Chapter 3: Rogue Rescue
874 Words
Aria woke to the sound of snapping twigs.
She bolted upright from the patch of earth she’d fallen asleep on, heart hammering in her chest. The fire was nearly out, just a pile of glowing embers now. The woods around her were silent—too silent.
“Kade?” she whispered, but there was no answer.
She stood quickly, brushing dirt off her borrowed jacket. Her senses sharpened, picking up something—no, someone—moving through the trees.
Growling.
Low, guttural.
A scent hit her nose. It wasn’t Kade. It wasn’t safe.
Then out of the darkness lunged a massive gray wolf, eyes gleaming gold, foam at its jaws. An enforcer.
From her old pack.
She turned to run, but it was already too close.
“Stop!” she shouted, “I’m not going back!”
The wolf growled louder, claws digging into the dirt as it launched at her.
Aria barely had time to raise her arms when something black collided with the enforcer mid-air.
Kade.
He hit the wolf like a hurricane, both of them rolling across the ground in a snarl of teeth and fur. He had shifted without warning — sleek black fur, massive shoulders, glowing amber eyes that burned with feral rage.
The sound of their snarls echoed through the forest like thunder.
Aria backed away, watching as Kade overpowered the enforcer. He bit down hard on the other wolf’s shoulder, forcing it to whimper and limp away, tail tucked in shame.
The fight was over in seconds, but the fury in Kade’s eyes remained.
He shifted back into his human form as he walked toward her. His body was cut, bruised, blood running down his temple — but his expression was calm.
“You alright?” he asked, his voice low, breathless.
Aria nodded, too shocked to speak.
Kade’s eyes swept the trees. “They’re tracking you already.”
She shivered. “How did they find me so fast?”
“Because they never let go of something they think they own,” he said bitterly. “Especially a Luna.”
Aria looked down, hugging the jacket tighter around her. “I’m not a Luna anymore.”
“You still carry the mark,” he replied.
She looked up at him. “So do you.”
His jaw tensed.
She took a step closer, staring at the faint glowing mark on his shoulder. It shimmered in the moonlight, faint but pulsing. Not a normal mate mark. Something older.
“What is it?” she asked.
He looked away. “Nothing you need to worry about.”
“That’s not an answer.”
He gave a humorless smile. “You’re not ready for the real answer.”
Frustration bubbled in her chest, but she let it go. For now.
Kade turned to the east. “We need to move. They’ll be back.”
They walked in silence for a while, the only sounds the crunch of leaves beneath their feet and the occasional hoot of an owl. The forest seemed darker now, heavier. Like it was holding its breath.
After a while, Kade paused near a stream and crouched beside it, washing the blood from his hands and face.
Aria knelt beside him, ripping a piece of cloth from the edge of her ceremonial dress to help.
He glanced at her. “You don’t have to.”
“I know,” she said. “But I want to.”
She dabbed gently at the cut on his forehead, her fingers brushing his skin. Warm. Steady. Familiar in a strange way.
There was silence between them. But it wasn’t empty.
It was safe.
Kade didn’t flinch under her touch. He just watched her, those intense eyes never leaving her face.
“You fought for me,” she whispered. “Why?”
He hesitated. Then said, “Because someone should have.”
Aria swallowed hard. The words struck something deep inside her.
No one had ever fought for her. Not her family. Not her pack. Not even her mate.
Until now.
They sat by the stream until the sun began to rise, golden light spilling through the branches above them.
Kade stood. “We should keep moving.”
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Somewhere they won’t find you.”
He offered his hand.
She took it.
And for the first time since the rejection, Aria didn’t feel like she was running from something.
She felt like she was walking toward something.
Maybe even… someone.
Meanwhile…
Back at the Silverfang Pack grounds, Jaxon stood on the balcony of the Alpha Hall, staring into the forest.
“She’s still out there,” he said.
Elara appeared beside him, her arms crossed. “You let her go.”
“I didn’t think she’d leave,” he said bitterly.
“She’ll come back,” Elara said sweetly. “Or she’ll die out there. Either way, the Luna seat will be mine.”
Jaxon didn’t respond.
But deep down, something growled inside him.
Regret.
Or worse — jealousy.
Back in the forest, Aria paused as the wind shifted. Her nose twitched. Her blood turned to ice.
She smelled him.
Not Kade.
Jaxon.
And he was closer than either of them thought.
- Writer
