Claimed by the Ruthless Alpha King

The first scream came from the eastern ridge. It tore through the forest like a blade through wet skin. I froze. Every muscle in my body locked as I crouched behind a jagged pine trunk, my breath fogging in the bitter night air. Above me, the moon hung swollen and red, bleeding across the sky like an omen. Blood Moon. The elders said no one should enter the Black Hollow forest when the moon turned crimson. I had entered anyway. Because fear had never fed anyone. I tightened my grip around my hunting knife and lowered myself deeper into the brush, listening. Silence. Then A growl. Low. Massive. Not human. My pulse slammed hard against my ribs. Something moved in the darkness. Fast. Branches snapped. Leaves trembled. The forest itself seemed to recoil. I cursed under my breath and stepped backward. This was supposed to be simple. Track a wounded stag. Bring meat home before dawn. Ignore the rumors of wolves large enough to rip horses apart. Ignore the whispered stories of the northern packs. Ignore the fact that three villagers had vanished in the last month. Instead, I had followed blood too deep into forbidden territory. And now something was hunting. Maybe me. I forced my breathing to steady. Panic got people killed. I had learned that long ago. At nineteen, survival was already stitched into my bones. My father had died during winter raids. My mother had followed two years later when fever swept through our village. Since then, I had learned to live with empty cupboards, cruel weather, and men who mistook loneliness for weakness. They had all learned the same thing. I bit back. Hard. Another growl. Closer. I spun. Golden eyes flashed between the trees. Huge. Predatory. My knife lifted instinctively. A wolf stepped into the moonlight. No. Not a wolf. Too large. Its shoulders nearly reached my chest. Black fur rippled like smoke over muscle. Its jaws were wet, sharp teeth gleaming beneath the red moon. A northern wolf. Pack beast. Death. My throat tightened. The creature circled slowly. I moved with it. Knife up. Feet grounded. “Come closer,” I muttered. My voice barely shook. “Let’s see which one of us bleeds first.” The beast snarled. Then lunged. I dropped. Its claws sliced through the bark behind me as I rolled across wet leaves and drove my blade upward. Steel met flesh. The wolf roared. Hot blood sprayed across my hand. It stumbled. I scrambled up and ran. Branches lashed my face. Roots tore beneath my boots. The forest blurred. Behind me, the creature thundered after me. Too fast. Too close. Its breath was a furnace at my back. I burst through a thicket and skidded to a stop at the edge of a ravine. My heart stopped. Nowhere to run. The gorge split the earth like a wound, jagged rock vanishing into darkness below. The wolf stalked from the shadows. Bleeding. Angrier. Its lips curled back. I raised my knife. One fight left. One chance. The beast crouched. Then A howl. Deep. Violent. Commanding. The entire forest shuddered. The wounded wolf froze. Its ears flattened. Its body lowered. Submission. I frowned. Then I felt him. Not saw. Felt. A pressure. Heavy. Ancient. Predatory. The air itself thickened. Branches swayed as something emerged from the darkness beyond the ravine. A man. Tall. Broad. Terrifying. He stepped into the blood-red moonlight wearing black leather and fur, shadows sliding over hard muscle and sharp angles. His dark hair brushed his collar. A scar cut through one brow. But it was his eyes that stopped me. Silver. Cold. Inhuman. Beautiful. Deadly. Alpha. Every instinct inside me screamed. Run. Yet I stood rooted in place. His gaze moved to the injured wolf. One glance. The beast immediately lowered itself to the ground. Then his eyes lifted. To me. My breath vanished. The connection hit like fire. Raw. Primal. Unwanted. My skin burned where his gaze touched. He crossed the ravine with impossible speed, stepping over stone like gravity bent to him. No human moved like that. No ordinary Alpha either. He stopped only a few feet away. Towering. Silent. Dangerous. I lifted my knife. His eyes dropped to it. Then to the blood on my hand. His wolf’s blood. “You injured one of mine.” His voice was deep and rough, edged with authority. Not anger. Something colder. I swallowed. “He tried to eat me.” One dark brow lifted. Boldly, I held his stare. “If he wanted mercy, he should’ve attacked someone weaker.” Something unreadable shifted in his face. Surprise. Then interest. His wolf circled beneath his skin I could feel it. A violent energy. Possessive. Hungry. He stepped closer. Too close. My back nearly brushed the ravine. “You stand in my territory,” he said quietly. “I didn’t know your forest needed permission.” His jaw tightened. “Everything north of the river belongs to my pack.” “And I belong to no one.” Silence. Dangerous silence. The wind hissed through the trees. His silver eyes darkened. Then he inhaled. Sharp. His body stilled. His gaze snapped back to me. Predatory. Intense. Impossible. “What are you?” he asked. I frowned. “What?” He stepped closer. His nostrils flared. Like he was scenting me. My pulse raced. “I smell wolf.” Ice slid through me. Impossible. I was human. Wasn’t I? My mother had been human. My father My thoughts stopped. My father. A man who never spoke of where he came from. A man with strange scars. A man who forbade me from entering northern lands. The Alpha King’s voice dropped lower. “Who is your bloodline?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He reached for my wrist. I slashed my knife toward him. He caught it. Effortlessly. His fingers wrapped around the blade. Blood welled from his palm. He didn’t flinch. Instead, his silver eyes gleamed with something dark and possessive. “You fight like prey that refuses to kneel.” “I don’t kneel.” His mouth curved slightly. Not kindness. Worse. Interest. Then A scream split through the forest. Human. Female. From the southern path. My village. I jerked my head toward the sound. Fear stabbed through me. “No…” Smoke rose beyond the trees. Orange. Fire. The Alpha King turned sharply. His expression hardened. “Rogue wolves.” Another scream. Then another. My blood iced. My village. I moved. He grabbed my arm. Iron hard. “You go there, you die.” I yanked against him. “Let go.” “Those are rogue killers.” “That’s my home!” His grip tightened. Silver eyes blazing. Then he said the words that shattered something inside me. “They came for you.” My body went cold. “What?” He stared at me like a predator claiming truth. “They scented hidden blood.” Another scream tore through the night. Closer. Then snarls. Dozens. Moving toward us. Through the trees. Fast. The Alpha King slowly stepped in front of me. Protective. Terrifying. Possessive. And in the darkness beyond him glowing eyes appeared. One pair. Then five. Then twenty. Rogue wolves. Closing in. The Alpha King’s voice dropped into a lethal growl. “Stand behind me, little wolf.” And I realized with horror I didn’t know whether he was protecting me… or claiming me. Their snarls ripped through the silence of the forest. Foam dripped from sharp teeth. Their bodies were lean with hunger, ribs visible beneath filthy fur. These were not ordinary rogues. These were killers. Mad. Starved. Blood-crazed. I stepped back instinctively. My pulse thundered. “We need to run,” I whispered. The Alpha King didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t even glance back at me. Instead, his voice dropped deep, cold, commanding. “Stay behind me.” My fingers tightened around my dagger. “I can fight.” His jaw flexed. “You will obey.” Arrogant bastard. Even now. Even surrounded by death. Another wolf crept forward. Then another. The circle tightened. Branches snapped. Growls deepened. The King shifted slightly, stepping farther in front of me. Shielding me completely. Possessive. Terrifying. Protective. As if I belonged under his command. My heart pounded harder and not entirely from fear. What was wrong with me? This man had hunted me. Cornered me. Threatened me. Yet now… He stood between me and death without hesitation. The lead rogue stepped forward. Massive. Scarred. Its red eyes locked onto me. Then it growled one word. A word no wolf should have spoken in human tongue. “Her.” Ice flooded my veins. The Alpha King’s entire body went rigid. He slowly bared his teeth. Not human. Wolf. King. Monster. And then He whispered, deadly and absolute: “No one touches what is mine.” The rogues lunged. And I screamed.