The forest floor shifts beneath my feet. Every shadow looks wrong. Every sound comes too loud or too soft. I've hunted these woods since I was old enough to track, know every hollow oak and moss-covered stone. But right now, with blood seeping down my spine and pain radiating through my back, the familiar paths feel foreign.
I step over a fallen log, misjudging the distance. My boot catches on a root I should have cleared without thinking.
I pitch forward.
A hand locks around my arm, steadying me instantly. The contact sends electricity racing through my entire body, hot and undeniable. The mate bond flares between us like wildfire.
I jerk away.
"Don't touch me."
"Then don't fall," Riven says. Something in his tone isn't quite playful, but lighter than before. Almost teasing.
I hate that I notice. Hate that even now, running for my life through my own territory, some part of me responds to him.
"I don't need your help."
Riven looks at me, really looks at me, with those unreadable eyes. His voice is clinical when he speaks, listing facts without judgment. "You're bleeding through your back. And you're favoring your left leg." He pauses. "You absolutely need help."
Behind us, voices echo through the trees. One calls out, "We know you're here, traitor's widow! Varek promises mercy if you surrender!"
My laugh comes out bitter. "Varek's mercy killed my husband."
Riven glances at me. Something dark flickers in his eyes. Understanding. Shared hatred. "How long were you mated?"
"A year. We had one night as Alpha and Luna before they came." My voice sounds hollow even to my own ears. "He wanted to change things. Make the pack stronger. He made me Alpha alongside him."
"That's why they killed him," Riven says. It's not a question.
"That's why they killed him," I confirm. "Tradition over strength. Fear over progress." I swallow hard. "He died because he believed in me."
"He died because Varek is a coward who fears change," Riven corrects. "Don't carry his death like it's yours to own."
Heat flares in my chest. "Of course it's mine to own. If I hadn't accepted the title, if I'd just stayed Luna like everyone expected—"
"Then Sorin wouldn't have been the man you loved," Riven cuts in. "Would he?"
The question hits harder than any blow. Because he's right. Sorin's courage, his vision, his belief that I deserved to lead—that's who he was.
We keep moving. I try to maintain my pace, but my body won't cooperate. Every step sends pain shooting through my leg. My shoulder throbs with each breath. I'm leaving a blood trail, and I know it.
Riven notices. Of course he notices.
"There's a ravine half a mile east. We can lose them there."
"I know where the ravine is," I snap. "I've hunted these woods my entire life."
"Then you know it's steep. Can you make it?"
My pride flares hot in my chest. "I'm the best huntress this pack has ever known."
"That wasn't my question."
I want to snarl at him. Want to lie. But somehow honesty slips out instead. "I don't know." The admission costs me more than any wound.
He nods once, accepting that. "Then I'll make sure you do."
Something about the way he says it makes me reassess him. No pity. No condescension. Maybe outcasts understand survival better than pack wolves.
"Why should I trust you?" I ask. "You're packless. An outcast. You could leave me behind."
"I could," Riven agrees. "But I won't."
"Why not?"
"Because you're my mate." He says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "And because leaving you to them would make me the same as every other coward who turned on you."
I study him as we move. His jaw is set, eyes scanning the forest with practiced vigilance. He moves like he's been running his whole life. Maybe he has.
"I'm Arida, by the way," I mutter. "In case you're wondering whose corpse you'll be carrying soon."
"You're not dying today," he says. Something in his tone isn't quite playful, but lighter than before.
"Bold assumption."
His eyes cut to me briefly, then back to the forest ahead. Something shifts in his expression. Not quite a smile, but close enough that I notice.
My curiosity gnaws at me, sharp and insistent. An outcast since childhood. Alone his entire life. Yet here he is, risking everything for a stranger.
"What did you do to get cast out?"
"Does it matter?"
"It matters if you did something that'll get us both killed." My voice hardens. "I've had enough of betrayal."
"I was a child." His jaw tightens. "That's all you need to know right now."
The non-answer irritates me more than any insult could. "You expect me to trust you when you won't even tell me what happened?"
"I expect you to trust that I just saved your life," he counters.
"That doesn't explain why you were cast out as a child."
"No," Riven agrees. "It doesn't."
I want to push harder, demand answers, but there is no time.
We push through the last stretch of forest and emerge at the ravine's edge. It drops down into darkness, steep and treacherous. Loose rocks line the slope. One wrong step and we'll tumble all the way to the bottom.
I look down into the ravine, then at Riven. The mate bond pulses between us again, that constant, insistent pull I can't ignore no matter how hard I try.
"After you," Riven says, gesturing to the edge. But there's something in his voice. A question, maybe. Trust?
I study him for a long moment. This packless wolf. This outcast I want to kill. The one who keeps saving my life instead of taking it.
His eyes hold mine, steady and patient. Waiting for me to decide.
"Stay close," I say finally. "If I fall, I'm taking you with me."
"Fair enough," Riven replies. There's definitely amusement in his voice now.
I turn to the ravine's edge, testing the ground with my boot. The rocks shift beneath my weight. This is going to hurt.
"Ready?" I ask.
"Always."