I didn't make it far before the pain caught up with me.
The moment I stepped outside the pack hall, my knees buckled. I grabbed the rough stone wall, breathing through the ache clawing at my chest. The bond hadn't disappeared—it had been ripped, left jagged and bleeding.
Behind me, the doors remained closed.
No one followed.
The realization hurt more than I expected.
I straightened slowly, wiping my face with the back of my hand. Crying wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't unbreak what had already been done.
"Walking alone isn't wise tonight."
The voice came from the shadows.
I froze.
A tall figure stepped into the lantern light, his movements unhurried. Dark travel leathers hugged a broad frame, dust clinging to his boots. His presence was unmistakable—Alpha. But not Nightclaw.
"Who are you?" I asked, my voice rough.
"Lucien," he replied simply. "Alpha of Blackridge."
My heart skipped. Blackridge was powerful. Old. A pack that didn't involve itself in others' politics unless something serious was at stake.
"What do you want?" I asked.
Lucien studied me, his silver eyes sharp but not unkind. "To make sure you don't collapse before you reach wherever you're going."
"I'm fine."
"You're not."
I bristled at the calm certainty in his tone. "That's not your concern."
"No," he agreed. "But you've become it."
I laughed softly, the sound brittle. "Because I embarrassed your fellow Alpha?"
Lucien's gaze flicked briefly toward the hall. "Because you survived a public rejection and walked away on your own."
Something in his words unsettled me.
"I don't need help," I said.
"You do," he replied. "You just haven't accepted it yet."
Silence stretched between us.
I expected pressure. Demands. Authority.
Instead, Lucien took a step back, giving me space. "Come with us for the night. No obligations. No expectations."
"Why?" I demanded.
"Because Nightclaw is no longer safe for you," he said plainly.
My chest tightened. "You don't know that."
"I do," Lucien said. "Rejected omegas don't stay unnoticed for long."
The truth of it sank deep.
"You'd offer protection to someone you don't know?" I asked.
"I know enough," he said. "And I felt something… unusual when you spoke back to Kael."
My pulse quickened. "Unusual how?"
Lucien didn't answer immediately. His eyes narrowed slightly, as if he were weighing how much to reveal. "Your presence shifted the air," he said finally. "That doesn't happen with ordinary wolves."
I shook my head. "I am ordinary."
He didn't smile. "No."
A shiver ran down my spine.
"I'm not asking you to trust me," Lucien continued. "Just to survive the night."
Behind us, the pack hall doors opened.
I felt Kael's presence before I saw him.
Dominance rolled outward, heavy and possessive, clashing against Lucien's calm control. The air thickened, tension snapping between the two Alphas.
"She stays," Kael said coldly.
Lucien turned slightly, positioning himself between Kael and me—not aggressively, but deliberately. "She decides."
Kael's gaze cut to me, dark and unreadable. "This isn't your concern."
"You made it mine when you rejected her publicly," Lucien replied.
The silence that followed was dangerous.
I took a step forward. "I'll go."
Both Alphas turned toward me.
Lucien inclined his head. "Very well."
Kael's jaw tightened. "If you leave with him, you don't return."
I met his eyes. "You already made sure of that."
I walked past him, my heart racing but my steps steady.
Lucien fell into step beside me without comment.
We didn't speak as we moved beyond Nightclaw's borders. The land changed subtly—trees thicker, shadows deeper. Blackridge wolves waited ahead, watching me with open curiosity rather than judgment.
No one mocked me.
No one whispered.
The quiet didn't last.
As we moved deeper into the trees, a low growl rolled through the darkness. It wasn't threatening at first—more curious than hostile—but Lucien lifted a hand instantly, stopping everyone.
"Stay behind me," he said, not raising his voice.
Two figures stepped out from the shadows ahead, their eyes glowing faintly. Nightclaw patrol. Young. Nervous.
"Alpha Kael didn't dismiss us," one of them said, his gaze flicking to me before snapping back to Lucien. "You're trespassing."
Lucien's expression didn't change. "We're leaving."
"With her?" the other wolf asked.
Lucien's dominance brushed outward—not a blast, not a threat, just enough to remind them who stood before them. Both wolves stiffened.
"She is under my protection," Lucien said. "You will not follow."
One of them swallowed. "She belongs to Nightclaw."
"No," Lucien replied. "She was rejected by Nightclaw."
Silence stretched.
I felt something stir inside me again—not pain this time, but awareness. The air shifted subtly, pressing down around us. The two patrol wolves glanced at me, uncertainty flickering across their faces.
"You felt that," Lucien murmured, not looking away from them.
The wolves stepped back instinctively.
"Go," Lucien said.
They didn't hesitate.
Once they were gone, my legs finally gave out. Lucien caught my elbow before I fell, his grip firm but brief. He released me immediately.
"That wasn't normal," I said quietly.
"No," he agreed.
"They felt something."
"So did I."
I hugged my arms around myself. "What am I?"
Lucien studied me for a long moment. "That," he said, "is what we'll figure out—once you're safe."
The forest seemed to breathe around us as we continued on. For the first time since the rejection, I understood something clearly.
If I had stayed at Nightclaw, whatever was waking inside me would have made me a target.
Walking away hadn't just been brave.
It had been necessary.
Lucien stopped near a small camp, fire already burning. "You'll rest here tonight," he said. "Tomorrow, you decide what comes next."
I hesitated. "And if I choose to leave?"
"Then I'll see you escorted safely," he replied.
Fair. Honest.
I nodded slowly.
As I settled near the fire, exhaustion pulling at my bones, one thought echoed in my mind:
The Alpha who rejected me saw weakness.
The Alpha who found me afterward saw something else entirely.
And I didn't yet know which was more dangerous.