Cold was the first thing I felt.
It seeped into my bones, sharp and unforgiving, pulling me out of the darkness piece by piece. My head throbbed viciously, each pulse a reminder that something had gone terribly wrong. I tried to move—and pain flared at my wrists.
Chains.
My eyes snapped open.
Stone walls surrounded me, damp and uneven, lit by a single torch flickering weakly a few feet away. Shadows crawled along the floor like living things, stretching and retreating with every wavering flame. The air smelled of iron, old blood, and wolf.
My stomach twisted.
I tugged instinctively at my hands, only to hiss as the metal bit into my skin. My wrists were shackled above my head, my feet barely touching the ground. Every movement sent a jolt of pain through my arms and shoulders.
Panic surged, hot and fast.
No. No, no, no—
I forced myself to breathe.
Think, Scarlett. Don't panic.
Fragments of memory crashed into me: the streetlamp flickering, footsteps behind me, hands clamped over my mouth. The sting at my neck. The voice.
No wolf. This'll be easy.
My chest tightened painfully.
"Awake at last."
The voice came from the shadows.
I stiffened as a man stepped into the torchlight. He was tall, his presence heavy in the small space, eyes glowing faintly gold. A wolf, through and through. His smile was slow and cruel, like he had all the time in the world.
"Where am I?" I demanded, hating how thin my voice sounded.
"Safe," he said lightly. "For now."
"I want to go home."
He laughed. "Don't we all?"
Another figure emerged, then another. Three wolves now, all watching me with open curiosity—like I was an object laid out for inspection.
"So this is her," one muttered. "She looks… ordinary."
My throat burned. "You kidnapped the wrong person."
The first wolf tilted his head. "Did we?"
"Yes," I snapped, fear sharpening into anger. "I don't know what you think I am, but I'm no one."
Silence followed.
Then he stepped closer.
His scent hit me full force—dominant, heavy, suffocating. I turned my face away, nausea curling in my stomach.
"You're the Alpha King's daughter," he said softly. "You're the wolfless girl who left the fortress. You're the one everyone keeps whispering about."
My heart slammed violently against my ribs.
"I don't matter," I whispered. "Let me go."
His smile faded into something colder. "Oh, little omega," he said. "You matter more than you know."
A door creaked open somewhere beyond the torchlight. Footsteps echoed, deliberate and unhurried.
A new presence entered the room.
This one didn't smile.
He studied me in silence, eyes dark and calculating, his power pressing against my senses like a storm held barely in check.
"Is she confirmed?" he asked.
"Yes," the first wolf replied. "No wolf. No scent beyond human weakness."
The man nodded once. "Good."
Good.
The word terrified me more than anything else.
Chains rattled as my arms shook. "What do you want from me?"
He met my gaze at last.
"Leverage."
My blood ran cold.
Xavier
The moment the bond snapped taut, Xavier knew.
The city around him blurred as his heart slammed against his ribs, pain tearing through his chest like claws ripping flesh.
Gone.
Scarlett was gone.
"No," he snarled, staggering to a halt as his wolf surged violently beneath his skin. Rage, fear, terror—emotions slammed into him all at once, threatening to rip him apart from the inside.
His phone slipped from his hand, shattering on the pavement.
Jason and Felix appeared seconds later, drawn by the sudden spike of power rolling through the street.
"She's been taken," Xavier growled, eyes burning silver.
Felix's face hardened instantly. "By who?"
"I don't know," Xavier snapped. "But they won't live long enough for it to matter."
Jason swore under his breath. "We warned you this would happen."
Xavier turned on him so fast the ground cracked beneath his feet. "Choose your next words carefully."
Jason held up his hands. "I meant the city, not her. Calm down."
But Xavier was already moving.
He dropped to one knee, pressing his palm to the pavement, letting his senses explode outward. Scents flooded him—oil, metal, exhaust, wolf.
There.
His head snapped up.
"Warehouse district," he said.
Felix nodded. "I'll alert the others."
"No," Xavier growled. "No council. No packs."
Jason's brows shot up. "You planning to do this alone?"
Xavier's lips peeled back in a feral snarl as his eyes flashed fully silver. "I plan to leave nothing standing."
The shift tore through him violently.
Bone cracked. Muscle reformed. Pain roared—but he welcomed it.
A massive wolf exploded into the street, fur dark as night, eyes blazing with murderous intent. Pedestrians screamed and scattered as the beast launched forward, claws shredding concrete, speed inhuman.
Xavier didn't slow.
Didn't hesitate.
Didn't think.
All that existed was Scarlett.
The first guard never saw him coming.
Xavier tore through the warehouse doors in a blur of motion, metal screaming as it twisted under his strength. Wolves barely had time to react before chaos descended.
Snarls filled the air.
Blood sprayed across concrete.
One wolf lunged—Xavier caught him midair, jaws closing around his throat. Bone snapped. Life ended.
Another tried to run.
Xavier pounced, slamming him into the wall hard enough to crack stone.
"Where is she?" he roared, shifting back to human just long enough to grab the wolf by the collar.
The wolf laughed, blood bubbling at his lips. "Too late—"
Xavier crushed his windpipe.
Felix arrived moments later, eyes wide at the carnage. "Xavier—"
"Find her," Xavier snarled. "Now."
Deep within the warehouse, chains rattled.
Scarlett lifted her head at the sound of distant roars.
Hope—fragile, trembling—sparked in her chest.
And for the first time since the chains closed around her wrists, she whispered a single name into the dark.
"Xavier…"