The silence after Lucian's disappearance felt heavier than the storm outside.
Aiden didn't move.
He kept his hand on Maya's cheek, thumb brushing her skin like he needed to reassure himself she was still there.
His voice was low. Rough.
Almost... broken.
"Pack your things," he said.
Maya blinked. "I-what? Now?"
Aiden nodded once. "We're leaving."
"But... where? Why?"
He stepped back, dragging a hand through his hair. His shirt-still torn, stained with drying blood-clung to him, and there was something unguarded in his expression she had never seen before.
"Maya, I need you to trust me," he said, voice trembling on the edges of control.
"Lucian didn't come here to threaten me."
A pause.
"He came to claim you."
Her breath caught.
"Claim... me?"
Aiden's eyes darkened.
"No wolf... no Alpha... no creature like him should even be able to sense you."
He swallowed hard.
"But somehow he did."
Maya hugged herself. "So what does that mean?"
His answer came out like a confession.
"It means you're not safe. Not with humans. Not in your world. Not anywhere I'm not."
He took a step toward her, then another, until he was standing close enough for her to feel the heat of his body.
"Maya," he whispered, "if Lucian touches you... if he takes you..."
His jaw tensed.
"I won't survive that."
Her heart dropped to her stomach.
Aiden raked his fingers through her hair, resting his forehead against hers again.
"You stop my wolf," he murmured.
"You calm him. Anchor him. Do you understand what that means?"
"No," she whispered honestly.
He breathed out shakily. "It means you're not just someone I want, Maya."
His fingers slid gently down her spine.
"You're someone I'm bound to."
Her pulse stuttered.
Bound.
The word felt dangerous.
Heavy.
Final.
But before she could respond, movement flickered outside the window.
Aiden's head snapped up.
His voice dropped into a deadly growl.
"Maya. Get behind me."
Her blood went cold. "What is it?"
He didn't blink. "We're not alone."
The lights flickered.
The house groaned.
Then-
another shadow passed the window.
Then another.
Maya's breath hitched. "Aiden... how many?"
He shifted slightly-body tense, protective, ready to kill.
"Too many."
She grabbed his arm. "They followed Lucian?"
"No," Aiden said softly. "This isn't Lucian's pack."
Her heart pounded painfully.
"Then whose-"
A loud snarl cut her off, vibrating through the walls.
Aiden pushed her toward the stairs. "Upstairs. Now."
She stumbled but obeyed. Her hands shook as she climbed. Aiden followed, but every few steps he checked behind them, his eyes glowing faintly.
"Aiden," she whispered, "are you going to fight them?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Inside the bedroom, he shut the door quietly-too quietly-then pressed his back against it.
Maya stood in the middle of the room, trembling.
"Aiden?"
His chest heaved. "I don't want to shift. Not in front of you."
"Why?" she asked, voice breaking.
He closed his eyes.
"Because when I shift... I lose control. I stop thinking. I stop being human."
He opened his eyes again-silver, intense, pleading.
"And the first thing I want to protect is the last thing I end up hurting."
Her breath hardened. "You won't hurt me."
"You don't know that," he whispered.
But she stepped closer anyway. Then closer.
Until her fingers touched his jaw.
"Aiden," she said softly, "your wolf listens to me. Remember?"
He inhaled sharply-as if the touch burned him.
"Maya..."
A snarl split the night-right outside the house.
Aiden growled back instinctively, low and feral.
He pulled her into him suddenly, hands gripping her waist, breathing against her neck.
"Say my name," he whispered, voice shaking.
"Please."
She did.
Soft.
Breathy.
"Aiden..."
His wolf surged at the sound-she felt it, like heat rushing through him.
Outside, claws scraped against the siding.
He lifted her chin gently.
"Whatever happens," he said, "don't open this door unless it's me."
"Are you going to leave me?" she whispered.
His expression softened painfully.
"I'm going to protect you."
He brushed his lips against her forehead-tender but urgent-then stepped back.
A bone cracked.
Another.
His shoulders broadened.
His jaw sharpened.
He was shifting.
She watched, breathless, shaking-but not from fear.
From awe.
From connection.
From the terrifying idea that she belonged to him.
When his eyes fully changed-silver bleeding into molten gold-he looked at her one last time.
"Maya," he growled, voice layered with the wolf,
"you're mine to protect."
Then he turned-
-and leapt straight out the window.
The crash was violent.
The night exploded with snarls, growls, and the tearing of earth.
Maya pressed shaking hands to her mouth, heart aching.
He was out there.
Alone.
Surrounded.
She took one step toward the door.
Then another.
Then-
the handle turned.
Slow.
Deliberate.
And whoever was on the other side...
wasn't Aiden.
