Chapter Two

NEW BEGINNING

*Sara's POV

I woke up naked under soft furs in a large, dark room. My body ached everywhere, but the worst pain had dulled. Moonlight streamed through the window.

Alpha Kael Draven stood at the foot of the bed, watching me with cold, stormy eyes. He wore only low black pants, his muscular chest bare and covered in scars.

"You are awake," Kael said, his voice rough.

I pulled the sheet up to cover myself. "Where am I?"

"Silvermoon territory. My packhouse," Kael replied flatly. "It seems the Goddess has cursed me with a rejected Blackthorn Omega."

His words stung, but the mate bond hummed insistently beneath my skin, pulling at me in ways I did not want to admit.

"Your wounds need cleaning," Kael said, moving closer with warm water and cloths. "Turn over."

I rolled onto my stomach and let him work. His hands moved over the gashes on my back, cleaning them with firm, careful strokes.

He did not speak again for a long moment.

"The bond is already affecting you," Kael said quietly, almost to himself, his voice tight with frustration.

Before I could answer, something shifted between us. The mate bond flared - electric and overwhelming. He leaned down, his mouth finding mine in a fierce, consuming kiss. I did not pull away. I could not. Every part of me responded to him as though I had been waiting for this without knowing it.

What followed was not gentle. It was the bond - raw and relentless - crashing through both of us like a tide neither of us had the strength to resist. He was not tender, and I did not ask him to be. There was grief in me, and rage, and the desperate need to feel something other than broken.

When it was over, I lay still, my body warm and aching in a different way than before.

Kael stood, pulling his pants back on without a word. He looked at me once - something unreadable crossing his face - before his expression shuttered closed again.

"Clean yourself up," Kael said. "I do not want a mate. This changes nothing."

He turned toward the door. I said nothing. What was there to say?

But at the threshold, he paused.

"Blackthorn is already searching for you," Kael said, his voice low. "They want you dead."

He did not look back as he left, the lock clicking firmly behind him.

I lay there in the silence, the bond pulling at me stronger than before. His words echoed in my mind, clear and cold.

He did not love me.

He did not even want me.

But the Moon Goddess had other plans.

And somewhere deep inside, I knew I would use every advantage I had - including this bond - to prove my father's innocence, whether Kael Draven liked it or not.

Chapter Three

SEARCH PARTY

*Sara's POV

I lay on the bed for a long time, staring at the ceiling. My body felt sore and heavy, but the mate bond hummed stronger inside me. I hated how much I still wanted Kael even after his cold words.

"He does not want me," I whispered to myself. "But I need him to survive."

I forced myself up and cleaned up with the cloth he had left behind. Every movement reminded me of what had happened between us - how overwhelming the bond had been, how it had swept through both of us like a storm neither of us could outrun.

A soft knock sounded at the door. I tensed.

"It is me," the servant called quietly. "I brought clothes and food."

I opened the door slightly. The older woman slipped inside and handed me simple black pants and a tunic. She kept her eyes down.

"The Alpha is dealing with scouts at the border," she whispered. "Blackthorn wolves are getting closer. They are asking about you specifically."

I dressed quickly. My mind raced. They wanted me dead before I could prove my father was innocent. Before I could expose whatever lies they had used to destroy him.

"Thank you," I said.

She left and locked the door behind her.

I ate the food, though my appetite was small. The bond tugged at my chest, pulling me toward Kael. He was out there somewhere, fighting because of me. I paced the room, feeling restless. My wolf wanted to run. To fight. To do something useful.

Hours passed. Distant howls grew louder, then faded, then rose again. They were testing the borders. Playing with us.

Suddenly the door burst open. Kael Draven stormed in, covered in dirt and blood. His stormy eyes locked on me immediately.

"They know you are here," Kael said, his voice low and dangerous. "Ryker is leading them himself. He wants your head."

I stepped closer. "Then let me help. I can fight."

Kael laughed coldly. "You are still weak. Stay out of the way."

He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. Even now, his touch sent an unwanted warmth through me. The mate bond pulsed between us, stubborn and relentless.

"This bond is a curse," Kael muttered, but his body leaned closer anyway. His scent wrapped around me - cedar and frost and raw power.

Before I could respond, he kissed me hard. I did not pull away. The bond would not let me, and if I was honest with myself, neither would I. When he finally broke the kiss, we were both breathing hard.

"I should not want this," Kael growled, stepping back.

A loud crash echoed from outside. Glass shattered somewhere in the packhouse. Howls rose - close. Too close.

Kael pushed me behind him. "Stay here," he ordered, grabbing his weapons.

But I followed him into the hallway. I could not just hide.

We reached the main corridor when a massive wolf burst through a broken window. Its eyes glowed with a sickly yellow - the same unsettling color I had seen during the rogue attack. Something was wrong with it. Twisted.

Kael shifted instantly, his huge silver-streaked wolf slamming into the intruder. They crashed through furniture, snarling and tearing at each other.

I grabbed a dagger from the wall and moved closer. A second wolf emerged from the shadows, lunging at Kael's back.

I stabbed it in the side. It howled in pain and turned on me with fury.

Kael finished the first wolf with a vicious bite to the throat, then spun to help me. But more howls answered from outside. They were breaking through.

As Kael fought the second wolf, I noticed a tall figure standing still in the shadows at the end of the corridor. Silver hair. Piercing ice-blue eyes. Power rolled off him - controlled but immense.

*Alpha Snow.*

His gaze met mine across the chaos. For a brief moment, something dark and hungry flashed in his eyes. He looked at me like he had been waiting for this chance. But he did not move. He simply watched with intense focus before melting back into the shadows.

Kael shifted back to human form, breathing hard, blood on his chest. He grabbed my arm.

"We need to get to the safe room. Now," Kael growled.

We ran down the hallway, but more wolves poured in through the broken windows. The fighting grew louder. Chaos everywhere.

Just as we reached the reinforced door, something massive slammed into Kael from the side, throwing him against the wall.

A third twisted wolf stood over him, snarling.

And behind it, another figure stepped out from the darkness. He wore Blackthorn colors but moved with Silvermoon grace.

*A traitor.*

He looked straight at me and smiled.

"Sara Harlan," he called out. "Your father's secrets die with you tonight."