Tristan's POV
My skin was crawling. Every muscle in my body felt like it was being pulled tight by a violin string ready to snap. I'd been holed up in this human town for three days, trying to sweat out a rut that felt more like a death sentence. The suppressant pills were useless. My wolf was a rabid beast inside my skull, screaming for a mate, for blood, for anything to quiet the fire in my veins.
I sat at the far end of the bar, my hood pulled low. The smell of cheap beer and grease usually kept my senses dull, but then the door opened.
A scent hit me. It wasn't just good. It was a biological wrecking ball. Jasmine, rain, and the unmistakable, heartbreaking scent of a female wolf in distress.
I turned my head slowly. She was small, drenched in some kind of sticky liquid, and her eyes were so swollen from crying she could barely see. She looked like she'd been through a war.
Mine, my wolf hissed, the word vibrating in my marrow.
No, I told him, gripping the edge of the bar until the wood groaned. We don't do this. Not to a civilian.
But she wasn't just a civilian. The way she moved, the way her scent flared with every sob, she was an Omega. A broken one.
I watched her order shots like they were water. She was trying to kill the pain, but I knew better. Alcohol doesn't touch a soul-bond wound. I felt a surge of irrational fury. Who the hell had done this to her? Who had left a female like this out in the open?
I moved before I could stop myself. My body was on autopilot, driven by the rut and a sudden, protective instinct I couldn't explain. I slid onto the stool next to her.
"My name is Tristan," I said. My voice was a jagged growl. I had to clench my jaw just to keep from lunging at her.
She didn't even look up. She just stared into the amber liquid of her glass, her small shoulders shaking. "I don't care. Go away."
"You shouldn't be here alone," I said, my voice dropping an octave. "Not tonight."
"Why? Is there something else that wants to ruin my life today?" She finally looked at me. Her face was a mess of tears and smudged mascara, but she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. My heart hammered against my ribs, a wild, frantic rhythm.
"You're hurting," I muttered.
She let out a dry, hollow laugh that sounded more like a sob. "I was rejected, Tristan. In front of everyone. My own mate threw me out like I was nothing but a dirty rag. So yeah, I'm hurting."
The word rejected sent a shockwave through me. My wolf went absolutely feral. A rejected female was vulnerable, her bond-site raw and open. To an Alpha in rut, she was a siren song.
"He's a fool," I said, leaning closer. The heat radiating off my body was enough to make her blink. "A blind, pathetic fool."
"Everyone says I'm a traitor's daughter," she whispered, her voice breaking. "Maybe he was right. Maybe I'm just cursed."
She put her head in her hands and started to sob again. It wasn't a quiet cry. It was the sound of someone who had reached the very end of their rope.
The sound snapped something inside me. The last thread of my control evaporated. The rut took over, a dark, heavy curtain falling over my mind. All I could see was her neck. All I could smell was the invitation in her blood.
"Don't cry," I growled, my hand moving to the back of her neck. My skin felt like it was on fire where I touched her.
She looked up at me, her eyes wide with fear and something else. "Tristan? You're... your eyes."
"I know," I whispered. I could feel my canines lengthening, the pressure in my gums unbearable.
I didn't think about the consequences. I didn't think about who she was or what this would mean for the packs. I just knew that if I didn't claim her, I was going to burn alive.
I pulled her toward me, my strength far beyond what she could fight. She gasped, her hands coming up to my chest, but she didn't push. She was so weak, so desperate for any kind of warmth.
"Tristan, wait," she breathed.
"I can't," I groaned against her skin.
I tilted her head to the side, exposing the pale, perfect curve of her shoulder. The scent of her distress was being replaced by the scent of her arousal, a chemical reaction to my proximity.
I didn't give her a choice. I didn't give myself one.
I buried my teeth into the junction of her neck and shoulder.
Tricia screamed, a high, sharp sound that was drowned out by the thunder in my ears. The taste of her blood was like wine, filling my senses, cooling the fire in my blood instantly. I felt the mark take hold, the silver-blue light of an Alpha's claim sparking between our skin.
I pulled back, my mouth stained with her blood, my wolf finally, finally silent.
Tricia slumped against me, her eyes glazed over, her hand reaching up to touch the jagged, bleeding mark I'd just left on her.
"What did you do?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
I had started a war. I knew it. My wolf knew it. Every instinct in my body was screaming in triumph while my rational mind was already calculating the body count.
I pulled back, my teeth aching from the pressure. Tricia's skin was hot under my lips, the mark glowing a fierce, angry red before it began to settle into the permanent ink of an Alpha's brand. She didn't fight me. She didn't even scream after that first initial gasp. Instead, her body went limp, her head falling back against my arm as her eyes drifted shut.
The rejection, the exhaustion, and now the intensity of a second bond forming in less than twenty-four hours had been too much for her system. She was out cold.
I didn't hesitate. I tucked one arm under her knees and the other behind her back, lifting her against my chest. She was far too light. For an Alpha's daughter, she was skin and bones, a walking testament to how much Xander Blackwood had failed her.
I walked out of that bar without looking back. I didn't care about the bill. I didn't care about the human witnesses who were staring at me like I was a monster. I tossed her into the passenger seat of my SUV, buckled her in, and drove.
The drive back to the Shadow Pack was a blur. My wolf was finally quiet, basking in the scent of her, but the reality was settling in. I had just marked the daughter of the man who killed my father's allies. I had just claimed the "trash" of the Blood Moon Pack.
But I could still feel the way she had cried. I could still feel the raw, bleeding hole in her soul that Xander had left behind.
When I pulled up to the gates of the manor, the guards immediately straightened up. They saw her through the window and their eyes went wide. They knew who she was. Everyone knew the Thorne girl.
I ignored them, parking the car and carrying her through the front doors.
"Tristan? What on earth is that smell?"
I stopped in the foyer. My mother, Charlotte, was standing at the top of the grand staircase. She was the matriarch of this pack, a woman who valued bloodlines and optics above all else. She looked down at Tricia, her nose wrinkling in immediate distaste.
"Put that thing down," Charlotte commanded, her voice echoing through the hall. "Why is there an Omega in my house? And why does she smell like... like you?"
I didn't stop. I started walking up the stairs, my grip on Tricia tightening. "She's staying here, Mother. Prepare the guest suite next to mine."
"Have you lost your mind?" Charlotte stepped in front of me, her eyes flashing. "That is Rector's daughter. That is the girl Xander Blackwood just publicly rejected this morning. The whole territory is talking about it. She is a pariah, Tristan. A curse."
"She's my mate," I said, my voice low and dangerous.
Charlotte actually recoiled. She looked at Tricia's neck, seeing the fresh, weeping mark I had just carved into her skin. Her face went from shock to pure, unadulterated rage.
"You marked her? In a rut? Tristan, you are the Alpha of the Shadow Pack! You were supposed to marry the daughter of the Council head! You just threw away our standing for a rejected Thorne mutt?"
"I didn't throw anything away," I snapped, stepping around her. "I took what I wanted. Xander was too stupid to see her value. I'm not."
"Value?" Charlotte followed me down the hall, her heels clicking like gunfire on the marble. "What value does she have? She's an Omega with a traitor's name. She brings nothing to this pack but the threat of a Blood Moon invasion. Xander might have rejected her, but he won't take kindly to you marking his property."
"She isn't property anymore," I said, kicking open the door to the suite. "She's mine. And if Xander wants her back, he can come try to take her from my cold, dead hands."
I laid Tricia down on the bed. She looked so small against the dark silk sheets. Her breathing was shallow, her face still stained with the tears she'd cried at the bar. My heart gave a strange, uncomfortable tug. I reached out, brushing a strand of hair from her forehead.
"You're doing this to spite him," Charlotte said, her voice dropping to a whisper as she stood in the doorway. "This isn't about the bond. It's about the war. You're using this poor girl as a trophy."
"Maybe I am," I admitted, not looking away from Tricia. "Or maybe I just liked the way she looked when she realized she didn't have to be alone. Either way, she's staying. Get the pack doctor up here. I want her checked out."
"I will not have a Thorne under my roof, Tristan. If you don't get rid of her, I will."
I turned slowly, letting my Alpha aura flood the room. The air became heavy, suffocating. Charlotte paled, her own wolf bowing to my dominance, even if her human side was still defiant.
"If you touch her, Mother, you will find out exactly how much I've inherited from my father's temper," I warned. "She is protected. By me."
Charlotte stared at me for a long moment, her lips a thin line. "You've made a grave mistake, my son. You think you've won a prize, but you've just brought a Trojan horse into our walls."
She turned and swept out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I sat on the edge of the bed, watching the rise and fall of Tricia's chest. The rut was fading, leaving behind a cold, hard clarity. I had just changed the course of my life for a girl I barely knew.
A few minutes later, there was a soft knock on the door. It was Dr. Xavier, the pack physician. He looked nervous, his eyes darting to the mark on Tricia's neck before he set his bag down.
"Alpha," he nodded. "The Matriarch sent me. She said it was an emergency."
"Just check her," I said, standing up and moving to the window. "She fainted. I want to know if it's the bond or something else."
I watched as Xavier performed a series of tests. He checked her pulse, her pupils, and the state of the mark. He remained silent for a long time, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"Well?" I prodded.
Xavier looked at me, then back at Tricia. He seemed to be weighing his words carefully. "The mark is healing well, Alpha. Your strength is... impressive. But that isn't why she's so exhausted."
"Speak plainly, Xavier."
"Her wolf is suppressed, likely from years of abuse and silver exposure," he started. "But there's a massive spike in her hormone levels. It's why the bond hit her so hard. It's why her body is shutting down to protect itself."
I frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Xavier stood up, wiping his hands on a cloth. He looked me straight in the eye, and the expression on his face made my stomach drop.
"She's pregnant, Tristan. But the timing... it's impossible for it to be yours. Based on the scent and the development, the conception happened yesterday. During the Blood Moon."
The world seemed to stop spinning. I looked at the girl on the bed, my mind racing. Yesterday. The night she was with Xander.
"She's carrying the Blackwood heir," I whispered, the words tasting like ash in my mouth.
"Yes," Xavier said. "But there's something else. Something I've never seen before."
"What?"
Xavier pointed to the mark I had just given her. The silver-blue light wasn't fading anymore. It was turning a dark, bruised purple, spreading like a stain down her shoulder.
"The marks are fighting each other," Xavier said, his voice trembling. "The rejection mark from Xander and your claim mark are warring over her soul. And with a pregnancy in the middle... she isn't just a hostage, Alpha. She's a ticking time bomb. If those marks don't stabilize, the shock will kill her and the child within forty-eight hours."