ASH'S POV
She ran.
Ash did not think about it. Did not plan it. His wolf took over and suddenly he was moving, crashing through the forest after her like something feral and starving. The mate bond screamed through his entire body, demanding chase, demanding capture, demanding the claiming that had been building since he caught her scent.
She was fast. Ash would give her that. For an Omega she moved like liquid, weaving between trees, jumping over roots, taking angles that seemed impossible. But Ash had been hunting for ten years. He had chased wolves twice her size across burning territories.
He had never chased something he wanted to keep alive.
The bond pulled at him, stretching between them like a rope. It told him exactly where she was even when the darkness hid her. It told him she was terrified. It told him her heart was breaking.
It also told him she was running toward the stream.
Ash cut through the forest instead of following her path. He reached the water first and waited. When she burst through the trees still running, he simply stepped into her way.
She tried to stop but her momentum was too fast. She crashed into him and instead of falling back, Ash caught her and spun her around, pinning her against the nearest tree.
She came at him with everything she had.
Her claws raked across his face, drawing blood. Her teeth snapped at his throat. She screamed things that were not words, just raw animal sounds. Her small fists pounded against his chest and shoulders. She fought like someone who had nothing to lose and Ash felt something inside him break open at the realization.
She really did think he was going to hurt her.
That made him smile.
Not a nice smile. Not the kind of smile that would make her feel safe. But he liked the fire in her. Liked that she was not begging or submitting or cowering. She was fighting. She was furious. She was beautiful and broken and absolutely refusing to go quietly.
When she landed a kick to his ribs hard enough to make him grunt, he actually laughed.
His wolf was purring. Finally. After years of wandering rogue territories with nothing but rage and survival, finally there was something worth having. Something worth protecting. Something worth every scar on his back and every nightmare about the night his family died.
She fought until her body had nothing left.
Her movements got slower. Her breathing came in ragged gasps. The adrenaline that had kept her going burned out and suddenly she was just a small Omega girl slumped against a tree, shaking and exhausted.
Ash stepped back.
He kept his hands where she could see them and his body relaxed, trying to make himself smaller even though that was impossible. One of the things he had learned during his rogue years was that cornered prey became more dangerous the more threatened they felt.
She needed to know he was not going to force her.
His chest ached looking at her.
She was tiny. The top of her head barely reached his shoulder. Her silver blonde hair was chopped short and ragged like she had done it with a knife to keep anyone from grabbing it. Scars covered her exposed skin. The one on her right shoulder looked like a burn, deliberate and cruel. Her storm blue eyes stared at him with a mix of terror and defiance that made his wolf want to hunt down everyone who had ever hurt her and make them pay.
Those eyes had been soft once. He could tell. Now they looked like frozen lakes. Like she had learned not to feel anything.
Kade. His wolf growled internally. Kade had done this to her.
She was still breathing hard, her body tense, ready to run again if he gave her the chance. Ash could feel the mate bond trying to pull her toward him like gravity but she was fighting it with everything she had.
He understood that better than she knew.
When he was fifteen, the hunters came. They killed his parents. They killed his sister. They burned his entire birth pack down while Ash hid in the woods watching. The Alpha at the time had promised to protect them. Had sworn on the bond that they were safe.
That Alpha had died screaming.
Since then, Ash had sworn never to need anyone again. Never to trust a bond. Never to care about anything or anyone because caring meant giving others the power to destroy you.
And now his wolf was screaming that this scarred, broken girl was his mate.
It was the cruelest thing the Moon Goddess could do.
He took a slow breath and looked away from her eyes so she would not feel hunted.
Stop running, he said quietly. His voice came out rough from his wolf being so close to the surface.
She did not answer. Just kept staring at him like she was waiting for him to show his true nature. Waiting for the moment he would hurt her the way every Alpha before him had.
He moved closer but slowly, giving her time to run if she wanted. When she flinched, he stopped.
I am your mate, he said and watched her entire body go rigid. You are mine. I will never hurt you.
She made a sound that might have been a laugh or a sob.
All Alphas lie, she whispered and her voice broke on the words.
Ash felt his chest tighten. She was not wrong. She had lived under Kade. Seen what Alphas were capable of. Of course she did not trust him.
I am not all Alphas, he said and meant it.
He took another step forward and this time she did not flinch. He released her wrists because holding her would only prove her point. He just stood there, covered in blood, soaked in the bond that was trying to pull her into his arms, and let her see the truth.
Come to the packhouse, he said. Eat. Rest. Then decide.
He stepped back. Actually walked away from her even though every nerve in his body screamed to stay. Even though his wolf was clawing at his skin demanding he claim her right there against the tree.
He forced himself to keep walking toward the packhouse, leaving her alone at the stream.
Behind him, he could feel her shaking. Could feel her wolf crying out for him. Could feel the moment her instincts won and she finally, finally followed.
She came back.
Ash did not look back but he smiled in the darkness because everything in his life had just changed.
And he had no idea if it was going to save him or destroy him.