Chapter 5

Theron's POV

I found her covered in bruises.

Cuts scored her arms. A welt darkened her jaw. Dried blood caked her temple. Someone had worked her over good.

My wolf, Fenrir, snarled inside my chest. The bloodlust hit like a fever — hot, sudden, patient. I wanted to find whoever did this. I wanted to take them apart.

"Who hurt you?" I asked.

"You should ask who didn't." She smiled, but it was the wrong kind. Bitter. Tired.

I didn't like this version of her. Yesterday she'd been something else — bright, stubborn, blushing when she changed my bandages. Now a sadness clung to her like smoke. It soaked into the air between us.

I didn't like it at all.

"Where's Lily?" she asked.

"A woman named Greta took her in. They know each other well. Don't worry."

She relaxed, just a fraction. Her shoulders dropped half an inch.

"Now," I said. "Tell me what's going on with you."

Ella took a breath. "Fine. I'm drowning. My parents died recently, and someone branded them traitors. No proof, no trial — just a label. And me? I'm a female wolf with no father and no mate. That makes me expendable. The pack plans to cast me out."

She met my eyes. "Which means I can't protect you anymore. You should leave. Tonight."

What kind of law allowed an alpha to throw out a girl and her sister? What kind of pack stood by and watched?

"Don't worry about me," I said. "What's your plan?"

Ella's voice went flat. "I lied. Told them I already had a mate. But they're coming to inspect tomorrow — bringing people to verify."

"And when they show up?"

"I'll grab someone from the butcher's shop. A worker. Anyone. Pay them to pretend for a day."

I almost laughed. She had nerve, this one.

"Found anyone yet?" I asked.

"Not yet. I'll go soon."

Something twisted in my gut. I didn't want her near any man. The thought hit before I could stop it — raw, possessive, irrational. A growl rumbled out of my chest before I could swallow it.

Ella flinched.

I hadn't meant to scare her. My wolf was too strong for this — too loud, too close to the surface. I pressed him down.

"Is it your wound?" She stepped toward me, already reaching. "Let me look."

A kind soul. A genuinely kind soul. For the first time in years, I wanted to protect someone. Not out of duty or strategy. Just — protect.

And she was just a small, ordinary wolf.

---

**Ella's POV**

I never expected the only person I could talk to was the stranger I'd pulled from the snow.

But tomorrow. Tomorrow was the problem. How was I going to fake a mate? I glanced at Theron, and Lily's voice echoed in my head — *"That big brother is really good-looking. Can he be your mate?"*

I shook my head. Not happening. I'd figure something else out.

I'd arranged for Greta to take Lily tonight. Keep her safe at Greta's place until this blew over. Greta was the one person in this pack I trusted. The only one.

The rest, I'd handle myself.

I couldn't stop thinking about Theron's reaction. The growl. The way his jaw tightened when I mentioned finding a man. It made no sense. He was a stranger. Injured. Possibly a rogue. And yet when he looked at me, something inside me tightened like a string about to snap.

That night, I dreamed.

A man stood in the dark. I couldn't see his face — just his silhouette, broad-shouldered, still as stone. Hands reached for me from behind. Claws. Pain. Then the man moved. One step. His hand caught the wrist that gripped me, and the claws fell away.

He turned, and I caught his eyes.

Gold. Not brown, not amber. Gold — bright and burning, like something lit from inside.

I woke gasping. The fire had died. Frost clung to the window. Theron's door was shut. No sound from inside.

Just a dream. It was just a dream.

---

Morning came too fast.

I hadn't found anyone to play my mate. The butcher's shop wouldn't open until nine. I'd planned to get there early, find one of the stock boys, offer him a week's wages for a morning of lying.

I was reaching for my coat when the knock came.

Three hard raps. Official. The kind that meant business.

I opened the door.

Sally stood on my front step. Two enforcers flanked her. Behind them — Caleb.

He wouldn't look at me. His jaw was tight, his eyes fixed somewhere past my shoulder, like I was a stain he didn't want to acknowledge.

Sally smiled. It didn't reach her eyes.

"Well, Ella? Where's this mate of yours?"

"I have one," I said. Steady. Don't let them smell the fear. "I found him. He's here."

Sally laughed. Short, sharp, cold. "You? Yesterday you had no mate. Suddenly you do? Who'd you bribe?"

The enforcers stepped forward. Behind them, more wolves gathered. Curious faces. Hard faces.

"Search the house," Sally ordered. "If there's no mate, she's out. Today."

Caleb still wouldn't look at me. His hand curled at his side, knuckles white, but his feet stayed planted next to Sally.

Then Sally leaned in. Her voice dropped, sweet as poison.

"I saw him, you know. Last night. A stranger in your bedroom. A rogue." She tilted her head. "By pack law, harboring a rogue is grounds for immediate expulsion. No inspection needed."

My blood went cold.

She'd been watching. The presence I'd felt outside yesterday — the eyes on the window — that was Sally. She'd been spying on me.

"You're mistaken," I said. My voice came out thin. "There's no one in my house."

Sally snapped her fingers. The enforcers moved.

I lunged for the door. My body hit the first one — solid, armored, twice my weight. He shoved me sideways. My back hit the doorframe. My legs buckled. The second one grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back.

"Get off me!" I screamed. I kicked, clawed, thrashed. My elbow connected with a jaw. Someone cursed.

Then a fist caught my temple. The world tilted. My knees hit the ground. I tasted dirt and blood.

Through the ringing in my ears, I heard Sally's voice, clipped and satisfied: "Bring her out. She's done here."

I couldn't get up. My arms wouldn't hold me. I pressed my forehead to the frozen ground and felt the cold seep into my bones.

Then—

A roar tore through the house.

"Who dares touch her!"

The voice came from inside. Deep. Raw. It shook the walls. It shook the ground under my knees. The sound hit my chest like a physical blow — not volume, not noise. Power. The kind that doesn't ask permission.

Every wolf in the yard dropped.

Not stumbled. Not flinched. Dropped — knees to the ground, heads bowed, hands pressed flat to the dirt. Sally's legs buckled. She caught herself on the enforcer's shoulder, but her face had gone white. The enforcers went down hard, knees cracking against frozen earth.

Even Caleb sank. His eyes were wide. His mouth open.

Alpha command.

Unmistakable. Undeniable.

I was the only one still on the ground — but not from obedience. I'd been there already. I lifted my head, blood running from my temple, and looked toward the door.

Theron stood in the doorway.

Shirtless. Bandages wrapped around his ribs, spotted dark. He leaned against the frame, one hand braced for balance, like standing cost him something he wasn't willing to pay. The morning light caught his face — sharp jaw, pale skin, dark hair falling across his forehead.

And his eyes.

Gold.

Not amber. Not brown. Gold — the same gold from my dream. Bright and burning and cold all at once, fixed on the crowd like a king surveying insects.

He looked at me. The gold softened, just for a moment.

Then it hardened again, and his gaze swept the yard — every wolf on their knees, every head bowed, every face pressed into the dirt.

"I am her mate," Theron said. Quiet. Level. Final. "And the next person who puts their hands on her will answer to me."

Nobody moved. Nobody breathed.

Sally's lips parted. No sound came out.

Caleb stared at Theron. His face had gone the color of ash.

I knelt in the dirt, blood on my face, and looked up at the man I'd dragged from the snow. The man I'd fed pig tail noodles. The man whose bandages I'd changed with shaking hands and a burning face.

He stood in my doorway like he owned the earth beneath it.

And I realized — with a certainty that settled into my bones — that I had no idea who this man was.