The first thing I registered was the damp forest floor beneath me, the second was the burning pain in my wrists. I opened my eyes to the early morning light filtering through the trees. My mouth was gagged, filled with rough cloth that tasted like dirt and blood. Panic surged through me as I struggled against the tight bindings.
Lykos sat a few feet away, watching me with those strange, glowing eyes. His massive form looked even more otherworldly in the morning light.
I made muffled sounds against the gag, hoping to communicate my sense of betrayal. I had thought he was my friend, my protector. Now I was his prisoner.
The giant wolf tilted his head, as if trying to understand. He let out a soft whine that almost sounded apologetic. Almost.
I thrashed harder against my restraints, the rope biting deeper into my already raw wrists. The pain shot up my arms, bringing tears to my eyes.
Lykos stood and padded closer. I froze, heart hammering against my ribs. Was he going to hurt me now? Kill me?
Instead, he nudged my shoulder with his snout, surprisingly gentle for such a massive creature. His eyes held something like regret.
Too little, too late.
I turned away, refusing to be comforted by the beast who had betrayed me. He stepped back, ears flattening against his head. He looked... hurt? The idea was so absurd I would have laughed if not for the gag.
A twig snapped somewhere nearby. Lykos's head whipped toward the sound, his entire body tensing. He positioned himself between me and the approaching threat, hackles rising.
Heavy footsteps crunched through the underbrush. Lykos growled, low and warning, but there was something submissive in his posture that confused me.
The man from last night emerged from between the trees. The tattooed stranger who'd chased me. Who'd caused me to black out from sheer terror.
In the daylight, he was even more intimidating. Tall and powerfully built, with those strange black tattoos snaking up his neck and disappearing beneath his shirt collar. His stormy gray eyes locked onto mine, cold and assessing.
"Down," he commanded Lykos.
To my shock, the massive wolf lowered himself to the ground, head bowed. What the hell? This man could control the beast?
The stranger approached me with purposeful strides. I squirmed backward, desperate to put distance between us. My back hit a tree trunk. Trapped.
He crouched in front of me, close enough that I could feel his body heat. His hand shot out, gripping my chin with bruising force. I whimpered behind the gag.
"So," he said, his voice deep and dangerous. "Who are you to the Blue Mountain Pack?"
My heart stuttered. How did he know about my former pack?
His grip tightened painfully. "Answer me."
I made frantic noises against the gag, trying to communicate that I couldn't speak. With an impatient growl, he yanked the cloth from my mouth.
I gasped, gulping in air. My tongue felt swollen, my throat raw.
"N-nobody," I rasped. "I'm nobody to them."
His eyes narrowed. "Don't lie to me." His hand moved from my chin to my throat, not squeezing but resting there as a clear threat. "I can smell pack on you."
"I ran away," I whispered. "I escaped."
"Escaped?" A cruel smile curved his lips. "Humans don't escape wolf packs unless the wolves let them go." His thumb traced my jugular, making me shiver. "Or unless they're dead."
Terror clawed up my spine. "Please," I begged. "I don't know who you are or what you want, but I'm telling the truth."
His nostrils flared as he leaned closer, inhaling deeply near my neck. His expression darkened.
"You reek of male wolf," he snarled, fingers digging into my skin. "Blue Mountain Pack. Strong. Alpha lineage." His eyes flashed with rage. "Are you mated to one of them?"
"No!" I cried, horrified by the suggestion.
"Then why do you carry his scent so thoroughly? Why is it embedded in your skin?" He looked disgusted, as if I were something filthy.
Tears welled in my eyes. "I was with him for years, but we weren't mated. He found his true mate during the Hunt and—" My voice broke.
"And what?" he demanded.
"And he threw me away," I finished, the admission tasting bitter on my tongue.
The stranger scoffed. "So you're the pack's human whore, then? Passed around until someone better comes along?"
White-hot anger surged through me, temporarily overpowering my fear. "I am not a whore!"
His hand moved lightning-fast, grabbing a fistful of my hair and yanking my head back. Pain exploded across my scalp.
"Watch your tone," he warned, his face inches from mine. "You're in no position to raise your voice at me."
I swallowed hard, trying not to show how much he was hurting me. "I was raised in the pack since I was twelve. I was the Alpha's daughter until..."
"Until what?"
"Until I wasn't anymore."
He studied me with those cold gray eyes, searching for lies. "You expect me to believe the Alpha kept you as his daughter? A human?"
Fresh tears stung my eyes. "It's the truth."
He released my hair with a dismissive shove. "Alpha Maxen harboring a human. Interesting." He stood, towering over me. "That explains a lot."
My blood ran cold. "You know Alpha Maxen?"
A dangerous smile spread across his face. "I know of him. And he certainly knows of me."
I didn't like the predatory gleam in his eyes. "Who are you?"
"Someone you should fear far more than you already do."
Lykos made a soft sound, drawing the man's attention. They seemed to communicate silently, the wolf's ears twitching, the man's jaw tightening.
"No," he finally said aloud. "She stays restrained."
The wolf huffed, clearly disagreeing.
"I don't care if she's uncomfortable," the man snapped. "She's a flight risk."
They were talking about me as if I wasn't even there. As if I was some object to be discussed rather than a person.
"Please," I tried again, softer this time. "I don't know what you want from me, but I can tell you anything you need to know about the pack. Just... please don't take me back there."
The desperation in my voice seemed to catch his interest. He turned back to me, eyes narrowing.
"Why are you so afraid to return?" he asked. "What did they do to you?"
I looked away, unable to meet his gaze. The memories were too raw, too humiliating.
His hand shot out again, forcing me to face him. "Answer me."
"They made me an omega," I whispered, the words barely audible. "After Julian found his mate, Alpha Maxen cast me out. Said I wasn't really his daughter. That my mother had tricked him."
Something flickered in his eyes. Recognition? Interest?
"Your mother," he repeated slowly. "What was her name?"
"Eleanor. Eleanor Croft."
His expression changed subtly. The muscles in his jaw worked as if he was grinding his teeth.
"And you're Hazel Croft," he stated rather than asked.
Fear bloomed fresh in my chest. "How do you know my name?"
He ignored my question, his mind clearly elsewhere. After a long moment, he refocused on me, his gaze colder than before.
"Tell me everything about Alpha Maxen's pack," he demanded. "Numbers. Strengths. Weaknesses."
I shook my head, confused. "Why? What are you planning to do?"
"That's none of your concern." His voice was sharp as a blade. "Answer my questions."
"I can't betray them like that," I said, even as a voice in my head screamed that I owed them nothing. "They raised me."
"Before they discarded you," he reminded me cruelly. "Before they made you an omega and abused you."
My lower lip trembled. "How did you know they abused me?"
"The bruises tell their own story." His fingers traced a particularly dark mark on my arm, making me flinch. "These aren't from your time in the forest."
I looked away, ashamed. "It doesn't matter."
"It matters to someone." His tone held an odd note I couldn't identify. "Now tell me what I want to know."
"I can't." Despite everything they'd done, I couldn't bring myself to endanger the entire pack. There were innocents there. Children.
The man's patience visibly thinned. "You think your loyalty protects them? That your silence means anything?" He laughed, a cold, mirthless sound. "I don't need you to tell me what I already know."
Confusion furrowed my brow. "Then why ask?"
"To see if you'd lie." He straightened up, looking down at me with contempt. "To confirm what kind of human you really are."
His dismissal stung more than it should have. I was nothing to this man. Why should I care what he thought of me?
"What happens now?" I asked, hating how small my voice sounded.
His lips curved into a cruel smile. "Now? I go straight to the source."
My blood turned to ice. "What does that mean?"
"It means I'm done wasting time with you." He turned to Lykos. "Watch her. I'll be back."
My heart hammered against my ribs. "Wait! Where are you going?"
He glanced back at me, his expression entirely devoid of empathy. "To pay your former pack a visit, of course."
Panic exploded in my chest. "No! Please!"
"Begging now? How pathetic." He sneered. "What do you care what happens to them? They abandoned you."
"There are innocent people there," I pleaded, straining against my bindings. "Children who had nothing to do with what happened to me."
"Collateral damage," he said coldly.
"Please," I begged, desperation making my voice crack. "Don't do this. Whatever you want, I'll help you. Just don't hurt the innocents."
He paused, studying me with those unreadable gray eyes. "Your compassion is wasted on them."
"It's not about them," I insisted. "It's about who I am. I can't have their blood on my hands."
Something flickered across his face—surprise, perhaps, or curiosity. It vanished as quickly as it appeared.
"Your hands are bound," he reminded me cruelly. "You have no say in what happens next."
He turned away, ignoring my continued pleas. My words became increasingly frantic as he walked away, disappearing into the trees. Lykos remained, watching me with those eerie, glowing eyes.
I slumped against the tree, throat raw from shouting. Tears streamed down my face as helplessness overwhelmed me.
My two greatest fears were now set on a collision course—this dangerous, unknown man and the pack I'd fled—with me trapped powerlessly in the middle, bound and gagged once more, my desperate warnings silenced against the cloth in my mouth.