Chapter 6 The Mate Bond (Trey's POV)

"Read it again."

Knox slammed the ancient book shut. "Trey, we've been over this seven times. Every single detail matches her perfectly."

I paced across my dorm room, my hands shaking. "Maybe we're wrong. Maybe..."

"Silver eyes that burn like moonlight," Knox read from memory, his voice flat. "The wolf-born child who rises under crimson skies. The one who speaks the old words though she knows them not." He looked up at me with those pale eyes that had seen too much. "Those were her exact words yesterday, Trey. Word for word from a prophecy written three hundred years ago."

My stomach twisted into knots. "There has to be another explanation."

"There isn't." Knox stood, moving to the window that overlooked the forest. "She's the Crimson Wolf. The one destined to bring about our pack's destruction."

"She's just a girl."

"She's our enemy." Knox's voice turned cold. "And she'll figure out what she is soon enough. Once she does, the prophecy becomes unstoppable."

I stopped pacing, my chest tight. "What are you suggesting?"

Knox turned back to face me, his expression grim. "You know what I'm suggesting."

"No." The word came out sharper than I intended. "Absolutely not."

"Trey, listen to me..."

"I said no, Knox." I could feel my wolf stirring, responding to the threat against... against what? Why was I defending her? "She's innocent. She doesn't even know what she is."

"Which makes this the perfect time." Knox moved closer, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper. "Before she realizes her potential. Before she becomes unstoppable."

"I won't kill an innocent girl."

"She won't be innocent for long." Knox grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. "The moment she learns the truth, she becomes our pack's greatest threat. You've read the prophecy, Trey. When the Crimson Wolf rises, Ravencrest falls."

I shrugged out of his grip, my mind racing. Everything we'd built, everything our family had protected for generations, it could all end because of one girl who didn't even know what she was.

"There has to be another way."

"There isn't." Knox moved to his desk, pulling out a silver blade that glinted in the lamplight. "This will be quick. Painless. She'll never know what hit her."

"Knox..."

"I'll do it myself if you don't have the stomach for it." He tucked the blade into his jacket. "But it needs to happen tonight."

I watched him head for the door, something cold and desperate clawing at my chest. The thought of Ember dead, of those silver eyes closed forever, made my wolf snarl with protective rage.

"Wait." The word stopped Knox in his tracks. "I'll do it."

He turned back, relief flooding his features. "Good. It should come from our future Alpha."

"Just... give me an hour. I need to find her first."

Knox nodded, tossing me the blade. "Make it clean, cousin. She doesn't deserve to suffer for something she can't control."

I caught the weapon, its weight heavy in my palm. "I know."

But as the door closed behind Knox, I knew I was lying.

I found her scent trail at the edge of the forest, following it deeper into the trees. My enhanced senses tracked her easily—pine and something uniquely her, something that made my wolf pace restlessly.

The scent grew stronger as I moved through the undergrowth, until I reached a small clearing bathed in moonlight. And there she was.

Naked.

My breath caught in my throat. She lay curled on her side in the soft grass, her dark hair spread around her like silk. Even unconscious, she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

And then the mate bond hit.

It slammed into me like lightning, every nerve ending in my body suddenly alive and singing with recognition. Mine. The word echoed through my head with supernatural certainty. My mate.

No. This couldn't be happening.

Ember stirred, her silver eyes fluttering open. For a moment, she looked dazed, confused. Then she saw me standing there and scrambled backward, her arms crossing over her breasts.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Her voice was sharp with panic and embarrassment.

"I..." The mate bond was making it hard to think, let alone speak. Every instinct I had was screaming at me to protect her, claim her, make her mine. "I was walking and I heard..."

"Turn around!" She tried to cover her breasts with her hands, her cheeks burning red. "Don't look at me!"

I should have turned away. Should have given her privacy. Instead, I found myself stepping closer, drawn by an invisible force I couldn't resist.

"Stay back," she warned, her voice cracking. "I'll scream. I swear I'll scream and someone will come."

That broke through the mate bond haze. The last thing either of us needed was attention. I shrugged out of my jacket, holding it out to her without looking directly at her face.

"Here. Take this."

She snatched it from my hands, pulling it on quickly. It hung past her thighs, covering her completely. Only then did she seem to relax slightly.

"Thank you," she muttered, still not meeting my eyes.

"How did you get out here?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

She was quiet for a long moment, and I could practically see her mind working. "I was walking back to my dorm after meeting with Ms. Silvermoon. Someone... someone grabbed me. Took my clothes. I must have hit my head because I don't remember anything after that."

It was a lie. A terrible one. But I nodded anyway.

"Did you see who it was?"

"No." She finally looked up at me, and those silver eyes nearly stopped my heart. "What are you doing out here so late?"

"Couldn't sleep. I come out here to think sometimes." Another lie, but easier than the truth.

She stood slowly, still clutching my jacket around her. "I should get back."

"I'll walk with you."

"No." The word came out sharp and fast. "I mean, no thank you. I can find my own way."

I stepped closer despite her protest, drawn by the mate bond like a moth to flame. "Ember..."

"Don't." She backed away until she hit a tree trunk. "Don't say my name like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you actually care about me." Her eyes flashed with hurt and anger. "After what you did yesterday..."

"I'm sorry about that." The words tumbled out before I could stop them. "I was... I panicked. Those words you read, they meant something to me and I..."

"Meant something?" She laughed bitterly. "What could they possibly mean to you?"

I couldn't tell her the truth. Couldn't explain that her words were a death sentence for everything I'd ever known. Instead, I stepped closer, close enough to see the gold flecks in her silver eyes.

"They were beautiful," I said softly. "Powerful. They scared me."

"So you decided to humiliate me in front of the entire school?"

"I made a mistake." I reached out slowly, giving her time to pull away. When she didn't, I cupped her face in my hands. "I'm sorry, Ember. I'm so damn sorry."

She stared up at me, her breathing shallow. "I hate you," she whispered.

"I know."

"You destroyed me."

"I know."

"I should run. I should scream and run and never speak to you again."

"But you won't." I could feel the mate bond pulling at her too, see the confusion in her eyes as her body betrayed her mind.

"Why won't I?" The question came out as barely a breath.

Instead of answering, I kissed her.

She stiffened for a moment, her hands pushing against my chest. Then something shifted, something primal and inevitable, and she was kissing me back with a desperation that matched my own.

My jacket fell from her shoulders as she pressed against me reavealing her perfectly shaped body once again, her skin warm and soft under my hands. The mate bond roared to life between us, demanding completion, demanding that I claim what was mine.

"This is insane," she gasped against my lips. "We hate each other."

"I don't hate you," I said, trailing kisses down her throat. "God, I don't hate you."

"You should." Her fingers tangled in my hair, holding me closer even as she spoke. "I'm going to destroy you."

The words should have terrified me. Should have reminded me why I was here, what I was supposed to do. Instead, they only made me want her more.

"Then destroy me," I said, and meant it.

My hands finds her breasts again, they were bare and she let me touch her as she began exploring me.

Her hands went down to my bulge as she struggled to unzip my jeans, next thing, she finds and brings out my rob and caresses it butterfly-soft.

It felt supple in her hands as I was now fully aroused.

What happened next was inevitable. The mate bond, the prophecy, our packs, none of it mattered in that moment.

There was only me and her there in the grass against the threatening world.

Afterward, we lay entwined in the grass, both of us breathing hard and trying to process what had just happened. Ember traced patterns on my chest with her fingertip, her expression thoughtful.

"Your eyes," she said suddenly.

I tensed. "What about them?"

She propped herself up on her elbow, studying my face in the moonlight. "They flashed gold. Right before you... before we..." She trailed off, her cheeks flushing.

I should have lied. Should have deflected or made some excuse. Instead, I found myself staring into those silver eyes and seeing my own secrets reflected back at me.

"Yeah," I said quietly. "They did."

Understanding dawned across her features. "You're like me. Whatever I'm becoming... you already are."

"Yeah," I said again. "I am."

She was quiet for a long moment, processing this new information. When she spoke again, her voice was barely a whisper.

"What does that make us?"

"I don't know," I said. "But I guess we're about to find out."