Ellie POV
The rain in Florence was heavier than I expected, a bone-deep chill that soaked through to the marrow.
It had been weeks. Or maybe months? Time had become a blur of gnawing hunger and violent shivering.
I sat huddled in a narrow alleyway near the Arno River, my clothes threadbare and soaked. The Rejection sickness was hollowing me out from the inside. My skin burned with fever, yet my bones felt like shards of ice.
My wolf was silent. She hadn't spoken since that night in the basement. Part of me feared she might be dead.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the few trinkets I had managed to keep. A small bracelet Marcus gave me when I was twelve. A faded ribbon.
I looked at the dark, swirling water of the river nearby.
"Garbage," I croaked, my throat raw and stinging.
I threw them in. I watched the water swallow the last pieces of my past. I felt nothing. No relief. No sadness. Just a hollow, aching void where my heart used to be.
*Crack.*
A sound from the mouth of the alley made me freeze.
Two men stood there. They were hulking figures, their eyes glowing a sickly yellow in the dark. Rogues. Wolves without a pack, driven mad by bloodlust.
They sniffed the air, their lips curling back to reveal rotting yellow teeth.
"Well, well," one of them growled, his voice like gravel grinding together. "A little stray Omega. She smells like heartbreak and death."
"Easy meat," the other sneered.
I tried to stand, but my legs gave out. I was too weak. I couldn't shift. I couldn't fight.
The first Rogue lunged. I scrambled backward, my spine hitting the damp brick wall with a thud. He grabbed my ankle, dragging me across the rough cobblestones. I screamed, kicking feebly, but his grip was like a steel trap.
"Shut her up," the second Rogue said, pulling something from his jacket.
It glinted in the moonlight. A gun.
He aimed it right at my heart. But it wasn't the bullet that terrified me. It was the material. Even in the dark, I could see the dull, whitish sheen.
Silver.
Pure silver. The only thing that could kill a wolf instantly, stopping our healing factor dead.
"Goodbye, little girl," he grinned.
I closed my eyes, waiting for the end. Maybe this was better. Maybe the pain would finally stop.
*ROAR!*
A sound like a sonic boom exploded in the alley. It wasn't human. It was the roar of a beast, primal and terrifyingly powerful.
I snapped my eyes open just in time to see a massive black shadow drop from the rooftops.
It landed on the Rogue with the gun, crushing him instantly. Bones snapped like dry twigs under a boot. The Rogue didn't even have time to scream.
The second Rogue released my ankle, stumbling back in terror. "Alpha... It's an Alpha!"
The black beast turned. It was a wolf, bigger than any I had ever seen, with fur as dark as the void between stars. It snarled, and the sound vibrated in my very bones.
With a blur of motion, the black wolf tore the second Rogue apart. Blood sprayed across the alley walls, mixing with the rain.
Silence fell.
I lay there, trembling, my vision fading at the edges. The fever was spiking. I was going to die anyway.
The massive black wolf turned toward me.
I flinched, expecting teeth. Expecting death.
But the wolf didn't attack. It lowered its massive head, sniffing me.
And then, it happened.
A scent enveloped me. It wasn't the metallic smell of blood. It was... Earth. Rich, dark soil after a summer rain. And Pine. Fresh, crisp pine needles.
My heart, which had been beating a slow, dying rhythm, suddenly skipped a beat. Then another.
*Thump-thump. Thump-thump.*
A jolt of electricity shot through my body, starting from my toes and racing up to my scalp. It was agonizing and ecstatic all at once.
The black wolf shifted. Bones cracked and reshaped, fur retracting into skin.
A man knelt before me. He was naked, oblivious to the cold rain. His body was sculpted like a Greek god, powerful muscles rippling under bronzed skin. But it was his eyes that captivated me. They were deep, endless blue, like the ocean.
He reached out a hand to touch my cheek.
I flinched, but his touch wasn't violent. It was warm. Searing hot.
"Don't be afraid," he whispered. His voice was deep, vibrating in my chest.
As his skin touched mine, a shockwave blasted through us.
*Mine!*
The roar didn't come from the alley. It came from inside my head. My wolf, my dormant, dying wolf, suddenly lifted her head and howled.
*Mate! Second Chance Mate!*
Tears streamed down my face. "How...?" I whispered.
"I found you," he said, his eyes filled with a fierce, protective light. "I am David. Alpha of the Blood Rose Pack."
He brought his wrist to his mouth, letting a drop of his Alpha blood fall onto my lips. "Drink. You need strength."
I swallowed. His blood tasted like fire and life. The pain in my chest, the hole Marcus had left, began to stitch itself together.
He scooped me up into his arms as if I weighed nothing. I buried my face in his neck, inhaling the scent of Earth and Pine.
"Sleep, Little Wolf," he murmured against my hair. "I've got you. Nobody hurts you again."
For the first time since my parents died, I believed it.
