Too late

Zara's world began to spin. King Draven had just called her by her name; how on earth did he know her name? Scratch that, what was it he had said last before her ears began to ring and her heart began to race faster in her chest?!

She didn't think she had heard him right, her wolf was growling so loudly that she found it hard to process any further words that had emanated from Draven's mouth.

And then, the tingling sensation hit her nose, the familiar scent she had always dreaded and wished she would never get the privilege of sensing it again, but here it was, pulling at her heartstrings.

Zara’s breath hitched, her wolf stirring at the undeniable pull of the bond snapping into place. The air between them hummed with raw power, a connection stronger than anything she had ever felt before. But instead of the rejection she expected, Draven didn’t push her away.  

He took a step forward, their bodies almost pressing together.

She had not expected that in the space of one night, she would get rejected and find another mate right after. But she wasn't about to let herself go through the same process again, regardless of his status.

“I don’t have time for this,” Zara said, stepping back instinctively. “If you’ve come to reject me, do it quickly.”  

Draven's lips curled into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “You assume too much.”  

Zara’s brow furrowed. He wasn’t rejecting her?

For the first time in her life, the pain of rejection didn’t come. Instead, Draven reached out, his fingers brushing against her wrist. A jolt of heat shot through her, not just the pull of the mate bond but something deeper, darker.  

“I won’t reject you, Zara,” Draven murmured. “But I won’t mark you either.”  

Zara stilled, her mind struggling to comprehend his words.  

“Why?” she asked, voice quieter than she intended.  

Draven's expression darkened, his gaze flickering with something she couldn’t place. “Because if I do, you’ll die.”  

Zara's eyes widened at his words. "Die?!" She exclaimed.

"Can you not sense the curse around you, Zara." He said in a soft voice that made Zara's stomach churn both from the texture of his voice and what he was revealing to her.

"And besides, Zara, you know you were not supposed to be here. My men are right over there... hunting." He said, pointing into the distance.

"I'm not quite disappointed that the scent of the mating bond has led me to you, Zara, but you need to head home right now!" He ordered her and led her into the direction from Where she had come.

He stroked her chin lightly before he turned and headed in the opposite direction.

******

"You're back already?!" Denice couldn't help but voice out her surprise when she saw Zara walk in through the door.

"I changed my mind. I think I'd prefer to sleep over it instead." Zara replied and collapsed into her bed.

She lay awake that night, staring at the ceiling of her cabin while Draven's words replayed in her mind. Why would marking her kill her? she had thought.

A chill crept through her body, and for the first time, she thought of her past rejections not as a string of bad luck—but as a pattern.

A pattern that made no sense.  

Sitting up, she reached for her phone and scrolled through old messages from the mates who had cast her aside. But as she searched, she realized something that made her blood run cold.  

There were recent reports of wolves disappearing without a trace and every single effort to find them was futile. It had been posted just a few hours ago that a couple more wolves had disappeared that evening and Alpha Kieran was among them.

Zara sat up in bed and wiped her eyes. She began doing some more research; all of her other mates who had rejected her had also disappeared mysteriously.

Six rejections. Six mates. Six disappearances.

A sharp knock on her window sent her heart into a frantic rhythm. Zara spun, eyes narrowing as a hooded figure stood outside in the shadows.  

Her gaze fell on Denice who was still fast asleep on her bed.

Cautiously, Zara stood and went to unlatch the window. The scent of earth and musk filled her senses as she did, it was a rogue.  

“You’re in danger,” the man rasped, his voice barely audible over the night breeze. “Your bond with Kael isn’t a blessing. It’s a trap.”  

Zara stiffened. “Who are you?”  

The rogue’s gaze darted around, fear flashing in his eyes. “The others—they didn’t just reject you. They were erased.”  

A chill ran down her spine. “What do you mean?”  

“They were never meant to claim you,” he whispered urgently. “Neither is the King. Someone—something—is using you, and if you don’t leave now, you’ll be next.”  

Before she could demand more answers, the rogue’s body convulsed, his eyes going wide with terror. A strangled gasp left his lips before he dropped to the ground, a dagger buried in his back.

Zara stumbled away, her breath catching as Draven emerged from the shadows, his obsidian eyes glowing in the moonlight.  

His hands were clenched into fists and his body rigid. But there was something wrong with him. His muscles tensed unnaturally, his breaths came in ragged gasps. His wolf was fighting for control.

“Dra.... Draven?” she whispered, "What...what are you doing here, how did you know where I lived?!"

His head snapped toward her, and for the first time, she wasn’t sure if he truly recognized her.

“I—” His voice was raw, guttural as if he were in pain. His eyes flickered from black to molten gold, his fingers twitching at his sides.  

Then, with a growl that shook the night, Draven dropped to his knees, gripping his head as if he were battling something unseen.  

Zara rushed to him, but before she could reach him, a deep, inhuman voice that didn't seem to belong to him, growled from his lips.  

"It’s too late."

Zara froze, her blood running ice-cold.  

Draven lifted his head, his gaze locking onto hers with an intensity that made her heart hammer against her ribs.  

Something—or someone—was inside him. And it wanted her dead.