Mated to my target

DRAVEN'S POV Every pack that has ever tested Duskblood has always regretted it. And today was not different. The ash from the smoke burned the back of my throat as I stood at the edge of Ironfang's burning compound, watching their remaining wolves fall beneath my warriors. Another pack destroyed. Another threat erased. I should feel something at least. Victory, Satisfaction, Relief. Instead, I felt only the steady calm that always follows war. "Alpha," Cael, my beta, called, dragging his blade across the body of a fallen wolf to clean the blood. "The compound is secured." I nodded once. My eyes swept across the battlefield. Bodies covered the courtyard. Some of my warriors were still moving through the wreckage, searching the remaining structures. The ironfang pack was stupid enough to trespass into Duskblood territory, raiding our supply routes, picking off our patrols one at a time like they were testing how much we could endure before we fought back. "Make sure to search everywhere and everything," my voice rumbled through the chaos."No survivors. No hidden threats." "Yes, Alpha!" they all shouted together. I walked slowly through the area. My boots made loud noises as I stepped on broken wood and stones. Inside me my wolf was still angry and could not sit still, even though the fight was finished. "Alpha come here!" Someone called out. I looked towards the voice, to figure out what the problem might be. Some of my warriors were standing near an old metal gate at the back. Something about their posture looked tense. Nothing could have prepared me for what was behind that gate. I had seen a lot of things in war. What was behind that gate was not war. It was something uglier than war. Behind the gate were cages, and inside them were omegas, Thin. injured, some barely conscious. My jaw tightened. The ironfang pack had been keeping them like animals. Rage flickered briefly in my chest, sharp and cold. How could anyone be this mean? "Break the lock," I ordered. The iron snapped easily under wolf strength. My warriors began helping the prisoners out carefully. Some of them collapsed the moment they were free. I turned away to let my warriors handle it. I hadn't even taken a step before this scent hit me, taking me off guard, Jasmine and warm sandalwood, completely out of place in a compound that smelled like smoke and blood. My wolf, which I had just managed to pull back after the fight, lost itself completely. It surged toward me so hard I had to grip the steel door handle nearby to hold it back. My heart stopped. Every nerve in my body fired at once. It had been waiting for this exact moment without me being aware. I turned toward the scent without deciding to. And then I saw her. Just her eyes, at first. They were amethyst. Violet and deep. Even barely open, even through the pain, they found mine. Mate. The word hit me like a physical blow. My wolf felt it before I even understood what was happening. I looked into her gorgeous violet eyes, and suddenly all the walls I had ever built to protect myself cracked open in one second. My wolf saw the cage and went livid. This was not like the calm anger he feels during a normal fight. This feeling was different. It was deep and personal. My mate was inside a cage. She was hurt. And was held with chains like a wild animal. My wolf wanted to burn what was left of this compound to ash and I almost let it. Every rational part of me said step back. She was war collateral. Let your warriors handle it. But my feet were already moving, and I reached into the cage myself. Nobody moved to stop me. Nobody spoke. My warriors knew better than to say anything when I looked the way I probably looked right now. I slid one arm beneath her shoulders and another under her knees, and lifted her. Her body was frighteningly light when I lifted her. Not the lightness of a small woman, but the lightness of someone who had not eaten properly in weeks. Someone who had been surviving on almost nothing. Immediately my wolf's anger turned into grief. We would have been there to protect her. We would have never let this happen to her. I stared down at her face. She looked pale beneath the dirt and blood, her dark hair tangled around her cheeks. There was nothing remarkable about her appearance at this moment. Yet my whole body was reacting to her in a way I could not explain or stop. Mine. "Alpha," Cael started. "Not now," I said. I walked out of the room and through the compound and no one followed too closely or even asked any questions. She let out a faint whimper, her head shifting weakly toward my chest as if some instinct in her recognized me, even in unconsciousness. My wolf became calm a bit as she was now in my arms, soothed by her scent. I held her closely and I kept walking. By the time we reached the edge of the territory, the rest of my warriors had finished gathering the survivors. The ride back to Duskblood stronghold was silent, I did not put her down. Not once. The entire time my wolf stayed unnaturally calm, like a beast that had been tamed. Finally, after what felt like forever, the gates of Duskblood appeared ahead. The guards straightened immediately when they saw me approaching. "Open the gates." The massive iron doors creaked as they swung inward. I walked through them with her still in my arms. While everyone had this surprised look on their faces. That's when I saw her. Lily. My Luna. She was dressed in pale blue, her posture perfectly composed, hands folded calmly. She was waiting at the gates the way she always waited. Still. Composed. Expecting battle reports. What she wasn't expecting was the unconscious woman in my arms. Her eyes moved slowly from my face to the woman I was carrying, then back at me. Lily is the most observant person I know aside from Cael. I ignored her looks and tightened my arms slightly around my mate. Protectively and possessively. Lily noticed, but her expression didn't change. And in that silence, I knew she already understood. I could feel the air between us grow heavy as Lily's eyes fully met mine. And something unspoken passed between us. A realization. Neither of us was ready to say it out loud. "Call the healer", I said quietly. Then I walked past her carrying my mate inside.