Chapter 4: Into the Wolf's Den
336 Words
Lyra’s instincts screamed at her to run.
Her muscles tensed as she sized up the two Shadowfang wolves, their golden eyes gleaming in the moonlight. They were trained warriors, built for the hunt, but she had spent her entire life surviving.
She could *outrun* them.
Without hesitation, she pivoted on her heel and *bolted*.
A snarl erupted behind her.
The forest blurred around her as she sprinted through the undergrowth, branches whipping against her arms. She didn’t dare shift—not yet. If she let her wolf take over now, she’d risk exhausting herself before she found an opening to escape.
Heavy footfalls pounded behind her.
They were fast. Too fast.
Lyra ducked low, weaving between the trees, her heartbeat like a drum in her chest. She needed to get out of their territory, to disappear before they could drag her back to their Alpha.
But then she felt it.
A presence.
A force so raw, so powerful, that her wolf *stilled* inside her.
A shiver crawled up her spine.
Before she could react, something *huge* crashed into her from the side, knocking the breath from her lungs.
She hit the ground hard, the weight of a powerful body pinning her down. A growl rumbled through the night, deep and commanding, vibrating against her skin.
And then she looked up.
Ronan Blackwood.
The Alpha.
The man she had tried so hard to avoid.
His golden eyes burned into hers, fierce and unrelenting. His scent—smoky cedar and something darkly intoxicating—wrapped around her like a vice.
Her breath caught.
Because the moment their eyes met, the world *shifted*.
The bond snapped into place, *alive*.
A mate bond.
Lyra’s body locked up, her wolf howling inside her mind. No. *No.* This wasn’t happening. This *couldn’t* be happening.
But the way Ronan’s expression shifted—from ruthless hunter to something *hungry*, something just as shocked as she was—told her everything she needed to know.
He felt it too.
And now, she was *truly* trapped.
- Writer
