Chapter 2: Lost in the Moonless Woods

I woke to the sound of my own stomach growling like it held a grudge. The silk sheets had tangled around my legs during what little sleep I'd managed, and the pillow still smelled like cedar and smoke and him. My neck throbbed in time with my heartbeat. Classic.

Three days unconscious after the crash. Three nights of my old life erased like some shitty deleted scene. I sat up slowly this time, testing the Fade's warning shot from yesterday. Just a dull ache. Manageable. For now.

The room looked different in the thin morning light sneaking past those ridiculous velvet curtains. Less fairy-tale prison, more expensive mountain lodge that someone with too much money had decorated to look rustic. Dark wood beams, a stone fireplace big enough to roast a deer, and a chair in the corner that probably cost more than my Jeep had when it was new.

My clothes were still missing. Surprise. But someone—probably Lila—had left a pair of soft black leggings and a long-sleeved thermal on the end of the bed. I pulled them on like they might bite me. They fit perfectly. That shouldn't have creeped me out as much as it did.

"Talking to yourself already, Simone?" I muttered, tracing the bite scar with two fingers. The touch sent an unwelcome spark straight south. "Great. Next stop, full conversations with the furniture."

The door wasn't locked. I tested the handle with my heart in my throat. It swung open silently onto a wide hallway lined with more timber and tasteful lighting that probably had some fancy name like "ambient forest glow." My ranger brain cataloged exits automatically. Window at the end of the hall. Staircase to the right. Too quiet. Way too quiet.

I moved on bare feet, listening for footsteps, growls, anything. Nothing. Just the distant crackle of a fire somewhere below and the wind whispering through the pines outside. Freedom smelled like damp earth and possibility.

Halfway down the stairs I froze. Andrei stood at the bottom in a black button-down with the sleeves rolled up, exposing those scarred forearms. He was speaking quietly to two men who looked like they bench-pressed trees for fun. His grey eyes flicked up and locked on mine instantly. Like he'd known I was there the whole second I started moving.

"Good morning, little ranger." His voice carried that low rasp that did unfair things to my insides. "Sleep well?"

I crossed my arms, suddenly aware that the thermal clung to curves I didn't want him noticing. "Define well. Because waking up in a cult compound with a magical STD doesn't exactly scream five-star review."

One of the men beside him snorted. Andrei's expression didn't change, but his thumb brushed his lower lip in that thinking way of his. The gesture shouldn't have been hot. It absolutely was.

"Come down," he said. Not a request. "I'll show you the compound. You need to understand the rules before the full moon."

Rules. The word landed like a rock in my gut. I wanted to tell him exactly where he could shove his rules, but my legs were already carrying me down the stairs. Traitor limbs. Probably the wolf in me, already sniffing around for approval.

The main hall of the lodge opened up like something from a luxury catalog for people who enjoyed being rich in the woods. Massive stone fireplace dominating one wall, leather couches that looked butter-soft, and a long table that could seat twenty. A few people moved around the edges—cooking, talking quietly, glancing at me with open curiosity. One woman actually bowed her head slightly. I wanted to crawl into a hole.

"This isn't a compound," I said as Andrei led me toward the back doors. "It's a very expensive cult with better interior design."

He didn't smile. Just pushed open the heavy glass doors onto a wide deck that overlooked the forest. The view hit me like a punch. Ancient pines stretching forever under a grey sky, mist clinging to the valleys. My ranger heart ached with recognition even as my new wolf senses picked up a hundred scents I couldn't name.

"It's home," he said simply. "For all of us. Including you now."

I stepped past him onto the deck, breathing deep. The air tasted cleaner than anything in my old life. Sharper. Like I could track a rabbit from three miles away if I tried. The thought made me dizzy.

Andrei moved behind me, not touching but close enough that his heat bled through my borrowed clothes. "The perimeter is marked. You won't make it fifty yards without the bond punishing you. But more importantly, Victor Kane's pack is circling. They've caught your scent."

"Victor who?" I turned to face him, arms still crossed like armor. His steel eyes softened a fraction. Just a fraction.

"Rival alpha. Charismatic bastard with a taste for rare bloodlines. He'd breed you like a prize mare and call it destiny."

The crude words should have pissed me off more. Instead they sent a flush crawling up my neck. I hated my body right then. Hated it almost as much as I hated the way Andrei watched that flush like he wanted to taste it.

"And what are you doing?" I shot back. "Collecting me for your own trophy case?"

His hand moved before I could dodge, fingers gentle but firm as they tilted my chin up. Calluses scraped my skin in the best worst way. "I'm keeping you alive. The curse doesn't care about your independence, Simone. Reject me and we both waste away. Slowly."

I jerked away, heart hammering. The bite scar flared hot in response. "Yeah, well, maybe dying free beats living in whatever this is."

He let me go but the look on his face said he wasn't done. Not by a long shot. "The full moon is in four nights. You'll attend the ritual. No choice. Your wolf needs it."

"Needs it or you'll make me?" I muttered, already turning back toward the trees. They called to me. Whispered promises of running, of disappearing into the green.

I didn't wait for his answer. My feet carried me off the deck and into the tree line before my brain caught up. The forest closed around me like an old friend. Familiar. Safe. Except now every leaf smelled like power and every shadow held teeth.

I walked faster. Then jogged. My breath came easier out here, even as the bond tugged at my chest like an invisible leash. Just a little further. Find a road. Flag down a car. Figure out the rest later.

The trees grew thicker. Mist swirled between trunks. My bare feet were freezing but I didn't care. Freedom tasted like pine needles and damp soil and—

A root caught my toe. I went down hard, scraping my palms and knees like an idiot. Blood welled up, stinging. The pain cleared my head enough to realize I had no idea which direction the lodge was anymore. No supplies. No water. No fucking shoes.

"Smart, Simone," I whispered, sitting on a fallen log. My voice cracked. "Real ranger move. Get lost in the woods you used to patrol."

The cold seeped in then. Not just physical. A deeper chill that made my bones ache in a way that had nothing to do with temperature. The Fade, whispering its threats. My chest tightened. Each breath hurt a little more than the last.

I hugged my knees, humming an old folk song under my breath to drown out the panic. The one my grandmother used to sing when storms rolled in. It didn't help much.

A low growl rumbled through the trees behind me. I didn't need to turn around to know who it was. The black wolf stepped into view, massive and silent, steel-grey eyes fixed on me with something that looked almost like disappointment.

"Yeah, yeah," I told him, not bothering to stand. "Big bad alpha comes to collect his runaway mate. Very original."

He shifted right there, bones cracking in that gruesome symphony I'd already learned to hate. Andrei stood naked again—because of course he did—scars mapping his body like violent constellations. His expression was unreadable as he took in my scraped knees and the way I was shivering.

"You lasted longer than most first-timers," he said quietly. "Twenty minutes before the bond started eating you. Impressive."

"Go fuck yourself," I snapped, but there wasn't much heat in it. The cold had settled too deep. My teeth chattered.

He crossed the distance in three strides and crouched in front of me. Those big hands—god, why did they have to be so gentle?—brushed dirt from my palms. I flinched but didn't pull away. The contact eased the ache in my chest immediately. Warmth flooded back in, followed by that traitorous heat low in my belly.

"Don't," I whispered when his thumb traced a particularly nasty scrape. "Just... don't be nice right now. I can't handle nice."

His grey eyes met mine. For once there was no alpha command in them. Just something raw and tired. "You think I enjoy this? Dragging you back like some prize?"

"Kinda seems like it."

He huffed something that might have been a laugh. Then he scooped me up without asking, cradling me against his bare chest like I was made of spun glass. His skin burned hot against mine. I hated how good it felt. How my body melted into the solid wall of him like it had been waiting for this exact moment.

The walk back took forever and no time at all. I kept my face turned into his shoulder, breathing him in despite myself. Cedar and smoke and something wild that made my wolf want to roll over and show her belly. Pathetic.

Back in the lodge he carried me straight to a bathroom bigger than my old cabin's entire living area. Marble counters, a tub I could drown in, and a first aid kit already laid out like he'd planned for my stupidity. He set me on the counter and started cleaning my scrapes with careful efficiency.

I watched his hands work. Strong. Capable. The same hands that had pinned me during my first shift. The same hands that had pressed over my heart to hold back the Fade. My pulse jumped in my throat when his thumb brushed a cut. The bite scar on my neck flared with a faint warmth that spread down my arms like a warning.

"Why me?" I asked as he wrapped gauze around my knee. "Out of all the amber-eyed wolf girls in the world. Why drag a random ranger into your curse?"

He didn't look up. "The bond doesn't ask permission. It simply is. I lost my first mate to Kane's pack eight years ago. They tore her apart while I was too far to stop it." His voice roughened. "When I found you dying in that wreck, the curse flared so strong I couldn't have stopped the bite if I'd tried."

The confession hung between us, ugly and honest. I didn't know what to do with it. Comforting the man who'd kidnapped me felt wrong. But the pain in his eyes felt real.

His fingers stilled on my skin. We were close. Too close. His breath ghosted across my collarbone and I shivered for entirely different reasons now. The air thickened, charged like right before a lightning strike.

I should have pushed him away. Instead my hand came up without permission, fingers brushing the scar that ran across his ribs. His muscles jumped under my touch. Those steel eyes darkened to gunmetal.

"Simone..." he breathed my name like a warning and a prayer all at once.

My lips parted. His head dipped. We were a breath away from something that would change everything when the door banged open.

Lila strode in, completely unfazed by her brother's nakedness or our almost-kiss. "Hate to interrupt the romance novel moment, but Kane's scouts tripped the outer markers. They're looking for the amber-eyed female specifically. Offered money to anyone who delivers her."

I jerked back like I'd been burned. Andrei's jaw tightened, the alpha mask slamming back into place. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist with efficient movements that somehow made him look more dangerous, not less.

"How many?" he asked, voice all business now.

"Four that we counted. More circling." Lila's eyes flicked to me, sympathetic but sharp. "They're not messing around, brother. Word's out about her bloodline. Powerful pups, ancient magic, the whole fairy tale."

I hopped off the counter, ignoring the twinge in my knee. "Great. So now I'm supernatural Viagra for evil werewolves. My week keeps getting better."

Lila snorted. "At least you have a sense of humor. Most new turns just cry."

Andrei shot her a look that could have frozen lava. Then he turned back to me, all gentleness gone from his face. "You stay inside the lodge tonight. No more escape attempts. The bond might not kill you immediately but Kane will."

"Or maybe I'd rather take my chances with the guy who doesn't keep me in a gilded cage," I muttered, mostly to watch his eyes flash.

It worked. His hand shot out, gripping my wrist—not hard enough to hurt but firm enough to remind me who held the power here. Heat pulsed between us where our skin met. My scar burned in response. My wolf stirred, pushing images into my mind that made my thighs clench. Running beside him. Submitting. Being claimed under moonlight.

I yanked free, breathing hard. "Don't touch me when you're angry."

"You don't get it yet," he growled, stepping closer despite Lila's presence. "This isn't about control. It's about survival. Mine. Yours. The pack's."

Lila cleared her throat. "I'm gonna go coordinate patrols before you two start dry-humping in my presence. Try not to break anything expensive."

She left as quickly as she'd arrived. The silence she left behind felt heavier than before.

I retreated to the bedroom—his bedroom, I reminded myself—grabbing the worn field journal I'd spotted earlier tucked under the mattress. My hands shook as I flipped it open. Instead of escape routes or detailed maps, I found myself sketching the rough shape of the lodge's outer buildings. The compound. Not his hands. Definitely not his hands.

"Get it together," I whispered to the empty room. But my pencil kept moving, shading the timber lines while my mind replayed the feel of his thumb on my scrape.

The door opened again. Andrei this time, dressed in those tailored black clothes that made him look like a beautiful predator. He closed it behind him with deliberate softness.

"My last mate," he said without preamble, "her name was Elena. She wanted the bond as much as I did. We were young. Stupid. Thought love would protect us from pack politics."

I closed the journal slowly, hiding the sketches. "What happened?"

"Kane happened. Ambushed us during a hunt. She fought like hell but there were too many." His voice stayed flat but his eyes held storms. "I felt her die through the bond. Like someone reached into my chest and ripped out everything good."

The raw pain in his words cracked something in me. I wanted to stay angry. I wanted to keep fighting. But the way he looked at me now—like I was both salvation and a second chance at the same wound—made my throat tight.

"I'm not her," I said softly.

"I know." He crossed the room but stopped just out of reach. Smart man. "You're stronger. Stubborn as hell. Your wolf is already fighting to protect you even when you fight her."

My fingers tightened on the edge of the journal. The scar on my neck pulsed again, a low heat that traveled down my spine and settled somewhere I refused to name. I traced it without thinking, the motion pulling a soft sound from Andrei's throat.

"Andrei..." His name slipped out wrong. Softer than I meant. My eyes flashed amber—I felt them change—and the word that followed came from somewhere deeper than my human throat. "Mate."

We both froze.

The bond flared bright and hot between us, the scar on my neck burning like a live coal. His eyes widened, the steel grey bleeding to wolf silver. My breath caught. The word hung in the air like a promise I hadn't meant to make.

His control snapped.

He was on me in the next heartbeat, large hands framing my face as his mouth crashed down. Not the almost-kiss from the bathroom. This was hunger and relief and three days of restrained obsession all at once. I should have pushed him away. Instead my fingers twisted in his shirt, pulling him closer as heat exploded through every nerve ending.

The journal fell to the floor, forgotten. My back hit the wall and I gasped into his mouth, legs staying firmly planted even as my pulse thundered in my ears. His growl vibrated through me, low and possessive, and I felt my wolf rise up to meet it.

This was dangerous. This was everything I'd sworn to fight.

And god help me, I didn't want it to stop.