Chapter 3

Joanne's POV

His body caged me against the splintering floorboards. His breath ghosted over my ear, cold and making me shiver, yet I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks.

“Joanne,” I sputtered. “I live here.”

“Alone?”

I managed to nod.

His gaze scanned my face, probably trying to figure out if I was lying or not. His eyes traveled down to my neckline and then across my shoulders until they paused. I had bruises on my shoulders and arm from all the times that Alpha Anthony grabbed me. No doubt they caught his attention.

His hold on me weakened, though he still kept me pinned against the hard floor.

His nostrils flared for a moment.

Was he smelling me?

My question was answered almost immediately when he asked, “Why do you smell… different?”

“Different?” I asked, my voice coming out raspy as it grew drier.

“Not like a typical werewolf,” he answered, his brows pinching together slightly.

My cheeks grew even hotter.

I wondered how much I should tell him. If he knew I was wolfless, he would think of me as weak and useless… he would discard me right away. Despite not knowing who he was, I had a sense that he came from power—that he was stronger than anything I could ever comprehend.

My decision to tell him was out of my hands, because his eyes narrowed at my face.

“You’re a werewolf, and yet I smell no trace of wolf. Are you wolfless?”

The word “wolfless” burned.

“Yes,” I whispered.

“What pack is this?”

“The Long Lake Pack,” I replied, my tone shaking slightly. “My Alpha is Anthony.”

His brows furrowed as he assessed my face.

“Why would a packmate of Anthony save me?”

His question took me by surprise, but what surprised me the most was the answer that came out easily.

“Because I know what it’s like to be alone…” I whispered. “To have to care for yourself and do what you can to survive… even if it’s just for a night.”

He was quiet for a moment, his body moving slightly, releasing the tension on me. I realized at that moment that I was no longer pinned and could move freely, though my body wouldn’t allow me to move.

“Who gave you those injuries?” He asked, taking me by surprise.

I looked away, not wanting to answer for many reasons.

For one, it was too humiliating to tell him that my peers and Alpha abused me for years, resulting in these daily injuries. On the other hand, I didn’t want him to think of me as a weakling, someone he could easily hurt.

I felt his penetrating gaze, and I realized he was looking down at my torn, ragged dress.

His frown deepened as he lifted his gaze to meet mine.

“The truth, Joanne. Who hurt you?”

The way he spoke my name made warmth spread across my body.

I swallowed hard.

“My Alpha…” I replied. “Anthony.”

His blue eyes darkened until they were nearly black, making me suck in a sharp breath.

His mouth hardened.

“Werewolves are disgusting.”

The words landed like a slap. I swallowed them down. I had kept him alive. The bandages, the torn hem of my dress, the blood on my hands—mine and his—and still he would look at me like that.

Before I could reply, a fist pounded on the front door.

I felt my entire body freeze as Alpha Anthony’s voice echoed through the cabin.

“Open up, bane!” His voice boomed through the woods as he yelled, “Search the cabin!”

The Alpha was at my cabin? But why?

The vampire moved faster than I could blink.

Suddenly, he was in front of me, shielding me from the front door as if his body could be a wall.

“No!” I hissed, scrambling to my feet. “If he sees you, he’ll kill you. He’ll kill us both. Go, please.”

His eyes flickered to mine, and I knew that he wanted to argue. But something in my eyes must have stopped him because for a moment, his expression softened.

“Thank you,” he said softly. “For last night.”

Another pounding blow shook the door on its hinges, making my body tremble with fear. In all the years I’ve lived in this cabin, Anthony never came here himself. He would always send someone to retrieve me if he needed to see me for something.

A visit from the Alpha could only mean one thing… I was in deep shit.

“Please,” I whispered again, tears filling my eyes. “Go out the back window.”

The man turned to face me entirely, his eyes pouring into mine as he dipped his head.

“I will repay the debt. Anthony will pay for what he has done to you.”

For the briefest moment, the world around me had slowed. It felt as if we were the only two in the area, and Anthony was miles away.

The earnest expression that the vampire gave me caught me off guard.

“Who are you?” I asked too late, the question tearing out of me on a whisper.

But the space between where he stood was already empty.

A breath of cold air lifted the torn curtain by the back window. The room felt suddenly larger, the shadows deeper, as if he had never been here at all.

The front door exploded inward.

…….

Alexander’s POV

I reached the border to Eboncrest within seconds.

My ability to teleport worked faster than usual, but I didn’t have time to think about why.

I moved quickly, trying to get further away from the border so I could safely reach out to my subordinate. We needed a plan of attack… we needed justice.

We were ambushed last night.

Silver nets. Wolf-steal. Ward-smoke that clawed at the lungs.

My guards dropped one by one, and I now knew who was responsible. The Long Lake Alpha, Anthony.

I killed the gamma that tried to collar me, just before I felt a bullet pierce my chest, and it nearly took me down.

I was weak and tired, not to mention humiliated. I was a goddamn vampire prince, and lowly werewolves managed to take us by surprise. Take me by surprise.

I was never going to let something like that happen again.

After the attack, I was too weak to teleport far, so I used the last of my strength to take myself somewhere safe. Somewhere I could heal until I could return to my territory.

I ended up in some kind of abandoned cabin nearby, though “cabin” might be too strong a word to use for what it was.

It was more like a shack.

There was a sleeping bag in the corner of the room and a few belongings, along with a chest, but besides that, it wasn’t anything special.

I found it hard to believe anyone lived there.

However, the fresh scent in the cabin was alluring and drew me in.

I would spend the night healing and resting, and then I would take action tomorrow.

Though with how weak I was feeling and how quickly I was losing consciousness, there was a chance I wouldn’t survive the night.

I surprisingly woke the next morning from the scent of honeysuckle and fresh rain.

I opened my eyes, wincing at the slight pain in my torso. I looked down and saw that I was wrapped in old rags. When I untied the rags, letting them drop to the floor, I frowned when I saw the poorly done stitches, closing my wounds tight.

I pulled them out without much thought, watching as the last of my wounds healed on their own.

I could already feel my strength returning to me; stronger than it’s ever been before.

I was about to sit up and leave when I felt movement.

Then, there she was… Joanne.

The reason I survived the night.

She was a werewolf in blood, but wolfless by nature. She was dirty and wore ragged clothes; however, her scent… her scent was nothing like I had ever smelled before. It alone gave me strength, and at that moment, I knew it was she who healed me.

It made me wonder what would happen if I had a taste of her blood; would it make me even stronger?

I shook the thought out of my head as I reached higher ground, further away from the borders.

I drew a sigil in the air. Shadows pooled, glassed over, and my subordinate Jame’s face formed in the mirror-dark.

“You’re majesty?” He breathed. “We’ve been searching—”

“How long would it take to rally the troops and march to Long Lake?” I asked, cutting off his words.

His brows dipped.

“It would take about a day, Sire…” James started. “But—”

“Prepare the black lances,” I ordered, my tone final.

Understanding flickered in his eyes.

“Sire, the treaty with the werewolf realm—an incursion risks—”

“Anthony broke the pact,” I said. “He crossed our lines and butchered my men. This is not an incursion. It’s justice.”

Suddenly, my mind flashed to Joanne, the girl who smelled like honeysuckle and rain. The girl who saved me.

A sense of unease and dread fell over me.

She was in danger.