Mine

Aria POV

My chest heaved like it was trying to break free from my ribs. Every breath burned, shallow and frantic. What was he going to do to me? Kill me? Tear me apart like the rogues almost did?

I’d heard the stories—everyone had. The Lycan King, the ruthless shadow who ruled above all werewolves, untouchable, unchallenged, unstoppable. Mothers used his name to scare pups into obedience. And now, out of every cursed soul in this forest… I had crossed paths with him.

I bit down on my trembling lower lip, scrambling upright on shaky legs. My head bowed instinctively, as if that would somehow soften the blow of his wrath.

Darius might have humiliated me, cast me out, and left me for dead—but at least death by his hand would’ve been predictable. This? This was a nightmare written by the Moon Goddess herself.

“I—I must have… crossed the wrong path,” I stammered, voice cracking like dry glass. My feet shuffled backward on their own, slow and desperate. “I’m sorry. I’ll just… I’ll just take my leave.”

Against my better judgment, I forced myself to look up. To meet him.

And there he stood—silver eyes burning holes straight through me, face carved from stone, expression unreadable. He didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He simply stared.

My stomach dropped. My heart stopped.

That’s it. I’m dead.

Tonight was supposed to be simple. A run. A damn breath of freedom beneath the cursed moon. Few of my guards and Lucian followed as always, silent at my back, and for a while I almost fooled myself into thinking the night would be mine.

Until I felt it.

That shift in the air—wrong, invasive. Someone dared cross my territory. I tracked it down easily enough, my sight cutting through the forest until I saw the scene unfold.

Rogues. Cowards. Circling prey.

But it wasn’t the rogues that caught me. It was her.

Small. Bleeding. Broken. And yet… fighting. Laughing at her own death. Defiant to her last breath.

I stepped in, and the rogues scattered like leaves in a storm. My presence was enough—always enough. But she didn’t run. She didn’t even drop to her knees the way most do when they see me.

She looked at me.

And that’s when it hit.

A pull so violent it nearly staggered me. A thread snapping tight from her chest to mine. The mate bond.

I froze. No. No, this couldn’t be. The Moon Goddess wouldn’t dare bind me to anyone—not after the curse. Not after what I’ve done. Not when my touch is nothing but death.

But the bond thrummed, alive, undeniable.

She’s mine. My mate.

And because of it, she’s already doomed.

And as well, she’s mine to protect.

I turned to leave. That was the smart thing—the only thing. Walk away. Pretend this bond never snapped into place. Pretend she wasn’t standing there looking at me with those wide, terrified eyes.

But the pull was a chain dragging me back, link by link, until it wrapped tight around my throat. My wolf surged beneath my skin, snarling, demanding, howling for me to claim what was ours. I clenched my jaw so hard it ached. I’d resisted many things—bloodlust, power, even war—but this? This was undoing me in seconds.

Lucian, sharp-eyed as always, caught the shift in my stance. His hand hovered near his blade out of habit, but his voice was cautious when he spoke.

“Do you want to ignore it, my king? It’s been centuries since you’ve—”

“Enough.” My voice cut through the night like a blade, and his mouth snapped shut. But the question still clawed at my insides. Ignore it? As if I could. So I moved toward her. Slowly. Deliberately. Predatory.

Every step I took had her shrinking back further into herself. Her shoulders trembled, her breaths came uneven, and yet—she refused to look at me. Those stubborn eyes darted to the trees, to the ground, anywhere but mine, as though she thought denying my gaze could somehow sever the bond that already chained her soul to mine.

It almost made me laugh. The arrogance of it. My mate, already trying to defy me.

But there was something about it—her refusal, her trembling stubbornness—that amused me. That tempted me. My lips curled, though I held the sound of laughter deep in my chest where she couldn’t hear.

“Let me go,” she whispered suddenly, her voice fragile, almost breaking. “Please… I promise you’ll never see me again.”

Live without my mate? The thought hissed through me like venom, bitter and sharp. My wolf snarled at the very idea. No. Impossible. The bond was iron; it would never rust, never snap. She was mine, whether she understood it yet or not.

I stepped back, let her think—just for one fragile heartbeat—that I might grant her mercy. Her shoulders loosened, relief flickering across her face. Foolish. My gaze flicked to Lucian, my voice low but unyielding.

“Take her to the fortress.”

Her gasp shattered that false hope. Sharp. Horrified. She shook her head so violently her hair whipped into her face.

“No! I’d rather die out here, let the rogues rip me apart—than suffer again!”

I tilted my head, studying her as though she were some curious little puzzle.

Suffer?

Brave little thing, wasn’t she? Brave… but foolish.

And then she moved, frantic and desperate. She didn’t see the edge until her heel struck loose gravel. One step more and she would’ve plummeted straight into the abyss.

But I was faster.

In a single blur, I closed the distance. My hand shot out, just in time to wrap around her waist. I yanked her back, her small frame slamming into my chest with a force that drove the air from her lungs.

Her breath came in shallow, ragged gasps. I could feel her heartbeat hammering wildly against my chest, a frantic rhythm that only fed the primal hunger tearing at me from within.

Her face tilted up when I pressed a single finger beneath her chin, lifting her head so her gaze had nowhere to run. Her eyes shimmered with fear, unshed tears trembling at the edges.

“No,” she pleaded, her voice breaking like glass. “Please. Don’t do this.”

Her pleas meant nothing. Not when her scent had already sunk into my lungs, coiling around me like a drug. Not when the bond burned through my veins like wildfire, scorching everything I’d built to ashes.

My eyes burned silver as I bent lower, my words searing against the space between us, low, rough, final:

“You’re mine now, little wolf. And I’ll burn this world to ash before I let you go.”

Aria’s POV

Mate?

The word rattled in my skull like broken glass. My mate? Again? No—impossible. The Moon Goddess had already mocked me once tonight, hadn’t she? She gave me to Darius only to have him tear me apart before my pack. And now this towering stranger with silver eyes, this monster who made even rogues scatter like ash, was claiming me?

My knees buckled. The world tilted, heavy, blurry. My body was too weak to hold itself up anymore, the rejection had already stripped me raw. Before I hit the ground, strong arms swept me up—hard, unyielding, steady.

I wanted to scream. To fight. To demand an explanation. But no sound left my lips. Only a shiver. My head pressed against a chest that thrummed with power, and my eyelids betrayed me, lowering against my will.

Still, I heard his voice. Low. Dangerous. Mine.

And then I was gone.

When I came to, the world was different.

Stone walls. Ancient, dark, alive with history. Torches burned in sconces carved with runes I couldn’t read, glowing faintly like they whispered secrets only Lycans knew. The fortress stretched endlessly—arches high enough to swallow the sky, staircases spiraling like they led straight to hell.

This was nothing like Bloodfang’s crude wooden halls. This wasn’t a pack house. This was a kingdom.

And I… I didn’t belong here.

Two guards flanked me as I was guided down the corridors, their armor etched with markings that radiated power. Lycans. Real Lycans. Not stories told to scare pups. They were massive, their mere presence heavier than any Alpha’s aura I had ever felt. I tried not to stare, but their gazes cut me apart anyway.

Whispers followed me everywhere I stepped.

“She won’t last the week.”

“Another one? Poor thing.”

“Fragile little wolf. She’ll break.”

I hugged myself tighter, each word sinking like a blade. What did they mean? Last the week? Was this some kind of trial? Was I nothing but a joke here too?

My vision blurred. My head grew heavy. My chest ached with every breath. I could barely process the stone halls or the cruel stares when my legs finally gave way.

I crumpled to the floor, my body too spent to fight anymore. The last thing I saw was the shadow of him—Raiden—the Lycan King, standing above me like a storm waiting to break.

And then… black.