My Forbidden Mate

Chapter 6

The blaring sound of the border-watch horns echoed across the valley, vibrating straight through the soles of my shoes.

The pack house turned into chaos almost immediately. There were shouts of orders from the warriors, while the children were ushered to a safe space.

Dylan had told me to stay put. He had ordered me to remain safely locked away behind thick stone walls.

He’s out there, my wolf whimpered, I could almost feel her panting with fear. The rogues are at the gates, and he’s facing them without our help.

I didn't care about his orders. If Dylan was walking into a warzone, I wasn't going to keep myself in a bedroom. I darted towards my room, opened my wardrobe, quickly grabbing a pair of durable combat boots and strapping a silver-plated hunting dagger to my thigh—a weapon my father had insisted I learn how to use years ago. I never thought I’d have to use it like this.

By the time I slipped out the side exit of the pack house and sprinted toward the northern tree line, the battle was already underway.

The scent of burnt pine, copper, and feral blood hung thick and suffocating in the night air. Moonlight filtered through the dense canopy, illuminating a violent clash of shifting forms. Rogue wolves—emaciated, wild-eyed, and foaming at the mouth—were slamming against the pack’s protective barrier lines.

At the center of the chaos stood Dylan.

He hadn't shifted fully, but the Alpha aura radiating off him was terrifying. His eyes glowed a blinding, iridescent blue, and his bare hands moved with lethal, calculated speed as he snapped the neck of a massive grey rogue lunging at him. He was a force of pure nature, a king defending his crown.

But out of the corner of my eye, danger was moving faster than the eye could track.

A sleek, coal-black rogue had bypassed the front line and was hurtling straight through the underbrush toward Dylan's blind spot, its jaws unhinged, aiming straight for his throat.

“Dylan!” I screamed, though my voice was instantly swallowed by the roar of battle.

There was no time to think. Adrenaline flooded my veins, drowning out the fear. I yanked the dagger from my thigh, sprinting directly into the path of the oncoming beast. Just as the rogue leapt into the air, its razor-sharp claws extended to strike, I threw myself forward, driving the silver blade deep into its shoulder.

The beast let out a blood-curdling screech, crashing hard onto the dirt just inches from my feet. It thrashed wildly, trying to turn on me, but before its jaws could snap shut, a heavy, crushing weight slammed into the rogue.

Dylan.

In a terrifying display of raw Alpha dominance, Dylan pinned the beast to the earth, ripping its throat out with his bare hands in a single, merciless motion.

Silence seemed to fall over that corner of the clearing for a fraction of a second. Dylan stood up, chest heaving, his hands and face splattered with dark blood. His gaze whipped around wildly, searching the c*****e until his eyes locked onto me standing over the dead rogue.

The terrifying, feral glare in his eyes melted into absolute horror.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” Dylan roared, closing the distance between us in a heartbeat. He grabbed me by the shoulders, shaking me slightly as his chest heaved with ragged breaths. “I told you to stay in the room! Are you out of your mind? You could have been killed!”

“I saved your life!” I yelled back, refusing to shrink away from his overwhelming presence, my heart hammering against my ribs. “I am not some fragile glass doll you can just lock away whenever things get dangerous, Dylan!”

Before he could fire back, a sharp, mocking applause cut through the tension.

We both turned. Standing near the edge of the burning barricade, completely untouched by the chaos, was Eliza. She looked suspiciously calm for someone whose pack had just been ambushed.

Her eyes darted from the dead rogue at my feet to Dylan’s gripping hands on my shoulders. A cold, calculating smile spread across her lips, as if she had just found the exact puzzle piece she needed to destroy us.