Mira couldn't stop shaking.
Arden stood before her, half-shifted moments ago, eyes still glowing faintly with the beast just beneath his skin. The moonlight kissed his shoulders, the muscles tense as if he were fighting himself.
"I'm your… mate?" she whispered.
Arden stepped closer, slow, as if she were fragile glass he wasn't allowed to break.
His voice was low, rich, rough.
"Yes. And it's forbidden."
His fingers brushed her cheek—gentle, hesitant, trembling with restraint.
"You're human, Mira. You shouldn't be part of my world."
Her breath caught. His touch burned.
She forced herself to speak. "Then why are you?"
A muscle ticked in his jaw.
"Because I can't stay away."
He cupped the side of her neck, his thumb stroking softly—barely there, but enough to make her knees weaken. She leaned into him without thinking, drawn like a moth to flame.
When his forehead touched hers, both of them exhaled.
But Arden pulled away with a shudder.
"Mira, if I kiss you now… I won't be able to stop."
Her heart slammed against her ribs. She didn't know this world. She didn't understand bonds or wolves or destiny. But she knew one thing—
"I don't want you to stop," she said softly.
His eyes darkened, heat swirling in them, but he forced himself back a step.
"You don't know what you're asking for. My world is full of danger. Rival packs. Blood feuds. And they will come for you the instant they learn what you are to me."
"What I am to you?" she asked.
Arden swallowed hard. "Mine."
The word vibrated in the air between them like a vow and a curse all at once.
---
Danger in the Woodline
The next days were torture.
Arden shadowed Mira everywhere—quietly, protectively, never close enough to touch her again, but close enough that she felt him. His presence wrapped around her like heat, like gravity.
Every time she looked up in class, he was watching.
Every time she walked across campus, she sensed him.
Every night, she lay awake replaying the way he had touched her neck… his forehead against hers… the way he said mine like it hurt him.
But danger came faster than Arden expected.
One night, as Mira walked alone along the old forest path behind dorms, she heard it again—
Growling.
Not Arden's.
Lower. Crueler.
Suddenly a massive brown wolf charged out of the shadows, teeth bared.
Mira gasped, stumbled back—
An explosion of fury ripped through the air.
Arden slammed into the wolf mid-leap, shifting in midair. The two beasts clashed, snarling, yelping, rolling across the leaves in a blur of claws and rage.
"Arden!" she screamed.
Another wolf appeared at the edge of the trees.
This one watched Mira with cold, intelligent eyes.
A rival Alpha.
"You're protecting a human?" his voice rumbled through the night.
Arden shifted back just enough to roar, "Stay away from her!"
The rival Alpha smirked. "Humans break easily. This one looks… delicate."
Arden shifted fully, putting himself between Mira and the wolf.
"If you touch her," he snarled, "I'll rip your pack apart."
The rival wolf gave a dark chuckle. "So the rumors were true. The great Arden Blackwood has a weakness."
He vanished into the trees, leaving a warning hanging like smoke.
Arden turned to Mira, breath ragged, chest heaving.
"Are you hurt?" His hand brushed her arm, her waist, her jaw—urgent, searching.
She shook her head, tears slipping. "Why are they after me? I don't understand any of this."
Arden cupped her face with both hands, pulling her close.
"Because you're my mate," he whispered.
"And that makes you their target."
Her voice quivered. "Then teach me. Help me understand your world. I don't want to be afraid."
His thumb traced her lips—slow, reverent.
"And what if learning my world destroys your innocence?" he murmured.
She leaned into him. "I trust you."
Something inside him broke.
Arden lowered his forehead to hers again, his voice shaking with everything he was holding back.
"Then God help me, Mira… because I want you more than I've ever wanted anything."
He kissed her.
A slow, desperate, claiming kiss—one hand sliding to the back of her neck, the other gripping her waist as if he had been starving and she was the only thing that could save him. Mira's fingers curled into his shirt, pulling him closer, wanting more, needing more.
When they finally broke apart, both breathless, Arden whispered against her lips:
"This is only the beginning. And I will burn the world before I let anyone take you from me."