Darkness slams down like a curtain
Not just the lights
Not just the hallway.
Everything.
My vision blurs around the edges first, then tunnels, until the only thing I'm aware of is heat—burning, pulsing, clawing under my skin. The mark on my shoulder feels like a living brand blazing straight into my blood.
I fall.
Strong arms catch me before I hit the ground.
"Arielle!" Lucian's voice shreds through the darkness, raw and roughened like he's fighting his own monster. "Stay with me."
I try. I swear I try.
But the energy flooding me is too much—alive, electric, ripping through my veins.
"What's—happening— to me?" I gasp, clutching his shirt.
He presses a hand to the back of my neck, grounding, steady, scorching hot. "Your mark is responding to the rogues' energy. They're triggering the bond."
Bond.
Mark.
Curse.
Everything tightens around my chest.
"Lucian… I can't breathe—"
A sound tears from him—not human, not controlled.
A growl.
Deep. Bone-vibrating.
Dangerous.
The kind of sound an Alpha makes when he's seconds away from losing control.
Suddenly, light returns—not normal light, more like a flash of silver igniting behind my eyelids.
And then
Everything snaps back into place.
I drag in a breath, shaky and thin, as Lucian lifts me with one arm, the other braced protectively as he turns toward the end of the hall.
The shadows are moving.
Fast.
Something skitters along the walls—too quick, too low to the ground, too silent to be anything human.
Lucian's chest rumbles again, louder. "They're close."
I grip his shirt. "Then why are we still here?!"
He flashes me a look—sharp, furious, protective. "Because you passed out between two floors. The emergency system froze the elevator. I'm waiting for—"
A metallic ping cuts him off.
The elevator doors at the far end of the hallway begin to fold open on their own.
Very slowly.
Very wrong.
Lucian's stance shifts, body lowering in front of me, blocking my entire view. "Stay behind me."
"I can't see—"
"You don't need to see what's coming."
My pulse spikes. My stomach drops.
And then I hear it:
A soft scraping sound.
Claws against metal.
A silhouette slips into the hallway—four-legged at first… then stretching upward into a twisted, half-human shape.
Rogue.
M
But not like the wolf that saved me years ago.
Not even like the ones from stories.
This one moves like a broken puppet, bones popping and resetting as it straightens, its head tilting unnaturally as it sniffs the air—
Then locks directly onto me.
Lucian doesn't give it the chance to take another step.
His growl explodes into a full snarl, skin rippling with barely restrained transformation. His voice is almost unrecognizable when he speaks.
"You're not touching her."
The rogue lunges.
Lucian is faster.
He grabs me, one arm sweeping me behind him as he meets the creature halfway, their collision shaking the walls. All I see is silver—Lucian's eyes glowing like lightning—and then the crack of bone and the echo of claws scraping tile.
Another rogue howls from deeper in the hall.
Then another.
Lucian swears under his breath and shoves the half-shifted rogue back so hard it slams into the elevator wall and collapses.
He grabs my wrist. "We're moving. Now."
He drags me down the opposite direction, toward a black emergency door. Behind us, the fallen rogue twitches, then suddenly shifts to its feet again, eyes glowing with feral hunger.
"Lucian—!"
"I know."
He throws the emergency door open and pulls me into a concrete stairwell, slamming the door just as claws rake across the other side.
The metal dents inward.
One.
Two.
Three strikes.
I stumble. "They're breaking through!"
Lucian's hand cups my jaw for a split second—steadying me, grounding me, forcing me to look into his eyes.
"No matter what happens," he says, voice deadly calm, "you stay with me."
"But—"
"Say it, Arielle."
His demand hits like a wave of heat.
My lips part. "I—I'll stay."
Faster than I can blink, he scoops me into his arms, cradling me against his chest like I weigh nothing.
I gasp. "Lucian—!"
He leaps—literally leaps—down three steps at a time, landing with predatory grace.
"My wolf is too close to the surface," he growls. "If I let you out of my hold, he'll tear this entire building apart to get you back."
I open my mouth to argue, but the stairwell door explodes inward upstairs.
Lucian moves.
No hesitation.
No fear.
Just pure, lethal instinct.
He races down the stairs with supernatural speed, the world a blur around us. I clutch his shirt as his heartbeat pounds against my side—fast, strained, too wild.
"Lucian," I whisper, "you're shaking."
He doesn't answer.
But the tremor in his arms worsens.
His breaths come shorter. Sharper.
Like something inside him is fighting to break free.
When we reach the last flight, he drops me to my feet, holding the railing with one white-knuckled hand, head down, teeth clenched.
"Lucian?"
He doesn't look at me.
His shoulders heave once. Twice.
Then he gasps my name like it hurts.
"Arielle—don't come closer."
I freeze. "You're—changing."
His fingers curl into claws. His voice is half-growl. "The mark… it reacts to danger. When you fainted, it triggered my wolf. I'm barely holding him back."
Cold washes through me.
"What happens if he… takes over?
Lucian lifts his head.
His eyes.
God.
Silver, but no longer human.
No longer calm.
No longer controlled.
"You won't be hurt," he rasps, voice breaking. "He won't lay a claw on you."
"Then what's wrong?"
He lets out a sound between a breath and a snarl.
"My wolf wants blood."
My throat tightens. "The rogues?"
"No." His gaze pins me in place, burning. "Anyone who threatens the bond. Anyone who touched you. Anyone who made you faint. Anyone who scared you."
My heartbeat stumbles.
"That's not rational," I whisper.
Lucian laughs—a dark, pained sound. "Wolves aren't rational, Arielle. They're… primal. When they feel something, they consume it."
"Feel something?" I echo.
His jaw clenches.
"You think he doesn't remember you from that night? You think he didn't spend five years searching? You think he didn't dream of the scent of your blood on the forest floor?"
Heat rushes into my chest.
"Lucian…"
"He marked you under a cursed moon," he says, voice shaking. "The bond is stronger than most Alphas ever experience. And tonight—it's ripping through me."
The stairwell lights flicker.
Rogues howl behind the metal door.
Lucian swallows hard and drags a hand down his face. "If I lose control here… I'll tear them apart. And then I might tear through the entire building trying to reach you again."
I step closer instinctively.
His hand shoots out—stopping me inches away.
"Don't," he warns, voice rough. "You're the one thing I can't control myself around."
My lips part. "I'm trying to help."
"You help by staying alive."
Another bang shakes the door.
Lucian's head snaps toward the sound, teeth elongating, a growl rumbling out so deep it vibrates the steps.
His entire body shudders.
"Lucian—"
"Run," he chokes.
My heart slams into my ribs. "I'm not leaving you."
"You'll be safe out the back exit—"
"No."
"Arielle." His breathing becomes ragged. "My wolf is seconds from breaking through. When he does—I won't be able to let you go. I won't be able to stop touching you. I won't be able to—"
His voice drops, feral and pained.
"—claiming you."
My face ignites.
And still—I don't move back.
Because despite the danger, or maybe because of it…
I don't feel fear.
I feel drawn to him.
Like my mark is pulling toward his.
Another howl.
Another dent in the door.
Lucian snaps, "Arielle! Go!"
"No."
He stares at me—eyes glowing, chest heaving, body trembling on the edge of transformation.
Then
The stairwell door bursts open and three rogues charge in, their bodies twisted, eyes wild, claws dripping with something black.
Lucian doesn't hesitate.
He steps in front of me, full Alpha power surging through him.
His voice roars, deep and terrifying and beautiful:
"SHE. IS. MINE."
The rogues freeze.
Then everything erupts into chaos.
Lucian launches forward, half-wolf, half-man, strength exploding from every muscle as he slams into the first rogue and snaps its neck in one brutal twist.
The second rushes me.
Lucian turns, eyes white-hot, and tackles it mid-air, ripping it off its feet and slamming it down the stairs.
The third leaps from above.
Straight at me.
I scream—
Lucian is there in an instant, shielding me, claws out, teeth bared, wolf fully taking over as he shreds the rogue apart with a sound that is pure, feral fury.
Silence falls like a hammer.
Lucian stands over the bodies, chest rising and falling violently, shoulders shaking, wolf still burning in his eyes.
He turns toward me.
Slowly.
Dangerously.
"Arielle…" His voice is no longer fully human.
I step back.
His wolf steps forward.
"We have to go," I whisper.
He doesn't move.
Doesn't breathe.
Only stares at me like I'm the only thing alive in the world.
Then with one broken, desperate breath, he says:
"Don't run.
If you run…
I won't stop myself."