Chapter 2

Kaelon POV

I pulled her back from the edge, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs. The moment her small, trembling body crashed against my chest, a violent, terrifying jolt of electricity ripped through my veins.

Then, it hit me.

*Rain-washed grass and wild lilies.*

It was pure, intoxicating, and completely overwhelming. The scent punched the air straight out of my lungs, wrapping around my hardened soul like a lifeline.

*Mine!*

Ragnar, my inner wolf who had been a cynical, silent shadow for over two decades, slammed against the confines of my mind. He roared with a possessive, earth-shattering fury that nearly brought me to my knees. *Mate. Our Mate.*

I stared down into a pair of wide, hazel eyes swimming with a shattered, agonizing despair. She was trembling violently, her pale skin freezing in the biting wind. She reeked of amber whiskey and profound heartbreak, a fragile creature pushed to the absolute brink.

Before I could even process the miracle in my arms, she surged upward. Her lips crashed into mine.

It was a messy, desperate kiss, tasting of salt, liquor, and pure ruin. Reason screamed at me. Downstairs, my son Aaron's Unity Celebration was in full swing. I was the Alpha of the Blackwood Pack; I was a man built on control and ruthless discipline. I should have pushed her away.

But the Moon Goddess had woven a trap I couldn't escape.

A low growl rumbled in my chest. I tangled my hands in her soft brown hair and kissed her back, letting my dominance and hunger swallow her pain. The kiss ignited a wildfire in my blood, burning away twenty years of ice and isolation.

I scooped her into my arms. She weighed absolutely nothing.

*Clear the top floor. Now. Anyone in the hallway gets thrown out,* I mind-linked my Beta, my Alpha's Command lacing the mental order with absolute, undeniable authority.

I carried her down the hushed, carpeted corridors, my scent of *winter-bitten cedar and ancient leather* flaring to blanket us both, hiding her from the rest of the world. We reached the heavy oak door of my private Alpha Suite.

I paused, my breathing ragged. I looked down at the beautiful, broken woman in my arms. I didn't know her name. I didn't know what had driven her to the edge of that roof. But I knew her soul belonged to me.

"Little one," I rasped, my voice thick with restraint, giving her one final chance to run. "Once we cross this threshold, there is no going back. You are mine."

A tear slipped down her cheek, catching the dim light of the hallway. Her gaze held mine, entirely consumed by the invisible pull of our bond.

"Please," she whispered, her voice trembling but resolute. "Just make me forget."

That was the final blow to my sanity.

I kicked the door open and let it slam shut behind us, locking the rest of the world away. Clothes were torn and discarded in a frantic blur. When my skin met hers under the pale moonlight spilling through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the sparks ignited into a roaring inferno.

For the first time since my chest was ripped open decades ago, I felt whole. I claimed my Luna in the shadows, entirely blind to the catastrophic storm we were about to unleash upon my Pack.