His Mate, His Ruin

The Night It Begins Again

The night air felt cold against my skin. I stood just outside the Mont Blanc border, staring at the line of old stone markers. They glowed a little under the moonlight. Silver. Dangerous. One step past them and there was no going back.

My hands shook as I pulled the small glass vial from my pocket. The liquid inside looked clear, almost like water. I had paid a lot for it. Enough to hide my scent for twelve hours. That was all the time I needed.

I pulled the cork out and drank it in one go. It burned going down my throat. I coughed and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. The taste stayed bitter on my tongue.

Nine years.

I closed my eyes, and the memories came again, the same way they always did.

The bells rang that night. Loud and sharp. Papa told everyone to get to the cellar. I still remembered the way Mum held my face in her hands and told me to be strong. Harry stood beside me, his hand on my back. He smiled even though his eyes looked scared.

Then the doors broke.

Wolves poured in. Black fur. Red eyes. The screaming started and never stopped. I saw Mum shift and run at them. I saw Papa fall. I saw Harry’s sandy wolf go down under a group of them. Blood soaked the ground. The smell of it filled my nose and never left me.

I opened my eyes and forced the pictures out of my mind. My chest hurts. It always hurts when I let myself remember.

I looked at the border again. Somewhere on the other side was the man who ordered all of it. Jacob Mont Blanc. Alpha Prime of North America. The one who stood and watched while my pack died.

My claws pushed against the skin of my fingers. I curled my hands into fists until the pain helped me focus.

I stepped forward.

The second my boot touched the soil on the other side, something slammed into my chest.

It felt like a heavy fist. Hard and sudden. Air left my lungs. My knees almost gave out. I grabbed a tree trunk to stay standing. Heat rushed through my body, fast and strong. It started in my chest and spread to my arms, my legs, even my face.

My wolf, the one I had locked away for years, woke up with a loud howl inside my head. She pushed hard against the walls I built around her.

Mate.

The word hit me like a slap.

No.

I shook my head and pushed back against the feeling. My heart raced so fast I could hear it in my ears. Sweat formed on my forehead even though the night was cold.

“I reject you,” I whispered. My voice sounded rough. “I reject you. I reject you.”

The pull only grew stronger. It felt like invisible ropes wrapping around my ribs and pulling tight. Every breath hurt. My skin felt too hot. My wolf kept howling, happy and desperate at the same time.

I hated her for it.

I forced myself to stand up straight. My legs shook. I took one step, then another. Each step made the pull worse. It was like walking against a strong wind that only I could feel.

Far away, deep inside the territory, something shifted.

I felt it clearly. A cold, heavy presence turned toward me. It was strong. Controlled. Dangerous. It noticed me the same way I noticed it.

Jacob.

He felt the bond too.

My stomach twisted. Fear mixed with the anger I had carried for nine years. I had planned everything so carefully. Cross the border. Get close. Make him pay. I never planned for this.

The bond did not care about my plans.

It pulled harder, like it wanted me to run straight to him. My wolf agreed. She wanted to go. She wanted to see him, smell him, get closer.

I dug my nails into my palms until I felt pain. Real pain helped. It cut through the heat in my blood.

“No,” I said out loud. My voice shook. “You do not get to do this. Not now.”

I kept walking. Slow. Careful. Every few steps I stopped and forced myself to breathe. The suppressant still worked. My scent stayed hidden. But the bond did not need scent. It had already found him.

Trees stood tall around me. The forest felt quiet, too quiet. No birds. No small animals. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath. Moonlight came down in thin silver lines between the branches.

I remembered the last time I walked through a forest like this. The night I ran from the cellar. Harry told me to go. He stayed behind to fight. I heard him howl once, then nothing.

I stopped walking and pressed my forehead against a tree. The bark felt rough on my skin. I stayed like that for a long moment and let the old pain rise and fall.

When I lifted my head again, the pull had grown stronger. Jacob was moving. I could feel him coming closer, even though he was still far away. His presence felt like a dark wave rolling toward me.

My hands trembled. I wiped them on my jacket and kept going.

I had trained for this. Nine years of running, fighting, learning how to stay calm when everything inside me wanted to break. I would not fall apart now. Not when I was finally here.

A low branch scraped my cheek. I ignored it. My eyes stayed on the path ahead. Somewhere beyond these trees was the pack house. His pack house. The place he ruled from while my family lay dead on the ground.

The bond sent another sharp wave through me. This one felt different. Hotter. More demanding. My wolf pushed harder against my control. She wanted out. She wanted to shift and run to him.

I gritted my teeth and held her back.

“Stay down,” I told her inside my head. “We are not here for that.”

She did not listen. She never did when it came to him.

I walked faster. My boots made soft sounds on the ground. Leaves and dirt. The smell of pine mixed with the strange new heat in my blood. Everything felt too sharp. Too clear.

I thought about the vial again. The suppressant should have given me time. Time to get close without him knowing. Time to plan the first strike. Now that time is gone. He already knew I was here. He already felt me the same way I felt him.

Anger rose in my chest. Clean and familiar. It pushed some of the bond’s heat back. I held onto the anger like a rope.

He took everything from me. My parents. My mate. My home. My future. He left me alone in the world with nothing but rage and a promise I made to myself while I held my mother’s body.

I would make him feel it too.

The forest started to thin. I could see more moonlight ahead. Open ground. That meant I was getting closer to the main paths. Closer to him.

My legs felt weak. The bond kept pulling, steady and strong. It did not stop. It did not give me a break. Every minute made it worse.

I stopped behind a wide tree and leaned against it. My breathing came hard and fast. I pressed a hand to my chest, right over my heart. It beat too quickly. The heat under my skin refused to fade.

In the distance, I felt him stop for a moment, then start moving again. Faster this time. He was coming.

I closed my eyes and saw him the way I remembered from that night. Tall. Broad shoulders. Dark eyes that looked at the burning pack house without any pity. He had stood there while people died. While my world ended.

Now the bond tried to tell me he belonged to me. That I belonged to him.

I opened my eyes and let out a quiet, broken laugh. It sounded wrong in the quiet forest.

“I will never belong to you,” I whispered. “Never.”

The bond answered with another hard pull. My knees shook. I had to grab the tree again to stay upright.

I stayed there longer than I should have. Long enough for the first real fear to crawl up my spine. Not fear of dying. I had stopped being afraid of that years ago. This fear was different. Fear of the way my body reacted to him. Fear of the way my wolf wanted him. Fear that nine years of hate might not be enough.

I pushed off the tree and started walking again.

The ground sloped down a little. I followed it. My ears stayed sharp for any sound. Guards. Patrols. Anything. The forest stayed quiet. Too quiet for a place this close to Alpha Prime’s home.

Maybe the bond made him call them back. Maybe he wanted to find me himself.

The thought made my stomach turn.

I reached a small clearing and stopped at the edge. On the other side, the trees opened more. I could see the start of a wide path. Stone. Well kept. It led deeper into the territory.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

He was closer now. Much closer. The cold, controlled presence I felt earlier had turned sharp and focused. All of it pointed at me.

I took one more step into the clearing.

The bond roared to life inside me, stronger than before. It felt like fire under my skin. My vision blurred for a second. I dropped to one knee and pressed both hands to the ground.

Mate.

The word filled my head until I could barely think.

I lifted my head and stared into the dark trees on the other side of the clearing.

He was there.

I could not see him yet, but I felt him as clearly as if he stood right in front of me. The full weight of his attention settled on me like a heavy hand. Strong. Certain. Claiming.

Jacob Mont Blanc had found me.

And for the first time in nine years, the man who destroyed my life was no longer just a name I hated.

He was my mate.

I stayed on one knee, breathing hard, and stared into the darkness where I knew he stood.

The real fight was about to begin.

The Alpha Who Felt Her

The Council room felt too warm. Seven Alpha Primes sat around the long dark table. Maps and papers covered the wood. Voices rose and fell as they argued about borders and old debts.

I sat at the head of the table and kept my face still. My hands rested flat on the arms of my chair. I had learned long ago that silence worked better than shouting.

Alpha Bolin from the Asian packs leaned forward. His voice was sharp.

“Your wolves crossed into my land twice last month, Mont Blanc. Explain that.”

I looked at him without blinking. “They were chasing rogues. The rogues ran into your territory. My wolves followed. That is all.”

Bolin’s jaw tightened. He opened his mouth to speak again.

Then the pain hit me.

It came without warning. A hard, hot force slammed into the center of my chest. My breath stopped. The room tilted for a second. I gripped the arms of the chair