Chapter 1: Blood and Fire

The second our skin touched I knew I was dead.

Smoke choked my lungs as I ran through the burning village. My bare feet slapped across hot ash and blood soaked dirt. Flames roared around the wooden houses. Screams cut through the night. I kept my head low and pushed toward the dark trees just beyond the edge of the settlement. Freedom waited there if I could only reach it.

Strong hands grabbed my shoulder and slammed me hard against a thick tree trunk. Pain exploded up my back. I twisted and tried to bite or claw but the man holding me was built like a mountain. I looked up and my stomach dropped.

Aziel Nightbane. The monster himself.

His golden eyes burned down at me with pure hate. Up close he smelled like blood and smoke and something darker that made my wolf stir.

“Who are you running from boy?” he growled. His voice was low and rough like gravel under boots. His grip tightened on my arm hard enough to bruise.

I gasped for air and forced words out even though my throat felt tight. “Please. I am nothing. Just a slave omega. Let me go and I will disappear. You will never see me again I swear it.”

Aziel laughed once. It was a short harsh sound that sent chills down my spine. “You think I came here for slaves? Look at me. Tell me what you feel right now.”

Our eyes locked. The second his fingers brushed the bare skin of my neck something inside me snapped. Heat flooded my whole body. My wolf howled in my head. It was not fear. It was recognition. A bond. Fated. The kind the old stories warned about. I felt his heartbeat sync with mine. His rage. His strength. And something else buried deep that tasted like loneliness.

“No,” I whispered. My voice cracked. “This cannot be real. Not you. Anyone but you.”

Aziel’s face changed for a split second. His golden eyes widened then narrowed into slits. “You feel it too then. The prophecy. The one that says my mate ends me. I have ended every false echo fate sent before you. None were real. This time I make sure.”

I struggled harder and pushed against his chest with everything I had. My hands pressed into the hard muscle there but it was like shoving a stone wall. “Wait. Listen to me. I do not want any part of this. I never asked for a mate especially not the bastard who burns villages for fun. Just let me run. Kill someone else.”

He did not let go. Instead he pressed me harder into the tree bark and dug his fingers into my shoulder. “Someone else? You think this is random boy? I have hunted for years. Every whisper of a possible mate I tracked down. Tell me why your wolf is singing to mine right now. Why does it feel like you belong to me?”

“Because fate is cruel,” I shot back. My words came faster now even as fear clawed at my gut. “I have heard the stories about you Aziel Nightbane. The undying Alpha who leaves nothing but bodies. You do not get to claim me and then decide my end. Let me go. I will not fight you. I never wanted power or prophecies. I just wanted to live quiet.”

Aziel laughed again but this time it sounded bitter. “Quiet? In my world there is no quiet for omegas like you. Look around. Your pack is ash because I needed to find you. Feel that pull? That is the bond locking in. It wants us together. But I will not let it win.”

I could feel it stronger now. His memories flickered at the edge of my mind. Flashes of blood on his hands from old battles. The weight of being alone at the top of his empire. It made my chest ache in a way that had nothing to do with his grip. “You are scared,” I said. I met his stare even as my legs shook. “That is why you do this. Scared of what I might become. What if I am the real one? What if you cannot snap my neck like the others?”

His golden eyes flashed with something raw. Anger. Maybe doubt. “Scared? Of you? A weak little thing like this?” He squeezed my arm tighter and pulled me up so our faces were inches apart. “I have waited too many years to let fate win. I built my pack on blood. I cannot be killed by silver or poison or any magic this world throws. But you? The prophecy says you are the only one who can end me. So I end you first.”

“Please,” I begged. My voice dropped lower as I felt the bond pulse between us like a second heartbeat. “You do not have to be this monster. I see pieces of you through this thing. The loneliness. The betrayals that made you like this. It does not have to be kill or be killed. Let me run. I will hide far away. No one will know.”

Aziel shook his head. His dark hair fell across his forehead. “Hide? No. I have heard those words before. You are different though. Stronger already. I can feel your wolf fighting back.”

He was right. My wolf pushed against my skin wanting to shift and tear into him. But I held it down. Shifting now would only make things worse. “Then why talk so much?” I challenged. I tried to buy time as my mind raced for any escape. “If you are so sure just do it. Stop pretending you care about the why. You came here to destroy. So destroy.”

His hand moved fast and wrapped around my throat. His fingers were rough and calloused from years of war. I grabbed his wrist and tried to pry him off but it was like fighting stone. The bond flared hotter and made my skin burn where we touched.

“Any last words omega?” he asked. His voice was almost calm now which made it worse.

My vision started to blur at the edges. I could barely breathe. Still I forced out the words between gasps. “You are scared. That is why you do this. Scared of what I might become. Scared that maybe I will not die easy. Maybe I will make you feel something real for once.”

Aziel’s eyes flashed again. He leaned even closer. His forehead almost touched mine. “Feel something? I feel nothing but the need to survive. You are a weapon fate sent for me. Nothing more. Tell me your name before I end this.”

“Lior,” I choked out. “Lior Vale. And I hope this bond haunts you after I am gone.”

He squeezed tighter. “Goodbye Lior Vale.”

The pressure built until I heard a sickening crack. Pain like fire shot through my neck and down my spine. My body went limp. I felt myself sliding down the tree trunk. My legs were useless. The world tilted. Flames danced in my blurring vision. I tried to speak one more time but nothing came out. My violet eyes stayed open staring at him as everything went dark. The last thing I saw was Aziel stepping back and wiping my blood off his hands like it was nothing. He turned away like the job was done. Like I was already forgotten.

But then something shifted deep inside me. A faint spark. My wolf did not stay quiet. It pushed back against the dark. Bones started to move. A small sound escaped my throat. A soft gasp that I did not mean to make.

I was not gone. Not yet.