Three Alpha Brothers. One Broken Girl. No Way Out

LIORA

My lungs burned like fire as I stumbled through the trees, the sharp branches whipping my arms and legs. I could not stop. I would not stop. The guards were close, their voices loud and cruel behind me, shouting for me to drop. But I kept running.

My bare feet hit the cold, damp earth and slipped, throwing me forward. My hands slammed into wet leaves and I let out a sob, more from fury than pain. My bones ached, my skin stretched. It felt like my body wanted to shift, but I had no wolf to shift into.

"Get back here, Omega!" one of them screamed. "You are property now!"

I spat into the dirt and pushed up. "I am not property," I whispered, even though no one was listening. Not even the moon. The wind cut across my cheeks and I ran harder, heart slamming in my chest like it wanted to escape too.

Something cracked inside me as I pushed through another thicket. My vision blurred. My body shivered all over. My skin itched, pulsed. It felt like something was trying to break free. I did not understand it, and it scared me more than the men behind me.

"Surround her! Do not let her out of the woods!"

Their voices were too close. I turned sharply, leaping over a fallen log, but I did not land right. My ankle twisted and I cried out as I crashed hard into the ground. My fingers clawed the leaves, scrabbling for something, anything, to help me up.

Then I smelled it.

Not the blood on me. Not the sweat of the guards.

No. This scent was darker. Thicker. It wrapped around me like smoke and pulled a gasp from my throat. My body froze, my eyes wide as I slowly looked up.

He was there.

Huge. Wild. Towering over me like a nightmare given flesh.

An Alpha mid-shift.

His fur was dark, rippling like shadows with muscle beneath. His eyes glowed with gold light and his claws flexed in the dirt as he growled low and deep. He was not fully wolf, not fully man. He was something in between. And he was staring straight at me.

I scrambled backward, heart slamming, breath breaking in short gasps. "Do not hurt me. Please."

The creature did not move at first. His head tilted a little. His lips curled just enough to show sharp white teeth. Then he stepped forward, slow, careful. And the sound of it made my stomach twist.

"I said stay back!" I yelled, grabbing a branch and swinging it wildly.

He caught it in one clawed hand. Snapped it without effort. Tossed it aside. And then he spoke.

His voice was low and rough, but it was not quite beast. "You are bleeding."

I blinked. "What?"

"You smell like blood and fear. And magic." His eyes narrowed. "What are you?"

I shook my head. "I do not know. I do not know what is happening. Just let me go."

He growled again. "You ran from Thornmark guards. You are the offering."

I swallowed, my throat tight. "They were dragging me like meat. I did not choose this."

Another voice shouted from behind us. "Maddox! Step away from her!"

I turned sharply, just in time to see another man step through the trees. His hair was pale like frost, his armor shined, and his face was twisted with shock. He saw me and stopped cold.

"What did they do to her?" he asked.

"I do not know," Maddox said, not taking his eyes off me. "She is... wrong."

"I am not wrong," I said, even though it felt like a lie. My body trembled. My bones still ached like they wanted to snap into something else.

The new man stepped closer. "What is your name?"

"Liora."

"Liora what?"

I hesitated. "Duskbane."

His breath caught. I saw it. Just a flicker, but it was there. He knew that name.

"You should not be out here," he said softly. "Not in the woods. Not like this."

"I did not ask to be dragged from my home and given away," I said. "I did not ask to be a gift."

"You are not a gift," Maddox said. His voice was rough again. "You are a problem."

I snapped my head toward him. "Then send me back. Let me go."

"No," he said, eyes flashing. "You are in Thornmark territory now. You belong to us."

"I belong to no one."

We stared at each other. The air between us crackled. Not just tension. Something else. Something sharp and strange and hot. I felt it in my chest like a slow burn.

The pale one stepped forward. "We need to take her to the court. She is hurt."

"I am fine," I lied, swaying on my feet.

"No, you are not," he said. "And I am not going to stand here while you bleed."

Maddox's eyes narrowed again. "Touch her and she might explode."

"What?" I asked.

"She is humming," Maddox said, voice low. "Like she is full of something. Power. Or madness."

I could not breathe. My skin felt like it was burning. "Something is wrong with me. I know that. I have always known that. But I did not ask for this."

"We never do," the pale one said gently. "My name is Kael. And you are safe now."

I laughed, but it cracked. "Safe? You think I am safe here?"

"No," Maddox said. "But you are not dead. That is something."

My knees buckled, and I went down hard.

Kael caught me before I hit the ground. His arms were warm, steady. My head pressed to his chest and I let myself cry, even though I hated it. I hated how weak I sounded. How small I felt.

Maddox watched us, unmoving. His eyes darkened as he said nothing.

"I do not understand what is happening to me," I whispered.

Kael's hand ran gently down my back. "Then we will figure it out. Together."

The wind shifted. A rustle in the trees made Kael look up sharply. Maddox stiffened.

Someone else was here.

Watching.

Waiting.

My skin prickled, and my eyes snapped open. And that was when I felt it.

A pull.

From the darkness behind the trees.

Something ancient. Something mine.

And then the leaves moved.

And gold eyes blinked back at me.