IVY
I wake up not dead and that's the first surprise.
The second is that nothing hurts.
I sit up fast, heart pounding. My hands fly to my ribs expecting broken bones. Nothing. I check my feet. The cuts are gone. Just pale scars where deep gashes should be.
What happened.
The room around me is old stone. Cold. Empty except for the cot I'm lying on and some wooden crates stacked against the wall. Sunlight streams through a gap in the ceiling where the roof caved in years ago.
A man sits in the corner sharpening a silver blade.
My whole body goes tense. He's massive. Broad shoulders. Arms covered in scars. Black hair falls over his face as he works the blade across a whetstone. The scraping sound fills the silence.
He doesn't look at me. Hasn't looked up once since I woke.
But I feel his attention like a physical weight. Every muscle in his body is coiled tight. Ready to move. Ready to fight.
This is the man from the beach. The one who caught me. Whose touch felt like lightning and home at the same time.
My wolf stirs inside me for the first time in weeks. Not afraid. Curious. Drawn to him in a way that makes no sense.
"Where am I." My voice comes out rough.
"The Dead Lands." He still doesn't look up. Just keeps sharpening that blade with steady strokes. "You need to leave."
Direct. Cold. Like I'm an inconvenience he's tolerating.
The bond pulls at my chest. Warm and insistent. Telling me to go to him. Touch him. Make him look at me.
I ignore it. Barely.
"You healed me." Not a question. My body was broken yesterday. Today I feel better than I have in weeks.
"Your power healed you. I just gave you somewhere safe to do it."
My power. Right. The energy I can't control that destroys everything it touches.
I look down at my hands. They're not glowing anymore. Just normal pale skin. The constant buzz of uncontrolled energy is quieter. Still there but manageable.
"How long was I asleep."
"Sixteen hours."
Sixteen hours. Seraphina's hunting party could have tracked me here by now. Could be surrounding this place right now.
I swing my legs off the cot. Stand carefully. Test my weight. Everything works. Better than it should after falling off a cliff.
The man's blade stops moving. He's watching me now even though his head is still down. I can feel his eyes tracking my every move.
"I should go." I take a step toward the door. The bond screams in protest. My wolf whines. "Thank you for not killing me."
"Stop."
The word isn't loud but it freezes me in place. Not an Alpha command. Something else. Something that makes my wolf want to obey.
He finally looks up and I forget how to breathe.
His eyes are pure gold. Not amber like most wolves. Liquid gold that catches the sunlight. His face is brutal. Hard angles and old scars. A jagged line runs from his temple to his jaw. Another crosses his neck.
This is a man built for violence. Probably drowning in it based on the rumors.
He's also the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
The bond flares hot between us. I watch his pupils dilate. His grip on the blade handle goes white knuckle tight.
He feels it too. Fighting it just like me.
"You can't leave yet." He sets the blade down with careful control. "There's a tracking party camped two miles south. Six wolves. They've been circling my borders since dawn."
My stomach drops. "Seraphina."
"Don't know. Don't care. But if you walk out that door right now they'll have you in chains within an hour."
He's right. I know he's right. But staying here with this bond pulling at me feels more dangerous than facing Seraphina.
"Then I'll wait until dark. Slip past them."
"You can barely walk in a straight line. You think you can outrun trained trackers."
Anger flares. "I survived three weeks alone. I think I can handle myself."
"Three weeks running away." He stands and suddenly the room feels smaller. He's easily a foot taller than me. Takes up all the space. "Not the same as fighting back."
"I killed two guards to escape." The words come out defensive. Bitter. "I know how to fight."
His expression doesn't change. "You got lucky. Panic made your power explode. That's not fighting. That's surviving by accident."
Each word hits like a slap. Because he's right. I have no control. No training. Just raw fear keeping me alive.
"Fine." I cross my arms. "What do you suggest."
"Stay here. Out of sight. In three days the Lunar Summit starts. Every major Alpha will be there including whoever's hunting you. The tracking parties will pull back to attend. You'll have a window to run."
Three days. Alone with him. With this bond burning between us.
Bad idea. Terrible idea.
"Who are you." I already know but I need to hear him say it.
"Kai Blackthorn."
The name sends ice through my veins. I've seen his face on wanted posters. Heard the whispered stories. The rogue Alpha who slaughtered his entire pack seven years ago. Thirty seven wolves dead in one night. Men. Women. Children. Everyone.
The Council branded him a monster. Exiled him to the Dead Lands. Put a kill on sight order that no one's been able to enforce.
I should be terrified. Should run screaming.
Instead my wolf settles. Content. Like we finally found somewhere we belong.
"You killed your pack." I watch his face for any reaction.
"Yes."
No excuse. No explanation. Just cold acceptance.
"Why."
"Not your business." He picks up the blade again. Starts sharpening. Conversation over.
But I can't let it go. Can't stop pushing even though I probably should. "There are five packs hunting me. A million dollar bounty on my head. You could turn me in. Be a hero. Get the Council to forgive you."
The blade stops. His jaw clenches so hard I hear teeth grinding.
"I don't want forgiveness from wolves who torture children."
Children. The word hangs heavy between us.
Something terrible happened seven years ago. Something worse than the stories say.
"They hurt someone you loved."
His hands shake. Just for a second. Then go still. "They hurt my sister. Mira. She was fifteen. They took her for experiments. Trying to force bloodline powers to wake up early. When I found her she was barely alive. Begging me to make it stop."
My throat closes. I know that kind of pain. The helpless rage of watching someone suffer and being too weak to save them.
"So you killed them."
"I killed everyone involved. Then I killed my father for letting it happen." He meets my eyes and there's nothing but cold fury there. "The Council says I went feral. Lost control. They're wrong. I knew exactly what I was doing."
Silence stretches between us. Heavy with shared understanding.
We're both survivors of the Council's cruelty. Both running from wolves who see us as tools instead of people.
The bond hums recognition. Like calling to like.
"My name is Ivy Sterling." Fair trade. His truth for mine. "Alpha Magnus tried to lock me in breeding cells. Said he'd use me to create an army of bloodline wolves. I killed two guards and ran."
Kai's expression shifts. Something almost like respect flickers across his face. "Breeding cells. That's Magnus Castellan's specialty. He's obsessed with bloodlines."
"You know him."
"Everyone knows him. He sits on the Council. One of the wolves who ordered my exile." His smile is sharp. Dangerous. "If he's hunting you that makes you an enemy of my enemy."
"Does that make us friends."
"No." But his voice softens just slightly. "It makes us temporary allies at best."
I take a step closer. The bond pulls harder. "You feel it though. This thing between us."
His whole body goes rigid. "Don't."
"You said it last night. Mate bond. That's what this is."
"Bonds break." He stands abruptly. Puts the blade down before he does something with it. "People leave. Die. Disappear. I've lost everyone I ever cared about. My mother. My sister. My pack. Everyone."
"I'm not them."
"You'll die too if you stay near me." His voice cracks. Raw. Honest. "That's what happens. I'm cursed. Everyone close to me ends up dead."
The pain in his words makes my chest ache. Through the bond I feel it. The guilt. The loneliness. Seven years of blaming himself for things he couldn't control.
"What if I'm willing to risk it."
"You don't get to decide that." He moves toward the door. Away from me. "Three days. You stay here. Heal. Rest. When the Summit starts you leave and we never see each other again. That's the deal."
"And if I don't want that deal."
He stops in the doorway. Doesn't turn around. "Then you're stupider than you look. I'm not a hero Ivy. I'm the monster the Council says I am. Get close to me and you'll end up like everyone else."
"Dead."
"Worse." Now he looks back. His golden eyes are haunted. "You'll end up caring about someone who can't save you when it matters. Someone who'll fail you exactly when you need him most. Just like I failed Mira."
The words hit harder than any blade. This isn't about protecting himself. It's about protecting me.
"You think pushing me away keeps me safe."
"I know it does. I've got seven years of corpses proving it." He grips the doorframe hard enough the wood creaks. "Stay away from me Ivy. For both our sakes."
He walks out before I can respond.
I stand there alone in the stone room feeling the bond stretch between us. Even through walls I sense exactly where he is. The connection doesn't care about his walls or my fear.
It just is.
My wolf whines. Wanting to follow. Wanting to chase down our mate and make him admit he feels this too.
But his words echo in my head. Everyone he loved died.
What if he's right. What if getting close to him is just another way to end up dead.
Footsteps outside. Fast. Running.
A woman bursts through the door. Red hair. Amber eyes. Scars across her face. She's armed with three knives I can see and probably more I can't.
"You're awake." She looks me up and down. "Good. We've got a problem."
My hands spark with energy automatically. Ready to fight.
She notices but doesn't seem worried. "Relax princess. I'm Zara. Kai's second. If I wanted you dead you'd already be bleeding."
"What problem."
"The tracking party found your scent trail. They're requesting entry to search Kai's territory." She grins like this is fun. "And one of them is asking for you by name. Says if you come out voluntarily no one has to die."
My blood turns to ice. "Who."
"Some pretty boy Alpha heir. Derek something."
The world tilts.
Derek is here. Derek found me.
The boy who rejected me. Who let his father lock me in cells. Who chose pack loyalty over me.
He's here and he wants to talk.
Zara watches my face carefully. "You know him."
"He was my mate." The words taste like poison. "Before everything went wrong."
"Was." She emphasizes the word. "Not anymore though right."
I think about Derek's face as he rejected me. The horror in his eyes. The way he looked at his father instead of fighting for me.
Then I think about Kai. Standing in that doorway. Pushing me away to keep me safe even though it's killing him.
Two very different men. Two very different choices.
"No." I meet Zara's eyes. "Not anymore."
She nods approval. "Good. Because Kai's out there right now deciding whether to kill this Derek or just wound him. Figured you might want a say in which."
My heart stops. "Kai wouldn't."
"Kai would absolutely murder someone threatening his mate. Bond or no bond. He's territorial as hell under all that brooding." She jerks her head toward the door. "Coming or hiding."
I should hide. Should let Kai handle it. Stay out of sight like he said.
But Derek came here looking for me. And if Kai kills him it'll start a war that ends with both of us dead.
I follow Zara outside.
The temple courtyard is bright with afternoon sun. Kai stands at the entrance with his arms crossed. Stone faced. Radiating menace.
On the other side of the boundary line stands Derek.
He looks terrible. Dark circles under his eyes. Thinner. Haunted. His green eyes lock onto me the second I appear.
"Ivy." Relief floods his face. "Thank god you're alive."
Kai's whole body goes tense. A low growl rumbles from his chest.
Derek sees it. Sees how close Kai is standing to me. How protective. Understanding dawns.
"No." Derek's voice breaks. "Tell me you're not with him. Tell me he didn't force you."
The assumption makes my blood boil. Like I have no choice. Like I need saving.
"Nobody forced me to do anything." I step forward. Close to Kai. The bond hums satisfaction. "I'm here because I chose to be."
Derek's face crumbles. "Ivy please. I came to warn you. My father is planning something. Something big. Three days from now at the Summit. You need to run before then."
"Why would you warn me." My voice is ice. "You're the one who rejected me. Who let your father lock me in cells."
"I know. I'm so sorry. I was weak. Scared. But I can't let him hurt you again." He takes a step closer to the boundary. Kai growls louder. "Come with me. I'll protect you. Hide you somewhere safe."
"She's already somewhere safe." Kai's voice could cut glass. "And you've got ten seconds to leave my territory before I tear your throat out."
Derek ignores him. Keeps his eyes on me. "You don't know what he is. What he's done. He killed his entire pack Ivy. He's dangerous."
"So am I." My hands start to glow. Just a little. Enough to make my point. "I killed two wolves to escape. Maybe I'm exactly where I belong."
The words hit Derek like a physical blow.
Kai's hand brushes mine. Just barely. The contact sends warmth flooding through me.
Derek sees it. Sees the bond we're both fighting. His face goes pale.
"He'll get you killed." Desperation now. "Everyone around him dies. Is that what you want."
"What I want is for you to leave." I step fully beside Kai. United front. "You made your choice three weeks ago. I'm making mine now."
Derek stares at me like I'm a stranger. Maybe I am. The broken omega who scrubbed floors died in those cells. Someone new crawled out.
"I'll come back." He's backing away slowly. Eyes on Kai who looks ready to pounce. "When you're ready to be saved."
"Don't." Kai's voice drops to lethal. "Don't come back. Don't send messages. Don't even think about her. She's not yours anymore."
The possessiveness in his tone should bother me. Should make me angry.
Instead it makes me feel safe for the first time in weeks.
Derek turns and runs. Shifts mid stride. A golden wolf disappearing into the forest.
Silence falls over the courtyard.
Kai's hand is still touching mine. He looks down at our joined fingers like he doesn't know how they got there.
"You shouldn't have come out here." His voice is rough.
"You were going to kill him."
"Maybe. Probably." He pulls his hand away and the loss of contact hurts. "He challenged my authority on my territory. That's grounds for execution."
"He came to warn me."
"He came to claim you." Kai turns away. "There's a difference."
Zara appears beside me. "Well that was entertaining. Your ex is an idiot by the way."
"I noticed."
Kai walks toward the temple without looking back. "Three days Ivy. Then you're gone and this ends."
But the bond between us says otherwise.
Three days isn't enough. Three years wouldn't be enough.
Whatever this thing between us is, it's not ending anytime soon.
And I'm terrified of what that means for both of us.