Chapter 1.1. Search
Kai.
The wind was shifting too fast. So was the smell of rot and seaweed, suddenly overpowered by another scent.
New… yet hauntingly familiar.
Ordering my enforcers not to lose sight of the rogues, I turned toward the ruins. An abandoned fortress left over from the Clan Wars. That was where my beast was dragging me.
And there was that scent again—the kind that made me want to bare my fangs and howl.
Something wild was happening. My paws carried me forward, oblivious to fallen logs or sharp stones. Sanity only kicked back in when I reached the riverbank.
No shifter could have crossed such a violent current. No wonder they had split up.
Without hesitation, I reined in my beast and dove into the freezing water. The icy stream cleared my head, forcing me to focus.
Tracks.
Someone had crawled out of the river right beside the abandoned servants’ wing. There was no time to think. A few powerful strokes later, a massive black wolf leapt out of the raging water.
“Close,” the beast growled inside my head.
I could see that myself.
Unsteady footprints. Then, whoever it was had collapsed and started crawling on all fours. They had tried to shift back into their human form, but the river had drained too much of their strength. Fighting the current and attempting a shift right after had proven impossible.
Baring my teeth, I silently ordered my beast to stay alert.
“Feels like a trap. Rogues never move alone. Either it’s a newcomer… or they’re luring us in,” I thought grimly.
We approached the abandoned building cautiously, watching every shadow.
No birds. No animals. The ferals had destroyed every living thing in this territory, which only made an ambush easier.
Then the scent hit me again.
Sweet wildflowers and honey—intoxicating enough to make my beast restless.
Upstairs. A room? Had one of the rogues really decided to break away from the pack?
Finding my prey was easy. It was a woman, and she was breathing far too loudly. Soft moans echoed off the stone walls. The scent grew stronger, and instinct nearly forced my beast to lunge.
Two flights of stairs. The female had crossed both before barricading herself inside a room, a wooden plank shoved against the door.
“Easy, friend. You’re too tense,” I muttered to my beast, fully reclaiming control.
Yes, my reactions were slower in human form, but charging blindly into a rogue’s den was suicide. Whatever waited inside wasn’t expecting company.
I managed to remove the plank almost silently. Only the old wood betrayed me with a faint creak beneath my bare foot.
The scent became overwhelming, like someone had stuffed my lungs full of chamomile flowers. The wolf inside me growled softly, sniffing the air, demanding I move closer.
A strange reaction to a rogue. Completely unnatural for an experienced hunter. And the scent rising from that wet skin was far too vivid, filling my chest with a dangerous warmth.
Holding my breath to keep the beast restrained, I stepped slowly into the pitch-black darkness. Step by step, I followed the sound, ready for an attack.
But all I heard was the steady rhythm of a woman’s heartbeat.
Calm. Even. As if she were unconscious… or sleeping too deeply to notice the danger.
Only two steps remained between me and my prey when I heard the very last thing I expected.
Not here.
Not in the outcast lands.
And definitely not while preparing to tear out the throat of some feral creature.
“Mate.”
The word rang through my head like a death sentence.
And then, my eyes finally adjusted to the darkness.
A naked female body lay on the floor. Wet. Shivering. Pale strands of hair scattered around her.
My beast had understood what was dragging us toward the ruins long before I did.
“Mate!” it snarled, more insistently this time.
I couldn’t move.
Then, driven by pure instinct, I slowly dropped to my knees.
“Why did she separate from her pack?” I asked the wolf, though I already knew he only cared about one thing.
“Mate!” the beast snarled again inside my head.
I stopped fighting instinct. Dropping to my knees beside her, I pulled the trembling girl against my chest.
“Yeah, Black… looks like she’s our mate. Which means we’re ruined,” I muttered into her damp, tangled hair.
