"What the hell is this place?"
I stepped out from the trees and froze.
A circle. Stone markers. A glowing altar.
And people. A lot of them. Too many. All standing in a perfect ring, silent. Staring. Watching the center.
"Oh no. Nope. No. This is bad," I whispered, backing up a step.
But the music, that soft, strange song that had dragged me out of my house and into the forest, got louder. Not in my ears. In my chest.
And then I saw him.
The man from my dreams. Broad shoulders. Bare chest. Tattoos that glowed in the moonlight.
He didn't see me.
Not yet.
But I saw him.
Kael Draven.
Even I, quiet, no-pack, no-name Aria, knew who he was.
"The Bloodfang heir," I breathed. "What are you doing out here?"
No answer. Of course not. He couldn't hear me.
Then his eyes snapped up.
And locked on mine.
"Oh crap."
He moved.
Fast. Determined.
"Wait, no! I... I didn't mean to come here…."
My feet froze.
His didn't.
Someone screamed behind him. A woman's voice.
"Stop her!" she shouted.
"I didn't do anything!" I yelled. "I'm just lost...…"
Kael didn't speak. His hand reached for me.
"Don't touch me..."
His fingers brushed my skin.
Heat.
White-hot and electric.
Pain. Blinding. Fierce.
I screamed.
Collapsed.
And the world disappeared.
"She's waking."
"Her pulse is steady."
"She shouldn't be alive."
"I said she's waking. Back up."
My eyes fluttered open.
Everything was blurry. The room spun. The light flickered like fire.
I groaned. "What happened?"
"You were marked."
The voice was cold. Familiar.
Kael.
I blinked, trying to sit up. "Marked?"
"Yes."
I touched my neck. It burned.
"You did this to me?"
"I didn't mean to."
"What do you mean you didn't mean to?"
"You walked into the bond."
"I didn't know it was a bond!"
"You crossed the line."
"It wasn't marked!"
"It was."
"You were about to mark someone else."
"Yes."
"Then why did you touch me?"
"I didn't choose to."
I stared at him. "So… what? Your hand slipped?"
"My wolf chose you."
"That's insane."
"Tell that to the mark glowing on your neck."
I pushed myself upright, legs shaky. "This isn't happening."
"It is."
"You can fix it."
"I can't."
"Unmark me."
"I can't."
"There has to be a way!"
"There isn't."
"But I'm not, I'm not you. I'm not even a wolf!"
"You're something."
"You don't even know me."
"I saw you."
"What?"
"In a vision. Weeks ago. Your face. Your voice. Your eyes."
"You're crazy."
"I know."
"Why me?"
"I don't know."
I looked down at the mark, pulsing gold like fire trapped in skin. "What happens now?"
"You stay."
"I don't want to stay."
"You won't survive if you leave."
"I didn't ask for this."
"Neither did I."
Silence.
He didn't move. Just stood there, watching me like I was something fragile and dangerous at the same time.
"This can't be real," I whispered.
"It is."
"I don't belong here."
"You do now."
My head throbbed. My chest ached.
Nothing about this made sense.
Nothing about me made sense anymore.
"You're mine now," Kael said, barely above a whisper. "And that changes everything."