đź“– Episode 2- The Alpha's Claim
365 Words
Ariana jerked her wrist free, glaring at the stranger who had just shifted from a wolf into a man. Her chest heaved with panic and anger.
“Mate? Are you insane? I don’t even know you!”
The man’s golden eyes glowed, sharp and unyielding. He didn’t flinch at her words. Instead, he stepped closer, his presence suffocating, like the air itself bent to his will.
“You don’t need to know me,” he said coldly. “The bond already knows. The moon has chosen.”
Ariana shook her head furiously. “I’m not some… some animal that the moon can choose! I have my own life, my own choices—”
Before she could finish, Lucian’s hand shot out, pressing against the tree beside her. His body leaned close, his heat overwhelming.
“Your choices ended the moment they came for you,” he growled softly. “Did you think you were safe out here? Alone? You were being hunted tonight, Ariana. If I hadn’t been there—” His jaw clenched. “You’d be dead.”
Her breath hitched. For a moment, fear flickered in her eyes—but she masked it quickly with defiance.
“So what? You saved me, fine. I’ll thank you. But don’t think that means I belong to you.”
Lucian’s smirk was slow, dangerous. “You don’t understand yet. This isn’t about gratitude. This is about survival.”
He pulled something from his coat—a scroll, its seal marked with the emblem of a silver wolf. He held it out to her.
Ariana frowned. “What’s this?”
“A contract,” Lucian said, his voice low and absolute. “You will stay by my side as my Luna. My mate. My… wife. Only then will I be bound to protect you. Without it, you won’t last another full moon.”
Her eyes widened, shock stealing the breath from her lungs.
“Contract marriage?” she whispered.
Lucian’s golden eyes locked on hers, unrelenting.
“Call it whatever you want. But sign it, Ariana. Because with me—” his voice dipped to a dark promise,
“you live. Without me… you die.”
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- Writer
