The cabin was barely standing.
Its roof sagged under years of storms, and the door had fallen off its hinges long ago. But it was shelter, and it would have to be enough.
Aria stumbled through the doorway, half carrying, half dragging the wounded Alpha across the threshold. Her muscles burned, her cloak was so drenched it was dripping wet. Breathing in ragged gasps, that's how tired she was.
She lowered him gently to the floor, laying him across the old rug that had long since lost its color. He was unconscious now, his chest rising and falling in slow, uneven breaths.
"You're not allowed to die," she muttered under her breath, pulling the last scraps of dry cloth from her backpack.
She knelt beside him, inspecting his wounds again. The makeshift bandages were soaked through by blood. It was a bloody sight. Blood leaked from between them, dark and heavy.
Aria's mind raced. She needed fire, or alcohol, something to slow down the bleeding. If she had her herbs from the northern hills, or silver root, iron back powder...that was, if only.
But she didn't.
She had nothing but the rugs which were already so soaked through by blood that they were wet and a dying person by her side.
The rain was heavy. Aria tried looking inside the cabin for anything she could use to no avail. The ground and everything outside was wet. Where would she find anything to light a fire?
Unexpectedly, Aria was able to start a fire, using a flint and the last bit of dry kindling hidden in the cabin's corner. The sparks sparked to life slowly, and finally caught, casting a flickering warmth into the small space.
Aria's hands were not without damage after that tiring battle. Her hands had already blistered, but the warmth from the fire was like a hope found after so long that Aria did not flinch but instead warmed her hands over the fire, dispelling the cold.
The Alpha was still in a dead faint. He had not stirred.
Aria returned to his side. His skin was very pale now, from how heavily he was loosing blood. His breathing was so shallow you could barely tell if he was still alive. But she could still feel the power in him, still pulsing faintly beneath the surface.
"Who are you?" she whispered, barely audible, brushing aside his dark fringes from his face.
Up close, he looked even more dangerous but strangely beautiful. He was a sight to behold.
High cheekbones, strong jaw, and those lips, strangely they were tempting. Aria turned her head away to dispel the funny thoughts taking root in her head when she noticed a faint scar just below his ear. It was deep seeming old.
He did not look like a wolf in these parts. His features were foreign, regal. Especially his silver eyes. It was nothing like she had seen before. Something she had only ever heard of from tales of the past. He looked like someone who had been through countless wars, especially the sharpness in his eyes.
She frowned, her fingers brushing against something around his neck, a leather cord, almost hidden beneath his shirt. She pulled gently revealing a peendant. It was cracked, the edges looking like they had been scorched by fire.
She stood up with a start. Her heart stopped.
The Royal Crest.
The symbol of the Midnight Claw Pack, the most feared ruling Alpha bloodline in the entire nation. The pack that hadn't been seen in public for over a millennium. The one rumored to be extinct after the fire at Silver Hollow.
Aria's hand trembled.
No. It couldn't be.
The stores said their last Alpha, Darius Blackthorn, had died along with others.
But the man she just saved wore the Royal Crest.
If he was who she thought he was....
If the man was him…
Then everything was about to change.
Aria's breath was caught. She backed away slowly, heart pounding.
Her body was screaming for her to leave.
Run, run far away, far from this cabin, far from the man that was unconscious, for she was not sure of the chaos that would follow if the man were to awaken.
But her wolf didn't let her move. It was struggling to stay, it was struggling to take over her body and shift.
Aria was sweating heavily due to her fighting for control with her wolf. She stared into his face again, not understanding why her wolf was so desperate to stay by the man's side when they had never crossed paths before. Aria's wolf was not one to come out. She would only ever let it come out once in a while for a run, but it had never been as in control as it was trying to be right now.
So at that moment, she made a choice.
She would keep him alive.
Even if it meant putting herself in danger.
Because whatever secrets he held, she had a feeling that Alpha was connected to her wolf one way or the other. She wasn't sure what to make of it yet, but she was determined to find out.