Chapter 29 Chapter 29
Anya’s POV
"It was a gift," I snapped, my voice low but my eyes glaring daggers at him. "And frankly, we don't have time to explain our life story to a stranger. Are you buying more fish or just loitering?"
"I’m Elias," he said.
But I turned my back on him, my hands trembling slightly as I grabbed the tongs. The man held my gaze for a second longer, a smirk playing on his lips, before he pushed off the counter.
He didn't go far; he wandered to the corner of the pier, tossing a silver coin to a group of street urchins, laughing as they scrambled for it.
"Curiosity killed the cat," Carla muttered, watching him go. She nudged me with her elbow, a mischievous glint in her eye. "But you have to admit... he's pretty cute. Muscular, too."
I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the knot of anxiety in my stomach. "He's just a boy, Carla."
I went to flip another fillet, the oil sizzling loudly. But mid-motion, my hand froze.
The air changed.
The seagulls stopped crying. The chatter of the market didn't fade; it was severed. A deep, rhythmic vibration traveled through the wooden planks of the pier, up through the soles of my feet.
My breath hitched. I dropped the tongs.
"Carla..." I whispered, the blood draining from my face. "Someone's coming."
It wasn't just a group of horses. It was a thunder of them. And beneath that sound, a terrifying, unnatural silence that screamed predator.
Before Carla could react, the charming stranger—Elias—was suddenly back at our stall. His playful demeanor was gone, replaced by a sharp, urgent intensity.
"They found you," he hissed, grabbing a basket to mask his face. "If you want to live, you follow me. Now."
He pointed toward a large merchant boat casting off its lines. "That boat is leaving. It's your only chance."
Carla grabbed my hand, her nails digging into my skin. "Anya, come on!"
She turned to run with Elias, dragging me a few steps. But I stopped.
I looked toward the market entrance.
The wooden gates exploded inward. Splinters of wood and iron rained down on the screaming crowd as a massive black warhorse charged through, crushing a fruit cart beneath its hooves.
And on its back sat Alpha Kai.
He was a nightmare made flesh. He wasn't looking for me; he was hunting. A fisherman stood in his way, too slow to move—Kai didn't even slow down.
He swung a heavy, gloved fist, and with a sickening crunch, the man was launched ten feet through the air, landing in a broken heap.
The crowd screamed in terror, scrambling over each other to escape the monster.
Kai ignored them all. His glowing, crimson-gold eyes scanned the chaos, cold and unfeeling, looking for only one thing.
Me.
He was hurting them. He was going to kill everyone in this market just to get to me.
"Anya!" Carla screamed, pulling at my hand. "The boat! We have to go!"
I looked at her, then at the devastation Kai was carving through the innocent crowd. If I ran, he would burn this entire village to the ground.
"Go," I whispered, ripping my hand from hers. "Carla, go!"
"No!"
"GO!" I shoved her toward Elias, who grabbed her waist and hauled her toward the departing boat.
I turned back to the chaos. I stood in the center of the pier, alone, trembling, as the black horse turned its massive head toward me.
"ALPHA!" I screamed, my voice tearing through the sounds of panic.
The horse stopped. The slaughter ceased.
Alpha Kai sat high in his saddle, his chest heaving, his knuckles white on the reins. He was covered in dust and splinters. Slowly, terrifyingly, his gaze locked onto mine.
The cruelty in his eyes was absolute. He nudged his horse forward, stepping over the debris and the injured, until he towered over me.
He slid from the saddle, his boots hitting the wood with a heavy thud.
He stalked toward me, grabbed my chin with a bloody glove, and tilted my head back.
"Found you," he breathed dangerously. "My little human."
He didn't wait for my answer. He didn't even let me stand.
In one fluid motion, he bent down and swept me off my feet, tossing me over the saddle of his warhorse as effortlessly as if I were a sack of grain.
I gasped, the air knocked out of me, as he swung himself up behind me.
I was instantly caged. His chest was a solid wall of muscle against my back, his arms locking me in place.
He buried his face in the crook of my neck, inhaling deeply, reclaiming his scent, washing away the smell of the fish market with his own.
Then, he looked out at the devastation he had caused—the smashed gate, the overturned carts, the fisherman groaning in the dirt.
He offered a cold, terrifyingly polite nod to the crowd cowering in fear.
"Apologies for the inconvenience," he announced, his voice smooth as silk, as if he hadn't just nearly killed a man. "We mean no harm, humans."
With a sharp flick of the reins, the massive horse spun around and thundered down the pier.
"Carla!" I screamed, twisting in his grip.
Through the blur of my hot, useless tears, I saw the merchant boat drifting further and further away from the dock.
Carla was at the railing, Elias holding her back as she reached out to me, screaming my name over the roar of the ocean.
I sobbed, my body shaking violently against his, watching my only friend—and my only chance at freedom—disappear into the mist.
Kai leaned down, his lips brushing my ear, his voice a poisonous, intimate whisper over the sound of hooves.
"If you hadn't run... you would still have her," he murmured, twisting the knife in my heart. "But because she helped you steal what is mine... she is no longer welcome in my territory. If she returns, I will kill her."
He tightened his grip on my waist, pulling me flush against him.
"You did this, Anya. You sent her away."