Chapter 4 The Smell of Fire

Figures moved in the haze.

Not a pack.

Not rogue.

Hunters.

Scarlett's blood ran cold.

Dominic shoved her toward the hidden tunnel entrance beneath the rug. "Go. Now."

"I'm not leaving you-"

He grabbed her chin, eyes burning into hers. "I will find you. But if they take you-if he takes you-"

He didn't finish the sentence.

He didn't need to.

Scarlett dove into the tunnel just as Dominic turned to face the intruders. Shadows swallowed her whole.

She ran blindly, heat and fear of a war inside her.

She didn't know how long she ran before the tunnel twisted upward again, ending in a hatch. When she pushed it open, she was met by moonlight and the sharp scent of burning wood.

And something else.

Blood.

She climbed out onto the forest's edge, heart pounding-and that's when she saw him.

A lone wolf, black as night, was watching her from between the trees. Not Dominic. Not anyone she knew.

The wolf tilted its head slowly.

Then they shifted.

Human. Male. Familiar.

Too familiar.

"Hello, little flame," he said, a voice like smoke and silk. "Your blood called to me."

Scarlett's mouth went dry. "You're with Theron."

He smiled-feral and amused. "Oh no, darling. Theron's with me."

Her pulse stuttered.

"Who are you?" she whispered.

The man stepped forward, the moon catching his eyes-dark, not silver. Older. Unreadable.

He leaned in, close enough for her to smell fire in his breath.

"I'm the one your mother was trying to keep you from."

Scarlett's heart pounded against her ribs, wild and disobedient. The man before her exuded something ancient, something darker than even Theron's icy cruelty. His bare chest gleamed beneath the moonlight, broad and marked with old scars that told stories no one had dared to speak aloud.

Her instincts screamed.

Run.

But her heat whispered something else-something far more dangerous.

He stepped closer, close enough that the warmth of him invaded her skin.

"You're burning," he murmured. "I can smell it on you." That bond of yours-Dominic's leash-it's fraying.

Scarlett stood her ground, though her body ached, trembling against the pull inside her. "If you know what's good for you, you'll step back."

He chuckled, slow and deliberate. "That temper. That fire. Your mother tried to bury it. But it's in you. And once it wakes..."

He brushed a finger along her jaw, and her wolf snarled.

Scarlett slapped his hand away, but he didn't flinch.

He only smiled widely. "You're not just Omega. You're the last of the Flameborn."

Flameborn.

The word echoed inside her.

"I don't know what that means."

"You will," he said. "When your bond breaks... when Dominic fails to control the blaze inside you... you'll come looking for me."

Before she could respond, movement tore through the trees-fast, brutal.

Dominic.

He tackled the man to the ground, claws out, rage incarnate.

The stranger vanished in a puff of black smoke just before Dominic's fist met his face.

Scarlett barely had time to breathe before Dominic turned on her.

"Are you hurt?" His voice was sharp, guttural.

She shook her head, dazed. "He knew my mother. He said I was Flameborn-"

Dominic was already stripping off his coat, wrapping it around her trembling body. "We'll talk later. Right now-your scent's bleeding into the woods. Anyone could follow it."

"I'm trying," she hissed, pressing her thighs together, pulse hammering. "But it hurts."

His jaw clenched.

She saw it in his eyes-he was unraveling. The control he'd been clinging to since she arrived was burning to ash. The bond was tugging harder, dragging them closer.

"Don't," she whispered. "Don't fight it anymore."

Dominic's breath hitched.

Then he kissed her.

Hard.

There was nothing gentle in it-only hunger, heat, and the taste of war. His hands tangled in her hair as he backed her into the nearest tree, his body pressed against hers like he could fuse them together and burn the world down around them.

She moaned against his mouth, clawing at his shirt, desperate to feel more, be more.

"I should stop," he growled, lips trailing down her throat. "But I can't."

"Then don't."

He lifted her off the ground, her legs wrapping around his waist as he pushed her harder into the tree. The rough bark scraped her back, but she didn't care.

She was on fire.

And he was the only one who could touch her without turning to ash.

Their bond pulsed-hot and deep-as his mouth met her collarbone, nipping at her mark. Her heat spiraled, sharp and blinding, and the only thing grounding her was the feel of Dominic's hands on her body, his mouth on her skin, his growl vibrating against her chest.

And just as the world started to spin-

A scream tore through the forest.

Scarlett froze.

Dominic stilled, nostrils flaring.

Another scream-female, close.

Scarlett's eyes widened. "That's not one of ours."

Dominic set her down gently, the feral edge in his gaze returning.

"Stay close."

"But-"

He grabbed her hand. "If this is what I think it is... we're not the only ones hunting."

The night air was thick-charged with more than heat.

Scarlett moved like her blood had turned to lightning, one hand clutched tightly in Dominic's. The forest loomed around them, ancient and breathing, shadows slipping between the trees like they were alive.

Another scream split the silence. Closer this time. Real. Panicked.

Dominic released her hand and shifted mid-run, his massive wolf form erupting in a flash of bone and muscle. Scarlett's breath caught at the sight of him-black as pitch, fur gleaming like obsidian, his eyes still glowing gold.

"Go," she whispered.

He didn't wait.

Scarlett followed his trail, limbs shaking from heat and fear, and something else-something low and urgent she couldn't shake. Her body burned, the heat from earlier still simmering in her core, but instinct told her this wasn't over. Not the heat. Not the danger.

She emerged into a clearing seconds after Dominic did.

The scene stopped her cold.

Blood. So much blood.

A girl-barely older than Scarlett-lay on the ground, her chest torn open, her throat mangled. A lone figure knelt beside the body, head bowed.

Then slowly, the figure stood.

It was a man. Pale. Tall. Dressed in fine, dark clothes not meant for these woods.

Scarlett's breath hitched.

A vampire.

Dominic snarled, his wolf form coiled to strike.

But the vampire raised his hands-slow, calm, disarmingly elegant.

"I didn't kill her," he said softly, his voice like velvet laced with poison. "But I was too late to stop the one who did."

Dominic didn't move, but Scarlett stepped forward.

"She's not one of ours," she said, staring at the girl. "She's... from Theron's side."

The vampire nodded. "He's been sending spies into your Alpha's land. Testing the borders."

Scarlett felt cold despite the heat burning through her.

"Why are you here?" Dominic demanded, shifting back to human form, blood and power clinging to his bare skin.

"I came to warn you," the vampire said. The girl was just the beginning. Theron's not just here for Scarlett. He's preparing for war."

"Why should we trust you?" Dominic growled.

"Because the girl he wants to own," the vampire said, looking at Scarlett now, "has a power inside her the rest of us have only heard about in myths."

Scarlett's heart thudded.

Flameborn.

"You're lying," she whispered.

"No," he said, his voice gentler now. "You think your heat is natural?" "You think what you feel for him is just the bond?" He gestured to Dominic. The Flameborn don't just burn in heat. They ignite-and when they mate, the world around them burns too."

Dominic stepped in front of her. Protective. Dangerous.

"Enough."

But the vampire's eyes stayed locked on Scarlett.

"You're already changing, aren't you? The cravings. The fire. Soon, even he won't be able to touch you without being consumed."

Scarlett shook her head. "I don't believe you."

"You will," the vampire whispered. "When you wake up and your bed's scorched, when your wolf forgets the difference between mating and killing."

He turned to leave, but paused at the edge of the trees.

"Tell me, Dominic... When she finally breaks, when the flame takes her-will you still love her? Or will you fear her like the others did?"

And then he was gone.

The forest swallowed him whole.

Scarlett stood frozen, heart pounding, the words echoing inside her.

Flameborn.

Break.

Consumed.

Dominic looked at her like she was already slipping away.

She turned to him, throat tight. "Do you think it's true? That I'll become... something else?"

He didn't answer. He just pulled her against him, burying his face in her neck.

"I don't care," he murmured. "You'll still be mine."

But something in his voice trembled.

And far away, deep in the forest, something laughed.