RAYNA POV
The scream tore through the forest, ripping the calm from my chest. Rowan and I sprinted side by side, branches cracking beneath our feet. My heart hammered, instincts snarling awake.
And then I saw her.
Asha.
Pinned against a tree.
A knife to her throat.
The man holding her smelled familiar a rot I knew too well.
"I know you," I hissed, stepping forward. "You're from Sterling's unit."
His eyes widened slightly recognition, but also fear.
"And you were watching me earlier," I continued, voice dropping to a growl. "What's Magnus going to think when he finds out you've been hanging around the enemy?"
Asha whimpered as he pressed the blade tighter. Rowan growled beside me, his wolf pushing to the surface.
My chest burned not like anger, but like my ribs were cracking open from the inside.
My vision tinted gold.
"Let her go," I snarled, my voice no longer fully human.
"Woah, woah Rayna, calm down," Rowan said, trying to step in front of me.
He shouldn't have.
I was past calming.
The pack burst from the trees behind us warriors, healers, everyone drawn by the commotion. They surrounded the clearing slowly, cautiously.
The man jerked Asha tighter against him.
"Stay back or I kill her!"
He meant it. I could smell the lie in his sweat: there wasn't one.
"Not on my watch," I whispered.
My wolf surged too fast, too strong. My body shot forward before Rowan or anyone else even processed movement.
I was behind him in a heartbeat.
I snapped his neck.
His body hit the ground before Asha could scream.
Rowan rounded on me instantly.
"Why did you kill him?"
"He was a threat," I said coldly. "A threat needs to be eliminated."
"That's what Magnus taught you," Rowan snapped. "But that's not how we do things here."
His eyes locked mine, furious yet… scared.
"You were a threat," he said softly. "And look you're still alive, aren't you?"
That hit harder than any blade.
They led Asha back toward the Alpha's castle protectively, supportively and for the first time since arriving here, I wasn't allowed to follow.
The doors shut behind them.
I was outside. Alone.
I turned and walked into the woods.
The shift hit me like lightning.
Pain exploded through my limbs, my bones twisting, breaking, reforming. My vision blurred. My scream became a howl.
Emotions.
Fear.
Anger.
The mate bond.
Asha's danger.
Rowan's disappointment.
Everything collided inside me.
My wolf form burst free glowing yellow eyes, dark brown fur rippling with raw power. And then…
Nothing.
Just darkness swallowing me whole.
ROWAN POV
She was gone before anyone could stop her, sprinting into the forest with the kind of pain that made my own wolf pace in panic.
I wanted to chase her instinct demanded it but Asha was trembling in my arms, and she came first.
By the time I returned to Rayna's scent trail, she was already shifting.
Violently.
Uncontrolled.
Wolves aren't meant to shift through that kind of emotional freefall. It tears the mind apart. It takes more than strength, more than discipline it takes grounding.
And Rayna had never been taught grounding.
Magnus trained her like a weapon, not a wolf.
Her wolf tore through the forest, fast and directionless. I followed all night, keeping her in sight, keeping others from interfering. She didn't recognize me not fully but she didn't attack me, either.
Instinct recognized instinct.
She finally collapsed near dawn beside an old firepit. I shifted back into human form, found an oversized shirt in the supplies I always kept nearby, and covered her with it.
Then I built a fire.
And waited.
RAYNA POV
Warmth.
Crackling fire.
The forest was quiet.
I groaned and sat up everything hurt. My bones, my head, my pride.
A voice spoke behind me.
"Good morning."
I turned.
Rowan.
He was sitting on a fallen log, arms resting on his knees, exhaustion in every line of his face but relief too.
I stood on shaky legs.
"What the hell happened?"
"You shifted."
"I know that," I snapped, rubbing my temples. "But why don't I remember anything?"
"It happens during your first few shifts," he said gently. "Especially if they're… emotional."
I scoffed. "Emotional is an understatement."
Rowan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"And hey… I'm sorry about last night. I was harsh on you."
"Nah," I muttered. "I deserved it."
He stood and he was close. Close enough that the mate-bond hummed, magnetic and warm, stronger than ever.
His hand rose slowly, like he was giving me time to pull away.
He cupped my cheek.
"You were raised to be this way," he murmured. "I should've understood that."
The tenderness hurt more than anger ever had.
I stepped back, breaking the contact.
"Yeah."
A beat of silence.
I looked down at the massive shirt draped over me.
"So… being a wolf is weird. You've all basically seen each other naked, right?"
Rowan blinked then burst into surprised laughter.
"Sort of. You'll get used to it."
He tightened the straps on his travel bag.
"Well, I'm done. Let's head back."
But I didn't move.
I was staring at him at the man who stayed with me all night, protected me, forgave me…
Despite everything.
"Rowan?" I whispered.
He paused. "Yeah?"
"Why didn't you leave me alone? I could've attacked you."
He stepped toward me again, eyes darkening as that pull sparked between us.
"Because I don't run from my mate," he said softly. "Not ever."
My breath caught.
But before I could react
A branch snapped behind us.
Both our heads whipped toward the sound.
Rowan's expression hardened instantly.
"That wasn't an animal."
The scent hit me next.
A familiar one.
Dangerously familiar.
"We need to move," Rowan growled. "Now."
I nodded.
Because I knew that scent too.
And it wasn't friendly.