Bound to the alpha's enemy

Chapter one: The mark

Title: Bound to the Alpha’s Enemy

Chapter 1: The Mark

The scent hit me before I saw him.

Cedar, blood, and something ancient that made my wolf want to bow.

I froze in the alley behind The Howl, clutching the stolen file to my chest. Rain dripped from the fire escape above, washing the street in a cold, metallic smell. I wasn’t supposed to be here. Humans weren’t supposed to see what I’d just seen in the underground fight ring.

But I saw it. And now he’d seen me.

“Running won’t help, little thief,” a voice drawled from the shadows. Low, dangerous, like a predator toying with its prey.

Vampire. I could feel it in my bones. My wolf snarled, recognizing the natural enemy. Every instinct screamed to run, to shift, to fight. But I wasn’t stupid. You don’t outrun a centuries-old vampire in an alley with no exits.

He stepped out, tall and inhumanly still. Pale skin, black hair slicked back like he’d just come from a funeral. Eyes that glowed faintly red in the dark. Lucien Ashford. The name every werewolf in the city feared. The vampire prince who’d killed three alphas and walked away clean. The one my father had warned me about since I was ten.

“You shouldn’t have come,” I said, forcing my voice steady. I kept the file pressed against my ribs like it could protect me. “This doesn’t concern you.”

His lips curled, not quite a smile. “Everything that concerns my rival’s pack concerns me. Especially when his daughter is carrying evidence.”

My blood ran cold. He knew. Of course he knew. Lucien Ashford always knew.

Before I could move, he was in front of me. One second he was ten feet away, the next his fingers were under my chin, tilting my face up. His touch was ice against my skin, and my wolf hated it. Hated him.

“You have two choices,” he whispered, his breath cold against my cheek. “Give me the file, and I let you walk. Or keep it, and I take it… and you.”

I tried to jerk away, but his grip was unbreakable. “Let go of me.”

He tilted his head, studying me like I was a problem he hadn’t solved yet. “You’re Alpha Kade’s daughter, aren’t you? Ava Kade. The one who’s too curious for her own good.”

“How do you—”

“I make it my business to know my enemies.” His thumb brushed over my pulse point, and I had to bite my tongue to stop from reacting. “You were at the docks last night. You saw Viktor’s men. You saw what they did to that human.”

I had. And it was why I’d stolen the file. Proof. If my father saw it, he’d declare war on Viktor’s faction. And war meant bodies. Human and werewolf.

My wolf wanted to fight. My brain screamed to run. But the worst part was the pull I felt toward him. It wasn’t normal. Werewolves and vampires didn’t get pulled to each other. We were designed to hate.

Unless the old stories were true.

Unless the mark on my wrist had started glowing.

Lucien saw it. His eyes darkened, pupils flaring until the red swallowed the black.

“Mate bond,” he said softly, like he couldn’t believe it himself. “We’re impossible.”

I yanked my wrist back, hiding the faint silver glow under my sleeve. “There’s no such thing. That’s a myth.”

“Is it?” He stepped closer, and I had to force myself not to step back. “Explain why your heart is racing like you’re already mine.”

“Let go of me,” I said again, though my body didn’t want him to. That scared me more than his fangs.

He leaned closer, and I caught the scent of him again—cedar and old stone and something that made my knees weak. His fangs were visible now, sharp and white against his pale lips.

“I can’t,” he said. “If I let you go, my sire will kill you. Viktor’s already ordered it. If I keep you, your father will kill me. Either way, we’re dead.”

For a second, neither of us moved. The city noise faded. It was just his heartbeat—too slow, too steady—and mine, pounding like a war drum.

Then he did something I didn’t expect.

He stepped back.

“Run,” he said. “For now. But when they come for you, you’ll come to me. Because I’m the only one who can keep you alive.”

I didn’t wait for a second warning. I turned and ran, the file burning against my chest, his scent clinging to my skin. My boots slipped on the wet concrete, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop.

Behind me, I heard him speak one last line, low enough that I almost missed it:

“You’re mine, Ava. Even if it kills us both.”

I didn’t stop running until I reached the old subway tunnel under 5th Street. My father’s territory ended here. Lucien’s began three blocks east.

I pressed my back against the cold tile wall and slid down, breathing hard. The file was still safe. But Lucien knew my name. Knew my father’s name. Knew about the file.

And worse, I knew his.

I knew the way his eyes looked when he said “mate bond.” Like it disgusted him and thrilled him at the same time. Like he’d been alone for a hundred years and hated that it might be ending.

“Stupid,” I muttered to myself. “He’s a monster.”

My wolf whined in my head. Not a monster. Ours.

I shoved the thought down. There was no “ours.” There couldn’t be. If my father found out, he’d kill Lucien. If Lucien’s sire found out, he’d kill me. Mate bonds between werewolf and vampire hadn’t happened in 200 years for a reason.

The tunnel was silent except for dripping water. I opened the file, just to make sure it was still there. Photos. Dates. Bank transfers. Proof that Viktor was selling werewolf blood to human gangs.

Enough to start a war.

My phone buzzed. Unknown number.

“Don’t go home tonight,” a text read. No name. Just that.

I knew who it was.

My hands shook as I typed back. “Why?”

The reply came instantly. “Because they’re waiting for you. And I’m not there to stop them.”

Lucien.

I stared at the message for a long time. Then I stood up, tucked the file into my jacket, and walked the other way. Toward the east side. Toward him.

If I was going to die, I’d rather it be on my terms.

The vampire district looked different at night. Cleaner. Quieter. No stray humans, no drunk wolves picking fights. Just buildings with black glass and doors that didn’t have handles.

Lucien’s penthouse was on the top floor of Ashford Tower. I didn’t knock. I knew he was waiting.

The doors opened before I reached them.

He stood in the doorway, dressed in black, looking like he’d stepped out of a gothic painting. His eyes swept over me, checking for injuries.

“You came,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

“I’m not staying,” I said. “I just need to know why you didn’t take the file.”

He stepped aside, letting me in. The apartment was minimal. No clutter. No warmth. Just expensive furniture and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city.

“Because if I take it, Viktor kills you tonight,” he said. “If you keep it, your father starts a war tomorrow. Either way, I lose.”

I crossed my arms. “And keeping me alive helps you how?”

Lucien closed the door. Locked it.

“Because the moment I saw your mark, I realized something,” he said quietly. “We’re not supposed to hate each other. We’re supposed to stop the war.”

I laughed, but it sounded hollow even to me. “You think a mate bond is going to stop a 200-year feud?”

“No,” he said. “I think you are.”

He walked to the window and looked out over the city. “Viktor doesn’t want peace. My sire doesn’t want peace. Your father doesn’t want peace. But you… you took a risk to expose Viktor. You’re the only one trying to stop this.”

“And you’re helping me why?”

He turned back to me, and for the first time, I saw something other than predator in his eyes.

“Because if I don’t, I’ll spend the next hundred years knowing I let the only person who could change things die in an alley.”

The room felt smaller suddenly. The air too thick.

I should have walked out. Should have left the file and never looked back.

Instead, I asked, “What do we do now?”

Lucien’s lips curved, just slightly.

“Now, Ava Kade, we survive the night. And tomorrow, we start a war of our own.”

Outside, thunder rolled. And somewhere in the city, Viktor’s men were moving.