Why the fuck does everyone keep calling me that? I thought to myself. Because it is who you are. The static insisted. 'It's time to wake up Selina. It's time to accept who, and what, we are.' I couldn't understand. I didn't have time to. The stranger stood at my door still, but I was sure it wouldn't be long before he was inside.

"Under the table if you are too weak to fight!" I told Elias. That air of superiority, that pressure in my voice, made him bow to my will and he instantly hid. I don't know where it came from but all I could focus on right now was the strange yet familiar man whose scent of cedar, rain and thunder was causing all kinds of conflicting emotions within me, who was apparently trying to kill me.

The door crashed open then.The safety chain didn't just break; it shattered, the metal links screaming as they were ripped from the frame by a force that wasn't human. The tall stranger burst into the room. I wasn't going to cower in a corner and wait for him to pounce. I lunged, my hunting knife held low. I was fast, but he was a blur. He didn't just dodge; he flowed around my blade like smoke almost as if he knew where my knife was going to land.

I caught his cheek with my blade, a drop of blood hitting the floor as he swung round to try and counter, the smell of copper filling the air. I caught his gaze, his eyes, grey and cold like a calculated killer. He tried to grab my wrist with the knife but I ducked low and aimed it straight for the side of his chest.

He was too quick for me, he glided to the side and grabbed my other wrist. The moment his fingers locked around my wrist, a bolt of white-hot lightning erupted at the point of contact, searing through my skin and into my very soul. It wasn't pain. It was a roar of recognition. He slammed me against the wall, a grin spreading across his face as if he'd won.

His hand clamped around my throat, not crushing, but firm enough to remind me I was outmatched. I prepared to drive my blade into his ribs, but the moment our eyes met, the world vanished. A bolt of lightning surged through my veins, melting the ice of the static into a roaring fire. My knife clattered to the floorboards. His eyes, once cold as a winter storm, bled into a terrifying, beautiful gold. The word 'Mate' didn't just echo in the room; it vibrated in the marrow of my bones, a primal decree that silenced the static in my head. He let out a low, vibrating, inhuman grumble that made heat pool in the depths of my stomach. As heat radiated between us and our scents fused together - cedar and pine, wind and rain, earth and water - the static didn't just go silent; it bowed. It was humiliating. This man, this 'Hound' who had broken into my sanctuary, was now a permanent fixture in my soul that I couldn't fathom. Every time he breathed, I felt it in my own lungs. It wasn't a gift - it was a tether, and he held the other end with a bloody hand.

"You... you're a Blackwood. But you're not a ghost." he said breathlessly.

"Get off me, you murderer!" I screamed. I tried to fight him off but the static was giving up the fight. It was almost like it wanted him to claim me. Well, I was not dying today!

The Hound didn't flinch. He leaned in until his scent - cedar and rain - overwhelmed the room.

"I am exactly what Kaelin made me, Little Alpha," he whispered. I shuddered as a spike of pity mixed with the hard hatred my mind was feeling, the hatred the static kept trying to deny me. "I've tracked, I've broken, and I've killed. If you want to survive the night, you'd better pray I'm better at killing than the monsters currently surrounding your house." He stepped backwards slightly, examining me from head to toe, his gaze softening into disbelief.

"I hadn't believed it was true" he almost whispered. "I thought the Silver Queen's heir was long gone." He let go and bowed his head.

I still could not understand why people kept bowing to me or why people kept insisting my mother was a Silver Queen.

"I don't know what the hell you are talking about" I spat "Who the hell are you?"

"They call me The Hound but my name is Finn" he explained. "I am lead enforcer for the Blackwood Pack - run by Kaelin since the death of your mother."

"My mother died when I was born!" I stated, although deep down something about that had never sat right with me.

"No. She sent you away to save you." He informed me. "Elias" He snarled, "Stop breathing so fucking loudly or I swear to the Gods I will snap your neck."

"I already tried to tell her" Elias crept out slowly from under the table, cowering slightly at The Hound's glare.

"I've been hunting a ghost... but you're flesh and blood. And you're mine." The Hound growled softly, a primal, guttural growl.

Elias gasped. "She's your fated mate?" He collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"I belong to no one!" I declared but the static seemed to have other ideas. He just met me. How could he possibly know this? At the same time though, the way my body had reacted, the way the word had filled my mind... it was all just too much to handle right now.

To make things worse my senses sharpened again. I could hear distant howls, gradually getting closer, five, maybe six heartbeats closing in. The scent of death, rot and oxidisation overwhelmed my senses.

'They're coming for us.' The static informed me. It was right. I could smell them, I could feel them.

"Elias" the hound turned to face him.

"Yes Finn.. I mean sir..." he cowered at the Hound's feet. Or should I say Finn as apparently that was his name.

"I was sent to capture or conquer the heir. Kaelin wants her head. We need to work together to get her out of here." He explained to Elias as if I wasn't in the room.

Rage began to build inside me.

"I can look after myself thanks!" I snarled at them both. I lifted the sheepskin rug in front of the hearth to reveal a trap door. "I'm not waiting around for them. Are you coming?" I lifted the door and began to head down the steps.

"I was sent to capture you but now I'm the only thing standing between you and a shallow grave. So yes. We're leaving." Finn declared as if it was his idea in the first place. He followed me down the steps, Elias scurrying along just after, closing the door behind him.

I headed back up the steps to nail the door closed, then led the men down the small, dark, dug out tunnel to my saferoom where I stored my weapons and emergency supplies.

"Won't they find us?" Elias whimpered. God he was such a wimp! I was going to get fed up of him pretty quickly

.

"We're going to my saferoom." I explained. "The doors only open one way - the first in, the second out. Once it's sealed from the inside I'll rig the tunnel to collapse. Anyone who manages to follow us down will be trapped and we will be long gone." I thought I'd never have to use this. I had never even been down here before. Aunt Karina had told me about it.

"If anything ever happens any you need to escape, go down to the tunnels. There is a safe room with supplies and only one way in and one way out." I had asked her why I would ever need it. Now I knew. It appeared she had been keeping my true identity a secret all my life. Everything she had taught me had led to this moment.

"So what now?" Finn asked. He placed his hand on my back to steady me, sending a jolt of pure heat straight to my core.

"We stock up and we leave. Once we are somewhere safe we will formulate a plan."

"You don't understand Alpha." Elias tried to explain. "As long as you are alive you will never be safe. Kaelin wants you dead!"

"Who the fuck is Kaelin?" I demanded. That thick assertive fog filled the air again and it was almost as if Elias was forced to answer as he blurted out:

"Your mother's murderer".

The walls of the safe room felt like they were caving in. The word “murderer” rang in my ears. I almost forgot how to breathe.

“Selina...” Finn started, uncharacteristically softly given the way he had burst into my life.

“No...” I started. The static hummed loudly in my mind. Angrily, demanding answers I wasn't sure I was ready for. I checked the door lock and began stuffing supplies into a duffel bag - clothes, dry food, bottled water, knives, medicine and bandages. “That's absurd. My mother was not murdered...”

“Alpha, she was indeed - in order for Kaelin to take over the Blackwood pack he killed your mother so he could take her place. And now he is coming for you - the only person who could stop him.” Elias explained frantically. “Which is why we need to get you out of here.”

I felt like I was losing my mind. The stench of earth, blood and sweat was overwhelming in the tight, claustrophobic space. Elias was panicking in a corner now, crying hysterically, physically overwhelmed by the fear of the situation.

Murdered? My mother was a florist who died in a sterile hospital bed while I was a baby. That's what Karina told me. That's the only truth I own. This... this man in the corner, this 'Elias,' is talking about queens and coups like we're in a bad Renaissance fair. It's a lie. It has to be.

“Elias - calm down I can't concentrate” the demand came out once again with that authoritative haze that smelled like burnt ozone and silver. He immediately shifted, straightening himself up, clearing his throat and wiping his eyes.

“My mother was a florist not some cult leader... She died in hospital when I was a baby after being hit by a car...” My whole life this is what Aunt Karina told me. I was beginning to question everything. Was what they were saying true? Was Karina even really my aunt? Confusion and doubt flooded my senses.

“Not a cult Alpha, our Pack, our family of wolves. You are the heir, the legacy of the Blackwood pack” Elias tried to explain. Finn shot him a look, anger, disgust, betrayal all at once. Elias immediately cowered back to the corner.

“Wolves? What the fuck are you talking about? Are you insane?” What absolute tosh. These men were clearly crazy. Maybe they had escaped from a nearby lunatic asylum....

The noise above our heads was sudden. I sensed six heartbeats. I could hear the sound of heavy boots destroying the life I had built for myself, searching for something I prayed they would not find - me.

The static came through clearer now. 'Listen to them Selina. They are telling you a truth whether you are ready or not.'

“How are you even standing?” I demanded of the man I'd had to drag into my cabin not even 30 minutes before.

“Our wolves, they heal us. Look.” He gestured to Finn's face. “You cut him, deeply. Wipe away the blood.”

I leaned forward and with my sleeve and cautiously wiped the blood from Finn's face. I watched in a trance as the jagged red line of the wound pulled itself together, the skin knitting with an unnatural, silver-white glow until it was as smooth as marble - like nothing had ever happened.

I backed away until I felt the cold of the stone wall against my back, my face twisted in fear.

“But... how? I cut you! Why is there no mark?” I demanded, my voice trembled yet the air once again thickened with my authority.

Finn's golden eyes glowed fiercely in the darkness. "There are no scars for us, Selina. Not from a simple blade. Our bodies don't allow the weakness of a slow heal."

This. Could. Not. Be. Happening. I was dreaming. I was going to wake up and have a right laugh at myself about this stupidly elaborate story.

“There's more.” Elias cleared his throat, glancing towards me then looking straight back down at the floor as if his gaze on me was forbidden.

“Kaelin wasn't just a rival; he was Adelaide's trusted advisor. He betrayed our pack for a "forbidden power" - the same power he thinks is hidden in your blood Alpha.” His voice cracked as he spoke.

My blood ran cold but when Finn spoke it nearly froze.

"He didn't just kill her. He tried to drain her. He wanted the Silver Spark for himself. But the Spark died with her... or so we thought until I smelled you in the woods."

Smelled me? What the...

“You are one of us Selina. Let us protect you. We need to get out of here.” Finn told me sincerely, his glowing eyes pressing into mine with a certainty that made my heart flutter but left my head feeling more confused than ever. 'We can trust them. They are kin.' The static told me but I still wasn't convinced.

“But... I...I'm human...” I stuttered.

“No Selina.” Finn told me. He looked me dead in the eyes. His voice didn't hit my ears; it erupted inside my mind, a deep, resonant hum that bypassed my senses and spoke directly to my soul. I froze, mouth gaping, body cold.

'Did you ever wonder why you lived like this? Why you had such strict rules? Why you weren't like other girls. How you survived like this? Your stronger instincts and senses, your power, your need to hunt. You are one of us.'

I gasped collapsing to the floor. The truth hit me in waves. The way Elias had said my claws were itching to burst out, my feral need to hunt, to kill, my predatory need. The static....

'Yes Selina. I am your wolf. I am a part of yourself you can no longer deny. They are our Kin Selina. Trust them. Danger is imminent, we need to leave now.'

“Karina, she used herbs as scent blockers to keep you safe, she felt you would be safer if you had no idea who you were.” Elias explained softly.

Every single thing about my life suddenly made sense. My aunt had lied to me my whole life so who even was I?

Suddenly the rumbling above quietened, the creak of the trap door sending a shiver down my spine, cold sweat coating my neck.

“I promise I will tell you everything Alpha.” Elias was practically begging now. “But we have. to. go. now!”

I reached up to detonate the explosives lining the tunnels. What had felt like over kill not long before suddenly felt essential. There was a loud boom and the earth rumbled as the explosives went off and the tunnels began to collapse. The smell of disturbed earth, burnt ozone and copper filled the atmosphere. I pushed open the door to the tunnels on the other side.

Suddenly, my ears rang, the static in my head cleared and I froze as I felt the intrusion. It was similar to what Finn had done but without that underlying trust that I had felt grounding me in his eyes.

A voice like silk dragged over broken glass cut through the static - chilled, predatory, and dangerously intimate. “The Hound is a beautiful liar, isn't he? He hides his bloodstained hands behind a 'mate' bond. Ask him, Little Alpha... how many of your kin did he hunt before he found you?”

Mate bond... the word mate had surfaced between us a few times now. That seemed to be the reason he stopped trying to kill me and supposedly was trying to save me. I gasped, holding my hand to my head as I stumbled, eyes locked on Finn's, filled with horror.

'Finn is our fated mate Selina. I felt it the second our eyes met - and so did you.' The static pressed through the intrusion, grounding me.

He looked at me, almost like he knew what was happening.

“Selina? Who is in there?” He asked quietly, wrapping his arms around my waist as if he had anticipated my stumble.

Who are you? I pushed back desperately hoping it would work. This was not something I had ever experienced before

'My name is Malakai. I'll be ready when you are my love. You know how to find me.'

Finn's hand reached for mine, the heat of his skin promising protection, but Malakai's whisper still echoed in my skull. Was I being rescued by my soulmate, or was I just being traded from one executioner to another? Was I falling into the arms of my destiny, or was I simply walking to a different silver cage?

The tunnel emerged into a cave on the edge of the woods. As we came through the sensory overload hit - the acceptance of my wolf heightening my senses and causing me to come alive.

The wind didn't just brush past me; it carried a library of secrets. I could taste the ancient history of the pines and the sharp, ozone-soaked warning of the storm. I heard the erratic, terrified heartbeat of a mouse burying itself in the roots. Beneath that, the heavy, rhythmic thud of Finn's heart sounded like a war drum, steady and dangerously calm. The air tasted like information. Pine sap, damp decay, the metallic tang of ozone from the storm clouds gathering... and something else. Something sour and yellow. Fear. It was coming from Elias.

He paused suddenly, pulling a small, obsidian vial from his pocket.

"Here, apply this" I took the vial cautiously, staring deep into his eyes causing him to cower and avert his gaze to the floor.

"What is it?" I demanded, that thick, dominant fog filling the air once again.

"This will mask the 'Silver-Aura' radiating from your blood. To Kaelin's trackers, you'll smell like nothing more than wet earth and old ash". Finn's eyes flashed a dangerous gold. He didn't want me masked; he wanted me branded. He looked like he wanted to smash the vial, but he stepped back, his jaw tight enough to snap.

I uncorked the bottle, my senses filling with the overwhelming scent of nettle and ash. I looked over to Finn. His eyes filled with conflict. He growled, a low rumble that vibrated in my chest. He stepped between me and Elias.

"You're covering the only thing that proves she's alive." He snarled possessively.

"I'm covering the thing that will get her killed! If Kaelin's trackers catch a whiff of the Silver Blood, they won't just capture her, Finn. They'll skin her." Elias pleaded.

I looked at them both, then I looked at the vial. Survival was of the utmost. I cautiously dabbed the edge of the bottle against my neck on both sides.

Finn looked pained his thoughts filling my head. 'You shouldn't be hiding your scent. You should be blending it with mine. I am your mate, you are under my protection and the world should know.'

"I'm not your property to scent-mark, Finn. Not yet." I challenged him

Finn watched the dark liquid touch my skin with a look of pure, predatory offense. His nostrils flared, trying to chase the last wisps of my natural scent before the ash and nettles choked it out.

"It's a disguise, Finn," I whispered, capping the vial. "Not a permanent state." He didn't look reassured. He looked like a starving man watching someone poison his only meal.

"Good choice Alpha" Elias let out a breath I hadn't realised he had been holding.

We entered the woods. We headed towards what Finn explained was the Dead Zone - a neutral territory inhabited by rogues, which he explained were wolves without a pack.

The night wasn't dark anymore. It was a wash of silver and grey, sharp as a photograph. I could see the veins on a leaf fluttering ten feet above my head.

Every leaf that hit the ground sounded like a drumbeat. I could hear the dew sliding off a fern fifty yards away, and beneath it all, the heavy, rhythmic thud of Finn's heart - a bass line that my own pulse was desperately trying to match.

I couldn't shake Malakai's words from my mind. 'How many of your kin did he hunt before he found you?'

"How many?" I suddenly demanded. Finn froze in his tracks. He turned to me, his eyes glowing a fiery gold.

"How many did you kill, Finn? How many 'kin' did you hunt for Kaelin before you found me?"

His gaze changed, the cold eyes of a killer glazed with deep regret.

"I did what I had to do to keep the rest of the pack alive. If that makes me a monster in your eyes, fine. But I'm the monster that's going to get you across the border." He replied bluntly.

I averted my gaze, staring at the ground. How could my so called fated mate be a stone cold killer?

Finn returned to his "Hound" persona, scouting for threats in the distance. Kaelin's army waiting to pounce. He was so focused he missed it.

I didn't just hear it - I felt it, the sharp twang of silver threadline being pulling taut. Finn was so focused on looking for other wolves he hadn't notice the trap at his feet.

My body moved before my brain gave the order. I wasn't a girl anymore; I was a kinetic force. I slammed into Finn's chest, tackling two hundred pounds of cold blooded warrior into the mud.

He stared at me shocked. "What the..." just as a silver wire deadfall net hissed through the air, landing exactly where he had just been standing. The leaves beneath it sizzled as the net burned them black.

I blushed as I suddenly realised I was straddling him in the mud. Heat rushed through me as his hands gripped my hips.

"That... is Black-Silver. It would have burned through my muscle in seconds." He gasped.

I glared down at him. "For a legendary Hound, you have terrible ears." I sneered.

He smirked then, despite the danger, realising the position we were in he raised his hips sightly and a bolt of white hot energy shot through my body as I felt him between my legs. The contact was electric, a searing heat that threatened to melt my resolve even as the scent of the burning silver net hissed a warning in my ear. But now was not the time for this...

"I was distracted. The elixir smells terrible, but it can't hide the heat of you." His eyes bored into me, dark and passionate.