Aurelia Voss didn't run for her life she ran to survive a world that had already taken everything from her.
Branches clawed at her arms, roots snared her feet, and the cold night air burned her lungs as she vaulted over a fallen log. Behind her, the growl of hunters echoed through the dense forest, sharp and predatory. Not ordinary wolves. Not ordinary hunters. Alpha hunters, each one bred to kill, bred to obey Kane D'Lyric.
And he was coming for her.
Her pulse thundered in her chest as her eyes scanned the shadows. The moon was a burning crimson, painting the forest in deep scarlet light, and every pulse of her heart matched the thrum of something awakening inside her. A heat along her spine, a tingle in her fingers her bond with Kane, stronger than reason, calling her in a direction she refused to take.
"You can't hide, little wolf."
The voice slithered through the forest like smoke, low, lethal, familiar. Aurelia skidded to a halt. Her green eyes scanned the darkness. Silver eyes glinted between the twisted trees. Kane. Always Kane.
"You…" Her voice shook, both with rage and a pull she couldn't name. "You destroyed them! You killed my pack!"
He stepped into the moonlight, every movement deliberate, like a predator savoring the moment. His tailored black coat, unusual for the forest, hinted at wealth and empire rather than wilderness. Kane D'Lyric wasn't just an Alpha he was a force, a shadow of danger stitched into every city skyscraper and secret forest path alike.
"And yet," he said softly, the silver of his gaze cutting through her, "here you are. Alive. Impressive… for prey."
Aurelia lunged, claws out, but Kane caught her wrist effortlessly, his hand like iron and silk combined. "You're reckless," he said, and the edge in his voice didn't hide the curiosity beneath. "And that will get you killed."
"I don't care!" she snapped. "You took everything from me!"
Kane's lips curved slightly, almost a smirk. "Everything? Or something you didn't know you had?" His words were cryptic, teasing, dangerous. Aurelia's pulse betrayed her, not just with fear, but with something far more confusing: attraction.
A flare of red light burst from the mark on her collarbone, glowing faintly against the moonlight. Her chest flared, a burning pulse that refused to be ignored. The bond was alive. He's mine. And I'm his. She shoved against him, wrenching her arm free, but Kane's gaze followed her every movement, patient, knowing.
"You'll learn," he said softly, "that some ties cannot be broken. And fate… has a way of making the strongest prey kneel."
Aurelia's breath came in ragged gasps. She had survived massacres, betrayals, even death itself. She would not kneel. Not to him. Not to anyone. Not yet.
From the shadows, a figure emerged one of Kane's lieutenants, Rafael, cloaked in black, eyes sharp and calculating. "Sir," Rafael said. "She's far stronger than anticipated."
Kane's gaze didn't leave Aurelia. "I noticed," he replied. Then, turning to her, he added: "Stronger… and defiant. I like that."
Aurelia felt a shiver. Rage flared, mingled with fear and something dangerously seductive. Why does he make me feel like this? She clenched her fists, focusing on the trees, the roots, the scent of earth and blood. Survival. That was all that mattered.
But Kane wasn't moving. He never moved without purpose, and now, he simply watched her. And she felt it the invisible tether, pulling, binding, threatening.
"You smell like my ruin," he murmured. "And maybe, just maybe… my salvation."
Aurelia spun on her heel, fleeing again, heart hammering. The forest twisted around her like a living maze. Every snap of a branch, every rustle of leaves, every flicker of crimson moonlight pressed the tension into her bones. She was not just hunted she was marked, pulled into a game she couldn't yet understand.
She burst through a clearing and skidded to a stop. In the distance, lights glimmered a mansion, opulent and imposing, tucked into the heart of the forest. Kane's empire, she realized. The forest was one thing, but the world he ruled… that was something else entirely.
And she was walking straight into it.
A branch snapped behind her. She whirled, instincts screaming and froze. Kane stepped into the clearing, slow, deliberate, arms crossed. His gaze softened just enough to make her pulse spike in protest.
"You'll run," he said, voice low. "But the bond… the bond doesn't lie. You're mine. Whether you want it or not."
Aurelia swallowed hard. Fear and rage warred in her chest. She wanted to scream, to fight, to escape. But deep down, buried beneath every scar and loss, something primal recognized truth.
The first hunt had ended.
The real game a battle of power, trust, desire, and fate had only just begun.
And the crimson moon watched it all.
From the shadows, another figure moved silent, lethal. Someone else had noticed her survival. The forest whispered a warning: Aurelia was far from safe.