Bounded By Blood,Freed By Love

chapter 4

"It's a distraction," I said suddenly, the pieces clicking together. "They're not trying to win. They're trying to pull Kane and the warriors away from—"

The window exploded inward.

Jensen moved fast, shifting as he lunged at the figure crashing through the glass. But there were more behind him—three, four, five rogues pouring into the room.

I grabbed a chair, smashing it into the first one to reach me. Wood splintered, but he kept coming. Claws raked across my back as another attacked from behind. I spun, ducking under his second swipe, my own partial shift rippling through me.

Jensen was down, blood pooling beneath him. Two rogues held him while a third approached me, his scarred face split in a grin.

"Viktor sends his regards," he growled. "Says to tell Kane thanks for the distraction."

I backed against the wall, counting my opponents. Five standing, Jensen down, and more shadows moving outside.

"You can come easy, or we can drag you," the scarred one continued. "Viktor doesn't care if you're damaged, long as you can still breed."

Rage flooded through me—hot and pure and powerful. My wolf surged forward, and this time, I didn't hold her back.

The shift was instant, complete. White fur—rare for wolves—exploded from my skin. I was smaller than the males, but faster. Stronger than I should be.

The scarred rogue's eyes widened. "She's a pure—"

I didn't let him finish. My teeth found his throat, and I tasted blood. The others lunged, but I was already moving, using the room's furniture as weapons and shields. A lifetime of training my father had given me, training I'd buried for five years, came flooding back.

But there were too many.

A massive brown wolf crashed into me, pinning me against the wall. Others grabbed my legs, my throat. I fought, twisting and biting, but their weight was crushing.

Then Kane's howl split the night.

Not from the borders where he should be. From right outside.

The door exploded off its hinges as a huge black wolf burst through. Kane in his wolf form was magnificent—and terrifying. He was on the rogues before they could react, his rage making him brutal.

The brown wolf released me to face Kane, and I used the distraction to tear into the one holding my back legs. Between us, Kane and I turned the room into a battlefield.

When it was over, when the last rogue lay still, Kane shifted back, blood streaking his naked form. He pulled on pants someone tossed him, his eyes never leaving me.

I shifted too, grabbing a blanket to cover myself, suddenly aware of how vulnerable I was.

"You're hurt." He reached for me, and I stepped back.

"I'm fine."

"You're bleeding."

"I said I'm fine."

He studied me for a long moment, then turned to Marcus, who had just arrived. "Double the guards. Triple the border patrols. And send word to every pack in the territory."

"What message?" Marcus asked, though his eyes were on me.

Kane looked back at me, his expression unreadable. "Tell them Aria Blackstone is under my protection. Anyone who challenges that challenges me."

"Kane," Marcus warned. "That's essentially declaring—"

"I know what it is." Kane's voice was hard as steel. "Do it."

He started to leave, then paused at the destroyed doorway. "And Marcus? Move her to the family wing. My floor."

"Kane!" I protested. "You can't just—"

"I just did." He looked back at me, and for a moment, I saw something raw in his eyes. "You want to survive this? Then you stay close to me. No arguments."

Then he was gone, leaving me standing in a destroyed room, covered in blood and a blanket, my carefully constructed life in ruins around me.

Marcus approached carefully. "Aria—"

"Don't." I wrapped the blanket tighter around myself. "Just... show me where I'm supposed to go."

As he led me through the pack house, past staring faces and whispered conversations, I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd just lost a battle I didn't even know I was fighting.