The forest was silent.
Too silent.
The kind of silence that made the hair on the back of your neck rise.
The kind that warned prey a predator was close.
I stood between two tall pine trees, my chest rising and falling as I struggled to steady my breathing. The moonlight filtered through the branches above, scattering pale silver light across the forest floor.
Every instinct inside me screamed the same thing.
Danger.
My senses were sharper now than they had ever been before. I could hear the faint rustle of leaves shifting in the night breeze. I could smell the damp earth beneath my feet.
But there was something else in the air.
A scent.
It drifted toward me slowly, carried by the wind.
Dark pine.
Steel.
Smoke.
My heart skipped violently.
The warmth in my chest flared again.
Stronger than before.
Mate.
The word echoed through my mind like a heartbeat.
My breath caught in my throat.
Slowly very slowly I lifted my eyes.
And that was when I saw him.
He stood a few feet away in a small clearing between the trees, half-hidden in the moonlight.
Tall.
Broad shoulders stretched beneath a dark coat that fell just below his knees.
The coat alone was enough to tell me exactly what he was.
A hunter's coat.
The heavy fabric was reinforced with leather and metal plates designed to protect against claws and fangs.
My stomach twisted.
Hunters.
Of course.
Of course this would happen to me tonight.
The Moon Goddess truly had a cruel sense of humor.
Dark hair fell slightly over the man's sharp eyes as he studied me.
His expression was calm.
Too calm.
In his hand rested a sword.
The blade glinted faintly under the moonlight.
Silver.
My pulse quickened.
Silver weapons were designed for one purpose.
Killing creatures like me.
Behind him, several other weapons were strapped across his back and belt—daggers, arrows, and something that looked like a compact crossbow.
All silver.
All deadly.
Hybrid-killing weapons.
My stomach dropped further.
Of course my mate would be the one person in the world trained to kill me.
I let out a slow breath.
"So this is how I die," I murmured quietly.
The hunter tilted his head slightly.
His sharp eyes scanned my face.
Then something strange happened.
His gaze flickered downward briefly, as if he felt something pulling at him too.
And when his eyes lifted again
They flashed silver.
Recognition.
My heart clenched painfully.
He was fighting with his inner beast!
He knows.
I a swift move he was right in front of me his blade closed to my throat
"You're the hybrid they're hunting," he said calmly.
His voice was deep.
Steady.
Like the situation didn't bother him at all.
My chest tightened.
"And you're the hunter sent to kill me."
Neither of us moved.
The forest around us seemed to hold its breath.
The tension between us stretched tighter with every passing second.
Then I noticed something.
His grip on the sword had tightened slightly.
His knuckles turned pale against the hilt.
He was really fighting with his wolf!
For a brief moment, his gaze dropped to my throat.
Right where a mate mark would go.
His jaw clenched.
Then he immediately stepped away from me.
He knew exactly what I was to him.
A curse.
A complication.
A problem he probably wished he could erase.
I swallowed hard.
"So what now?" I asked quietly.
The hunter didn't answer right away.
Instead, he took a slow step toward me.
My breath caught instantly.
Every instinct screamed at me to run.
But my feet refused to move.
The mate bond wrapped around my chest like invisible chains.
Pulling me toward him.
Not away.
Another step.
The moonlight shifted slightly, illuminating his face more clearly.
He was younger than I expected.
Maybe only a few years older than me.
But there was something about him that felt dangerous.
Cold.
Controlled.
Like a blade kept carefully inside its sheath.
"Run," he said quietly.
For a moment, I thought I had heard him wrong.
My eyes widened.
"What?"
His gaze hardened.
"Run before I change my mind."
My heart slammed violently against my ribs.
He was letting me go?
Why?
"Why would you do that?" I asked.
The hunter looked irritated by the question.
"Because if the others find you, they won't kill you quickly."
A chill ran down my spine.
The others.
Other hunters.
Which meant they were already close.
My instincts screamed louder.
Run.
Run now.
But the warmth in my chest pulsed again.
The mate bond surged violently between us.
Stronger.
Demanding.
Unavoidable.
I saw the moment he felt it too.
His body stiffened slightly.
His jaw tightened harder.
His eyes darkened with frustration.
"Damn it," he muttered under his breath.
Another pulse of the bond shot through me.
I stumbled slightly forward.
His eyes snapped back to mine.
And something dangerous flashed in them.
The invisible thread between us pulled tighter.
Drawing us closer.
Whether we wanted it or not.
"You feel it too," I whispered.
His silence was answer enough.
My stomach twisted.
His gaze burned into mine.
Because the truth was written clearly across his face.
He didn't want this.
He didn't want me.
He was a hunter.
And I was the thing he had been trained his entire life to destroy.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
The forest seemed to grow even darker around us.
Then suddenly—
He took another step forward.
Closer this time.
Close enough that I could see the faint scar running along his jawline.
Close enough to feel the heat of his body.
My breath caught again.
His expression had changed.
The calm mask was gone.
Now he looked… conflicted.
Angry.
Like he was fighting a battle inside his own mind.
"You shouldn't exist," he said quietly.
The words stung more than I expected.
I lifted my chin slightly.
"Then kill me."
If that was what he wanted, I wouldn't beg.
I had done enough begging tonight.
But he didn't move.
Instead, his gaze slowly drifted down to my neck again.
To the place the bond demanded he mark.
His breathing grew heavier.
Then he closed his eyes briefly, like he was trying to gather control.
When he opened them again, the silver glow had returned.
But this time, it wasn't recognition.
It was something far more dangerous.
Acceptance.
"Too late," he said.
My stomach twisted.
"What do you mean?"
His gaze locked onto mine.
The hunter who had been sent to kill me suddenly looked less like my executioner…
And more like the man fate had chained me to.
His voice dropped low.
"Because now…"
The air between us practically crackled with tension.
"…you're mine."