Ava's POV

The first rogue lunged.

It was a blur of teeth and muscle. I dodged, but not fast enough. Claws raked across my forearm, shredding my jacket and skin.

Fire exploded in my nerves. Blood-hot and metallic-sprayed onto the dead leaves.

"Help! Cole! HELP ME!" Lexi shrieked, cowering on the ground like a child.

The second rogue circled me, drool dripping from its jaws. I was cornered. Nyx was growling, begging to shift, to rip them apart, but I couldn't. Not yet. If I shifted now, Cole would know I had a wolf. He wouldn't let me go.

I grabbed a fallen branch, swinging it like a bat. "Back off!"

The rogue snapped the wood like a toothpick.

I braced myself for the kill.

ROAR.

A massive shape crashed through the underbrush.

Cole.

He burst into the clearing in his human form, eyes glowing red, partially shifted. He looked magnificent and terrifying-a true Alpha.

"Cole!" Lexi screamed. "Save me!"

The rogue nearest to Lexi lunged at her.

The rogue nearest to me lunged at my throat.

Time slowed down. Cole looked at the rogue attacking Lexi. Then he looked at me, blood dripping down my arm, the beast inches from my face.

He had a choice.

He didn't hesitate.

He dove for Lexi.

He tackled the wolf attacking her, ripping its throat out in one brutal motion. He gathered Lexi into his arms, shielding her body with his own.

And he left me to die.

I watched, paralyzed, as the second wolf's jaws opened wide, aiming for my neck.

So this is it, I thought, a bitter calmness washing over me. He really did choose her.

I closed my eyes.

WHOOSH.

The air pressure dropped. The temperature plummeted to zero.

There was a sound like a guillotine blade slicing through meat. Thwack.

Warm liquid splattered across my face. Not my blood.

I opened my eyes.

The rogue that was about to kill me was gone. Or rather... it was in pieces. Its head was rolling on the grass five feet away.

Standing in front of me was a man.

He was massive. Taller than Cole. Broader. He wore a black tactical suit that strained against his muscles. His hair was dark as ink, and he radiated an aura so powerful, so suffocating, that the remaining rogue whimpered and bolted into the trees.

The stranger didn't chase it. He turned slowly to face me.

My breath hitched.

He was devastatingly handsome, with sharp, aristocratic features and a scar cutting through his left eyebrow. But it was his eyes that froze me. They were the color of glacial ice. Cold. Ancient. Possessive.

King Kaelen.

He didn't look at Cole. He didn't look at Lexi. He looked only at me.

He stepped closer, the scent of rain, steel, and expensive scotch enveloping me. He reached out, his large hand gently cupping my uninjured cheek. His thumb brushed away a speck of blood.

Electricity arced through my skin where he touched me. My knees went weak.

"Found you," he murmured, his voice a deep rumble that vibrated in my chest.

"You..." I stammered, my brain misfiring. "You're the King."

"And you," he said, his eyes darkening as they dropped to the wound on my arm, "are bleeding."

The tenderness in his voice was terrifying.

"Cole!" Lexi's voice shattered the moment.

Cole was standing up, helping Lexi to her feet. He looked shaken, staring at the dead rogue, then at Kaelen.

"Who the hell are you?" Cole barked, trying to regain control. "This is Bloodmoon territory!"

Kaelen finally looked at Cole. The temperature dropped another ten degrees. He didn't shout. He didn't growl. He just looked at Cole like he was an insect.

"You let your Mate face death while you saved a mistress?" Kaelen asked. His voice was quiet, lethal.

Cole flinched. "She's not-"

"Silence."

Kaelen turned back to me, scooping me up into his arms like I weighed nothing. I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my face in his chest. He felt... safe.

"Put her down!" Cole stepped forward, his Alpha ego bruising. "Ava is my pack member!"

Kaelen paused. He looked over his shoulder, his lips curling into a cruel smirk.

"Not anymore, boy," Kaelen said. "You threw her away. Now? She's mine."

He walked into the shadows, carrying me away from the life that almost killed me, and into a future that felt a hell of a lot more dangerous.

And for the first time in three years, I didn't want to run.

Ava's POV

The world smelled of leather, sandalwood, and raw power.

I was sitting on the hood of a sleek black SUV parked deep in the shadows of the forest road. My arm was stinging, but the pain felt distant, numbed by the sheer intensity of the man standing between my knees.

King Kaelen.

He held my injured arm with terrifying gentleness. He wasn't using magic; he was using a first-aid kit, his large, calloused hands cleaning the rogue's claw marks with precision.

"He left you," Kaelen said. It wasn't a question. It was a verdict.

"He chose her," I corrected, watching the antiseptic bubble on my skin. "He always chooses her."

Kaelen's jaw tightened. He wrapped a sterile bandage around my forearm, his touch lingering on my skin. The heat from his fingers seeped into my bones, making my wolf, Nyx, purr in a way she never had for Cole.

"If I were your Alpha," Kaelen murmured, his ice-blue eyes locking onto mine, "I would burn the world before I let a scratch mar your skin."

My breath hitched. The air between us crackled, thick with a tension that felt dangerous and inevitable.

"Why are you here, Kaelen?" I whispered. "Why me?"

He finished the bandage, securing it with a silver clip. "Because, Ava. You are the only thing in this pack worth saving."

He leaned in, his lips brushing my ear. "Come with me. Now. Leave this trash behind."

I wanted to. God, I wanted to jump in his car and never look back. But then my phone buzzed in my pocket.

Gordon (Dad): [Don't forget. Mom's birthday memorial is tonight. You need to sign the inheritance transfer papers. Be there, or the deal is off.]

The money. My mother's jewelry. The last pieces of my dignity.

I pulled back from Kaelen, steeling myself. "I can't. Not yet. I have to go back. I need to get my money and my mother's things. Then... then I'm yours."

Kaelen studied me for a long moment, then nodded. "One night. But take this."

He pressed a small, black device into my hand. A panic button.

"If they touch you," he promised, his voice dark, "press it. And I will level the Ashford Estate."

I walked into the Pack House twenty minutes later, my arm in a sling, my face pale but composed.

I barely made it to the stairs before a door slammed open.

"Where the hell have you been?!"

Cole stormed down the hallway, still smelling of the forest and Lexi's cheap perfume. He looked frantic, but not for me. He looked... annoyed.

"I was getting patched up," I said coldly, lifting my bandaged arm. "Since you were too busy playing hero to your mistress to check if your Mate was bleeding out."

"Don't start with that drama," Cole barked, grabbing my uninjured shoulder. "You're fine! You walked away, didn't you?"

"I almost died, Cole!"

"You're exaggerating! Lexi was traumatized! She's fragile!" He loomed over me, using his Alpha voice to try and cow me into submission. "You ran away, Ava. You abandoned a pack member during an attack. That is cowardice."

I stared at him. The gaslighting was so blatant it was almost impressive.

"I abandoned her?" I laughed, a hollow sound. "You tackled a wolf off her while another one was ripping my arm open. You didn't even look back."

"Because I knew you could handle it!" Cole shouted, his face turning red. "You're the Beta's daughter! You're supposed to be strong! Lexi needs protection. You don't!"

"You're right," I said softly. "I don't need protection. Not from you."

Cole blinked, thrown off by my sudden calm. "Good. Then stop whining. Get changed. We're going to your parents' house for the memorial dinner. And fix your attitude. Lexi is still shaken up, and I expect you to be nice to her."

"Nice?" I smiled, touching the bandage Kaelen had wrapped. "Oh, don't worry, Cole. I'm going to be unforgettable."

Ava's POV

The Ashford Estate garden was lit with fairy lights, looking like a scene from a twisted fairytale.

Waiters circulated with champagne, and the elite of the Bloodmoon Pack mingled, laughing as if their future Alpha hadn't almost let me die three hours ago.

I walked in wearing a black dress. Simple. Sharp. Funeral chic.

My stepmother, Janice, was holding court near the fountain, clutching a glass of wine. Lexi was next to her, looking miraculously recovered from her "trauma," clinging to Gordon's arm.

They looked like a perfect family. A family that had erased me.

[Flashback]

Ten years ago. This same garden.

I was holding the teddy bear my mom gave me before she died. It was the only thing I had left of her.

Gordon walked in with a woman and a little girl. "Ava, this is your new mom. And your sister, Lexi."

"Daddy, I want the bear!" Lexi had squealed, pointing at my chest.

Without a word, Gordon ripped the bear from my arms and gave it to her. "Share, Ava. Don't be selfish."

Lexi hugged my bear, sticking her tongue out at me. Gordon picked her up, spinning her around. I stood there, empty-handed, learning the only lesson that mattered: In this house, I was a donor, not a daughter.

[Present]

The memory dissolved as I approached them.

"You made it," Gordon grunted, not bothering to look at me. "The papers are in the study. Sign them, take your check, and try not to embarrass us."

"Happy to oblige," I said dryly.

I reached for a glass of champagne from a passing tray.

"Drinking alone, Ava?"

Lexi slid up next to me, her voice dripping with poison. She was wearing a white dress, playing the innocent angel. Cole was standing a few feet away, talking to the Elders, his back to us.

"What do you want, Lexi?"

"I just wanted to say thank you," she smirked, stepping closer so only I could hear. "Daddy told me you're marrying the Butcher King. He says you'll be dead in a month."

She traced the rim of her glass. "Once you're gone... I'm going to make Cole forget you ever existed. I'm going to redecorate your room. Burn your clothes. Maybe I'll even name our first pup after you. As a joke."

I swirled my drink. "You can have him, Lexi. I don't keep trash."

Her smile snapped. "What did you say?"

"I said," I leaned in, my voice ice cold, "he's trash. And you? You're a raccoon digging through my garbage. You deserve each other."

Lexi's face twisted in rage. She glanced over her shoulder. Cole was turning around.

Showtime.

In one smooth motion, Lexi grabbed my wrist, yanked it forward, and splashed her own red wine all over her white dress. Then, she slapped herself-hard-across the face.

Smack.

"Ava!" she screamed, throwing herself backward onto the grass. "I'm sorry! Please don't hit me!"

The garden went silent. The music stopped.

Gordon and Janice rushed over. "Lexi! My baby!"

Cole was there in a second, his eyes blazing with fury. He helped a sobbing Lexi up. "What happened?"

"I... I just tried to apologize for the woods," Lexi wept, burying her face in Cole's chest. "And she threw wine on me and slapped me!"

Gordon turned to me, his face purple. "You animal! She is your sister!"

Cole stepped toward me, radiating Alpha pressure that would have forced a normal wolf to their knees. But I had Nyx. And I had the ghost of Kaelen's touch on my arm. I didn't flinch.

"Apologize," Cole growled, his voice vibrating with command. "On your knees. Now."

I looked at them. The father who sold me. The sister who stole from me. The mate who abandoned me.

I laughed.

"No."

Cole blinked. "What?"

"I said no."

I finished my champagne in one gulp and tossed the glass onto the patio stones. It shattered with a satisfying crash.

"I'm done playing your game." I pulled the signed inheritance papers from my clutch and threw them at Gordon's feet. "I signed your damn papers. The money is mine. The jewelry is mine."

I turned to Cole.

"And you?" I looked him up and down with pure disgust. "You want an apology? Here it is: I'm sorry I wasted three years saving a coward who isn't fit to lead a pack of poodles, let alone wolves."

"Ava!" Cole roared, lunging for me.

I didn't move. I didn't flinch. I just pressed the black button in my pocket.

Screech.

Three black SUVs tore through the estate gates, tires smoking. They drifted to a halt on the manicured lawn, boxing us in.

The doors opened. Twelve Royal Guards stepped out, weapons drawn.

And from the lead car, Beta Daniel stepped out. He didn't look at Cole. He walked straight to me and bowed.

"Miss Ava," Daniel said, his voice cutting through the stunned silence. "King Kaelen is waiting. Are you ready to go home?"

I looked back at Cole, whose jaw was practically on the floor. Lexi had stopped crying. Gordon looked like he was having a stroke.

"Yes," I smiled, stepping toward the car. "I'm ready."

I slid into the backseat, leaving the Bloodmoon Pack-and my past-choking on my dust.