Kaidan's POV
What a beauty…
I'd conquered many packs, slept with many women but…
Never had I seen any lady more beautiful than the one standing naked before me.
Her body was moonlit silk, gleaming against the black water.
Every ripple that kissed her skin sent heat spiraling down my spine.
And yet, it wasn't lust. Not just that.
It was need.
My wolf clawed beneath the surface, pacing, growling, starving.
"Kaiden," Thorne hissed beside me, voice strangled. "We should..what the hell is this place?"
I didn't answer.
The altar burned in the center of the pool, flames licking the air without smoke or sound. The water didn't boil. It shimmered.
Like her.
She turned.
And our eyes locked.
The world went silent.
No wind. No breath. No heartbeat.
Then it hit.
The pull.
"Mate." My wolf growled.
I doubled over in my saddle, a snarl tearing out of my throat. My wolf rose like a storm through my blood, howling her name before I even knew it.
Thorne grunted, falling to one knee. "What the hell is that scent…?"
Her.
Just her scent was strong enough to bring down warriors.
It crashed through my men like a drug. They hit the ground, choking on the weight of her magic.
She fell too.
Her eyes widened, mouth parting in a silent gasp as she collapsed at the water's edge, hands shaking, legs folding beneath her like her bones had melted.
Power exploded from the altar, tendrils of blue fire lashing across the clearing. It didn't burn but it branded.
I was already off my horse.
My boots slammed the ground, and I walked through the fire like it was nothing.
Like it wanted me.
Like she did.
She looked up, dazed, chest rising and falling in shallow gasps. Her skin was flushed, dripping wet, glowing with a sheen of power and desire.
I reached her.
Her lips trembled. "What are you?"
"I don't know," I said, my voice cracked. "But you're mine."
She didn't speak.
She didn't have to.
Her pulse screamed it. Her scent moaned it.
Mine.
I pulled the silver cuffs from my belt and snapped them around her wrists before I could think better. She didn't resist. Couldn't. Not in this state.
Thorne stumbled behind me, panting. "What are you doing?"
I turned, eyes burning.
"Taking her."
"For what? Interrogation? She… she could be a Witchborn. You don't even know her name…"
"She belongs to me. I don't need a name to know it."
The words came from my wolf, not my mouth. Thorne flinched.
I dragged her gently but firmly from the water, wrapping her in my cloak. Her breath hitched when my skin touched hers.
Still trembling.
Still burning.
Still… perfect.
I bound her hands behind her back with the silver chain… not to hurt her, not even to hold her… but to remind myself I wasn't dreaming.
She belonged to me now.
But I didn't take her for strategy.
Didn't even ask her name.
I just needed her near.
Needed her safe.
Needed her out of sight before the others went feral from her scent.
My men stirred, shaking off the haze.
Thorne muttered, "You gonna tell them?"
"No." My voice was cold.
"They'll ask."
"Then you'll shut them up."
I looked down at her. Her silver hair clinging to her face, her eyes still glazed with the aftermath of the bond.
She was dangerous.
Probably a Witchborn and definitely an untamed one since they never leave their abode without company.
And yet, every instinct in me snarled to protect her. Even if it meant turning my back on every law I've upheld.
"If you take her in," Thorne warned. "You'll be taking the Witchborns as your enemies and I'm sure you don't want that Kaiden."
I turned to him and at that moment Thorne almost fell off his horse again.
"I don't care if she's the storm, Thorne."
He gulped and turned away.
And I'd just chained the storm to my side.
Goddess help me.
Because I didn't want to let her go.
Thorne's voice interrupted my thoughts.
"So what now, Kaidan? We drag a half-naked Witchborn into camp and pretend it's normal?"
I didn't look at him. Couldn't.
"She's not a Witchborn."
"She sure as hell isn't normal. You felt that magic." His voice dropped lower. "We all did. And you—what the hell is going on with you?"
I stared down at her. The soft rise and fall of her chest, the shimmer of power still clinging to her skin like dew.
"I said she's mine."
"Dammit, Kaidan, listen to yourself. You don't even know her name."
"I don't need to." My voice came out rough, half-wolf, half-man. "The bond is real. I felt it hit. So did you."
Thorne's jaw flexed. He didn't argue. Couldn't. He'd felt it too, just a taste and it'd almost knocked him flat.
"She nearly brought us all down with just her scent, Kaidan," he muttered. "If the others catch a whiff, we'll have a riot on our hands."
"Then I'll kill them," I said without hesitation.
Thorne flinched like I'd slapped him.
"That's the bond talking. You're not thinking straight."
"No," I said darkly. "For th
e first time, I'm thinking clearer than I ever have."
He shook his head. "And when the Witchborn come looking?"
I looked up, met his eyes full-on.
"Then they'll die."