Strange Smell
922 Words
RAVYN’S POV
Outlaw Alpha of the Deadlands
The night was too quiet.
No wind. No movement. Just still, thick silence blanketing the forest like a shroud.
I stood on the ridge above the valley, the cold air brushing against my bare arms, heavy with the scent of pine, earth—and something else.
Something wrong.
I tilted my head, inhaling deeper.
The stench of Kael’s territory still clung to the eastern border, thick like rot and poison. But that wasn’t what made my wolf tense beneath my skin. No, this scent was new. Faint. Fragile.
Female. Omega.
Too close.
Too damn close.
I narrowed my eyes, focusing through the fog drifting low across the trees. I knew every inch of this forest, every hidden path and buried trap. Nothing got past me. Not rogues. Not spies. And certainly not an unmated Omega with blood on her scent.
My Beta, Jarek, approached from behind. Silent, as always, but I heard him long before he arrived.
“You smell it too?” he asked, voice low.
I nodded once. “Faint. South ridge. She’s masking it, but not well enough.”
“Could be a trap.”
“Could be bait.”
His mouth tightened. “Kael?”
That name was enough to make my jaw clench. I hadn’t heard it spoken aloud in weeks. I preferred it that way.
I let the silence stretch before answering. “Too close to his lands. Too careless. He doesn’t make mistakes.”
“Then what is she?”
I didn’t know yet.
But I would.
I stepped forward, my boots crunching softly against dry leaves. My wolf paced just under the surface—agitated, alert. Not because he felt threatened. But because he felt… drawn.
Which made no damn sense.
I didn’t get drawn to anyone.
Especially not weak, wounded things crawling across the border with Kael’s stink still clinging to their skin.
And yet—
That scent.
It was laced with blood and fear, but underneath it, something sweeter. Wild honey. Crushed rose petals. Not the cheap perfume kind. Real. Natural. Unmistakable.
And familiar.
I growled low in my chest.
“You’re going after her?” Jarek asked.
“I want eyes first. Take two of our best. Quiet. If she crosses deeper into our land, bring her in. Alive.”
“And if she runs?”
I bared my teeth.
“Let her. I’ll follow.”
Jarek nodded once and vanished into the trees.
The wind shifted, and with it, her scent pulled harder. My wolf growled in protest, tugging at the leash I kept so damn tight.
This wasn’t like him. He didn’t care for strays. Didn’t respond to pretty things that bled and cried and begged. That part of us had been burned out a long time ago.
But something about her scent made him restless.
Something inside me whispered that whoever she was… she wasn’t meant to make it here. She wasn’t supposed to survive the border.
And yet she had.
Which meant she either had help…
Or fate had a sick sense of humor.
The first time I heard her footsteps, I didn’t even need to see her to know she was terrified.
Not the hysterical kind. The quiet kind. The kind that made prey freeze in place, hoping the monster would pass them by.
She was just over the ridge, her scent bleeding into the soil. Still fresh. Still warm.
I crouched in the underbrush and waited.
She stumbled into view moments later. Small frame. Torn wedding dress—white stained dark red at the hem. Blonde hair tangled around her shoulders, bare feet muddy and raw.
And her eyes…
Even from this distance, I could see the ruin in them. Not the kind you cry out. The kind you carry forever.
She was no spy.
Not Kael’s. Not anyone’s.
She was running for her life.
I cursed under my breath, low and harsh.
This wasn’t a border breach. This wasn’t bait.
This was a girl ripped straight out of hell.
And she had Kael’s signature all over her.
She collapsed against a tree, panting. Her fingers curled against the bark like she was holding herself upright by sheer will.
For a second, she turned her face toward the moon, and I caught it.
A mark.
Faint. Half-healed. Hidden behind a smear of blood near her collarbone.
Mate-bite.
My entire body went still.
Kael bit her.
Marked her.
Claimed her.
My wolf surged forward, howling rage and fury, and I had to dig my claws into the earth to stay in control.
This wasn’t just an Omega on the run.
This was his.
His mate.
But the bond was fractured—weak. Either rejected or barely formed. And she was alone. Unguarded.
Vulnerable.
I shouldn’t have cared.
Kael’s business wasn’t mine. I didn’t save strays. I didn’t play hero. Anyone who ran from Kael was someone I’d usually admire—but not someone I’d risk for.
Still…
I couldn’t walk away.
Not from her.
The girl shifted suddenly, stiffening. Her head whipped toward the trees—toward me.
She couldn’t see me.
But she felt me.
I saw it in her eyes. That primal, instinctive chill that came when prey sensed a bigger predator.
She backed up, knees trembling.
Her lips parted. A gasp, maybe. A silent plea.
She didn’t scream.
She just stared in my direction like I was the reaper coming to collect her last breath.
Then I spoke, voice low and firm.
“You’re trespassing.”
- Writer
