The Alpha's Omega Slave

THE ROGUE ATTACK

The howling grew louder.

Aria stood at the locked window, gripping the iron bars until her knuckles turned white. Outside, the forest was alive with movement. Shadows darted between trees. Red eyes flashed in the darkness.

Rogues. Dozens of them.

The mark on her wrist burned like fire, pulsing in time with her racing heart. She could feel Kael out there. Feel his anger. Feel his pain. The bond was a live wire between them, and every cut he took, she felt too.

A sharp, hot slice across her ribs made her gasp.

Kael had been injured.

Aria pressed her forehead against the cold stone. “No,” she whispered. “Don’t you dare die on me.”

The door burst open.

A young wolf stumbled inside, blood covering his silver fur, breathing hard. “They’re breaching the north wall! The Alpha needs backup!”

Aria stepped forward before she could think. “I’m coming with you.”

The wolf stared at her. “You can’t. The Alpha said you stay locked.”

Aria’s eyes flashed. “The Alpha isn’t here. And I’m not staying locked while he fights for me.”

She grabbed the wolf’s fallen sword from the floor. It was heavy. Too heavy. But she held it anyway.

The wolf hesitated, then nodded. “Stay behind me. And don’t die.”

Aria followed him out into chaos.

The courtyard was a warzone. Wolves in human and beast form clashed with rogues everywhere. Blood stained the snow. The air smelled like copper and pine and smoke.

And in the center of it all was Kael.

He was in his wolf form — massive, black fur with silver markings, fangs bared as he tore through three rogues at once. His chest was bleeding. His leg was limping. But he was still standing. Still fighting.

Aria’s heart stopped when she saw it.

Five rogues were circling him. One was sneaking behind with a silver blade.

“KAEL!” Aria screamed.

Kael’s head snapped up at the sound of her voice. For a second, his golden eyes met hers.

The rogue struck.

Aria moved without thinking. She threw herself between Kael and the blade.

Pain exploded across her shoulder as the silver cut deep. Aria cried out and fell to her knees, the sword clattering from her hand.

The bond between her and Kael went wild.

A roar tore through the courtyard as Kael’s wolf form shifted back into human in mid-air. He landed on the rogue with brutal force, his fist slamming into the rogue’s skull until there was nothing left but blood and bone.

The other four rogues scattered.

Silence fell.

Kael was at Aria’s side in an instant, cradling her against his chest. His hands were covered in her blood. His face was pale.

“You i***t,” he whispered, voice shaking. “You could have died.”

Aria looked up at him, her vision blurring. “You were going to die.”

Kael pressed his forehead against hers. “Not like this. Not because of me.”

The mark on Aria’s wrist flared with golden light, brighter than it had ever been. The burning pain in her shoulder dulled to a warm ache.

Kael pulled back and stared at her wrist. “The bond… it’s healing you.”

Aria looked down. The wound on her shoulder was closing. Slowly. Skin knitting back together as golden light spread from the mark.

“I don’t understand,” Aria whispered.

“The bond doesn’t just connect us,” Kael said quietly. “It protects us. Both of us.”

Aria pushed herself up with Kael’s help, standing on shaky legs. Around them, the other wolves were staring. Watching.

The Alpha and the human. Bound together. Fighting together.

A rogue growled from the shadows of the trees.

Kael stood up, pulling Aria behind him and shielding her with his body. “Stay behind me.”

Aria didn’t argue this time. She nodded and gripped his shirt.

The rogue stepped forward, a massive wolf with scarred black fur and yellow eyes. The leader.

“You stole our territory, Alpha,” the rogue snarled. “Now we take what’s yours.”

Kael’s jaw clenched. “She’s not yours to take.”

The rogue’s eyes shifted to Aria. “She smells like us. She belongs to us.”

Aria stepped out from behind Kael. Pain shot through her shoulder, but she stood tall anyway. “I don’t belong to anyone. Especially not you.”

The rogue lunged.

Kael moved faster.

He grabbed the rogue by the throat and slammed him into the ground. His claws extended, pressing against the rogue’s neck.

“Yield,” Kael growled. “Or die.”

The rogue snarled and spat in Kael’s face.

Kael’s claws pressed deeper.

Aria grabbed Kael’s arm. “Don’t.”

Kael looked at her, rage in his eyes. “He threatened you.”

“I know.” Aria squeezed his arm. “But if you kill him here, you become just like him.”

Kael stared at her for a long moment. Then he slowly released the rogue and stepped back.

The rogue scrambled to his feet and ran into the forest, his pack following.

The battle was over.

Kael turned to Aria and pulled her into a tight embrace. He was trembling.

“I thought I lost you,” he whispered against her hair.

Aria closed her eyes and leaned into him. For the first time since she arrived, she didn’t pull away.

The mark on her wrist pulsed once. Warm. Steady. Safe.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Aria whispered back.

Kael pulled back and looked down at her. His silver eyes were soft now. No anger. No mask. Just him.

“Good,” he said. “Because I’m not letting you go.”

Aria didn’t answer. She just nodded.

The bond between them settled into something new. Something stronger.

Not chains.

A choice.