The wind howls like a wounded beast outside the cabin, thrashing against the windows as if trying to claw its way in. I sit curled in the corner of the tattered sofa, arms wrapped tightly around my knees, watching shadows shift and stretch across the wooden walls.
I haven't stopped trembling since I ran. Not from the cold—but from the truth.
I rejected my mate.
No one in their right mind does that. But Zane didn't just break my heart. He shattered it, and then walked over the pieces like they were meaningless. If fate thinks I'll accept him now just because the bond says so, she's wrong.
The creak of the cabin door snaps me out of my thoughts.
I leap to my feet, heart pounding.
Someone's outside.
The scent hits me first—earthy pine, smoke, and something darker… like danger wrapped in leather. I don't recognize it. But every nerve in my body goes on high alert.
A tall figure steps through the doorway, silhouetted against the raging snow.
He doesn't say a word.
Neither do I.
We just stare.
His hair is midnight black, soaked from the storm. His eyes, though… I've never seen eyes like his before. Not golden like most wolves. They're a fierce, icy silver, like the moon captured in frost. His presence is overwhelming, filling the small cabin with something wild and untamed.
"I didn't mean to scare you," he says finally, his voice low, calm—but there's something dangerous coiled beneath it.
I swallow hard. "Who are you?"
He shuts the door behind him, locking the storm outside. "You're not from around here."
That's not an answer.
"Neither are you," I reply.
His lips twitch, not quite a smile. "Fair enough."
He steps closer. I instinctively step back, bumping into the edge of the fireplace.
"You shouldn't be out here alone," he says.
"I can handle myself."
His gaze lingers on me. Not in a way that makes me feel like prey. More like… he's trying to read my soul.
"What's your name?" I ask, because I need something—anything—to ground myself.
He hesitates, then says, "Kade."
Kade.
The name hits me like a whisper from a forgotten memory. Familiar, but wrong somehow. Then it clicks.
Zane's brother.
But that can't be. Kade disappeared years ago. No one knows what happened to him. Rumors said he abandoned the pack, maybe even turned rogue.
"What are you doing here?" I whisper.
He doesn't answer right away. He just looks at me with those glacier eyes and says, "Surviving."
Before I can press further, a low growl rumbles through the walls. It's not Kade—it's coming from outside.
My blood turns cold.
Wolves.
Not just any wolves.
Hunters.
He hears it too. His entire body tenses, muscles coiling like a predator ready to strike.
"You brought them here," he says, eyes narrowing.
"I didn't—"
"Stay behind me."
He moves toward the door, and for a split second, I see the shift ripple through him. His shoulders broaden, his hands flex, claws threatening to break through skin.
He's not just a werewolf.
He's Alpha-born.
And I'm standing in the middle of a storm with the one person who might be more dangerous than the mate I just rejected.