Alpha’s Forbidden Heir

My father promised me to the one man I feared most. I should have run. I should have clawed through every guard, torn down every locked gate, and vanished into the forest before he found me. But it was too late. The moment I felt Kade’s teeth breaking my skin, I knew there was no turning back. The bite sank deep, burning with a fire that went straight through my veins. I cried out, my fingers digging into the floor, splinters tearing my palms. The pain was like nothing I’d ever known worse than shifting, worse than any wound from training, because it was him. His scent flooded my senses cedar, smoke, something darker, something that curled around me like iron chains. My wolf recoiled and yearned at the same time, confused and afraid. My head spun as his arms wrapped around me, too strong to fight. The mark pulsed in rhythm with my own heart, a fresh brand of ownership I hadn’t asked for, hadn’t agreed to. Kade Blackthorne. My brother’s best friend. My first crush. My worst nightmare. When I was fifteen, I had watched him train with my brother Nathan, sweat gleaming on his skin, laughter flashing in his honey-colored eyes. Back then, I’d wondered what it might be like to have those strong arms around me. I’d let myself daydream like a stupid girl, spinning wild fantasies. But Kade was no dream now. He was the new heir to my father’s pack, a wolf who had learned to kill, to conquer, and to lead with fear. And tonight, he claimed me with the same ruthless certainty he ruled everything else. His lips brushed against the fresh bite on my neck, sending another shock through me. I could hear his heartbeat, steady and unyielding, far calmer than mine. “You’re mine now, Raven,” he growled, his voice so low it rattled through my bones. “No one else will ever touch you.” I tried to shove him away, but he only tightened his grip. His hands were rough, scarred from war, and they pinned me so easily it made rage bloom in my chest. “You can’t do this,” I gasped, fighting against the tears that threatened to spill. I refused to let him see me break. He leaned closer, so close his breath fanned against my lips. “I just did.” Then he kissed me, hard and bruising, and every bit of resistance inside me shattered. Because a tiny, traitorous part of me had wanted this. Had imagined this, even while I hated him for taking it. His mouth was unforgiving, tasting of fury and something heartbreakingly familiar. For one instant, I remembered how he had once smiled at me, how he had teased me with clumsy affection. But that Kade was gone. This was a wolf forged in blood and steel, and he was nothing like the boy I had known. When he pulled back, my head was spinning. I tasted copper on my tongue, tasted him, tasted the claim that would never fade. He touched my face gently, almost in apology, but his voice was steel. “Marry me, Raven. Or I will destroy everything you love.” My heart lurched. He couldn’t mean it. I stared up at him, trying to find the boy behind the monster, but there was only the hard line of his jaw, the gleam of his Alpha power simmering beneath his skin. “Kade, please” “No.” His thumb traced my bottom lip, wiping away blood I hadn’t even realized was there. “This is the only way. The Council won’t leave you alone. If I don’t claim you, they will. They’d rip you apart.” Something inside me rebelled. I was not some pawn to be passed around, branded like cattle. I was Raven Blackthorne, daughter of an Alpha, trained to fight, trained to lead. But the mark burned through me, a reminder that no matter what I’d been taught, I belonged to him now. He stood, towering over me, and the shadows in the room seemed to crawl toward him, bending to his will. “I will protect you,” he said, voice softer now, as if he knew the war raging inside me. “Even if you hate me for it.” Hate. I clung to the word like a lifeline. Hate was safer than hope, safer than longing. I turned my head away, refusing to meet his eyes. “Then I guess I have no choice,” I whispered, tasting the salt of my own tears. A flicker of pain crossed his face — so brief I might have imagined it. Then he nodded once, cold again. “Rest. You’ll need your strength,” he commanded. He left without another word, the heavy door slamming behind him. For a long time, I just lay there, staring at the carved beams above me. The mark throbbed in my skin, alive and possessive. I was no longer free. Outside, a wolf howled, high and mournful, and I felt its grief echo in my own heart. Kade was my mate now. My protector. My captor. And deep in the part of me I didn’t want to name, I feared he might also be the only one who could save me.