Marked By The ShadowFang Alpha

--# **📘 CHAPTER 2 — THE NIGHT THE WOLF CHOSE ME*

-*

The world moved in slow motion.

Aria could feel the weight of the unconscious man in her arms—heavy, burning, powerful. His head rested against her shoulder, his breath warm against her neck, his heart beating too fast… too wild.

Rain soaked them both, turning the world into a blur of silver and black.

Sirens roared in the distance—fast, getting closer.

She swallowed hard.

This was no ordinary injured man.

This was a monster, a king, a hunted Alpha.

And for some insane reason… he had fallen into *her* arms.

“Get up,” Aria whispered, shaking him gently.

“You have to wake up. Please…”

His fingers tightened around her wrist, even unconscious—possessive, claiming her without permission, without apology.

Thunder cracked overhead.

She took a breath and dragged him toward the side alley, her legs shaking under his weight. He was too tall, too muscular, too heavy. Every step felt impossible.

But the panic in her chest pushed her forward.

If the people chasing him found them together, she knew—

**They wouldn’t leave her alive.**

---

## **The Shadows Arrive**

The first car screeched into the street.

Blacked-out windows.

Dark number plate.

No headlights.

Mafia.

Aria ducked behind a dumpster, pulling the Alpha’s limp body with her. Her hands trembled violently as she pressed herself against the cold metal.

Voices spilled out of the car.

“Where the hell is he?”

“He can’t be far. He’s bleeding out.”

“Check the alley. Alpha Lucian doesn’t die that easily.”

Aria’s breath stopped.

**Lucian.**

So that was his name.

Her eyes dropped to the silver wolf ring in her palm—the one he had forced into her hand before collapsing.

Suddenly, he stirred.

A low growl vibrated through his chest.

Aria clamped her hand over his mouth.

“Shh… please… they’ll hear you.”

A moment of silence.

Then his hand rose—heavy, trembling—and covered hers.

For a second… just a second… she felt his lips brush the side of her palm.

Her breath caught.

What was he?

Or… who was he?

---

## **The Hunters Move Closer**

Footsteps echoed in the alley.

Aria pressed her body against Lucian’s, trying to hide him with her small frame. Her heartbeat thundered so loudly she feared the men would hear it.

A flashlight cut through the rain.

“Check behind the bins.”

Aria’s blood froze.

The man was only seconds away.

Lucian’s fingers slid up her arm weakly, gripping her sleeve.

“Run…” he breathed, barely audible.

She shook her head.

“I’m not leaving you.”

“You don’t know who I am…” His voice was broken, dying.

“You don’t know what danger—”

“I don’t care.”

Her whisper was soft, but it cracked something inside him.

And for the first time that night…

The Alpha stopped fighting fate.

---

## **A Choice That Changed Everything**

The flashlight beam swung closer.

Aria took a desperate, shaking breath. She grabbed a metal rod lying nearby, stood abruptly, and threw it across the alley.

It clattered loudly.

The men spun.

“Over there!”

They rushed toward the sound.

Aria didn’t waste a second.

She crouched, grabbed Lucian under his arms, and dragged him into the back door of the café she worked at.

It was unlocked.

Thank God.

As soon as the door shut behind them, she collapsed to her knees, panting hard, rain dripping from her hair.

Lucian lay motionless on the floor—pale, bleeding.

Aria touched his cheek.

“Stay with me… please.”

His eyes fluttered open just enough to look at her.

“You saved me,” he whispered.

She didn’t know why her heart pulled painfully at those three words.

“I couldn’t let you die,” she whispered back.

His lips twitched into a smirk.

“Sweet… and foolish.”

Then his eyes rolled back, and he passed out again.

---

## **The Wound No Human Should Survive**

Aria dragged him into the storage room and locked the door.

Her hands shook as she tore his shirt open—and gasped.

His wound wasn’t normal.

His skin was healing.

Slowly.

Pulling back together like living threads.

“What are you…?” she whispered.

But her hands didn’t stop.

She cleaned the blood. Wrapped his torso. Pressed gauze against the deep gash on his side.

Each time she touched him, his muscles tensed—like a wolf reacting to a human hand.

His breathing was ragged, but strong.

Too strong.

No human bled like this.

No human healed like this.

She sat back slowly.

“You’re not normal,” she whispered.

Lucian’s voice, barely audible, floated through the air.

“Neither are you.”

Aria jumped.

His eyes were open—half-lidded, glowing faintly silver in the dim light.

“What… what does that mean?” she whispered.

He didn’t answer.

Instead, he lifted a trembling hand and touched her cheek.

“You smell like fate,” he murmured.

Her heart stuttered.

“I smell like—what?”

Lucian didn’t reply.

His hand dropped.

His eyes shut again.

---

## **The Wolf’s Mark**

Aria leaned back against the wall, exhausted, confused, terrified—and strangely calm.

The room felt warmer.

The air thicker.

As if something inside it breathed with them.

Then she felt it.

A burning sensation in her palm.

She opened her hand.

The silver wolf ring glowed faintly—warming her skin, sending a strange vibration up her arm.

“Why did you give this to me…?” she whispered.

From the floor, Lucian muttered a single word.

“Mine.”

Aria’s heart slammed against her ribs.

That one word felt like it carried centuries of dominance, pain, and destiny.

“Yours?” she whispered shakily.

“I don’t even know you.”

Lucian’s breathing deepened—almost a growl.

But he didn’t wake.

---

## **The Blood Oath**

Aria brought a blanket from the café’s lost-and-found box and placed it over him carefully.

Up close, he looked less like a monster and more like a man carrying mountains.

Scars on his ribs.

A tattoo on his collarbone.

The letters “LV” carved over a wolf mark.

Almost royal.

Almost sacred.

She brushed the wet hair from his forehead.

His skin was burning—too hot to be normal.

A fever?

Or something else?

Her thumb accidentally grazed the side of his jaw.

Lucian’s hand shot up—fast, instinctive.

He grabbed her wrist, eyes snapping open, glowing wolf-bright.

Aria’s breath seized.

His voice was low. Rough.

“Don’t touch me like that.”

She froze.

“I—I was only—”

His grip tightened.

“Not unless you want to be claimed.”

Heat shot through her body at the word *claimed*.

He blinked.

Realizing where he was.

Realizing he was touching her.

Slowly, painfully, he let go.

Aria pulled her wrist back, heart racing.

Silence filled the room.

Then Lucian whispered:

“You shouldn’t have saved me.”

She swallowed.

“Why?”

“Because now they’ll come for you.”

Her breath stopped.

“Who?”

Lucian’s silver eyes lifted to hers—full of warning, danger, and something softer.

“Everyone.”

---

## **The Enemy’s Signal**

Before she could ask anything else—

Her phone buzzed.

**Unknown Number:

"We know who you’re hiding.”**

Aria’s hand trembled.

She looked at Lucian.

He was breathing heavily, his jaw clenched, sweat dripping down his temple.

“They found you,” she whispered.

Lucian didn’t move.

“They found *you*, little human,” he corrected softly.

“I was already theirs.”

Aria’s chest tightened.

“What do we do?”

Lucian opened his eyes fully this time—dark, dangerous, Alpha.

“You run.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

His jaw tensed.

“You don’t understand—”

“I’m not leaving,” she repeated firmly.

For a moment… something broke in his expression.

Fear?

Anger?

Pain?

He reached up and grabbed her shirt weakly, pulling her close.

“Aria,” he whispered, her name like a rough prayer.

“If anything happens to you because of me… I will burn this city to the ground.”

Her heart stopped.

He closed his eyes again, breathing harder.

“You saved an Alpha King,” he whispered.

“You saved a Mafia Lord.”

Aria’s breath caught.

“You saved Lucian Valtora.”

She froze.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he continued.

“Even if I have to kill every man chasing us.”

Aria’s entire world spun.

“I’m scared,” she whispered.

Lucian opened his eyes—soft now, almost human.

“I know,” he said.

“And I swear…

you won’t have to be.”

He reached for her hand.

She let him hold it.

A king.

A wolf.

A monster.

And he was holding her like she was the only safe thing left in his world.

Outside, another message buzzed.

**Unknown Number:

“Step outside in 5 minutes…

or we come in.”**

Aria looked at the door.

Lucian looked at her.

“A storm is coming,” he whispered.

And without letting go of her hand, he added—

“And I will not let them take you.”

---