Chapter 2 – The Hunt Begins
564 Words
Rhea bolted.
She didn’t think, didn’t hesitate—she just turned and ran.
The word still echoed in her skull, that single growled declaration that threatened to tear apart everything she had built for herself.
Mate.
No. No, no, no.
Her boots slammed against the marble floor as she sprinted down the hall, her breath sharp and uneven. She needed to get out of this house, out of their reach, away from the overwhelming heat crawling up her spine.
This couldn’t be happening. Not to her.
She had spent her entire life avoiding packs, avoiding alphas and their suffocating control. She was a rogue—alone, independent, free.
And now?
Three of the strongest supernatural beings she had ever encountered had just laid claim to her in a single breath.
Not happening.
She reached the front door and yanked it open—
Only to slam into a wall of muscle.
A third man stood before her.
Taller than the others. Dark hair, dark eyes, and an aura so thick with dominance that it sent a shiver down her spine.
His scent hit her like a punch to the gut—wood smoke, rain, and something purely, devastatingly Alpha.
Another one.
His gaze slid over her with slow, predatory intent, his lips curving into something that wasn’t quite a smirk. “Going somewhere, little rogue?”
Rhea’s stomach twisted.
The air in the mansion shifted, the weight of something heavy pressing down on her chest. She was surrounded.
A rustle behind her.
Heat at her back.
Then a voice—low, smooth, lethal.
“Leaving so soon?”
She spun, heart hammering, as the vampire stepped into view.
His crimson eyes glowed in the dim light, amusement flickering in their depths. His shirt was still undone, his skin marked with the evidence of what she had interrupted. But his focus was entirely on her now.
Rhea’s throat tightened.
The third one—the Lycan King—emerged from the shadows next, his golden gaze unreadable. His movements were slow, deliberate, like a beast stalking its prey.
Her wolf snarled inside her, a deep, involuntary response to the overwhelming power radiating off of them.
This was bad.
Very, very bad.
She squared her shoulders, trying to steady her breath. “Look,” she said, her voice sharper than she felt. “I don’t know what kind of weird s**t you guys have going on here, but I’m just here to clean.”
The vampire chuckled. “Oh, little wolf, you are so much more than that.”
The Lycan’s golden eyes darkened, his voice a commanding growl. “You feel it. Don’t lie.”
Rhea did feel it.
The pull, the heat, the maddening, unbreakable connection.
It was real.
And it was horrifying.
Because she refused to be claimed.
So she did the only thing she could do.
She attacked.
A flash of claws. A burst of speed. A desperate, reckless attempt to break free—
But they were faster.
The Alpha was on her in a second, his grip locking around her waist, spinning her, slamming her back against the door.
His body pinned hers, his scent surrounding her, overwhelming her.
His voice was a quiet snarl against her ear.
“You can run, little rogue.” His fingers brushed her throat, pressing against her racing pulse. “But you will never escape us.”
- Writer
