Adina ran… She ran as fast as her legs would carry her.

The forest seemed to swallow her up.

Branches tore at her dress, but she didn't stop running. Her legs burned. Her breath came out in frantic gasps. Her mind was spinning, and the spell was working its way through her veins with each passing second.

Heat curled in her stomach. Her thighs clenched with a need that had no name. It was unbearable. Twisted. Sick.

But she didn't stop. Couldn't.

She was running for her life now… Gods forbid the rogues found her. Then she would be done for… the girl's words rang in her mind. 'General Elara's order.'

Did the general hate her so much to do something like this to her? Why? What has she done?

A sharp shrill wrecked her from the inside, and she fell forward, whining hard at the impact. Her wolf was crying with need. It was too much. Too intense.

She needed relief—she needed someone to touch her, feel her—she needed anything they were willing to give.

A loud moan escaped her lips, and she quickly clasped her hand over her mouth. Her scent was intoxicating at this point, mouth-watering even, and if there were an alpha in the woods now, they would be coming for her just at a whiff of her scent.

Adina's heart pounded hard. She couldn't allow herself to go this way… she had to fight the need. No matter how bone-wrecking it was. She wasn't an omega in heat. She had to fight—

She shrieked loudly as a rogue jumped at her. In her haze of getting her thoughts together, she didn't see the rogue sneaking up to her. She didn't see him licking his rotten teeth as he sniffed the air.

He tackled her to the ground, and she screamed, thrashing beneath him. His claws scraped her waist as he tried to pin her. "Settle down, omega," he growled, and she screamed even louder, her body responding against her will.

This wasn't happening. This cannot happen.

"Get off!" she screamed, biting at him, her nails raking down his face.

The rogue laughed, his eyes raking over her body like she was his next meal. "You'll like this soon enough."

Her stomach twisted inexplicably. Bile rose up her throat at his words. Whatever she'd been spelled with was the worst. It was a vile thing that needed to be scraped off its existence. She didn't care how turned on she was; she wanted him dead.

"Get off M—" her words were cut off as the rogue was suddenly thrown off her.

Adina gasped, scrambling backward, her body trembling with need and fear. She breathed in and paused, the familiar scent wafting into her nostrils, rousing the hunger in her even more. Her mate. It was her mate! He'll save her. Her wolf screamed internally.

She looked up only to see Thorne as he flung the rogue into a large tree with a sickening crack. The rogue fell to the ground lifeless, splinters of the tree stuck inside him.

There he was, standing right in front of her, panting, blood on his arms, eyes burning red.

"Thorne…" she gasped, voice cracking, tears clouding her eyes instantly. He came. He came for her.

He didn't say anything. Just crossed the space in two strides and pulled her into his arms. She collapsed against him, sobbing, her fists clinging to his chest.

"I couldn't—" she choked. "They… they grabbed me, I thought—"

"I know," he murmured, his voice low and shaking. "You're safe now. I've got you."

He lifted her off the ground effortlessly. She wrapped herself around him, burying her face in his neck even as she trembled.

"I've got you. I've got you," he whispered into her ears as he held her tightly. It was almost like he was scared too… but no, he wasn't scared. He was terrified.

He began to move, knowing he had to get her to a safe place first. Adina clung to him like her life depended on it. She was done crying, but now… she was licking his neck, shuddering internally. She could feel her pants soaked.

Thorne swallowed hard, suddenly finding it difficult to breathe. She's never smelled so… so fucking good.

Finally, he got to the lake and gently let her down, stroking her cheek gently. He swallowed deeply. "I'll be back," he said.

Adina's head snapped up, eyes wide with panic. "Don't," she rushed out, scything towards him, holding his legs tight.

Thorne knelt, eyes squeezed closed as she wrapped herself around him again, her scent gland was practically shoved into his face. "Gods… Your scent… Adina," he groaned, his voice hoarse like he was only hanging on a loose thread.

She whimpered. "Don't leave me. Please. I— I don't know what's happening to me."

Thorne shut his eyes. "Baby, I'll be back. I just need—I need to take care of the others. There are more," he said.

Adina whined loudly at the name. She was his baby… he called her baby.

"T-Thorne, please don't leave me," she practically cried out.

Fuck! She wasn't listening to him. What has happened to her?

Thorne held her face in his hands, making sure she was looking at him. "Adina, baby, I'll be back very soon. I just need to take care of the bad guys," he said, and for a second, it looked like she understood.

He leaned close to kiss her forehead then turned to leave, changing into his wolf form.

His wolf form moved fast. There was no time for mercy. It didn't take long; he found the rest of the rogues. They were scanning through the area, sniffing the air and searching for her.

Unfiltered rage thundered in Thorne's chest, and before they could blink, he was onto them. They were no match for him, of course… they fought, and even as they fought… Thorne knew. These weren't ordinary wolves. Their moves, their actions. They weren't even the usual Obsidian rogues. These were foreigners, and they were trained rogues.

It was unheard of. Rogues were practically savages. How can one train savages?

It didn't take time for Caelum and the others to catch up to them. Thorne threw the last rogue to Caelum. At this point, his entire coat was covered in their slimy blood. The rogue in question was battered to a point, with one of his arms broken. "Lock him up in the special vault. I need answers, and he will give me them," Thorne ordered.

He turned to leave, his heart stuck in that one place he left her.

"Are you not coming with us?" Caelum asked.

Thorne didn't reply; he had no time for useless questions. Not when Adina had screamed like that. Not when her scent had flooded him like poison and perfume all at once. Gods, the smell of her—he'd never felt anything like it. It was wrong. Too intoxicating. Too heady.

She hadn't just been in heat. That was no ordinary reaction. Something was wrong, and he had to find out what.

He had no time to waste; he sprinted back toward the lake, his heart racing so loud he could barely hear anything else.

He shifted mid-stride, his bones snapping back into place, and within seconds, he was crashing through the brush back toward the lake.

"Adina," he called out, his eyes flickering through the place where he had left her… but she wasn't there anymore.

The fire in his chest turned instantly to panic and dread. "Adina?" he called. "Adina!"

His eyes flashed red as he searched, scanning the trees, the ground, her scent—

Just as he turned, he saw her, right there, watching him with a gaze he's never seen before. A gaze that sent heat through his body.

"Adina," he cracked out, as she began to rise from the water, his throat went dry at the sight.

It was heavenly. She looked like the goddess herself. Her dress now torn so badly it clung to her like a second skin, practically see-through. Her pale breasts were practically exposed, and the pink peaks of her hardened nipples were clearly visible through her wet dress.

Her hair was plastered to her body, and her eyes—gods, her eyes were dazed and unfocused, wild and glossy with heat.

Her plump pink lips called out to him. "Thorne."

Thorne froze. His lungs forgot how to work.

She looked like temptation carved by the goddess's hands and dragged through a battlefield. Bruised. Wet. Glowing. A sin.

"Adina…" he rasped. "W-what are you-" He took a step forward, then stopped because his entire body was screaming.

Her scent hit him like a punch, sharp, sweet, and sinful. He staggered back, shaking his head.

She stepped out of the water and licked her lips. Thorne watched like he was in a trance.

"Adina…" he called again, trying to drown the wave of arousal in him, he could feel the blood rushing to his cock.

"Adina… gods, you shouldn't have—why are you in the water?" His voice was hoarse. He was struggling so fucking hard to stay sane. "You were supposed to wait."

She walked slowly toward him now, water dripping down her thighs, clinging to every curve.

"But I waited," she said, and gods, it felt like she practically purred as she stepped closer to him.

Thorne stepped back, his heart thumping hard in his chest. What had happened? This wasn't his sweet, docile Adina. This was temptation, a sin wrapped in his mate's skin.

Thorne's jaw clenched, fists curling at his sides as she kept walking toward him. Each step she took sent tremors down his spine. He could feel his wolf bucking inside him, clawing to the surface, desperate to claim her.

"I-I shouldn't be near you right now," he rasped, stepping back again, his back hitting a tree. "You're not… thinking straight."

She whined low in her throat, and the sound shattered him. Her eyes welled with tears again. "Why are you pushing me away? Do you not want me?"

He shut his eyes and exhaled deeply, but even that was a mistake… her scent clouded his senses. "Don't say that. Don't ever say that," he rasped out, hanging on one thin thread.

He opened his eyes to find her staring at him.

"Then show me, if you want me," she whispered. "Touch me."