CLAIMED BY THE ALPHA KING

CHAPTER 2 : GIVE ME HIS NAME

The car was ridiculous.

I don't know what I'd expected—maybe a truck, or an SUV, something practical for an Alpha who spent his time traveling between territories. What I got was a sleek black sports car that probably cost more than I'd earned in my entire life, with leather seats that felt like butter and a dashboard that looked like it belonged in a spaceship.

Darius slid into the driver's seat like he owned the world.

Which, technically, he kind of did.

"Seatbelt," he said, starting the engine. It purred to life, all controlled power, just like him.

I buckled up in silence, acutely aware of how small the car suddenly felt. How close we were. How every breath I took was filled with his scent, making my wolf practically drunk with want.

"You can relax," he said, pulling out of the alley. "I'm not going to bite."

"Yet."

The corner of his mouth curved. "Yet."

Oh, goddess help me.

We drove in silence for maybe ten minutes, the city lights sliding past the windows, before he spoke again. "Tell me about yourself."

"Why?"

"Because you're my mate and I know nothing about you except your name and the fact that you're absolutely terrified of the bond between us." His hands tightened on the steering wheel. "I'd like to change that."

"There's nothing to tell."

"Everyone has something to tell."

I stared out the window, watching Portland fade behind us. "I'm twenty-three. I've been rogue for five years. I move around a lot. I cook. That's it."

"You cook."

"I had a food truck. Before your dramatic rescue ruined my life."

He glanced at me, one eyebrow raised. "Ruined your life."

"I had a good setup in Portland. A spot near the university, regular customers, nobody asking questions. Now I have three unconscious pack wolves who saw us together, which means by morning every Alpha in the Northwest will know about the bond." I pulled his coat tighter around me, even though the car was warm. "So yeah. Ruined."

"I'll handle it."

"You can't handle gossip."

"Watch me." He took a turn onto the highway, accelerating smoothly. "What do you cook?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I want to know you."

Something in his voice made my chest tight. I kept my eyes on the window. "Comfort food mostly. Mac and cheese. Grilled cheese. Things that make people smile." A pause. "Things that made me smile, back when I still had a pack."

"What happened to your pack?"

And there it was. The question I'd been dreading.

"I left."

"Why?"

"Because I wasn't wanted there anymore."

His hands went white-knuckled on the wheel. "Someone hurt you."

"Someone rejected me." The words came out flat, emotionless. Five years of practice. "On my eighteenth birthday, in front of the entire pack, my fated mate looked me in the eye and said he wanted nothing to do with me. That I wasn't good enough. That I was—" I stopped. Breathed. "It doesn't matter what he said. Point is, the rejection broke the bond, shattered my wolf, and made it very clear I didn't belong there anymore. So I left."

Silence.

It stretched between us, heavy and horrible, and I couldn't look at him. Couldn't bear to see pity in those silver eyes.

"Give me his name."

The words were so quiet I almost missed them.

I turned. Darius's face was perfectly calm, but his eyes—goddess, his eyes were molten gold, blazing with a fury so intense it stole my breath.

"No."

"Give me his name, Sera."

"So you can kill him? No."

"I won't kill him." His voice was still that same terrifying calm. "I'll just make him wish he'd never been born."

"That's not better!"

"It's considerably better than what I actually want to do to him." He took a breath, visibly fighting for control. "Someone rejected you. You. My mate. The other half of my soul. The woman I've been searching for my entire adult life." His jaw clenched. "Forgive me if I'm having trouble processing that without resorting to violence."

"It was five years ago."

"I don't care if it was fifty years ago. He hurt you. He—" Darius cut himself off, both hands gripping the wheel hard enough to make the leather creak. "What pack?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Sera—"

"No." I crossed my arms. "Look, I appreciate the whole possessive Alpha thing. Very hot. Gold star. But that part of my life is over. I'm not going back there, I'm not talking about it, and I'm definitely not unleashing you on someone just because they didn't want me five years ago."

"Didn't want—" He actually laughed, sharp and disbelieving. "Sera, do you have any idea what you are?"

"A rogue with commitment issues?"

"You're an Alpha's mate." He glanced at me, and the intensity in his eyes made my breath catch. "More than that. You're my mate. The bond between us is—it's stronger than anything I've ever felt. You could bring me to my knees with a single word. You could destroy me without even trying." His voice dropped. "And some worthless piece of s**t looked at you and decided you weren't enough? He's either blind, stupid, or suicidal. Possibly all three."

I didn't know what to say to that.

My wolf was preening.

I was trying very hard not to melt into a puddle.

"It doesn't matter anymore," I finally managed. "I'm over it."

"You're terrified of the mate bond."

"Because it didn't work out so great the first time!"

"I'm not him."

"I know you're not—"

"Do you?" He took an exit off the highway, the car's headlights cutting through darkness. We were in the middle of nowhere now, surrounded by forest. "Because it seems like you're punishing me for his mistakes."

"I'm not punishing you. I'm protecting myself."

"From what?"

"From this!" I gestured between us. "From feeling like this, from wanting something I can't have, from—" I stopped, but it was too late.

"From wanting me," he finished quietly. "That's what you meant, isn't it? You want me. You feel the bond. You know we're meant to be together. And it scares you."

"Of course it scares me! The last time I trusted the mate bond, it destroyed me. It took me two years to be able to shift again without crying. Three years before I could even smell another wolf without having a panic attack. And now you show up, and the bond is there, and it's—it's stronger than before, and I can't—" My voice cracked. "I can't go through that again. I won't survive it."

Darius was quiet for a long moment. Then he pulled the car over to the side of the road and killed the engine.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He turned to face me fully, and the look in his eyes made my heart stutter. "Look at me."

"I am looking at you."

"No, you're looking past me. You're seeing him. The wolf who hurt you. The pack that failed you." He reached over, cupped my face with one large hand. His palm was warm, his touch impossibly gentle. "I need you to see me, Sera. Just for a minute. Can you do that?"

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

"I'm not going to reject you," he said, and every word was weighted with absolute certainty. "Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. I'm going to spend every day of the rest of our lives proving to you that you're wanted. That you're cherished. That you're—" He paused, and something vulnerable flickered across his face. "You're everything, Sera. Everything I've been looking for. And I know you don't believe that yet. I know you think I'm going to wake up one day and decide you're not enough. But I won't. I can't. You're my mate. My other half. And I will burn this entire world to ash before I let anyone—including you—take that away from me."

I was crying.

When had I started crying?

"Hey," he murmured, brushing away tears with his thumb. "It's okay."

"It's not okay. Nothing about this is okay."

"Then we'll figure it out together."

"I don't know how to do 'together.'"

"Lucky for you," he said, and despite everything, there was a hint of amusement in his voice, "I'm an excellent teacher."

I laughed—wet and broken and completely involuntary. "You're impossible."

"I'm patient. There's a difference." He started to pull his hand away, and before I could think better of it, I caught his wrist.

"Wait."

He froze.

I stared at our joined hands, at the way my smaller fingers wrapped around his wrist, at the way the simple touch sent heat racing through my veins and made my wolf hum with contentment.

"One night," I whispered. "You said I could have one night to decide."

"I did."

"Does the offer still stand?"

Something bright and fierce flared in his eyes. "It stands."

"Okay." I released his wrist, already missing the contact. "Okay. One night. I'll stay with you for one night. See your pack. Figure out—" I gestured vaguely. "Whatever this is. And then I decide."

"And then you decide," he agreed.

He didn't say what we both knew: that one night with him, in his territory, surrounded by his pack and his power and the undeniable pull of the mate bond, might be enough to make the decision for me.

He didn't have to.

Darius started the car again and pulled back onto the road. We drove in silence, but it was different now—less hostile, more... anticipatory. Like we were both waiting for something to break.

Twenty minutes later, we passed through a gate I hadn't even seen until we were right on top of it. The trees opened up to reveal a massive compound—not quite a town, not quite an estate, but something in between. Buildings scattered across rolling hills, lights glowing in windows, wolves moving between structures with the easy confidence of people who knew they were protected.

"Welcome to Shadowmere," Darius said. "Territory seat of the Northwestern packs."

It was beautiful. Overwhelming. Absolutely terrifying.

"How many wolves live here?" I asked.

"In the main compound? About five hundred. In the full territory, close to three thousand."

Three thousand wolves. All of them stronger than me, better than me, more worthy of an Alpha King's attention than some rogue who—

"Stop," Darius said quietly.

"Stop what?"

"Whatever you're thinking. I can feel your panic through the bond."

Right. The bond. That was going to take some getting used to.

He pulled up to what could only be described as a mansion—three stories of stone and timber and floor-to-ceiling windows, with a massive entrance that looked like it belonged in a castle.

"This is your house?"

"This is home." He killed the engine and looked at me. "Ready?"

"No."

"Good answer." He smiled, quick and devastating. "Come on."

I followed him up the steps, his coat still wrapped around my shoulders, my heart hammering against my ribs. He opened the front door, and warm light spilled out, along with the scent of pine and snow and pack—dozens of wolves, all of them strong, all of them curious.

A woman appeared in the doorway.

She was stunning—tall, lean, with long dark hair and eyes like amber. She took one look at Darius, then at me, and her face split into a grin.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," she said.

"Luna," Darius said warningly.

"Is she—?" Luna's eyes widened. "Oh my goddess, she is. Darius, you lucky bastard, you actually found—"

"Can we do this inside?" Darius interrupted. "Preferably without the entire pack watching?"

I turned.

There were wolves everywhere—on the grounds, in windows, emerging from other buildings. All of them staring. All of them knowing.

"Too late," Luna said cheerfully. "Word's already spreading like wildfire. The Alpha King's mate has arrived." She looked at me. "I'm Luna Stone, Darius's sister and the pack's official busybody. You must be—"

"Sera," I managed.

"Sera." Luna's grin widened. "Welcome to the family. This is going to be absolutely—"

She stopped.

Her entire body went rigid.

A new scent hit me—wolf, male, familiar in a way that made my stomach drop and my wolf snarl.

A man stepped out from behind Luna, his eyes locked on me, his face going white with shock.

"Sera?" he breathed.

No.

No, no, no—

"Hello, Marcus," I said, my voice completely flat.

Darius looked between us, his body coiled with sudden tension. "You know each other?"

Marcus's eyes were still on me, wide with disbelief. "Sera Blackwood. I thought—goddess, I thought you were dead."

"Disappointed?"

"What? No, I—" He took a step forward, and Darius moved instantly, placing himself between us with a growl that made every wolf in hearing distance freeze.

"Don't," Darius said quietly.

Marcus raised his hands. "I wasn't going to—"

"I don't care what you were going to do. You don't approach her. You don't touch her. You don't even look at her without my permission." The threat in his voice was unmistakable. "Am I clear?"

"Darius—"

"Am I. Clear."

Marcus swallowed hard. "Yes, Alpha."

Luna was looking between us with increasing fascination. "Okay, I feel like I'm missing something incredibly important here."

I laughed. It came out slightly hysterical. "Oh, you could say that."

Darius turned to me, his eyes sharp with understanding and barely leashed fury. "Sera. Is this—"

"Marcus Stone," I confirmed, meeting my former mate's eyes with all the coldness I'd cultivated over five years of survival. "My ex-mate. The one who rejected me on my eighteenth birthday in front of his entire pack."

The silence that followed was deafening.

Then Darius smiled.

It was the most terrifying thing I'd ever seen.

"Well," he said softly, his voice carrying to every wolf in the compound. "Isn't this just perfect."