Lulu woke up to warmth. Actual, bone-deep, skin-soft warmth.
The blanket tucked around her smelled like firewood and cedar. Her head rested on a thick pillow, and for a disoriented moment, she thought she was back home before the ceremony, before everything shattered.
Then she opened her eyes.
Stone walls, tall and rough-hewn. An arched ceiling of old timber beams. A fireplace glowed in the corner, casting flickering amber light across the room. Heavy curtains blocked the windows, but she could tell it was still night outside or maybe just another gray northern day.
Her body ached especially her thigh but it was a dull, manageable pain. Someone had cleaned her wounds. Wrapped her ankle. Changed her into dry clothes.
She jolted upright in the bed, eyes darting for exits, for weapons, for wolves.
That's when she noticed him.
Leaning against the far wall, arms folded across his chest, dressed in a fitted black hen ley and worn jeans that somehow didn't take away from his commanding presence, stood a man.
Or rather a wolf.
Power rolled off him in waves. Not just dominance. Alpha. Alpha in every breath, every line of his broad frame.
Tall. Dark-haired. Pale gray eyes that flicked over her like she was something sharp and suspicious. A jagged scar cut along his jawline, like it had once been split by claws. He didn't speak right away.
He just watched her.
Until the smirk curved his lips.
"I didn't know Silver claw had started discarding their members," he said lazily, pushing off the wall. "What'd you do ?steal a snack before the Alpha ate it?"
Lulu's mouth opened, but nothing came out. She wasn't sure what stunned her more: the voice, low and teasing and laced with that northern lilt or the fact that someone knew she was from Silver claw.
She scrambled to sit straighter. "I -how do you- "
"Your scent." He shrugged, walking over to the edge of the bed. "Even half-frozen and half-dead, it's still there. Pine and pride and just enough arrogance to be annoying."
"I wasn't-" she began, then stopped. Her throat tightened. What was the point of defending a pack that no longer wanted her?
He raised an eyebrow as if hearing that thought echo off her silence.
"Well," he said after a beat, "you're not dead. Yet. And you haven't shifted and attacked anyone. Yet. So either you're too injured or too polite. Guess we'll find out which."
Lulu blinked. "Where… am I?"
"My pack," he replied simply. "Northern Ridge. Or what's left of it."
Her stomach turned. Northern Ridge was rumored to be harsh, a place where outcasts and fighters lived by their own code. It wasn't Silver claw. It wasn't anything like Silver claw.
And this man, Alpha Ryker, she realized with a slow chill wasn't anything like Kael.
"I didn't mean to trespass," she said quietly, voice rough. "I was running. I didn't know where I was going."
He tilted his head, studying her. "You ran all the way from Silver claw? Through rogue territory?"
She gave a weak nod.
His lips parted slightly, as if surprised.
Then he let out a low whistle. "And they let you go? No guards? No tracking?"
"They didn't let me go," she said, voice sharp and bitter. "I was rejected."
The words cut as she said them, even now. But Ryker's expression didn't twist in pity like so many others. He just nodded once, slow and thoughtful.
"Ah. One of those." He sat in the chair beside the fire. "Kael's the new Alpha, right? Took the title on his birthday. Big ceremony. Gold-trimmed robes. Wine-soaked speeches."
Her jaw clenched.
"So what'd you do?" he asked, not unkindly. "Sleep with his brother? Burn the sacred scrolls? Curse his bloodline?"
Lulu stared at him.
"I was supposed to be his Luna," she said quietly.
Ryker's face finally changed not dramatically, but enough. His brows lifted. His posture straightened slightly.
"Oh," he said. "Well. That's cold, even by Alpha standards."
Her lip curled. "You think?"
He chuckled, rubbing a hand over his stubbled jaw. "Guess the north's not the only place with wolves for hearts."
Lulu sank back against the headboard, the adrenaline fading, exhaustion creeping in behind it.
"I didn't ask to stay here," she said, softer now.
"No, you didn't," Ryker replied. "But you collapsed on my land. Which makes you my problem."
Her eyes narrowed. "You could've left me."
"I could've," he agreed. "But my Beta's got a soft spot for stray pups. And frankly, I was curious."
"Curious?"
"You reeked of broken magic," he said, watching her closely. "Like the bond had been cut but not clean. There's still residue in your aura. Your wolf's not speaking, is she?"
Lulu froze.
"How do you know that?"
"Because I've seen it before." His voice lost its playfulness. "Rejection doesn't just wound,it silences. Your wolf's hiding. Waiting to know if it's safe to come back."
She looked down at her hands. Calloused. Trembling.
"So what now?" she asked.
Ryker rose from his chair. Towered over her.
"Now?" he said. "You rest. You eat. And you decide if you want to keep running... or if you want to figure out who you are without him."
He turned to leave but paused in the doorway.
"Oh," he added, glancing back at her with a flicker of something unreadable in his gaze. "If you plan to stay more than a day, you'll need to pull your weight. We're not big on charity."
Then he was gone.
Leaving Lulu with the firelight, a warm bed, and the first flicker of something she hadn't felt in weeks.
Not safety.
But something that almost tasted like freedom.