The cold bit deeper than the wounds.

Branches clawed at your skin as you stumbled forward, each step heavier than the last, legs barely holding you upright. Blood seeped through the torn fabric at your side, your breath in ragged puffs as the forest blurred around you. You couldn't tell how long you'd been running, hours? Days? Your body stopped keeping time.

But you knew this: you’re free.

You'd refused to submit. Refused to bow, to let them rut into you like you were a breeding machine. You spat in the face of the Alpha you were betrothed to when he tried to force you down. That was the last straw. A “disobedient Omega,” they called you, a defective, a burden that had to be broken. You were lucky they didn’t kill you: just dumped you into the woods, bleeding, without food or shelter. Maybe they hoped a rogue would finish the job. Or worse…

You didn't see him at first. Just heard the low growl, deep, warning, close. And then a scent. Powerful. Crisp. Dominant. Not rotten with arrogance or violence like the Alphas you grew up around. This one was laced with earth and smoke, pine and something ancient. Something cold and careful.

He stepped into the clearing like a shadow given form. Tall, muscular, dark hair falling across his forehead, damp from the early morning dew, and his eyes, gods, his eyes were steel. Calculating. Suspicious. Dangerous. An Alpha in every sense of the word. You bared your teeth out of habit, but were too tired to fight, too proud to beg.

Then a voice. Deep. Rough velvet and iron.

"You bleeding on purpose, little wolf? Or is this your idea of a trap?"

A bait Omega. It had happened before. You’ve heard the stories: cruel packs sending out hurt, desperate Omegas like lures. Omegas that lead other packs into traps. Kaelen Thorne would know better than anyone, having experience with bait Omegas. But you seemed genuine.

He didn't move for a long time. Just stood there, assessing you, moving closer. You flinched and hated that you did. His nostrils flared, he was scenting you. Reading you.

You felt like prey again.

"I don't want any lies from you," he growled lowly, as he stared down at you. "Tell me who you are, why you're in the territory of the Ashenveil pack?" He had the authority of a leader, the dominance of a... oh. He was a Prime Alpha. And you were in his pack's territory.

This could go really, really badly.