The forest was too quiet.
Noah's heart thudded as he followed Theron through the trees, his steps quick to match the Alpha's long stride. Leaves crunched beneath their boots, moonlight splintering through the branches above, casting silver across Theron's broad shoulders and the hard set of his jaw.
"I still think we should've waited," Noah whispered, voice tight. "This could be a trap."
Theron didn't slow. "It is a trap," he said flatly. "But I don't intend to walk into it unprepared."
The Alpha's voice was a low, thunderous promise. Noah swallowed the flicker of fear that crawled up his spine, but it wasn't just fear it was anticipation. The scent of danger in the air, the heat of Theron so close, the electric tension between them had his body thrumming with adrenaline.
They reached the edge of a clearing where the trees thinned and the earth opened up into darkness. A broken-down chapel sat in the center, its steeple long since crumbled. This place Noah had seen it in visions. Dreams. Nightmares.
"You recognize it," Theron said, catching the shift in Noah's breath.
"I've seen it before," Noah murmured. "But never like this."
Theron's gaze snapped to him. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know," Noah admitted, shaking his head. "Sometimes I dream of this place. But it's always burning. And I'm alone."
Theron moved closer, so close Noah could feel the heat of him, his scent curling around him like smoke and pine. "You're not alone now."
The words struck something deep in Noah, but he didn't dare let it show. Not when his instincts were screaming. Not when every shadow seemed to shift.
"There," Noah hissed, pointing to movement near the chapel. Figures. Three, no four of them, circling the ruins.
"Stay behind me," Theron growled, already stepping forward.
"Like hell I will," Noah snapped. "I'm not your delicate little flower."
Theron whipped around, eyes flashing gold. "You think this is about protecting a delicate flower? This is about keeping you alive, Noah."
"And what about keeping you alive?" Noah shouted, his voice slicing through the air. "Don't you get it? I'm already tied to this. I feel it. I'm not leaving you to face it alone."
The air crackled between them, heat and fury laced with something deeper something neither of them dared name.
Then the shadows moved.
The first attacker lunged, claws extended, eyes wild. Theron met him with a brutal snarl, shifting mid-leap, fur bursting along his skin as he collided with the rogue wolf in a flash of teeth and fury. The others swarmed, and Noah barely had time to react.
Instinct took over.
He ducked, rolled, slammed his elbow into the gut of one attacker and twisted free, using the silver dagger Theron had forced into his hand before they left. It met flesh with a hiss. The wolf cried out, collapsing.
"Noah!" Theron's voice, half-growl, half-command.
"I'm fine!" he shouted back, though his chest was heaving.
Two more wolves circled him now. He braced himself, weapon raised but before they could strike, Theron tore through them, eyes feral. Blood sprayed the ground. The air was thick with growls and grunts and the acrid stench of rage.
Then silence.
It was over in moments, but it felt like hours.
Theron stood over the last body, panting, blood dripping from his claws. Noah watched him, chest tight, heart racing with the aftermath of adrenaline and something far more dangerous.
"You're hurt," Theron said roughly, crossing the clearing.
"It's not mine," Noah replied, voice soft.
Theron reached out anyway, cupping his jaw with one bloodied hand, his thumb smearing red across Noah's cheek. "I told you to stay behind."
"And I told you I wouldn't," Noah said, eyes locked with his.
The tension snapped between them. Theron surged forward, crashing their lips together in a kiss that was pure wildfire violent, desperate, hungry. Noah gasped into it, fists clutching Theron's shirt, pulling him closer until there was no space left to breathe.
Theron's tongue swept over his lips, demanding entrance, and Noah gave in with a helpless moan. The Alpha's grip slid to the back of his neck, possessive and grounding, while his other hand settled on Noah's hip, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise.
They pulled apart only to suck in breath, foreheads pressed together.
"You make me fucking insane," Theron rasped.
"Good," Noah whispered. "Because you make me feel alive."
Theron growled low in his throat, lips brushing against Noah's again. "Don't ever scare me like that again."
"Then don't leave me behind," Noah countered, lifting his chin.
The Alpha didn't answer with words. He kissed him again deeper this time, slower, but no less intense. There was blood between them, dirt on their skin, and danger still in the wind.
But in that moment, there was only them.
And the fire they couldn't stop feeding.
The fire between them had always been dangerous. Now, it felt like a weapon.
They were standing in the middle of a battlefield of blood and shadows, lips swollen, breaths ragged, the aftermath of violence clinging to them like a second skin.
Theron's eyes still glowed faintly gold. Not from the shift but from him. From Noah.
"I shouldn't want you like this," Theron said hoarsely, his forehead resting against Noah's. "After everything. After what just happened."
"And yet…" Noah murmured, lifting his hand to trace a finger over Theron's bloodstained cheek, "…here you are. Still wanting."
Theron growled low and hungry, the sound rumbling from his chest into Noah's bones. "You drive me to the edge, Noah."
Noah tilted his head, voice dropping. "Then jump."
Theron seized his mouth again, this time slower, more consuming. The kiss wasn't just hunger now it was need. Apology. Possession. His hand slid into Noah's curls, tugging just enough to make the omega gasp.
Noah arched into him, chest flush against Theron's, every inch of him trembling. "You don't get to act like you don't want this," he whispered between kisses. "You don't get to protect me and then pretend I'm just another pack duty."
Theron froze for half a second and then the Alpha snapped.
His hand gripped Noah's hips and shoved him back until his spine hit a tree trunk, the bark biting into his back. "You think I'm pretending?" he growled, voice feral, eyes flashing. "You think this is some performance?"
Noah's breath hitched, but he didn't look away. "I think you're scared."
Theron's lips curled, part-snarl, part-smirk. "Damn right I am. You are the one thing I can't afford to lose, Noah."
That broke something inside the omega.
He surged up on his toes and kissed him hard, this time letting every ounce of emotion pour through it rage, fear, want. Theron met him there, hands sliding under Noah's thighs, lifting him off the ground until his legs wrapped around his waist.
Their bodies slammed together with desperate rhythm, breath hot and uneven. Theron's nose brushed the sensitive curve of Noah's throat, right over the bond mark that hadn't been made yet but ached to be.
"You smell like mine," he murmured, kissing the spot. "Even without the mark."
Noah's fingers clawed into his hair. "Then make me yours, Theron. Stop holding back."
Theron let out a low, ragged breath. "Not here. Not like this. Not with blood still fresh on the ground."
"You're the Alpha," Noah breathed. "You decide when it's safe."
Theron leaned in, kissed the hollow beneath Noah's jaw. "And I say we go home first. Then I'll ruin you properly."
The words sent heat flooding through Noah's body, and he shivered in Theron's arms.
They stayed like that a few moments longer hearts thundering, lips swollen, breath shared.
Then Theron carefully lowered him to the ground, brushing a stray curl from Noah's flushed face.
"Come on," he said softly. "Let's get out of here before more rogues show up."
Noah's fingers laced through his. "Together?"
Theron squeezed once. "Always."
And with that, the Alpha and his stubborn, storm-eyed omega vanished into the night two shadows tangled in something far more dangerous than war.
Something like fate.