Cassian POV
The screams had stopped by the time Cassian found the first body.
Not the guards. He meant the animal sounds the rogue wolf made while tearing through his warriors like they were nothing. Three of them dead. Torn open. Left in pieces across the frozen wasteland like some message he couldn't quite read.
Cassian stood over what remained of Marcus, his jaw so tight it hurt. The body was already freezing solid in the mountain cold. No tracking needed anymore. The rogue's scent was still fresh in the air, thick and wild, like nothing he'd ever smelled before.
"Alpha." Ronan appeared beside him, breath clouding in the frozen air. His beta looked shaken, which meant things were worse than Cassian thought. Ronan didn't shake. "The others want to turn back. They say the rogue is too smart, too fast."
Cassian didn't answer. He was already walking toward the river, twenty warriors falling into step behind him. They knew better than to question. When their alpha moved, they followed. That was the way.
The tracking took three days. Three days of following a trail through mountains so high the air burned to breathe. The rogue knew the land better than any normal wolf should. She led them through passes that made travel nearly impossible, then doubled back to ambush them twice. Each time she left at least one warrior bleeding into the snow.
But she was getting tired. Cassian could taste it in her scent now. The wildness was fraying at the edges, becoming something closer to desperation.
When he finally cornered her near the frozen river, she didn't run.
She charged straight at him instead.
The moment her massive silver body launched toward his warriors, Cassian shifted. His human form was useless for what came next. His wolf surged forward, dark and enormous, meeting her mid-leap.
The collision threw both of them backward against the ice.
Everything became chaos and teeth and blood. The rogue fought like something possessed, all instinct and fury. She was smaller than him but somehow faster, using the terrain like she'd been born in these mountains. When Cassian tried to pin her head, she twisted and caught his shoulder, tearing deep.
His warriors circled but couldn't get close without getting in the way. This fight was between alphas.
The rogue came at him again and Cassian saw his opening. He dropped low, twisted, got her from behind and drove her down hard against the frozen river. His jaws clamped around her throat. One bite. That's all it would take. The pack laws were clear. A rogue who killed pack members died.
He prepared to end it.
Then something impossible happened.
The wolf's body convulsed under his grip. For a split second, Cassian thought she was seizing. But then her form shimmered and twisted and suddenly he was holding a woman instead of a wolf.
He dropped her instinctively, shock flooding through him.
She was naked, covered in scars and dirt and blood. Her black hair was matted with filth, streaked with silver like she'd lived in terror for years. But her eyes. Those wild mercury eyes locked straight onto his and something inside Cassian's chest snapped so hard he felt it like a physical blow.
Mate.
No. That wasn't possible. Not her. Not this filthy, scarred, feral thing that was already moving, already lunging at his face with broken fingernails and a snarl that sounded more animal than human.
Her claws raked across his cheek. He felt blood drip down his neck. His wolf was confused, torn between the instinct to protect the bond and the reality that she was still attacking him, still trying to rip his throat open.
Mate, his wolf whispered again, even as her teeth snapped inches from his jugular.
This couldn't be right. Fated mates were supposed to be civilized females from good packs. They were supposed to understand the mate bond. They were supposed to want it.
This woman was trying to kill him.
Cassian caught her wrists without throwing her down again. Her nails drew blood from his arms but he didn't care. He absorbed every blow she threw at him, every bite, every scream that came from deep in her throat. His warriors stood frozen, unsure whether to help or back away.
She was impossibly strong for someone so thin. He could feel every rib through her skin, could count her spine when she twisted against him. She was starving. Desperate. And absolutely feral.
After what felt like forever, her movements started to slow. The panic in her eyes didn't fade but her strength did. She wasn't trained to fight at this level. She was just a wild thing that had survived on instinct alone.
When she finally went limp against him, gasping and shaking, Cassian realized he was shaking too.
His head warrior stepped forward carefully. "Alpha, she killed our brothers. We should..."
"No." The word came out as a growl, dangerous and final.
The third-in-command, a solid wolf named Derek, couldn't hide his shock. "She murdered them. Pack law says execution."
Cassian looked down at the feral woman in his arms. She was still trying to bite him, but weakly now, her wolf barely contained beneath the surface. Her eyes met his again and he saw something there that made his chest clench. Not evil. Not possession.
Just terror. The pure, primal terror of something cornered and hunted.
"No execution," Cassian said quietly. He made his decision in that moment, consequences be damned. "Chain her. Get her back to the compound."
The pack went silent.
Ronan stepped forward, his expression carefully neutral. "Cassian..."
"That's an order, Beta."
The woman thrashed as they approached with silver chains, screaming in a voice that hadn't formed human words in who knew how long. When the metal touched her skin, she flinched like it burned. The scream she let out was animal and anguished.
But she didn't stop fighting until three warriors held her down and the chains were secured around her wrists and ankles.
She glared at Cassian with pure hatred in those silver eyes. Her chest heaved with each breath. Blood dripped from her mouth where she'd bitten her own lip.
Mate, his wolf whispered one more time.
And Cassian realized with absolute certainty that he'd just made a choice that would either destroy him or save him.
There was no middle ground.
The feral woman they carried back to Northern Ridge would either become his Luna or tear his entire world apart.