TALIA'S POV

I was still shaking when the door opened.

"Heard you were looking for me," a deep voice said calmly. "I heard your shouting."

He stepped inside like he owned the air, the room, the world itself. Tall. Composed. Unbothered. As if I hadn't been locked inside like a prisoner.

"Don't you understand the concept of silence?" he added coolly.

Oh, that did it.

Who the fuck did he think he was talking to?

Something inside me snapped.

I wasn't going to sit quietly and have a stranger tell me how to behave. I wasn't going to let some stranger drag me out of my life and treat me like a property.

I reached for the flower vase beside the bed and flung it at him with everything I had.

He dodged easily.

"Are you insane?" he snapped. "Will you come off it?"

I didn't answer.

I grabbed my shoe and hurled it at his head.

Why the hell was I missing?

Before I could grab the glass figurine next, he was suddenly in front of me-too fast, too close. His hand wrapped around my wrist, stopping me mid‑motion.

"Will you stop this madness?" he growled, pulling me against him, his grip iron‑strong.

I struggled, panic and fury colliding in my chest. "What is going on?" I demanded.

"Why did you bring me here? Who are you? Who were those people last night? I saw you-" My voice cracked. "I saw you transform into something. What was that?"

My chest rose and fell rapidly. "I demand answers. Now."

He stared at me, his eyes dark and unreadable, his grip still firm around me.

"You demand answers?" he repeated quietly.

His gaze dropped to my lips. Then back to my eyes.

And suddenly, my thoughts scattered.

Before I could react-before I could even breathe-his mouth crashed onto mine.

It wasn't gentle. It wasn't slow. It was consuming.

My legs betrayed me instantly.

His lips moved against mine with a hunger that stole the air from my lungs. His tongue teased my lips open, demanding entry, and when I gasped, he took advantage, his tongue sliding against mine.

Fuck.

The kiss was overwhelming-heated, intense, I felt heat surge through me. My hands curled instinctively into his shirt, my body responding despite my mind screaming in protest. A soft sigh escaped me before I could stop it.

And then, just as suddenly as it began, he pulled away.

He was still holding me, his breath uneven, his eyes burning.

"You're not going anywhere anymore," he said slowly. "You're bound to me. Till eternity."

The words crashed into me like cold water.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

I snapped, shoving him away from me.

I wiped my mouth, my heart pounding wildly. "Who are you? And what are you talking about?"

I pointed at him. "I demand answers-and I want them now."

Something shifted in his expression.

His eyes darkened, something dangerous flickering beneath the surface.

"Watch your mouth," he warned. "No one-" his voice dropped into something lethal, "-and I repeat, no one controls or commands me."

I froze.

Not from fear alone-but from the sheer weight of his presence.

I felt like I was unraveling, like reality was tilting sideways.

Then his tone changed.

"Yesterday's events bound you to me," he said. "You are my Luna. And you cannot leave."

My breath hitched. This would have made for a good laugh if at all I wasn't tense.

"My... what?"

"Your Luna?" I echoed weakly. "What does that even mean?"

My mind raced. Was this some kind of royal title? A priestly position? Some twisted fantasy he'd created?

"I don't understand," I whispered. "Is this some kind of a sick joke?"

His gaze softened-just a fraction.

Then he spoke again.

"My name is Ramon Sincarra," he said. "I am a werewolf."

My heart stopped.

"The Alpha of the Sincarra Claw Pack." he said.

The room felt like it was spinning.

"And you," he continued, stepping closer, his voice lowering, "became my mate last night."

I staggered back until my legs hit the bed.

"No," I breathed. "No, that's not possible."

"As of yesterday," he finished calmly, "you are bound to me for life."

I shook my head, disbelief flooding my veins. "That's insane. Werewolves aren't real. This isn't real."

His eyes glowed a bright green in the dim light.

"You saw me transform," he said quietly. "i know you felt the pull. You touched my blood. You survived what no human should."

My throat tightened.

"You're alive because fate chose you," he said. "Because you're mine."

Tears burned my eyes-not from weakness, but from fear, shock, and the weight of something far bigger than me.

"I didn't choose this, I don't want this" I whispered.

He stepped closer. "Neither do I."

Silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating.

"What happens now?" I asked softly.

Ramon looked at me like the answer was inevitable.

"Now," he said, "you learn what it means to be the Alpha's mate."

My heart thundered in my chest.

And in that moment, I realized my life,my freedom, my future,had just been rewritten by an unknown force without my consent.

TALIA'S POV

I just stood there, frozen, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Ramon's voice was calm as he gave instructions to Ingrid, as though my world hadn't just been torn apart and reshaped without my consent.

"Have her ready," he said. "She'll meet the elders and a few important members of the clan."

Clan.

The word alone made my knees feel weak.

"These people are very close to me," he added, turning his gaze to me. "I'd like for you to meet them."

I nodded numbly, though none of it made sense. My body felt distant, disconnected, as though I were watching everything unfold from outside myself. I felt weak from my head to my toes. None of these made sense. I kept pinching myself in the hope that I'd wake up.

Nothing changed.

Another woman entered shortly after-quiet, respectful. She didn't look at me the way Ingrid did. Ingrid's gaze held curiosity, assessment... understanding.

The woman led me to the bathroom, where warm water steamed gently in a large tub. I washed mechanically, my thoughts spiraling as I scrubbed away the dirt, the mud, the fear. When I emerged, a gown lay waiting-soft fabric, deep in color, nothing like the clothes I owned.

It felt like a costume.

"You should eat something, Miss," Ingrid said gently when I returned.

Food?

I almost laughed.

That was the last thing on my mind. I didn't trust this place, didn't trust the people, and certainly didn't trust the man who had decided my fate without asking.

I sat on the edge of the bed and waited.

When Ramon returned, the air in the room shifted.

He was dressed in a black suit-tailored, regal, unmistakably powerful. The fabric hugged his broad frame, and for a moment, my anger faltered beneath something treacherous and unwanted.

He looked devastatingly handsome.

"Come," he said. "It's a long drive."

That was when I knew.

If I didn't try now, I never would.

Outside, the car waited. The gates were open.

Opportunity stood right in front of me.

Ramon unlocked the door for me, then turned to his side of the car.

I didn't hesitate.

I bolted.

The world blurred as I ran, adrenaline screaming through my veins. I didn't know where I was going. I didn't care. Anywhere was better than here.

My lungs burned. My legs ached. And then-

I tripped.

I fell hard into something wet and cold. Mud. Thick and clinging. As I pushed myself up, humiliation burning hotter than fear, I felt it.

Eyes.

Watching.

I froze.

Three-no, four figures stood a few feet away. Wolves. Shifters. Whatever they were, their gazes raked over me with open curiosity... and disdain.

And Ramon stood among them.

Arms crossed. A slow, infuriating smirk on his face.

"Who is she?" one of them asked.

"She's not from around here."

"I haven't seen her before."

Another wrinkled his nose. "She smells like human blood."

I wished the ground would open and swallow me whole.

Ramon stepped forward and yanked me roughly to my feet.

"Alpha Ramon," one of them said cautiously. "Do you know her?"

"Yes," he replied coolly. "She's my guest.

I'm taking her back."

There was a pause.

"No trouble, then," another muttered.

"Carry on," Ramon said.

His grip tightened as he dragged me away, pulling me like a lamb about to be slaughtered.

***

I sat on the floor while he tended to my cuts, his movements efficient but not gentle.

"Why did you run?" he snapped. "What the hell was going through your thick skull?"

I flinched.

"Do you want to get yourself killed?" he continued. "Those rogues are still out there. You are no match for them."

That broke me.

"Who are they?" I demanded, tears spilling over. "What do they want from you? Why were they attacking you?"

My voice cracked. "If you weren't wounded, I wouldn't have even come close to you."

Silence fell.

Then he spoke.

"They're rogues. Former members of my pack."

I let out a weary breath. "There we go again."

"They want my position," he continued.

"My title. The Alpha."

None of it made sense.

"So what does that have to do with me?" I asked. "Why can't you just let me go?"

I looked up at him. "What do you mean when you say I'm bound to you?"

He met my gaze fully this time.

"Don't you feel it?" he asked quietly. "The pull. The spark."

My heart betrayed me by pounding harder.

"Your pulse quickens near me," he continued. "Your blood responds. When you touched my blood last night, my wolf connected to you."

His voice dropped.

"There's heat. Intensity. A need to claim what's mine."

My breath hitched.

"Tell me you don't feel it," he murmured. "Tell me it doesn't feel like fire under your bones."

I couldn't lie.

The air between us thickened, heavy with awareness. My body reacted before my mind could catch up-heat curling low in my belly, breath shallow, pulse racing.

Then his lips were on mine.

Not gentle.

Not tentative.

The kiss was consuming, stealing my balance and my reason. My hands clenched in his clothing as the world narrowed to heat and sensation.

Everything inside me responded.

The more his lips crushed mine, the more I hungered for something more and then his lips journeyed from my lips to my neck,I let out a soft cry.

I wanted him, all of him.

His hand found its way into my clothes and cupped my breast and I arched my body closer to him.

His mouth settled on my breast, so hot and demanding like it had been his even before now.

His lips circled my breast, teasing, stroking just driving me crazy and when I felt like I was going to explode he stopped and drew himself away.

He stopped.

Abruptly.

I reached out to draw him back to me but he held my hands.

He pulled away, holding my wrists firmly.

"Luna," he said softly. "We can't."

I stared at him, dazed and furious. "Why not?"

"You're not ready."

Anger flared. "I didn't stop you."

"I can't just make love to you now when you haven't even given yourself fully to me." He responded.

"What the fuck do you mean by that, I didn't protest, did I?"

A humorless smile touched his lips.

"When I claim you," he said, stepping back, "it will be because you choose me, because you want me. Not because fate cornered you."

He turned away.

"Ingrid will attend to you."

And just like that, he was gone-leaving me breathless, shaken, and painfully aware of what he'd awakened inside me.

Ramon's POV

I didn't leave because I wanted to. Hell, I wanted her so badly.

I left because if I stayed another moment longer, I would have claimed her-and once that line was crossed, there would be no undoing it.

The door closed behind me with a quiet finality, and for the first time in years, I allowed myself to pause. I leaned my forehead briefly against the cool stone wall, drawing in a slow breath, forcing my heart to steady.

My wolf raged beneath my skin.

Mine.

The word echoed like a drumbeat in my veins, loud and insistent. It had been there since the forest-since her hands, trembling but determined, had touched my wound. Since her scent had mingled with my blood and sealed something ancient and irreversible.

A mate.

A human mate.

Fate, it seemed, had a cruel sense of humor.

I straightened, bringing my expression back into the calm, unreadable mask my pack expected of me. Weakness had no place here. Doubt even less. I moved down the corridor with measured strides, the echo of my shoes ringing softly against stone.

I entered the car and drove alone to the pack, she wasn't ready to meet them like I had assumed.

Wolves stepped aside as I got there and entered. Some lowered their heads in submission. Others watched with open curiosity. They felt it-the shift in my aura, the subtle but unmistakable change in the bond that tied me to the pack.

The Alpha had found his mate.

And the pack knew.

I entered the council chamber without announcement. Stone walls enclosed the long table where the elders sat waiting, their expressions grim, their eyes sharp.

These were wolves who had watched me grow from an impulsive young warrior into the Alpha of the Sincarra Claw Pack. They had seen me bleed, fight, win, and rule.

Silence fell the instant I stepped inside.

"She ran," Elder Karl said calmly, breaking the quiet.

My jaw tightened. "She was retrieved."

"And you brought her back yourself,"

another elder noted.

"Yes."

Murmurs rippled through the chamber, low and uneasy.

"She's human," one of them said bluntly.

"You know what that means."

"I know exactly what it means," I replied, my voice cold and steady.

"It means vulnerability," another snapped.

"It means weakness. Enemies will use her against you-and against us."

"They already are," I said.

That earned their full attention.

I stepped forward and placed my hands flat on the table. "Those rogues attacked me in the forest and she was there. She witnessed everything and now they won't stop until they get her. "

The chamber went utterly silent.

"And now?" Karl asked quietly.

"Now they know,they know she's my mate and now it's up to me to protect her."

"Protect her? That would mean more harm to the clan," I heard someone say.

A younger council member scoffed. "Then sever the bond. Humans can be released."

My wolf snarled violently, slamming against my control.

Before I could stop myself, I drove my fist into the table. The sound cracked through the room as wood splintered beneath the impact.

"No."

Every eye snapped to me.

"I will not kill my mate to make this pack comfortable," I growled. "She is under my protection. Anyone who touches her answers to me."

Karl studied me for a long moment.

"You're not thinking clearly."

"I've never been more clear in my life."

"She doesn't even know our world," another elder argued. "She hasn't accepted the bond."

"Which is precisely why she's still alive," I replied. "And why I haven't claimed her."

That gave them pause.

"You're restraining yourself?" Karl asked, genuine surprise in his voice.

"Yes."

The word tasted like iron.

"The bond will grow stronger," he warned. "It will hurt her. And it will hurt you."

"I know."

"And when it becomes unbearable?"

I exhaled slowly. "Then we face it."

There was no approval, no blessing-only reluctant acceptance. As Alpha, my word was law, but law didn't erase fear.

The meeting ended in strained silence.

I left the chamber with tension coiled tightly in my chest.

Night had fully fallen by the time I stepped outside. The estate glowed softly under moonlight, guards patrolling the perimeter, warriors rotating shifts. I could feel the rogues lingering just beyond our territory like vultures waiting for weakness.

They were patient.

And they were not my only problem.

I drove back home and my feet carried me instinctively toward the wing where Ingrid would be tending to Talia. I stopped several paces away from her door.

I didn't enter.

Instead, I stood in the shadows, listening.

She was quiet.

Too quiet.

The bond tugged at me sharply, an ache deep in my chest that made my wolf restless. Every instinct screamed to go to her-to reassure her, to calm her fear, to pull her into my arms and mark her as mine.

I clenched my fists.

If I touched her now-if I claimed her before she understood, before she chose-it would break her. Turn her into something dependent. Afraid.

I would not become that Alpha.

"She fears you," my wolf murmured.

"Yes," I agreed. "And she should."

"And yet she wants you."

I remembered the way her pulse had leapt beneath my fingers. The way her breath had caught when I pulled away. The fire in her eyes when she thought I was leaving her behind.

Mine.

"She will run again," my wolf said.

"Yes," I answered quietly. "And I'll let her."

The realization settled heavy in my chest.

She had to fight the bond.

She had to choose.

I turned away from her door and headed toward the training grounds, where I trained young warriors. The sound of clashing steel filled the night air. Warriors sparred under torchlight, sweat and blood mixing with discipline and control.

I joined them.

Steel rang against steel as I fought harder than necessary, pouring my frustration into every strike. My thoughts refused to leave her-Talia Shire. Healer. Human. My mate.

Fate had bound us, but fate didn't understand the cost.

The rogues would strike again. The elders would test her. The pack would watch her every move, waiting for weakness.

And if she broke-

I would tear the world apart to protect what was mine.