Mated to the Enemy Alpha

Ashbane Territory – Midnight Borderline

The wind howled through the trees like a wounded beast. Pine needles whispered secrets Elle Davenport wasn't supposed to hear- at least, not tonight. Not while sneaking past the border guards with her hood up and her dagger sheathed at her thigh.

She crouched low behind a thicket, breath shallow, her pulse quick and sharp like the dagger she'd borrowed from her father's armory. Her auburn hair was pinned beneath the heavy hood of her cloak, and her amber eyes scanned the dense woods ahead. One more step and she'd cross into Nightclaw territory. Into his domain.

Alpha Brandon Osgood. Ruthless. Cold. Unforgiving.

The very name made her want to gag. She didn't come here to be brave or reckless- at least, not entirely. She came for answers. For weeks, Ashbane scouts had been disappearing along the border, and her father, Beta Calden, blamed the Nightclaws. But Elle had found tracks that didn't match any of the local wolves- deep, strange prints with claw marks that looked wrong, like they were dragging something.

And if she was right, something worse than rival packs was lurking in the dark.

Snap.

The sharp crack of a branch behind her made Elle's heart lurch. She spun around, blade drawn, but saw nothing. Just mist curling low to the ground, clinging to her boots like ghost fingers.

She exhaled slowly and turned back toward the border- Only to collide with a wall of muscle. Strong hands gripped her arms as a voice like gravel over ice growled, "Going somewhere, trespasser?"

Elle staggered back, dagger raised, but the man didn't flinch. Moonlight broke through the canopy, illuminating sharp cheekbones, jet-black hair falling into storm-gray eyes, and a jaw that looked carved from stone.

Brandon Osgood.

Elle's breath caught. No. Not like this.

"You have exactly three seconds," he said, "to drop the blade before I dislocate your shoulder."

She didn't lower it.

Instead, she stepped back, forcing calm into her voice. "You're mistaken. I'm not trespassing. Just...tracking something."

He arched a brow. "On my land?"

"I didn't realize the dirt had your name on it."

"I could carve it into you."

The silence crackled between them like lightning before a storm. Elle's heartbeat thundered in her ears, but she refused to look away. She expected him to lunge. To shift. To attack.

Instead, Brandon's gaze dropped- then snapped back up. His nostrils flared. He took a single step forward, and the change in the air hit her like a physical blow.

His eyes widened. "No," he muttered.

Elle blinked. "What?"

He closed the distance in two strides and grabbed her wrist. "You need to leave. Now."

"I'm not going anywhere until you-"

"Now, Elle." His voice was strangled. Hoarse. Filled with something that sent a chill down her spine.

She froze. "How do you know my name?"

He didn't answer. But his grip tightened, and the heat from his skin burned against hers. Her dagger slipped from her hand.

Then it happened.

A searing, golden light flared between them-just above their chests. A glowing mark began to bloom, curling across Elle's collarbone and Brandon's neck like molten vines. It pulsed with the rhythm of a heartbeat-their heartbeat.

"No," Elle whispered. "This isn't-this can't be-"

"Fate doesn't care what we want," Brandon said, eyes glowing with raw disbelief. "You're my mate."

Elle yanked her hand free and stumbled back. "No. You're the enemy."

"And yet here we are."

The bond hummed in the space between them, magnetic and hot. Her wolf stirred beneath her skin, clawing for him. She fought the instinct, grounding herself in rage.

"You rejected the treaty," she snapped. "You murdered our scouts."

"I didn't lay a hand on your people."

"Then why are they dead?!"

He growled, low and threatening. "You think I don't want answers too? My pack has been vanishing, same as yours. Something else is out here. Something neither of us understands."

She wanted to deny it. Wanted to believe he was lying. But the haunted look in his eyes told another story.

And that terrified her more than the bond ever could.

Behind them, a blood-curdling howl shattered the silence.

Not wolf. Not rogue.

Something else.

Brandon spun, already shifting. His bones cracked, body contorting into a massive black wolf with silver eyes.

Elle didn't wait. She reached for her blade-gone. She cursed and shifted mid-stride, her wolf exploding free in a flash of gold and fire.

They ran together.

Two sworn enemies.

Two fated mates.

Hunted by the same darkness neither of them yet understood. The forest blurred around them as they ran-two streaks of shadow and flame tearing through the undergrowth. Trees bent under the wind of their passing, leaves spiraling in their wake. But no matter how fast Elle ran, the scent still followed. Wrong. Rotten. Like ash soaked in blood.

Her paws thudded against the earth in rhythm with her pounding heart. Every instinct screamed at her-this isn't just a rogue. It was older. Wilder.

Up ahead, Brandon slowed, nose low to the ground. She growled low in her throat, drawing up beside him. His eyes locked on hers, silver gleaming with something between fear and fury. His fur bristled, hackles rising.

It's close.

Elle caught it too. The scent was stronger now-acrid, acidic, nothing like a wolf. Her wolf whimpered inside her, agitated, uneasy.

A branch snapped behind them.

They spun.

But it wasn't a beast that emerged from the shadows.

It was a man.

Tall. Bare-chested. Scarred.

His eyes glowed with a faint red hue. Not gold. Not natural.