BOUND BY FLAMES - The Alpha Twin's Obsession

Laura's POV The forest was unnaturally quiet. Or maybe my heartbeat was just too loud, drowning out everything else. Either way, the stillness did nothing to settle my nerves. The soft rustle of leaves and the distant chirr of crickets were my only company as I moved between the trees, picking herbs for my stepmother, Stacy. My satchel hung heavy against my hip, already half-filled with mint lavender, hibiscus, and wolf's nightshade. But tonight wasn't about her demands. Tonight was about my freedom. For four years, I had endured Stacy's cruelty and Viviana and Valarie’s endless bullying. They had taken my home, my sense of family, my dignity, piece by piece, until there was almost nothing left of the girl I used to be. Tonight, I was done letting them take anything else. Every spare coin I'd saved from selling extra herbs, from odd healing jobs done in secret was hidden in the satchel's inner pocket. It wasn't much. But it was enough to start somewhere else, like somebody else. The plan was simple. I'd find another pack, offer my skills as a healer, earn my keep until I had enough to stand on my own. Maybe, someday, enough to come back and take back what was mine. But that was a problem for a future Laura. Tonight, Laura just needed to reach the road. I was so close now. The edge of the woods, and beyond it, freedom. I knew I might run into rogues. I wasn't afraid of that the way I probably should have been. I'd tucked a vial of wolfsbane extract into my sleeve, enough to buy me time even if I couldn't fight. I was too weak to fight. I'd always been too weak for anything, according to Stacy. But I didn't need to fight. I only needed to run. My heart picked up speed as the tree line thinned ahead of me. I could almost taste the freedom in the air, and still, underneath it, a thread of fear I couldn't quite kill. I had no real plan for what came along the road. I was terrified, and I'd made peace with being terrified. That was the whole point. Scared and free beat safe and caged. I reached the edge of the woods and picked my way down the last slope to the road. I stepped out to cross, and a piercing sound cracked through the night. I turned, frozen, and saw headlights barreling straight at me, blinding and impossibly close. I didn't have time to move. The roar of the engine swallowed everything, and then the car slammed into me and threw me into the air before the ground came up to meet me. Warmth surrounded me when I woke. The bed beneath me was soft, too soft, almost feather-light. I had never lain on anything like it in my life. Golden light danced across unfamiliar walls. For one disorienting second I thought I was dreaming. Then the ache in my body told me otherwise. This wasn't my room. I sat up, wincing as pain lanced through my ribs. Bandages wrapped my arms and legs, though I had no memory of being treated. A fire crackled in a hearth across the room. Ornate paintings lined the walls. The faint scent of pine hung in the air. Everything here felt expensive, and none of it felt like mine. Where was I? I swung my legs over the side of the bed, my whole body trembling as I stood. My satchel was nowhere in sight, and panic twisted through my stomach. My coins, everything I'd worked four years for — had been in there. Had I been taken by rogues? Okay. Okay. Calm down, Laura. If this were a rogue house and I were still breathing, chances were they hadn't decided to kill me yet, which meant I still had time to think. That was something. I moved to the door and eased it open. The hallway beyond was grand, high ceilings, soft golden light, floors so polished my bare feet made no sound at all. I crept forward, looking for any way out, and the deeper I went, the more certain I became that this wasn't a rogue den. Rogues didn't live like this. This was a pack house. A wealthy one. I turned a corner, relief flickering at the sight of what looked like an exit and collided hard with something solid. Someone. Strong hands caught me before I hit the floor. I looked up, and the breath went out of me. The man in front of me was unlike anyone I'd ever seen. Dark eyes, sharp features, a presence that made the air itself feel heavier. I tried to step back. His grip didn't let me. He studied me like he was trying to read something written under my skin. I couldn't look away, even as my instincts screamed at me to. His scent reached me — and something in my chest turned over, slow and helpless, pulling me toward him before I'd decided to move at all. What was happening to me? Then it hit me, the way lightning hits a tree, splits and burns, all at once. He was my mate. My wolf surged inside me, wild and certain. I stared up at him, my chest too tight to breathe properly. His frown deepened. "Mate," he said, low, almost to himself, his hands tightening on my arms, his eyes darkening with something I didn't have a name for. "I don't understand," I managed. "How did I get here?" "You weren't watching where you were going. You let yourself get hit. That was careless." His tone made it sound like a fact, not an accusation, which somehow made it worse. I stared at him, indignant despite everything. "I beg your pardon?" "You hit me," I said, remembering the headlights, the impact. "You are an Omega," he said, releasing me like he'd only just remembered where his hands were. "You do not tell an Alpha what is right or wrong." I flinched at the word — Omega — the way I always did when someone said it like a verdict. I stepped back, my spine straightening despite the sting. Whatever he was to me, whatever the bond meant, I wasn't going to fold in front of him the way I folded in front of Stacy. Stacy's hand could actually land on me. His couldn't, not without breaking a bond he clearly hadn't asked for either. That thought was the only thing keeping my voice steady. "You are an Alpha?" I asked, though I already knew. "Alpha Dylan to you." The name hit me like a second collision. I froze, the warmth of the mate bond curdling instantly into dread.