Maya POV
The sound of approaching riders made the ground shake.
I stood beside Kael at the cave entrance, my heart hammering so hard I thought it might break through my ribs. He swayed slightly, his injured shoulder bleeding through Zara's bandages, but he stayed upright through pure stubborn will.
Ten beast-men rode into the Cursed Valley on massive animals that looked like prehistoric horses crossed with bulls. Each rider carried weapons—clubs, spears, axes. And the lead rider carried chains that clinked with every step.
"Remember," Kael murmured to me. "Let me speak first. Only demonstrate your skills if I give the signal."
"What signal?"
"You'll know."
Not reassuring. But I nodded anyway.
The riders stopped thirty feet away. The leader dismounted—a massive hyena-shifter with a scarred face and dead eyes. He looked at Kael with the expression of someone evaluating a piece of meat.
"Kael the Silver Wolf," the hyena said. His voice sounded like gravel scraping metal. "Been a long time. Heard you died in exile."
"Disappointed, Mordak?" Kael's voice stayed steady despite his obvious pain.
So this was Chief Mordak himself. The brutal leader Kael had mentioned. Up close, he radiated casual violence—the kind of person who hurt others not from anger, but from habit.
Mordak's eyes slid to me. I forced myself not to flinch under his predatory stare.
"Heard you claimed a human female. Didn't believe it." He smiled, showing too many teeth. "My sons were right. She's pretty. Small. Weak. Exactly the type who needs proper protection."
"She has protection," Kael said. "Mine."
"From a crippled exile?" Mordak laughed. "That's not protection. That's a death sentence. Look at you—can barely stand. What happens when a real predator comes? Or a rival male? You'll fail her, wolf. Just like you failed your pack."
Kael's entire body went rigid. I felt rage pulse through our fate-bond so strongly it made me gasp.
"Careful," Kael said softly. Dangerously. "My pack's death isn't a joke."
"No, it's a lesson." Mordak stepped closer. "Weak leaders get their people killed. You were weak then. You're weaker now. That female deserves better."
"Better like you?" The words escaped before I could stop them.
Everyone turned to stare at me. Zara made a small sound of alarm. Kael shot me a warning look. But I was done being quiet while people discussed me like I wasn't standing right there.
Mordak's smile widened. "The female speaks. How entertaining."
"I'm not a female," I said, channeling every ounce of boardroom confidence I'd ever possessed. "I'm a person. My name is Maya Chen. And I'm not some prize to be won or lost."
"In the Beastworld, females belong to the strongest male." Mordak's tone suggested he was explaining something to a child. "That's natural law."
"That's not law. That's laziness." I took a step forward despite my broken ankle screaming in protest. "You call yourselves strong because you can fight? Real strength is building something. Creating. Surviving through intelligence, not just violence."
Mordak's smile vanished. "Careful, human. You're in no position to lecture me."
"Maybe not. But I'm in a position to show you what I can do." I looked at Kael. "That the signal?"
He looked torn between pride and terror. Then nodded once.
I turned to survey the barren valley. "You call this the Cursed Valley. You think nothing can grow here, water's scarce, it's worthless land. You're wrong. You're all wrong."
"Bold words," Mordak said. "Back them up."
"Fine." I pointed to the damp rocks where I'd dug yesterday. "There's an underground aquifer beneath this valley. Fresh, clean water. I found it in less than an hour using basic geology."
Several of the riders exchanged skeptical looks.
"Anyone can dig a hole," one of Mordak's sons said.
"Can anyone tell you exactly where to dig to hit water on the first try?" I challenged. "I can. Because I understand how water flows through rock layers, how to read mineral deposits, how to identify seepage patterns. I don't just find water—I can engineer irrigation systems to distribute it across entire settlements."
That got their attention. Water was life in this harsh world. The ability to find and control it was valuable beyond measure.
"She's lying," another son said. "Females can't do that."
"Watch me." I grabbed a stick and sketched in the dirt—a basic irrigation design showing channels, distribution points, and crop placement. "This is a simple gravity-fed system. No pumps needed. Just understanding angles, water pressure, and flow rates. I could build this in a week with proper tools."
The riders leaned forward, studying my drawing. Even Mordak looked intrigued.
"And that's just water," I continued, warming to my subject despite my terror. "I can design shelters that don't collapse in storms. Build kilns for pottery and metal work. Create food storage that prevents spoilage. I'm an architect—I literally design civilizations."
"She built a fire pit yesterday," Finn added helpfully. "Better than anything I've seen. Drew heat perfectly, no smoke."
"Impressive," Mordak admitted. "For a human. But here's the problem—" He moved faster than I could track. One moment he stood ten feet away, the next his hand wrapped around my throat, lifting me off the ground.
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't scream. My broken ankle dangled uselessly.
"All your clever tricks don't matter if you're dead," Mordak said conversationally, his grip tightening. "And Kael's too weak to stop me from killing you right now. So what good is his protection?"
Black spots danced in my vision. Through the haze, I saw Kael try to move and collapse. His shoulder wound had torn open from the effort.
I'm going to die. He's going to kill me to prove a point.
Then something strange happened. The fate-bond flared between me and Kael—hot, desperate, powerful. And I felt his strength pour into me through that connection. Not physical strength. Something deeper. Primal. His wolf essence, shared through our bond.
My hands, which had been uselessly clawing at Mordak's grip, suddenly felt different. Stronger. My nails lengthened into claws—actual claws—and I raked them across Mordak's face.
He dropped me with a howl of pain.
I hit the ground hard but rolled to my feet, staring at my hands in shock. Claws. I had claws. They retracted as I watched, fading back to normal human nails.
"What—" Mordak touched his bleeding face. "That's impossible. Humans can't shift."
Zara gasped. "The fate-bond. It's so strong she's borrowing his beast traits. I've never seen that before."
Mordak's eyes narrowed dangerously. "That makes her even more valuable. A human who can partially shift? Every tribe would go to war for her."
He signaled his riders. They dismounted, surrounding us. The chains rattled.
"I'm taking her," Mordak declared. "Kael, you're in no condition to fight. Surrender the female or die trying to protect her. Your choice."
Kael struggled to his feet again, blood streaming down his arm. "I choose death before dishonor."
"Kael, no—" I started.
"So be it." Mordak drew a wicked-looking blade. "Kill the wolf. Take the female alive."
The riders advanced.
Kael positioned himself between me and them, swaying but determined. He'd die here. For me. A male I'd known for two days.
And I'd be captured. Chained. Used.
Terror and fury mixed into something sharp and cold in my chest. The fate-bond pulsed again, stronger now. I felt Kael's wolf stirring inside me, lending me strength, speed, senses I shouldn't have.
No. We don't die here. We don't give up.
"Wait!" I shouted. "You want me? Fine. But not like this."
Mordak paused. "Explain."
My engineer brain raced through possibilities, calculating odds, finding the only solution that kept us both alive.
"Beastworld law says the strongest male protects his mate, right?" I said. "Kael's injured. Weak right now. But he won't always be weak. So here's my offer—give us two weeks. Let him heal. Then challenge him fairly. If you win, I come with you without fighting."
"And if he wins?"
"You leave us alone. Forever."
Mordak considered this. "Two weeks. But I'm leaving guards to make sure you don't run."
"Fine."
"And one more thing." Mordak's smile returned, cruel and calculating. "If Kael dies from his wounds before the two weeks are up, you're automatically mine. No challenge needed."
Ice flooded my veins. He was betting Kael wouldn't survive. That infection or blood loss would kill him before he could recover enough to fight.
"Deal," I said before Kael could protest.
Mordak laughed. "You just bet your freedom on a dying wolf, human. That's either very brave or very stupid."
"Maybe both," I admitted. "But I'm an engineer. I solve impossible problems. And keeping Kael alive for two weeks? That's just another equation to balance."
"We'll see." Mordak mounted his beast-horse. "Two weeks. Then I'll come back and claim what's mine."
The riders retreated, but four stayed behind—guards to watch us. To make sure we didn't flee. To report back if Kael died.
As soon as they were gone, Kael collapsed completely. I caught him, his weight nearly crushing me.
"You fool," he whispered. "You bet everything on me surviving."
"I'm not letting you die," I said fiercely. "We made a deal, remember? Survive together."
Zara rushed over. "That wound needs immediate treatment. And he's lost too much blood."
I looked at Kael's pale face, at the blood soaking through bandages, at the four guards watching us with predatory patience.
Two weeks to heal a dying wolf and prepare him to fight a battle he couldn't possibly win.
The math said it was impossible.
But I'd survived a building collapse, crossed dimensions, killed a sabertooth, and just grew claws through sheer willpower.
Impossible was starting to feel like my specialty.
"Get me whatever medical supplies you have," I told Zara. "And someone who knows combat training. If we only have two weeks, we're going to use every single second."
Kael's eyes opened, amber meeting mine. "Maya—"
"Shut up and let me save your life," I said. "Again."
Despite everything, he smiled. "Yes, ma'am."
As Zara rushed to gather supplies, I looked at Mordak's guards watching from the valley entrance.
Two weeks. Fourteen days. Three hundred thirty-six hours.
Time started now.