SERA'S POV
My scream died in my throat as strong hands grabbed me from behind.
"Quiet," Darius hissed in my ear. "Unless you want your pack to hear."
We were barely twenty feet into the forest when he'd pulled me and Riley behind a massive tree. Through the branches, I could see the clearing where Kaden had collapsed.
Where I'd left him dying.
*Good,* I told myself fiercely, ignoring how my wolf whimpered. *He deserves it.*
"What are you doing?" Riley whispered frantically. "You said we were leaving!"
"We are." Darius's cold blue eyes scanned the darkness. "But not the way they expect. Your Alpha has rogues surrounding the territory, remember? Walking out the front gate would be suicide."
My stomach dropped. "Then how—"
"There's a smuggler's tunnel two miles north. Used during the pack wars fifty years ago. Most wolves have forgotten about it." He looked at me seriously. "But the journey there is dangerous. Rogues patrol these woods. If they catch your scent..."
"They'll kill us," I finished.
"Or worse." Darius pulled out a small vial from his pocket. "This will mask your scent temporarily. Both of you drink half."
Riley grabbed my arm. "Sera, we don't know this guy! He could be poisoning us!"
"If I wanted you dead, I'd just leave you here." Darius's voice was harsh but honest. "Your Alpha will realize soon that I'm not taking the main roads. He'll send warriors after us. We have maybe twenty minutes before this forest becomes a war zone."
I looked back toward the clearing one last time. Healers surrounded Kaden's unconscious body. Lyanna was crying dramatically. My parents stood with Alpha Dominic, probably planning how to drag me back.
The broken mate bond throbbed in my chest like an open wound.
*We should go back,* my wolf whimpered. *Our mate needs us.*
*Our mate made us miserable for eighteen years,* I reminded her savagely. *We owe him nothing.*
But my hands shook as I took the vial from Darius and drank half. It tasted like dirt and metal.
Riley drank her share too, gagging. "This is insane. All of it."
"Welcome to my life," I muttered.
We ran.
Darius moved through the forest like a ghost—silent, fast, deadly. Riley and I struggled to keep up, branches scratching our faces and arms.
Every few minutes, we'd hear howls in the distance. Rogues hunting.
"Faster," Darius urged. "The scent mask won't last long with how much you're sweating."
My lungs burned. The ceremonial robe kept catching on thorns. But I pushed harder, because freedom was so close I could taste it.
Then Riley stumbled and fell with a sharp cry.
"Get up!" I grabbed her arm, pulling.
"My ankle—I think I twisted it." She tried to stand and immediately fell again, her face pale with pain.
Darius cursed. "We don't have time for this."
"Then leave without us!" Riley snapped. "Sera, you go. I'll slow you down."
"I'm not leaving you!" The idea was insane. Riley was the only person who'd ever stood by me.
"How touching." A new voice came from the shadows. "But you're not going anywhere."
Three massive wolves stepped into view, their eyes glowing red in the darkness. Rogues.
My wolf surged forward, ready to fight. But I'd only shifted once. I had no training, no experience.
We were going to die.
Darius shifted faster than I could blink, his gray wolf attacking the rogues with vicious precision. He was strong—stronger than any wolf I'd seen.
But three against one were bad odds.
"Sera, run!" Darius's voice echoed in my head through pack telepathy. "Get to the tunnel! North, follow the stream!"
"I can't leave you both—"
"RUN!"
A rogue broke past Darius, charging straight at me and Riley. Its jaws opened, aiming for my throat.
I shifted on pure instinct. My silver wolf burst out, catching the rogue's attack with my teeth. We crashed into the ground, rolling and snapping.
The rogue was bigger. Meaner. It tore into my shoulder and I howled in pain.
Then suddenly it was ripped off me. Another wolf—midnight black with amber eyes—stood over me protectively.
Kaden.
*What are you doing here?* I tried to ask through our broken bond, but it hurt too much.
He didn't answer. Just fought the rogue with savage fury, protecting me even though I'd rejected him.
Even though I'd left him dying.
More wolves arrived—pack warriors Kaden must have brought. They drove off the rogues quickly with Darius's help.
When it was over, I shifted back to human, clutching my bleeding shoulder. Kaden shifted too, swaying on his feet. He looked terrible—pale, shaking, barely standing.
"You shouldn't be here," I said through gritted teeth. "You're supposed to be dying."
"I am dying." His amber eyes met mine. "But I wasn't going to let you die first."
My traitorous heart skipped.
"Touching rescue," Darius said coldly, shifting back to human. "But we had everything under control."
"You had nothing under control." Kaden's voice was weak but firm. "Sera, you can't leave with him. You don't know what he—"
"Stop." I held up my hand. "I don't want to hear it. You don't get to tell me what to do anymore."
"The tunnel he's taking you to?" Kaden swayed dangerously. "It collapsed fifteen years ago. You'd be walking into a death trap."
I looked at Darius sharply. "Is that true?"
His cold smile told me everything I needed to know.
"You lied," I whispered. "You were never going to help me escape. This was all—"
"A trap," Kaden finished. "To kidnap you. The Bloodmoon Pack doesn't want an alliance, Sera. They want to steal your Omega power."
Darius's smile widened. "Smart boy. Too bad you figured it out too late."
He raised his hand, and suddenly the forest filled with wolves. Dozens of them.
Not rogues.
Bloodmoon warriors.
And we were completely surrounded.