Chapter 2
I woke to warmth. That was wrong.
I should have been dead—frozen in a river, rejected and broken. Instead, I was lying on sheets softer than anything I'd ever touched, in a room so vast it could have swallowed my entire childhood home.
Dark stone walls. Iron chandeliers. A fire crackling in a hearth large enough to stand in.
This wasn't Dominic's territory.
I sat up too fast and the world spun. Pain lanced through my neck where the mark had been ripped away, and I pressed my hand to the wound, hissing through my teeth.
"I wouldn't move yet." A voice—deep, cold, utterly commanding—came from the corner of the room.
I turned. And froze.
He stood in the shadows like he was born from them. Tall—impossibly tall—with broad shoulders and a face carved from stone. Silver eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made my skin prickle. His dark hair was pushed back, and his jaw was sharp enough to cut glass.
Power radiated from him like heat from a furnace. My broken wolf—the one I thought was dead inside me—stirred for the first time in years.
"Who are you?" I demanded, my voice raw and cracked.
He stepped forward, into the firelight, and I saw the mark on his neck—a black crown, the symbol of the highest bloodline in the werewolf world.
"You're in the Blackmoor territory," he said simply. "I am Kael Blackmoor."
My blood turned to ice. Kael Blackmoor. The Alpha King. The most feared wolf alive—rumored to have killed his own father for the throne. Rumored to be merciless, soulless, and utterly without a mate.
"You collapsed on my border," he continued, his silver eyes tracing the wound on my neck. Something flickered in his expression—too fast to read. "A rejected wolf. In a wedding dress. Bleeding."
I swallowed hard. "I'll leave. I didn't mean to trespass—"
"You'll leave when I say you leave." His voice was quiet but absolute. No room for argument. No room for anything.
He moved closer, and I pressed back against the headboard instinctively. He was overwhelming—his scent, his presence, everything about him was too much.
He stopped at the edge of the bed, his gaze dropping to my neck again. "Who did this to you?"
"It doesn't matter."
"It does." His eyes snapped to mine. "Because whoever tore a mating mark that brutally wanted you dead. And you stumbled onto my land instead of dying. That makes you my problem."
I stared at him, my chest tight. "I'm not anyone's problem."
Something almost like amusement crossed his face—just a shadow, gone in an instant. "We'll see about that."
He turned toward the door. "Rest. My physician will check your wound in the morning. Don't wander the halls—my wolves don't take kindly to strangers."
"Wait—" I called out, and he paused. "Why did you save me? The Alpha King doesn't save strays."
He looked over his shoulder, those silver eyes unreadable. "Maybe I was curious," he said. "A wolf with no wolf who still survived a severed bond. That's… unusual."
Before I could respond, he was gone. The door closed with a soft click, and I was alone in the most dangerous place on earth, saved by the most dangerous man alive.
And my wolf—my silent, dormant wolf—was howling.
I should have been dead—frozen in a river, rejected and broken. Instead, I was lying on sheets softer than anything I'd ever touched, in a room so vast it could have swallowed my entire childhood home.
Dark stone walls. Iron chandeliers. A fire crackling in a hearth large enough to stand in.
This wasn't Dominic's territory.
I sat up too fast and the world spun. Pain lanced through my neck where the mark had been ripped away, and I pressed my hand to the wound, hissing through my teeth.
"I wouldn't move yet." A voice—deep, cold, utterly commanding—came from the corner of the room.
I turned. And froze.
He stood in the shadows like he was born from them. Tall—impossibly tall—with broad shoulders and a face carved from stone. Silver eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made my skin prickle. His dark hair was pushed back, and his jaw was sharp enough to cut glass.
Power radiated from him like heat from a furnace. My broken wolf—the one I thought was dead inside me—stirred for the first time in years.
"Who are you?" I demanded, my voice raw and cracked.
He stepped forward, into the firelight, and I saw the mark on his neck—a black crown, the symbol of the highest bloodline in the werewolf world.
"You're in the Blackmoor territory," he said simply. "I am Kael Blackmoor."
My blood turned to ice. Kael Blackmoor. The Alpha King. The most feared wolf alive—rumored to have killed his own father for the throne. Rumored to be merciless, soulless, and utterly without a mate.
"You collapsed on my border," he continued, his silver eyes tracing the wound on my neck. Something flickered in his expression—too fast to read. "A rejected wolf. In a wedding dress. Bleeding."
I swallowed hard. "I'll leave. I didn't mean to trespass—"
"You'll leave when I say you leave." His voice was quiet but absolute. No room for argument. No room for anything.
He moved closer, and I pressed back against the headboard instinctively. He was overwhelming—his scent, his presence, everything about him was too much.
He stopped at the edge of the bed, his gaze dropping to my neck again. "Who did this to you?"
"It doesn't matter."
"It does." His eyes snapped to mine. "Because whoever tore a mating mark that brutally wanted you dead. And you stumbled onto my land instead of dying. That makes you my problem."
I stared at him, my chest tight. "I'm not anyone's problem."
Something almost like amusement crossed his face—just a shadow, gone in an instant. "We'll see about that."
He turned toward the door. "Rest. My physician will check your wound in the morning. Don't wander the halls—my wolves don't take kindly to strangers."
"Wait—" I called out, and he paused. "Why did you save me? The Alpha King doesn't save strays."
He looked over his shoulder, those silver eyes unreadable. "Maybe I was curious," he said. "A wolf with no wolf who still survived a severed bond. That's… unusual."
Before I could respond, he was gone. The door closed with a soft click, and I was alone in the most dangerous place on earth, saved by the most dangerous man alive.
And my wolf—my silent, dormant wolf—was howling.