Chapter 2 – The Alpha’s Hunt
1051 Words
Selene POV
The forest pressed in around me, each branch clawing like skeletal fingers, every shadow whispering that I didn’t belong. My lungs burned, but I didn’t dare stop. Rogues like me weren’t meant to be seen, let alone caught—especially not on Silverfang territory.
And never by him.
The Mate bond’s pull was worse than hunger. Worse than thirst. It throbbed beneath my skin, dragging me toward the beast hunting me.
His scent had already poisoned me—dark pine, smoke, and something wilder, a storm waiting to break. The kind of scent that promised ruin and made my wolf ache to submit.
I cursed under my breath. Moonborn curse, prophecy, fate—whatever this was, it was a damn joke.
A twig snapped behind me. My heart lurched into my throat.
“Run all you like, little rogue.”
The voice rolled through the night, deep, commanding, threaded with a growl that raised the hairs along my arms. “You can’t hide from me.”
Alpha Kieran Stormfang.
The name was enough to freeze blood. I’d heard the stories whispered in taverns and among rogues huddled around fire pits: ruthless, cold, unyielding. His enemies knelt—or bled. He wasn’t supposed to be real, more legend than man. Yet here he was, every step a shadow on my breath.
I forced my legs faster, but the bond betrayed me. It wanted him. My wolf clawed inside me, restless, aching to turn back, to surrender.
No. Not now. Not ever.
Then he was there.
A blur of motion, and suddenly Kieran stepped out of the dark as though the night itself bent to him.
I skidded to a halt, breath catching. Taller than I imagined, shoulders cut from stone, power radiating from every line of him. His silver-gray eyes gleamed like steel kissed by moonlight, cold and unyielding.
And those eyes—damn them—locked on me like I was prey. Or worse… already his.
My wolf whimpered, shivering against the bond. I clenched my fists so hard my nails bit into my palms. “Stay away from me.”
His lips curved, but there was no warmth in it. Only danger. “That’s not how the bond works.”
My pulse raced, betraying me with every beat.
“I didn’t choose this,” I spat, voice hoarse.
“Neither did I.” His voice was low, lethal. He stepped closer, each movement claiming more of the air between us. “But fate doesn’t ask.”
When his hand caught my wrist, the bond’s fire surged like lightning through my veins. My wolf keened, desperate to melt into his touch. I yanked back, trembling, fighting the heat that threatened to consume me.
“I’m not yours.”
His eyes darkened, Alpha edge slicing sharper, pressing against me like a weight meant to break bone. “Tell that to your wolf.”
His scent engulfed me—pine, smoke, storm. Dizzying. Maddening. For one heartbeat, I almost leaned in. Almost let it claim me whole.
But survival screamed louder. I shoved him hard and bolted into the trees, lungs tearing for air.
Behind me, his growl rumbled like thunder, a promise more than a threat.
This wasn’t over.
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Kieran POV
The rogue was faster than I expected. Fierce. Defiant. Beautiful in the way wildfire is beautiful—made to destroy everything in its path.
And she was mine.
The bond clawed at me, a chain of fire tethering me to her every heartbeat. It should’ve enraged me. Weakened me. Instead, it consumed me.
Damn fate. Damn the Moonborn prophecy.
I’d built my pack into the strongest in the North. I had no room for weakness. No room for softness. Yet here she was—a rogue with midnight eyes and power burning beneath her skin.
The Elder Council had whispered of the Moonborn wolf. Dangerous. f*******n. A prophecy that would unmake every order we lived by. If they discovered her, they would demand her death.
But I couldn’t let her go.
Her scent blazed through the forest, wild and intoxicating. She thought she could outrun me. She had no idea who hunted her.
When I cornered her again, she was pressed against a tree, chest heaving, eyes defiant even in fear.
“You’re wasting your breath,” I said quietly, closing the distance.
“Don’t touch me.”
The command in her voice was sharp, a blade meant to cut. But her body betrayed her—trembling, wolf crying out for mine. I felt it deep in my marrow.
I braced my hands against the tree, caging her without touching. Her scent crashed into me like a storm, drowning thought. Her lips parted, and the bond roared, demanding I claim her.
“You’re not safe out here alone,” I said, voice rougher than I intended. “And you’re not safe with me either.”
Her chin lifted. Stubborn. Proud. Moonlight traced the silver in her dark eyes, making her look carved from night itself. “Then let me go.”
I leaned in, close enough for my breath to graze her ear. “I can’t.”
The truth fractured something inside me. The Alpha in me demanded obedience, demanded she kneel. But the man—the man wanted her defiance as much as her surrender.
Her eyes flicked to my lips, just for a heartbeat.
Then she shoved past me again, vanishing into the night.
I let her run. For now.
Because no matter how far she went, fate had already sealed her to me.
And I would hunt her until she understood.
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Selene POV
By the time I stumbled into the clearing, my legs shook, chest hollow, lungs begging for air.
But worse than exhaustion was the truth I couldn’t escape.
Every step away from him felt like tearing out a piece of myself.
I dropped to my knees, clawing at the earth, desperate to ground myself, to push the bond back. Dirt packed beneath my nails. My wolf writhed inside me, keening, hungry for what I denied it.
My mother’s warnings echoed: Moonborn blood is cursed. Power like yours will never bring freedom.
Now I understood why.
The Alpha’s claim wasn’t just danger.
It was destiny.
And destiny was the last thing I wanted.
- Writer
