “You’re my mate. I’ll protect you. Anyone who hurts you will answer to me.”

The bond grew stronger in Aeris’s chest, binding his heartbeat.

Killian didn’t know the shadow Aeris carried,how he ruined everything he touched.

But he would learn. Everyone did.

For now, in strong, gentle arms, Aeris stayed silent.

Killian rose, steady and sure.

“Who hurt my mate?” he asked softly, with deadly promise. “Tell me their names.”

Aeris opened his mouth, but darkness swallowed him whole.

The last thing he felt was Killian pulling him close and their new bond pulsing warm inside his chest.