Chapter 10 Chapter 10
MIRA
The forest just kept going.
Every tree looked like the last, every shadow pretending to be an opening that wasn’t there. My legs were numb, my lungs scraped raw. My phone screen glowed in my hand—three hours. Only three hours. It felt like I’d been running for half a lifetime.
I stopped when my body refused to take another step and leaned against a tree, the bark biting into my palms. The night air was thick with the smell of pine and wet earth. I pulled out the bottle from my bag, took a swallow, and let the water burn its way down. My hands wouldn’t stop trembling.
The quiet was wrong.
Not peaceful— just hollow and waiting. Even the insects had gone silent, and the absence of sound made my heartbeat sound too loud. I pushed away from the tree and started walking again, slower this time, eyes darting over every patch of darkness that looked too still.
Then the feeling came. That crawling awareness that didn’t need proof to exist.
Someone—or something—was watching me.
I turned, scanning the trees, but the dark only stared back. “Hello?” My voice cracked, swallowed by the distance. The sound came back to me, smaller, pathetic.
Nothing answered.
A laugh slipped out, shaky and wrong. “You’re imagining things, Mira,” I muttered, but my hand still tightened around my phone. The weight of it felt useless now, a piece of light I couldn’t call for help with.
The snap of a branch cut through the air. Not far behind.
My heart jerked. I moved faster, pretending I wasn’t running, pretending my breathing wasn’t picking up again. Leaves brushed against my legs, the cold clung to my skin. Another sound—softer this time, like paws sinking into soil—followed me.
I didn’t think. I ran.
The forest tilted, the ground uneven beneath my shoes. Wind tore at my hair, and every exhale sounded like a sob. I could hear the other rhythm now—heavier, steadier, catching up no matter how hard I pushed myself forward.
“Please,” I whispered into the dark, though I didn’t even know who I was begging. “Please, not again.”
The impact came a heartbeat later. A heavy weight slamming into my back, the world flipping, dirt and pain and panic crashing together as I hit the ground.
For a few seconds I couldn’t breathe.
Then, instinct took over as I kicked, clawed at the ground, but the thing above me barely shifted. My scream came out as a broken gasp, muffled by the dirt.
Then I saw it. A paw slid forward beside my face—massive, dark, claws catching the moonlight. My whole body went still. A low sound rumbled from deep in its chest, not quite a growl, more like a warning.
I squeezed my eyes shut. The heat pulled away for a heartbeat, then there was movement—bones twisting, the sound of muscle and air rearranging. When I dared to look again, fur was shrinking back into skin.
A man’s hand braced the ground next to my head. Another breath, and he was there—Luca—his grin sharp in the half-light, eyes bright and wild.
He was completely and shamelessly naked, grinning like he’d just found something funny. His hair was messy, his skin slick with sweat, his eyes still too wild to be human yet.
“Running away, sweetheart?” His voice had that lazy drawl I hated, the one that made everything sound like a joke. “You really thought you could outrun us?”
“Get off me!” I shoved at him, but he was stronger, heavier. His laugh brushed warm against my cheek.
Before he could answer, someone yanked him backward — hard.
Jax.
Jax stood over us, jaw tight, eyes hard enough to cut through the dark. He shoved a bundle of clothes at his brother.
“Put something on,” he snapped.”
Luca groaned, rubbing his shoulder where Jax had shoved him. “Relax. I wasn’t gonna eat her.”
“Now.”
Luca rolled his eyes but obeyed, muttering under his breath as he pulled on his jeans. I sat up, brushing leaves from my arms, still shaking. My throat burned from holding in a sob.
“What the hell were you doing out here?” Jax’s voice came out low, controlled, but there was anger beneath it. “Were you trying to run?”
I opened my mouth, but the words tangled before they left. “I—no, I just needed air. I couldn’t—”
“At night? Alone? Do you have any idea what could’ve happened?” He took a step closer. “If we hadn’t found you, rogues would’ve.”
The way he said would’ve made my stomach twist. It wasn’t a warning; it was certainty that it would’ve happened.
“I wasn’t thinking,” I whispered, eyes fixed on the ground. My fingers curled around the strap of my bag, knuckles white.
Luca came to stand beside me, slipping easily into the space Jax’s anger left behind. “You’re scaring her,” he said, frowning at his brother. “We found her, she’s fine.”
“She’s lucky,” Jax muttered, but he looked away, the muscle in his jaw still jumping.
Luca crouched in front of me, the edge of his grin softening. “Hey,” he said quietly. “It’s okay, Mira. You’re safe now, yeah? We’ll take you back.”
Back. The word dropped like a stone in my chest. Back to the mansion. Back to the same cage I’d been trying to escape.
But what choice did I have? I nodded, because it was the only thing I could do.
Luca’s smile returned, lighter this time. “Good girl,” he murmured, then glanced at Jax. “I’ll shift—it’ll be faster if she rides.”
Jax didn’t argue. He just crossed his arms and watched as Luca’s body bent and shimmered, fur pushing through skin until the golden wolf stood where he’d been. The sight made my stomach tighten.
I hesitated before climbing onto his back. The warmth of him bled through the night air, and my fingers dug into his fur as we started moving. Jax kept pace beside us, silent, eyes forward.
The ride back felt endless. The forest blurred into one long smear of grey and silver until the first lights of the mansion glowed through the trees. My heart sank.
By the time we reached the clearing, my hands were numb from gripping too hard. I slid off Luca’s back, my legs unsteady, and the world tilted for a moment. The sound of the front doors creaking open snapped everything back into focus.
Alpha Darius stood in the doorway, waiting.