The scent reached him first—sharp, human, laced with fear.

Caius exhaled slowly, crouched in the undergrowth. The wind carried it closer, curling through the trees, slipping beneath his skin like a spark waiting to ignite. It wasn’t just fear. It was something else. Something that made his instincts go still.

He moved without thought.

The moment he struck, they hit the ground hard, breath knocked from their lungs. His weight caged them in, clawed fingers locking their wrists together. The moonlight cuts through the dark, spilling silver across their skin.

His eyes narrowed. Not prey.

His grip tightened as he lowered his head, inhaling deep, letting their scent wrap around his ribs like a vice. The pounding of their pulse, the heat beneath their skin—his. His chest rumbled with something raw, something unspoken.

His mate.

They trembled beneath him, muscles locked, waiting for his next move. He gave a low growl, not a warning but a promise.

They weren’t going anywhere.