Morning sunlight filtering through the leafy canopy overhead did nothing to dispel the chill coiled tight in Aria's chest. She stood barefooted outside the packhouse, her breath misting in small clouds as the cool forest air kissed her bare shoulders. She needed the cold—needed something to anchor her in reality after the dream she'd had. After him.
Kain Blackthorn.
His name resonated through her veins like a curse and a craving.
She drew the oversized hoodie closer to her body, shivering with her efforts at scrubbing away the memory of how her dream-self had melted under him. The way his touch had branded her soul. The way the flame between them had raged with taboo intensity—raw and dangerous.
Worst of all, how realistic it had been.
She closed her eyes, hating herself for wanting it to be.
"Couldn't sleep either?"
The voice behind her was low, even—and not Kain's. She half-turned, finding Ash Valen, the senior warrior she'd only met a few days ago. He was leaning against the railing of the porch, in a black thermal top and joggers, arms folded across his chest.
Ash towered over her, his wide shoulders looming as his dark curls were damp and a lazy smile tugged at the edges of his mouth. His gaze swept over her with familiarity, making her heart stumble a beat.
"I had a…weird night," Aria stammered, pushing her hands into the front pouch of the hoodie.
Ash pushed off the railing and strolled toward her slowly. "Same. You've been on my mind more than I'd care to admit.
Her breath caught. Not because of his words, but because of the heat behind them. It wasn't obsession. It wasn't twisted or possessive. It was simple, masculine interest. And in the wake of Kain's overwhelming presence, it was refreshing.
Aria arched a brow. "Smooth talker, huh?"
Ash chuckled. "I'm many things, Aria. Smooth just happens to be one of them."
She smiled, allowing some of the tension drain from her shoulders. "You don't even know me."
"Then let me." He stepped closer, so close she had to tilt her head up to meet his gaze. "I know you're fighting something inside. And I know someone hurt you. But I see fire in you, and it's beautiful."
The compliment struck a chord. It wasn't the way Kain looked at her—like she was a possession, a conquest. Ash saw her like a person. A woman.
And yet, despite that. her heart still raced for the wrong male.
"I should go in," she said, stepping back.
He reached for her hand gently. "I'll walk you."
They entered the house, the warmth inside banishing the morning cold from her skin. Ash remained close, his hand grazing the small of her back—a touch she didn't dissuade.
They were not alone.
Kain stood at the bottom of the stairs, half-dressed, sweat shining on the muscles of his chest and arms. He froze the moment he saw them, his dark hair disheveled, chest heaving as though he'd been battling—or battling to keep the monster seething inside him in check.
His eyes locked on the spot where Ash's fingers lay lightly on Aria's hip.
Ash didn't move. "Alpha."
Kain's jaw tightened, but he nodded. "Ash."
Aria's heart missed a beat in her chest. The air thickened, weighted with unspoken fury. Kain's eyes darted to hers, burning with a combination of betrayal and desire. She could feel it—his anger simmering just beneath the surface. But there was something else… hunger. Obsession. Possession.
Aria stepped away from Ash instinctively, and Kain's nostrils flared.
"I need you. In my office. Now," Kain ordered, his voice steel.
"For what?" she insisted, her chin lifting in challenge.
He didn't answer. He didn't need to. The command in his voice wasn't one she could defy. Not as a member of his pack. Not as someone bound to him in ways she didn't yet understand.
Ash made as if to touch her arm, but she shook her head. "It's okay."
She followed Kain to his office down the hall with drag-footed reluctance. The door slammed shut behind her. Tension stretched between them like a strained rope.
"You're playing with fire," he growled.
"I'm not yours, Kain," she replied. "You made it clear that you didn't want me when you rejected me."
He stepped closer, pinning her between the wall and his body. His hands didn't touch her, but his presence was suffocating. Her back hit the cold surface, and yet he still advanced.
"You think I want to want you?" he snarled, voice low and rough. "You think this obsession is something I'm opting for?"
She met his gaze dead-on. "Then fight it. Like I am."
He leaned in, his breath brushing against her lips. "I can't. Not anymore."
Their lips didn't touch, but the tension flared like dry tinder. She could feel his control trembling on the edge of disaster. Everything about him screamed mine—his eyes, his scent, his stance.
"You allowed him to touch you," Kain whispered, his voice ravaged by pain and anger.
She glared up at him. "Because he sees me."
"I see you," he growled.
"No. You claim me. There's a difference."
Kain's fist slammed into the wall beside her head, and her heart skipped a beat. He was trembling now, fury emanating from him in waves. But beneath it was pain.
Pain and desperation.
"I dream about you," he confessed in a harsh tone. "Every damn night. I smell you when you're not there. I need you like air. Do you know how sick that is, Aria? How fucking dangerous?"
Her resolve faltered.
"I fight it. Goddess knows I try." His voice cracked. "But watching him touch you? It broke something in me."
She gasped, caught in the raw vulnerability beneath his anger.
"I don't want to feel this," Kain said, his forehead falling to hers. "But you're in my blood. In my bones."
Aria's fists tightened, her heart racing. She hated that she knew. Hated her body for betraying her, for a part of her wanting to close the space between them.
But she couldn't recall anything but the pain. The rejection. The way in which he'd thrown her away like garbage.
"You should've thought of that before you broke me," she whispered.
Kain did not respond. He stepped back instead, drawing in a shaking breath as though he was rending his soul from hers.
"Go," he whispered. "Before I do something we'll both regret."
Her breath faltered.
But she turned and left.
And Kain, Blackthorn's alpha, crumpled to his knees behind the door as it shut.