The cave felt smaller with every passing minute, the cold stone walls closing in on me from all sides and trapping the damp scent of wet earth and ancient rain.
Outside, the storm continued to rage violently across the jagged mountains, carrying the distant, feral howls of the rogues through the pitch-black night.
I sat with my back pressed hard against the rough stone wall, hugging my knees tightly to my chest as shivering wracked my exhausted body.
Sleep refused to come.
Every single time I allowed my heavy eyelids to close, my mind dragged me back to the exact same torturous scene.
The crowded amphitheater.
The mocking faces of the pack members.
And Kael.
“You are nothing.” The words echoed through my skull like a poison curse, repeating in a loop that I couldn’t switch off.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying with all my might to force the memory away, but it only grew sharper, burning behind my eyelids.
My chest tightened painfully around my broken heart.
Why?
Why would the Moon Goddess curse me with a fated mate, only to let him rip my soul apart moments later?
The dark cave offered no answers.
Only an empty, mocking silence.
Across the clearing, the scarred stranger remained standing like a statue near the narrow opening of the cave.
His massive, broad frame blocked out most of the weak moonlight spilling inside.
One of his heavy hands rested firmly on the hilt of the silver dagger at his waist, while his sharp amber eyes ceaselessly scanned the thick darkness of the forest below.
He hadn’t relaxed a single muscle since we arrived.
It was as if he fully expected death to crawl out from the trees at any second.
Unable to bear the suffocating quiet anymore, I broke the silence.
“Why did you help me?” The question slipped out of my dry throat before I could stop it.
For several long moments, the man didn’t respond.
The wind howled fiercely outside, and the rain aggressively tapped against the boulders.
Then, without turning around, his rough voice vibrated through the small space.
“Because if I hadn’t, you would be a torn corpse in the mud right now.” His tone was entirely matter-of-fact, as if he were simply commenting on the weather.
I frowned, shifting slightly against the cold wall.
“You don’t even know who I am.
Rogues don’t risk their lives for strangers.” That comment finally made him glance back over his shoulder.
His glowing amber eyes bored into mine for a brief, heavy second before darting back to the forest entrance.
“Out here past the borders, little wolf, names don’t matter.
Survival does.” His cryptic answer only twisted the knot of confusion tighter in my chest.
Nothing about this man made any sense.
He fought with the ruthless precision of a highly trained royal warrior, moved with the stealth of a lethal predator, and carried a deep authority that even the Alphas I knew didn’t possess.
Yet, he claimed to be a nameless rogue.
The pieces simply weren’t adding up.
Before I could press him for details, a sudden, familiar sensation stirred deep inside my lower abdomen.
My entire body went rigid.
My hand drifted downward instinctively, pressing flat against my stomach.
There it was again.
That strange, unmistakable flutter.
It was warm, incredibly gentle, and pulsing with a distinct rhythm that wasn’t my own heartbeat.
It felt alive.
A faint, glowing pulse spread directly beneath my palm, sending a wave of absolute bewilderment through my body.
The feeling wasn’t painful at all; if anything, it felt strangely comforting, like a tiny shield protecting me from the cold.
And somehow, that innate comfort terrified me more than any physical sickness ever could.
The sensation vanished into nothingness almost immediately, but not before the stranger caught my movement.
His gaze snapped toward my hand with predatory speed.
For a fleeting second, an unreadable storm of emotions flashed across his rugged face—burning curiosity, deep shock, and a spark of terrifying recognition.
Then, the emotional wall slammed shut again.
“You’re hiding something big, kitchen maid,” he said quietly, his voice laced with a newfound seriousness.
I tightened my jaw, refusing to show my fear.
“So are you, rogue.” One corner of his scarred mouth twitched upward into a grim, dark expression that wasn’t quite a smile.
“Fair enough.” The heavy, uneasy silence returned as the hours crawled by like agonizing centuries.
The storm outside gradually began to lose its fury, but the suffocating sensation of impending danger never truly left the air.
Then, without warning, the stranger stiffened.
Every single muscle in his massive body locked into a defensive stance, his nostrils flaring as he caught the wind.
My stomach dropped into a bottomless pit.
“What is it?” I whispered, my voice trembling.
His amber eyes narrowed to slits as he stared down into the foggy treeline.
“They’re back.
And they brought reinforcement.” Ice flooded my veins, freezing the breath in my throat.
As if summoned by his very words, a long, chilling howl echoed through the rocky crags.
It was closer than before—dangerously close.
Within seconds, several more feral howls answered from different directions, bouncing off the cliffs until it felt like the entire mountain was hunting us.
The stranger cursed violently under his breath, drawing his silver blade.
“They’re tracking your exact scent.
These aren’t ordinary, mindless rogues.
They are a coordinated hunting unit.” Panic exploded in my chest, making my breathing shallow and uneven.
“What do we do?
We’re cornered!” The moonlight flashed dangerously across his silver blade as he turned to face me.
“We run.
Now.” That single word sent a violent jolt of adrenaline rushing through my limbs.
Within seconds, we burst from the hidden cave, the freezing night air slamming hard into my face.
The wild forest stretched endlessly ahead of us—dark, steep, and entirely unforgiving.
We sprinted downhill through the dense web of ancient trees and jagged, slippery rocks.
Sharp branches whipped mercilessly against my bare skin, mud slipped beneath my boots, and my lungs burned as if they were on fire, but I refused to slow down.
Behind us, the sounds of the horror grew louder with every step.
The heavy thudding of massive paws, the violent crashing of brush, and the guttural snarls of apex predators closing the distance.
The real hunt had begun.
“Faster, Aria!
Push through it!” the stranger barked from a few paces ahead.
I forced my aching legs to move faster, pain shooting up my thighs.
I knew that stopping meant a brutal death.
After what felt like hours of a frantic death-run, the dense forest suddenly began to thin out.
The massive, suffocating trees gave way to a wide, eerie clearing of open ground.
Rising from the dark fog ahead were massive, ancient stone markers.
They were tall, weathered by centuries, and covered in glowing, carved symbols that I had never seen in any pack book.
The stranger slowed his pace, then came to a complete, abrupt stop right before the perimeter of the stones.
I panted heavily, staring at the glowing monuments in awe.
“What is this place?” His rugged expression turned completely grim, a shadow falling over his face.
“The border.” I blinked through my sweat, my heart hammering.
“The border between what?” For the first time since I met him, a tone of genuine, ancient reverence entered his voice.
“Between the territory of the Alpha Packs you know…” He pointed his bloody dagger toward the dark forest behind us.
“…and the forbidden lands you’re about to enter.” A violent shiver raced down my spine.
Another crazed howl erupted from the bushes right behind us, closer than ever.
The hunters were at our heels.
The stranger looked toward the sound, then locked his glowing amber eyes onto my pale face.
“Cross it, Aria.
Now!” I hesitated for a fraction of a second.
Everything I had ever known in my miserable life lay behind that line.
Blackfang.
My small kitchen cabin.
My old identity.
Even the agonizing pain of Kael’s rejection.
Crossing these ancient stones felt final.
Permanent.
Like slamming a heavy iron door that could never be opened again.
The stranger’s expression hardened into pure urgency.
“Aria!
They are on us!
Cross the bloody line!” I took a final glance toward the dark forest.
No one was coming to save the kitchen maid.
Not Kael, not a single member of the pack.
I was entirely on my own.
Swallowing the painful lump in my throat, I took a blind step forward and crossed the threshold of the ancient stones.
The very instant my boot touched the dirt on the other side, a massive, electric shockwave of raw energy rushed straight through my entire body.
The air here felt fundamentally different—older, heavier, and humming with an ancient, forgotten magic.
For a split second, the mysterious flutter deep inside my lower stomach didn’t just ripple—it pulsed violently.
A wave of golden, radiant warmth flooded my womb, so intense that it completely stole the oxygen from my lungs.
I gasped, stumbling forward as my hands flew to my stomach.
The stranger saw my dramatic reaction, and his amber eyes widened to the size of saucers.
It wasn’t fear in his eyes anymore.
It was absolute, blinding shock.
Before I could even open my mouth to ask him what was happening to me, the forest behind the border exploded.
Three massive rogue wolves leaped out of the bushes, their jaws snapping.
But the moment they reached the perimeter of the ancient stone markers, they hit an invisible wall.
A bright flash of silver sparks threw them backward into the dirt, their fur scorching as they whined in agony.
They couldn’t cross.
The stranger stepped across the border after me, his dagger lowered, his intense gaze entirely fixed on my face as if he were looking at a ghost.
“You have absolutely no idea what you’ve just unlocked, do you?” he murmured, his voice trembling.
My heartbeat stumbled over itself.
“What…
what does that mean?
Why can’t they follow us?” For a long, agonizing moment, he simply stared at me in the silver light of the ancient stones.
Then, his eyes slowly dropped to my hands, which were still protectively cupped over my belly.
When he looked back up into my eyes, everything had changed.
The warrior’s walls were gone.
The lone rogue’s caution was gone.
Only pure, unadulterated disbelief remained.
“Because if my senses are right…” his voice lowered into a terrified, reverent whisper that made my blood freeze solid.
“…those Alphas aren’t hunting you because you’re a rejected kitchen maid anymore.” The icy wind howled across the ancient monuments, whipping my hair across my face.
“Then why?
Why are they hunting me, Vance?” His jaw tightened, and for the very first time since I met this fearless giant, he looked genuinely, deeply afraid.
Vance’s face lost all color.
“Because what you’re carrying died centuries ago.” My breath caught.
“What?” His eyes locked onto mine.
“The last royal bloodline of Astravia.” [