Chapter 5 The Wolf Who Saved Me

The cold tasted of iron and ash.

By midmorning, the trees bled into shadow. The pine needles were too still. Even the birds had vanished. I stepped lightly, blades sheathed but close, my breath forming tight clouds in front of my face. The path twisted deeper into the Ridge- steeper now, more rock than trail. I didn't like it. Every bone in me was tight with tension.

I wasn't alone.

Something followed me through the woods. I'd sensed it since sunrise. A presence. Not the wild fury of a feral. Not the weightless echo of a spirit. Something heavier.

Smarter.

I stopped and turned.

Nothing.

But the trees were lying. I could feel it.

My fingers itched toward my dagger. Just as they brushed the hilt, the ground gave a low rumble behind me. Snow cracked. And then- they came.

Three ferals burst from the underbrush, snarling, blood-eyed. Bigger than the ones from before. Their bodies jerked with twisted muscle and half-formed limbs. Jaws too wide. Claws caked in dried blood.

"Of course," I muttered, and drew both blades.

I barely had time to move before the first one leapt.

Steel met flesh mid-air. I twisted my blade, slicing deep across its throat, but it didn't go down. Not right away. Its momentum knocked me backward and we hit the snow hard. My shoulder slammed into stone. My head rang.

The second one lunged.

I rolled, barely avoiding its snapping teeth. The first was already dragging itself up, gurgling on its own blood.

Too slow. Too many.

I kicked upward, catching the second feral in the gut. It staggered. I drove a blade into its eye, shoved it back. Another scream.

That's when the third beast tackled me from behind.

I went down hard, cheek grinding into the ice, its breath hot and foul against my neck. Claws tore into my back. I screamed, the sound strangled with fury.

My blades skittered across the snow, out of reach.

The feral growled low, pressing its weight against me.

I reached for anything.

Frost. Blood. A rock.

The creature lunged for my throat.

And then it stopped.

A blur tore past me. A roar- not from the feral, but something else. A body collided with the beast above me, yanking it off with impossible force. I rolled, coughing, grabbing the nearest weapon- my smaller dagger. Snow sprayed through the air as two forms slammed into each other beside me.

The feral let out a piercing yowl before its throat was torn open by teeth.

Real teeth.

A wolf.

No- not quite. It was too big, too fast. A man's shape beneath the fur. Not the twisted mess of a feral, but something cleaner. Stronger.

Controlled.

I scrambled to my feet, panting. My blood burned with pain and cold. The stranger stood between me and the two remaining ferals- no weapon in hand, just his body half-shifted into a beast.

Amber eyes.

Clawed hands.

And a presence that made the air thrum.

He didn't wait for them to attack. He launched first- brutal, precise. In three strikes, the second feral was down, gurgling. The last tried to flee, but he caught it by the neck and snapped it like dry wood.

Silence returned.

I stood frozen, blades loose at my sides.

The man turned slowly.

His eyes met mine.

And everything inside me... exploded.

My pendant seared white-hot against my chest.

Pain surged through me like wildfire- spine to ribs to skull. I screamed and dropped to my knees. It wasn't just the curse- it was him. Something in him tore through my magic like lightning.

The pain wasn't normal. It was alive.

Like recognition.

He stepped toward me, cautious, the amber in his eyes dimming as he pulled his shift back. Not all the way- just enough for his face to form. He wasn't handsome in a soft way. His features were cut from ice and shadow. Jagged, quiet. Like he'd spent too long alone.

His voice was low. "You're hurt."

I flinched backward. "Don't- "

Another wave of burning surged through my chest. I gasped, grabbing at the pendant beneath my shirt. It pulsed like a heartbeat.

He noticed.

His brow furrowed. "What is that?"

"None of your damn business," I ground out, staggering to my feet.

"You shouldn't be traveling this far north alone," he said, ignoring my tone.

"I don't need your protection."

"I didn't say you did."

We stared at each other in the cold. My breath came in short, shallow bursts. Every instinct screamed at me to run. Not because he was dangerous- but because my body was reacting to him like he was mine.

No. Not possible.

Not him.

I clenched my fists. "Why are you out here?"

"I could ask you the same."

"I'm tracking someone."

"So am I."

His voice was steady, but something flickered behind it. A weight he didn't want to name. My pulse thundered as I searched his face.

Could this be him?

Rael Valen?

He didn't look like an heir. No silver crest. No guards. No arrogance. But the way the ferals had retreated the second he arrived... that wasn't normal.

Only alphas had that kind of pull.

And his scent- under the blood and pine- it clawed at something buried inside me.

My vision blurred. The pendant burned again, brighter than before.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"I don't know." I tried to take a step forward, but my knees buckled. The world tilted. He caught me before I hit the ground, arms steady around my waist.

Mistake.

The moment he touched me, the pain surged again, worse than before. My scream tore through the woods like a blade. I writhed in his arms, my body convulsing.

He held me tighter. "What's happening?"

"Get... off- " My voice broke. "Don't... touch me."

He released me instantly.

I collapsed to the snow, gasping, fingers clawing the ground. The pendant glowed white, then flickered and dimmed. The pain receded, but not completely.

I rolled onto my side, eyes wet with rage and confusion.

He crouched near me, not daring to come closer. His voice gentled. "You're cursed."

The words chilled me more than the snow.

He knew.

"How?" I whispered.

His jaw flexed. "Because I am too."

I stared.

And finally... the puzzle pieces began to shift.

The dreams.

The burning.

The way my soul reacted to his presence like it had been waiting for him.

This wasn't coincidence.

This was fate.

But fate had a cruel sense of humor.

Because if he was Rael Valen... he was also the man I was meant to kill.

And if I didn't-

My curse would finish the job for me.