The Alpha Mate

Chapter 4

I left in the middle of the night, when the moon hung low above Midnight Crest. My decision had crystallized in that dark hallway outside Father's study, their cruel words still echoing.

The forest loomed around me, shadowy and silent. My feet pounded against rough ground, each step carrying me farther from everything I'd known.

I glanced over my shoulder more than once, half-expecting pursuit—Father's enforcers, Dominic coming to drag me back.

But there was nothing.

Just darkness and my family's betrayal clawing at my chest.

‘Keep going, Atlas,’ Hyde urged, steady in my mind. ‘There's nothing for you back there.’

He was right. There never had been.

My plan had been simple: skirt around neighbour territories, stay to neutral zones, disappear into the wilderness beyond. Find somewhere I could breathe.

But the forest had other plans.

A storm two days prior had swollen the Blackwater River into a raging torrent, cutting off the eastern route. I'd discovered it too late.

I could backtrack for days—risking capture by Midnight Crest patrols. Or cut through the edge of Crimson Fang land and pray I went unnoticed.

Neither option was good.

But going back meant certain recapture.

A ripple of dread passed through me as I crossed the border. The air felt different here—heavier, charged with authority that made my skin prickle.

Everyone knew about Draven, the ruthless Alpha with a taste for brutality and enemies’ blood. I'd heard enough stories—how he showed mercy to no one, least of all rogues.

How he'd once killed three scouts just for looking at his land wrong.

His Crimson Fang pack was in complicated relationships with my former Midnight Crest pack for decades. The risks weighed heavily. If his scouts will catch me as a member of their rivals, they might consider me as a spy and execute me right here and now.

But the certainty that I had nowhere else to go weighed heavier.

‘Mask our scent,’ I murmured to Hyde, feeling his power meld with mine as we wove an invisible veil.

I slipped through the underbrush as quietly as I could, keeping to shadows, moving with careful precision born from a lifetime of trying not to be noticed.

I was praying the stories of Draven's relentless patrols were exaggerated tales meant to scare pups.

I should have known better.

A sudden rustle shattered the silence—sharp, too close. Before I could process what was happening, a heavy arm caught me from behind, slamming me forward.

I hit the ground hard, tasting dirt and copper as my lip split. Rough hands hauled me up before I could catch my breath.

"Look what we have here," a low voice sneered into my ear.

The scent of iron and wild earth flooded my senses. Three wolves stood over me, faces half-hidden in shadow, eyes flashing with predatory intent.

My heart hammered violently. Every instinct screamed at me to fight, to run—but I was outnumbered, outmatched, exhausted.

Stay calm, I told myself through the panic. Don't give them anything.

"You lost, pretty boy?" one taunted, his grip bruising as he yanked me close.

I could see his razor-sharp grin, smell the violence on him. I forced myself to breathe and focused on Hyde's strength beneath my fear.

Hide everything. They can't know who I truly am.

"I'm just a rogue," I said, keeping my voice steady despite my trembling limbs. "I have nowhere else to go."

“A rogue, huh?” The lead wolf snorted, eyes raking over me. "What kind of rogue sneaks into Crimson Fang territory at midnight?"

He didn't wait for an answer. He jerked me forward roughly, the others flanking me as they marched deeper into the trees. The forest grew denser, darker—shadows pressing in until we stopped abruptly.

We'd entered a clearing, and my breath caught.

Alpha Draven stood there.

He was massive—broad-shouldered and towering, every inch of him radiating the kind of lethal authority that made lesser wolves bare their throats on instinct. His dark eyes caught mine the moment I stumbled into view.

I felt the weight of his stare like a physical thing, stripping away my defenses layer by layer.

My pulse raced. Hyde stirred uneasily inside me, torn between submission and the desperate need to flee. I fought to keep my scent masked, praying to the Moon Goddess that he wouldn't see through my lie.

That my carefully constructed story would hold.

"What's this?" Alpha Draven's voice was cold, sharp as winter frost cutting through skin. His lips twisted in faint disgust. "A rogue?"

One of the patrol wolves shoved me forward hard enough that I nearly fell. "Caught him sneaking in, Alpha. Claims he's got nowhere else to go."

Alpha Draven's gaze pinned me down, and I felt naked under that stare—like he could see every secret I carried, every lie I was about to tell, every desperate hope I'd clung to.

"A rogue... in my territory." He took a slow step toward me, his expression darkening with each word. "You have one minute to convince me why I shouldn't kill you now."

I forced myself to meet his eyes anyway, to hold my ground even as every muscle in my body coiled tight, ready to bolt if he decided to strike.

“I didn’t come here to cause trouble. I’m just trying to survive.”

“Survive, huh?” he scoffed. “And what makes you feel I care about that?”