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Astra is my fated mate. And she’s dying. The possessive protectiveness I’ve felt for so long crystallizes into an absolute certainty: this woman belongs to me, and I will destroy anyone who harms her.*** Another sound cuts through the darkness—weaker this time, the sound of flesh striking flesh—and that pulse in my chest flickers like a dying flame. Through whatever this connection is, I can feel her slipping away from me. The sound is coming from a run-down inn at the end of the street. I can smell fear radiating from the building, hear the sounds of a struggle. Someone is hurting her. Someone is putting their hands on what belongs to us. My wolf’s fury reaches a crescendo that borders on madness. Kill them, it demands. Kill them all for touching what’s ours. I hit the inn’s front door at full speed. The wood splinters around me as I crash through, my wolf form barely contained in the narrow hallway. The terrified inn owner stumbles backward, his face white with shock. “What the fuck?! Jesus Christ—wolves! There are wolves in my—” I jerk my head toward Seth, who is right behind me. He understands immediately, shifting to human form as I bound toward the stairs. The inn owner undoubtedly knows one of his guests is being attacked, and he is doing nothing about it. Seth will deal with him. I don’t wait. The tugging sensation is stronger now, pulling me upward, and my ears have already locked onto the sounds above—voices, weaker now. The thud of boots on floorboards. Male voices, cold and professional. “Stop fighting. You’re only making this worse for yourself.” The casual cruelty in those words makes my vision go red. My wolf roars for blood, for vengeance, for the right to tear apart everyone who dared touch what’s ours. I take the stairs three at a time, my claws gouging deep furrows in the wood. Behind me, I hear the inn owner start to scream, but he is cut off abruptly. I reach the landing, and the sounds are clearer now. A door at the end of the hall. I can smell blood—Astra’s blood—and something else. Fear. Pain. The acrid stench of violence against what’s mine. Ours, my wolf snarls. She’s ours and they’re hurting her. Kill them. Kill them all. “That’s it. Just relax. Stop fighting.” The voice that responds is barely a whisper, so weak I almost miss it. So broken it makes my chest cave in. My wolf doesn’t hesitate. I launch myself at the door with every ounce of strength I have. The wood tears open like it’s made of paper, and the scene that greets me stops my heart. Astra is on the floor, barely conscious, blood streaming from her nose and mouth. Her beautiful face is swollen and bruised. She is curled on her side, arms wrapped protectively around her torso, each breath coming in shallow, labored gasps. But it’s her eyes that destroy me. Those bright green eyes that once sparkled with life and hope are now glassy and unfocused, the light in them fading like dying embers. One eye is blackened and nearly swollen shut. She is staring at nothing, seeing nothing, and I can feel through our pulsing connection that she’s slipping away from me. In the corner, so still that it makes my chest tighten, lies Luna. Her small, black body is contorted in a horrible way, and I sense immediately that she’s barely clinging to life. Two large men stand over Astra. One holds shackles that gleam like silver in the lamplight. The other is wiping blood from his knuckles. Standing behind them is a man who can only be Andrew Crew. Next to him is another man, older, wearing expensive clothes and too many rings. He’s holding a fucking collar, ornate and golden, clearly meant for a neck. For her neck. For the neck of the woman who belongs to us. All the men freeze at the sight of me—a massive wolf standing in the doorway, wood splinters scattered around my paws, fury radiating from every line of my body. Terror flashes across their faces as they realize what they’re up against. But even through the red haze of fury that threatens to consume me, all I can focus on is the woman on the floor. The way her chest barely rises and falls. The way her eyes stare at nothing, empty of everything that made her Astra. The pulse in my chest—our bond—is growing weaker with every passing second. And then, I catch it. Her scent. Not the blood, not the fear, not the pain—but underneath all of that, her true scent. It feels like coming home, like finding the other half of my soul. Mate, my wolf howls in recognition and desperation. Our mate. Buried under the scent I became so accustomed to is something else, something more primal. I can only smell wisps of it, tainted with old magic. But it’s enough for me to identify the cause of my wolf’s restlessness. Astra is my fated mate. And she’s dying. The possessive protectiveness I’ve felt for so long crystallizes into an absolute certainty: this woman belongs to me, and I will destroy anyone who harms her. The first man drops the shackles and tries to run. He makes it two steps before I’m on him, my teeth closing around his throat. The taste of his blood fills my mouth, hot and metallic, but it doesn’t satisfy my wolf. Nothing will satisfy it except all their deaths. I tear his throat out in one savage motion and drop his body, already turning toward the next target. The second man has pulled out a knife and is brandishing it shakily. “Stay back!” he shouts, his voice cracking with terror. “I’ll kill you!” I don’t even slow down. His blade catches me across the shoulder, but I barely feel it. My jaws close around his wrist, and the sound of bones snapping is wet and satisfying. His scream, high and desperate, cuts off when my claws open his chest. The older man holding the collar is backing toward the window. His rings catch the light as his hands tremble, and I can smell the fear in his sweat, acrid and sharp. “Please!” he babbles, letting the golden collar fall to the floor with a clatter. “Please don’t kill me! I have money—lots of money! Whatever you want, I can pay you!” I shift mid-leap, my human form allowing me to grab him by the throat and slam him against the wall. “You can take her!” he gasps desperately. “Take the girl! She’s yours! I don’t want anything to do with this anymore!” “She’s not merchandise,” I snarl, my voice barely recognizable with the fury in it. “She’s my mate.” His eyes widen with understanding and terror. “Mate? No, that’s impossible. She’s latent. She can’t…” He shakes his head before continuing desperately, “This wasn’t my idea! It was all Andrew! He’s the one who planned this, who brought her here! I was just—I was just the buyer! Please, I’ll give you everything I have!” I don’t let him finish. My hand tightens around his throat, crushing his windpipe slowly. I want him to suffer. I want him to know exactly why he’s dying. “You were going to take what belongs to me,” I say, my voice a deadly whisper. “You planned to collar her like an animal. To sell her children as pets.” He tries to speak, but only choking sounds emerge. His face turns purple, his eyes bulging. I slam his head against the wall once, twice, until I hear the loud pop of his skull fracturing. I let his body drop to the floor and focus my rage on the last man standing. Andrew has pressed himself into a corner, whimpering and shaking like a coward. His face is white with terror, tears streaming down his cheeks. The sharp scent of urine suddenly fills the air; he has pissed himself in fear. “Please,” he begs, holding up his hands. “Please, I never meant—She came to me. I didn’t force—” I don’t let him finish. In one swift motion, I grab his outstretched hand and bend his index finger backward until it snaps. The sound echoes through the room. His scream is high and desperate, but I press my other hand over his mouth, muffling his agony. “The only reason you’re still breathing,” I whisper against his ear, my tone ice cold, “is because I want you to suffer before you die.” I release his mouth and grab his middle finger, applying pressure until I feel the bone start to give. “No, please—” he gasps, but I break the finger with another satisfying snap. More screams, more tears streaming down his face. “This is for every lie you told her,” I continue conversationally, moving to his ring finger. “Every time you made her believe you cared.” Snap. “Every moment you let her hope for a future with you, all the while planning to sell her like a commodity.” Snap. His pinky finger is now bent at an unnatural angle. “Please stop,” he sobs, cradling his mangled hand against his chest. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry—” “You’re not sorry for what you did,” I say, grabbing his other hand. “You’re just sorry you got caught.” I start with his thumb this time, applying slow, deliberate pressure until the bone cracks. His eyes roll back in his head from the pain, but I grip his chin, forcing him to stay conscious. “Look at her,” I order, jerking his head toward Astra’s broken form. “Look at what you did to the woman who trusted you.” He tries to close his eyes, but I dig my fingers into his jaw until he opens them again. “She saved your life once,” I continue, moving to his index finger. “And you repaid her by putting her in this state.” Snap. “By letting them torture her while you watched.” Snap. “By planning to breed her like cattle.” Snap. Snap. By the time I’m finished, all ten of his fingers hang grotesquely limp. He’s barely conscious, shock setting in from the pain. Seth chooses this moment to appear in the doorway, having dealt with the inn owner. He takes in the carnage with a single sweeping glance—three dead bodies, blood splattered across the walls, Andrew slumped in the corner with his hands destroyed. “Lucian…” he says carefully, acutely aware of the alarming edge to my rage. “Keep this one alive,” I say icily, jerking my head toward Andrew. “He’s not dying yet.” Seth nods and moves toward the barely conscious human. “What else?” “Summon Leon and two of my private healers,” I order, my eyes already back on Astra’s still form. “Now.” “I can have them here in an hour—” “Ten minutes, Seth,” I cut him off, my voice turning deadly. “You have ten minutes.” The lethal promise in my voice makes him nod jerkily. “Ten minutes.” He drags Andrew’s now unconscious form out of the way and disappears through the shattered door. Finally, I’m alone with her. I kneel beside Astra’s broken body, my hands shaking as I reach for her. She’s so still, so pale. The pulse I can feel through our forming bond is growing weaker by the minute. “Astra,” I whisper, gathering her carefully in my arms. She weighs almost nothing, feels as fragile as spun glass. “I’m here. You’re safe.” Her eyes flutter open, unfocused and glassy, but no words come. Instead, there’s a horrible rattling sound in her chest with each labored breath—the death rattle I’ve heard too many times on battlefields. The sound that means someone is drowning in their own blood. “No,” I breathe, pressing my ear to her chest. The wet, gurgling sound is getting worse. Internal bleeding. Probably punctured lungs from broken ribs. She tries to speak, her lips moving soundlessly, but only more of that terrible rattling comes out of her throat. Blood bubbles at the corner of her mouth. “Don’t try to talk,” I tell her calmly, though panic is clawing at my chest. “Save your strength.” Her hand moves weakly toward mine, her fingers trembling and ice cold. When I catch them, she squeezes so faintly that I barely feel it. She’s slipping away from me. I never should have driven you away, I think, my chest tight with emotion I can’t contain. I was angry because you matter to me more than you should. More than anyone ever has. She blinks slowly. I think I see recognition flicker in her gaze, but the rattling in her chest is getting worse. Each breath is a struggle now, shallow and uneven. “Stay with me, Astra,” I command, putting every ounce of authority I possess into my voice. “You’re not allowed to die.” But she doesn’t respond. Her eyes are losing focus, staring at something I can’t see. The death rattle grows louder, more pronounced. “Don’t you dare,” I growl at her. “Don’t you dare leave me.” As I stare at her, taking in her bruised face and the empty look in her eyes, a burning fury fills me. “Everyone who hurt you, I’ll make them pay. I’ll turn the streets red with the blood of their families for what they’ve done to you. I’ll make sure of it.” I lower my forehead to hers, but she’s so still. Just that horrible sound in her chest and the bond between us growing so weak I can scarcely feel it anymore. Terror pierces me. Seth isn’t back yet. The healers won’t make it in time. I can feel her life force ebbing away like water through my fingers, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. Nothing. The word echoes in my mind like a death knell. I’m the crown prince of this entire kingdom. I command armies, control vast resources, strike fear into the hearts of my enemies. But I can’t save the one person who matters most. I can’t save my mate. The helplessness is devastating. Rage and grief war in my chest as I watch the light fade from her eyes. I’m losing her, and I’m powerless to stop it. Except... It strikes me that there is one thing I can do. One way to strengthen our bond, to tie her to me so completely that she can’t slip away. The mating mark. But claiming someone who hasn’t consented, someone who doesn’t even understand what we are to each other, goes against everything I’ve been taught about the sacred nature of the mate bond. It’s unethical. She’s dying, though. Right here in my arms. My mate is dying, and I’m not going to allow it to happen. “I’m sorry,” I whisper against her ear, my voice hoarse. “I lied to you. You are not annoying.” I brush her hair away from her neck, exposing the delicate skin where her pulse beats weakly. “You’re my mate, Astra. My fated mate. And I’m not letting you go.” I lean down and press my lips to her throat, feeling the flutter of her pulse against my mouth. Then I bite down, my canines extending to pierce her skin. The effect is immediate and overwhelming. The bond between us explodes into existence like a supernova—so bright and powerful, it nearly knocks me over. The connection snaps into place like an elastic band stretched to its breaking point and suddenly released. Mine, my wolf roars in triumph. Ours. Forever. And through the bond, I feel everything—her pain, her exhaustion, the devastating betrayal that has broken her heart. But I also feel something else flowing from me to her through our newly forged connection. Life. Strength. The unbreakable power of the mate bond itself. FREE in Kindle Unlimited! One-click now to dive into a world of royal intrigue, forbidden love, and fated bonds that defy all odds! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Perfect For Readers Who Love: ✔️ Runaway brides and forbidden love ✔️ Fated mates with a deadly twist ✔️ Cold, duty-bound Alpha heirs who fall for the one they’re supposed to hunt ✔️ Tense, slow-burn romance with sizzling chemistry ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Each book in this series delivers intense, slow-burn romance, powerful fated mates, and heroes who will stop at nothing to claim their love.