Chapter 6
1152 Words
Ryan's POV
The night air was cool against my skin as I walked through the dim streets. Music and laughter spilled from a small bar ahead. The Moonlit Den. It was a place where pack members gathered, mostly lower ranks and warriors looking to unwind.
I pushed through the door, the warm air inside thick with the smell of alcohol and sweat. I headed for the bar, ordered whiskey, and found a corner to brood in peace.
That's when I smelled it.
Sweet. Soft. With an undertone of wildflowers and something uniquely... her.
My head snapped up, Razor suddenly alert. I scanned the room, searching for the source.
And then I saw her.
A girl with deep auburn hair, laughing with a group of friends near the back. She wore a simple dress, and her smile lit up her whole face. She looked happy. Carefree.
Beautiful.
Razor, my wolf, stirred, "There is something about her."
I watched her from the shadows as I drank. She seemed so different from the cold, political world I lived in. Genuine. Real.
One of her friends, a brown-haired girl, hugged her and stuck a candle in a cupcake.
"Birthday girl."
I found myself smiling despite everything.
I stayed for another drink, unable to look away. The way she threw her head back when she laughed. The way she tucked her hair behind her ear. Everything about her drew me in.
Eventually, I forced myself to leave. I had no right to intrude on her celebration. Besides, what would I even say?
I stepped outside, breathing in the cool night air. Razor whined softly in my mind, reluctant to leave her behind.
"I know," I muttered. "But we can't..."
A scream cut through the night.
It was coming from the bar.
For some reason, I spun around and raced back inside. My heart pounded as I followed the sound to the restroom hallway.
The door was already open.
And there he was. Nathan.
My half-brother stood over two unconscious men, his chest heaving. But that wasn't what made my blood freeze.
It was her. The birthday girl.
She was pressed against the wall, looking up at Nathan with wide, tearful eyes.
Then she kissed him.
My chest constricted painfully. Razor snarled, confused and hurt.
I watched as Nathan kissed her back, his hand cupping her face with a tenderness I'd never seen from him before.
I turned and walked away before either of them could see me. My jaw clenched as I pushed through the crowd and out into the night.
The cool air did nothing to ease the burning in my chest.
"She's not ours," I told Razor firmly. "Let it go."
But he wouldn't. He whined and paced, restless and agitated.
I tried to go home. Tried to sleep.
But every time I closed my eyes, I saw her. Her smile. Her laugh. Her kissing Nathan.
Razor wouldn't settle. He demanded to run, to burn off the energy coiling beneath my skin.
Finally, I gave in.
I shifted and ran.
The forest blurred around me as Razor tore through the trees. Running was what he loved most. The freedom, the wind, the earth beneath his paws. Usually, it cleared my head.
Not tonight.
We ran for hours. Through familiar territory and beyond. Past streams and clearings and the borders of our lands.
By the time dawn broke, painting the sky in shades of pink and gold, Razor had finally begun to calm.
I slowed to a trot, panting, ready to head back.
That's when I caught it again.
Her scent.
Faint. Laced with fear and pain.
My head snapped up. Razor snarled, every muscle in our body tensing as I ran.
The scent led south, toward the old warehouses.
Faster than I'd ever run before. Trees whipped past in a blur. My paws thundered against the ground.
Please. Please let me be wrong.
The warehouse came into view, abandoned, reeking of decay.
And her scent was everywhere.
I crashed through the door, shifting mid-leap.
Three rogues stood over a girl chained to a chair.
Her.
They'd torn her blouse, exposing her bra. She was shaking, terrified, her lips moving as she called out to a wolf that wasn't answering.
"Please, if you can hear me, save us..."
Rage consumed me.
I lunged toward them, ready to rip them apart when her wolf emerged.
Power exploded from her small frame. Her bones cracked and shifted. Claws extended. Fangs stretched from her mouth.
She tore through the chains like paper.
The rogues didn't stand a chance.
Blood sprayed across the walls as she ripped through them with a violence that left me breathless. Within moments, all three lay dead at her feet.
Then she staggered.
Her wolf flickered, unstable. Her body swayed.
I caught her before she hit the ground.
I cradled her unconscious body against my chest, my heart pounding as I checked her for injuries. She was breathing.
"Ryan, her energy is fading," Razor growled painfully, "She needs a Healer."
"Old Mara. We can take her to Old Mara!."
Panic seized me as I bolted through the back exit and into the forest, Razor lending me his strength as I pushed myself faster than I'd ever run in human form.
I didn't stop until I reached the old healer's cottage on the border.
I kicked the door open. "Mara!"
The healer, Old Mara, looked up from her herb table and gasped. "Bring her inside. Quickly!"
I lay Elena on the bed, my hands shaking as I watched her chest rise and fall in shallow breaths. "Please, you have to help her. Razor says her energy is fading..."
"Your wolf is right." Mara's hands already glowed faintly as she began examining Elena. "Her wolf emerged too violently. The trauma, combined with years of dormancy... It's draining her life force."
"Can you save her?"
Mara didn't answer; her focus was entirely on Elena as a warm, healing light spread from her palms.
Finally, Elena's breathing deepened and became steadier.
Mara sat back with a heavy sigh. "She'll live. But there will be consequences."
"What consequences?"
"She won't remember the shift. Her mind has blocked it out to protect itself." Mara looked at me gravely. "And her wolf has gone silent again. It may be weeks or months before she surfaces."
My chest tightened. "But she'll be okay?"
"Physically, yes." Mara's eyes narrowed, looking at me, watching the way my hands trembled, the way I couldn't look away from Elena's face.
"But boy... why are you so agitated? Your wolf is going crazy."
I hadn't even noticed. Razor was pacing frantically inside me, whining, clawing to get back to her.
"I don't know," I said, my voice rough. "I just... I can't leave her."
"Oh no," she whispered, her eyes wide with understanding. "Boy... she's your mate, isn't she?"
The word hit me like a physical blow.
Mate?
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