Chapter 1 THE GIRL WHO SHOULD HAVE DIED

The forest was not as usual tonight.

Alpha Lykos knew it the moment he passive a scent he had never smelt before.

Sharp.

Soft.

Frightened.

Human... but also something else, something faint and ancient humming beneath the surface.

He tensed where he stood at the edge of his territory, every instinct in him sharpening. The moonlight cut through the trees in thin blades, silvering the scars across his arms. The border was unnaturally quiet. Even the wolves patrolling nearby were restless, pacing instead of standing watch.

Lykos exhaled slowly.

Another problem.

Another night.

Another risk.

His curse always felt closest to the surface when the forest grew still like this. It coiled inside him like venom, whispering death-death-for any woman foolish enough to touch him. He lived with that reminder every day.

Every night.

Every breath.

His mother. His sister. His Beta's mate.

All gone by the brush of his cursed skin.

And so he stood alone. Always alone. It was safer that way.

But tonight...

His wolf stirred under his skin, ears perked.

Something is coming.

Lykos stepped forward, every muscle on alert. The moon brightened suddenly as if warning him.

Then-

A scream tore through the stillness.

A human scream.

His heart kicked. His wolf snarled.

The sound came again-weak, desperate, breaking.

Lykos was already running, his feet pounding through the forest floor. The scream was close. Too close. At the border.

He leaped over a fallen log, branches snapping under his boots as the scent of blood slid into the air. Not much-but enough to make his instincts sharpen dangerously.

Then he saw her.

A small girl, fragile-looking-collapsed on her hands and knees right at the boundary marker. Her hair hung in tangled waves around her face, dirt smudging her cheeks. She was shaking violently, breathing in choked gasps, her body curling inward like she was trying to disappear.

She looked like she had been running for days.

But it wasn't just exhaustion that hit him when he saw her.

It was that scent-soft, moonlit, impossibly familiar for someone he had never seen before. His wolf surged up so fast it nearly knocked him off balance.

Mate.

Lykos staggered a step. No. Not possible.

He didn't have a mate. Fate wouldn't be that cruel. He couldn't have one-not with his curse. Not when touching him meant instant death.

He couldn't have someone destined for him only to destroy them with one accidental brush of skin.

And yet-

His wolf was certain. Wildly certain.

Mate!

Lykos forced himself still, breathing through the panic clawing at his chest.

"Stay back," he warned himself more than her, his voice low, rough. "Don't come closer."

But the girl wasn't listening. In fact, she didn't even see him at first. She crawled forward, dragging herself across the line, her arms trembling with effort.

Behind her, bushes cracked sharply.

Lykos's eyes snapped upward.

Two wolves-massive, dark-furred, hostile-emerged from the shadows across the border. Enemy pack. Alpha Varun's colors.

The male wolves snarled at the girl, saliva dripping from their jaws as they prowled closer.

"Aria..." one of them growled, voice distorted through half-shifted jaws. "Come back. You belong to Alpha Varun."

The girl's breath hitched. Her entire body shook.

She managed to whisper one word. "No."

Lykos growled before he could stop himself.

The wolves froze the moment they heard him. Recognition-or fear-flickered in their eyes.

Then both of them backed up sharply.

"The Untouchable Alpha," one muttered. "We don't fight him."

The other wolf bared his teeth. "Let him have her. He'll kill her anyway."

They vanished into the trees.

The forest went silent again.

The girl-Aria-collapsed fully, her breath turning to small, broken whimpers. Lykos kept his distance, every instinct conflicted, torn, confused.

He shouldn't be close to her.

He couldn't be.

For her safety.

For her life.

He took a cautious, step back-

And then she lifted her head.

Her eyes-wide, glazed with fear and exhaustion-met his.

"Please..." she whispered. "Don't let them... take me."

And then it happened.

Before Lykos could move, before he could warn her, before he could retreat-

Her hand shot out.

Her fingers curled around his bare arm.

Skin to skin.

Direct contact.

Touch.

Lykos froze.

Every muscle locked. Every thought shattered. His breath stopped dead in his chest as pure horror climbed up his spine.

He didn't move. Didn't breathe. Didn't blink.

His curse activated instantly, roaring to life like fire under the skin.

A spark of deadly energy burst at the point of contact-

-but nothing happened.

Aria didn't scream.

She didn't fall.

She didn't die.

She just... held him.

Her skin warm. Her grip trembling. Her heartbeat faint but steady.

She. Was. Alive.

Lykos stared at her in disbelief, the world tilting under him. His heart pounded so loud it drowned out everything else.

"You should be dead," he whispered, more to himself than her.

She stared back, her eyes glazed with confusion. "I... I can't die yet."

Her legs buckled. She collapsed forward.

Lykos caught her out of reflex-

And still, she lived.

Impossible.

His curse killed on contact. Always. Instantly.

But this girl-this fragile, terrified stranger-was still breathing. Still warm. Still clinging to him with what little strength she had left.

His wolf howled triumphantly inside him.

Mate. Mate. Mate.

But Lykos felt only dread.

If she lived through his touch... then she was his mate, yes.

But how long would she survive?

What would it cost her?

He lifted her carefully, cradling her against his chest. Her head fell against his shoulder, her lashes fluttering weakly.

She was burning up with fever. Her heartbeat too slow. Her breathing shallow.

She was dying-just not because of him.

"Stay awake," Lykos ordered gently, tightening his grip. "Tell me your name."

She swallowed, lips trembling. "A... Aria."

"Aria," he repeated, the name rolling over him like a promise. "Why were they chasing you?"

She opened her mouth-

-but instead of words, a violent shiver wracked her body.

Her eyes rolled back.

Her body went limp.

"No, no, no..." Lykos muttered under his breath, grounding her with steady hands. "Aria. Stay with me."

Her breaths came in tiny, fading puffs.

Panic stabbed through him-sharp and unfamiliar.

He had never been able to hold a woman before.

He had never even allowed one this close.

But now that he could, now that fate had dropped a living miracle into his arms...

She was slipping away.

Not because of him.

But because something else-something deeper-was killing her.

Her borrowed life.

Her diminishing time.

Lykos picked her up fully, carrying her like she weighed nothing. His steps were fast, urgent, controlled.

He needed to get her to safety.

Needed answers.

Needed to know why this girl could touch him when no one else could.

But most of all-

He needed to keep her breathing.

As he reached the fortress-like walls of his pack house, guards stiffened instantly, eyes flaring with alarm.

"Alpha-who is that?!" one shouted.

"She's touching him!" another cried. "She'll die!"

But she didn't.

And the murmurs exploded into chaos.

"Is the curse broken?"

"Has the prophecy changed?"

"What does this mean?"

"Alpha-what is she?"

Lykos ignored every question, his expression carved from stone.

"Clear the hall," he ordered. His voice thundered through the courtyard. "No one touches her. No one approaches me."

His pack scattered instantly, leaving him a path to the inner chambers.

He kicked open the door to his private quarters and laid Aria gently on the fur-lined bed. Her skin was pale-too pale. Her lips trembling. Sweat dampening her hairline.

She looked like a dying star.

He brushed a strand of hair from her forehead-then jerked his hand back, horrified at himself.

He wasn't supposed to be this close.

He wasn't supposed to touch her at all.

But she was his mate.

That truth sat deep in his bones, undeniable and terrifying.

Aria stirred weakly, her voice nothing but a ghost of sound. "I... I'm sorry..."

"For what?" he asked, kneeling beside her.

"For touching you."

Her eyes fluttered open, fear swimming inside them.

"I didn't want to die," she whispered.

Something inside Lykos cracked.

"You didn't," he said softly. "You're still here."

"But I don't know... why..." Her voice faded, breath thinning. "Everything... hurts..."

He leaned closer. "Aria, what hurts?"

She swallowed, struggling. "My... my chest. It feels like... something's being pulled... out."

Her body arched in sudden pain. Lykos grabbed her shoulders to steady her-

-and again, she didn't die.

But something else happened.

A faint silver glow bloomed beneath her skin, spreading from her heart outward like moonlight trapped under flesh.

Lykos's breath vanished.

"What is this?" he murmured.

Aria's eyes snapped open-wide, terrified.

"Something is wrong," she gasped. "I think... I think I'm losing time."

Her voice broke.

"I think... I'm dying."

Lykos's wolf surged.

Fight. Save her. Claim her.

But Lykos forced himself to think clearly.

He didn't just need to protect her.

He needed answers-and fast.

He rose to his feet, storms swirling in his eyes.

He would take her to the Moon Healer at dawn.

He would find out why she could touch him.

Why she carried a strange glow.

Why death was clinging to her like a shadow.

But then Aria suddenly inhaled sharply, panic twisting her features.

Her eyes stared past him-

at the window behind him.

At something approaching.

"Lykos..." she whispered. "They're coming."

He turned sharply-

A ripple of darkness moved through the trees outside.

More than one.

Many.

Enemy wolves.

Dozens of them.

Closing in on his pack house.

Coming straight for her.

Lykos's teeth bared.

His curse burned under his skin.

His wolf roared.

They wanted Aria?

They would have to die for it.

But before Lykos could issue a command-

the front gates exploded inward.

A howl shook the night-

and an enemy Alpha stepped into the courtyard with a wicked smile.

"Give me the girl," Alpha Varun growled, eyes gleaming with triumph.

"Or everyone in this house dies tonight."

Lykos stepped in front of Aria-

and his curse surged so violently that the floor cracked beneath his feet.

And that was when Aria's heart stopped.