Blood Calls to Blood
The interior of the massive, armored SUV was suffocatingly quiet.
The heavy, tinted windows blocked out the autumn sun, casting the spacious cabin in deep, claustrophobic shadows. We were sitting in the back of the custom vehicle, the seats facing each other like a luxurious limousine.
I was pressed as far back into the black leather corner as physically possible, my arms wrapped protectively around Leo. My dusty duffel bag rested at my feet, holding everything I owned in the world.
Sitting directly across from us, taking up entirely too much space, was Alpha Killian.
He hadn't spoken a single word since we left my ruined house.
He sat with his broad shoulders resting against the dark leather, his long legs stretched out, ankle casually crossed over his knee.
But there was nothing relaxed about him.
He was a coiled spring. His icy grey eyes were fixed entirely on my four-year-old son.
The silence was destroying my nerves. Every mile that passed took me further away from the safety of the human world and deeper into the lethal, unforgiving territory of the Shadow Pack.
"Mommy," Leo whispered loudly, breaking the heavy silence. He squirmed against my grip, pointing a small finger across the cabin. "Why is that man staring at me?"
"Hush, Leo," I breathed, frantically pulling his hand down and pressing his face into my shoulder. "Just close your eyes, baby. We're going on a long drive."
Killian slowly shifted his gaze from Leo to me.
"The boy is fearless," Killian rumbled, his deep baritone vibrating through the floorboards of the moving vehicle. "Most grown wolves cannot maintain eye contact with a Supreme Alpha for more than three seconds. Yet, he looks at me as if I am nothing more than a curiosity."
"He's four," I defended instantly, my chin jutting out despite the absolute terror freezing my veins. "He doesn't know what you are. He doesn't know to be afraid of monsters."
Killian's jaw ticked. A dark, dangerous shadow passed over his rugged features at the word monster.
"A human female cannot produce an Alpha pup of that magnitude alone, Clara," Killian stated, his voice dropping into a cold, clinical interrogation that made my blood run cold. He already knew my name from the mail on my kitchen counter. "The shockwave he produced shattered glass. Who sired him?"
My heart slammed against my ribs. I dug my fingernails into my own palms to stop them from shaking.
"A man," I lied, forcing myself to look him dead in the eye, drawing on every ounce of maternal courage I possessed. "A man who came through town four years ago. I didn't know what he was. He left before I even knew I was pregnant."
Killian stared at me. The icy grey of his irises seemed to pierce straight through my skull, searching for the lie.
Suddenly, a low, violent growl rumbled deep within Killian's massive chest.
It wasn't a growl of disbelief. It was a terrifying, feral sound of pure, unadulterated jealousy. His inner wolf was absolutely infuriated by the thought of another man touching me, even though Killian's logical human brain had absolutely no idea why.
Killian leaned forward, completely invading my space.
"Stay back," I panicked, pressing myself further into the leather.
He ignored me. He leaned in until his perfectly sculpted face was mere inches from my neck. He inhaled deeply, his nose brushing the sensitive skin just below my jawline.
I stopped breathing. The bitter, stinging scent of the witch hazel paste was overwhelmingly strong, designed to burn the sensitive olfactory nerves of any werewolf who got too close.
Killian flinched back slightly, his nose wrinkling in disgust at the toxic herbs.
"You smell like poison and dirt," Killian muttered, his glowing eyes narrowing into lethal slits. "Why do you cover yourself in wolfsbane, human? What are you hiding?"
"I'm hiding from animals like you," I snapped back, adrenaline making me reckless.
Before Killian could unleash the terrifying Alpha command resting on his tongue, a small body suddenly launched across the space between the seats.
"Leo, no!" I gasped.
My son had wiggled completely out of my grasp. Unbothered by the suffocating tension, Leo scrambled across the floor of the SUV and climbed directly onto the empty leather seat right next to Killian.
"Are you a superhero?" Leo asked, his striking grey eyes wide with awe as he looked up at the towering, scarred King. Leo boldly reached out his tiny hand and poked the dark, intricate tribal tattoo peaking out from the cuff of Killian's tailored suit.
My heart completely stopped. You do not touch a Supreme Alpha without permission. It was a death sentence in the pack world.
I lunged forward to grab my son.
But with blinding, impossible speed, Killian's massive hand shot out. He didn't hit me. He firmly caught my wrist mid-air, holding me back.
"Leave him," Killian commanded softly, his grip on my wrist unyielding but surprisingly gentle.
I froze, entirely paralyzed, as I watched the most lethal predator on the continent look down at the four-year-old boy sitting beside him.
The cold, ruthless mask of the King completely shattered.
Killian stared at Leo's small hand resting on his massive, heavily scarred forearm. The Alpha's chest heaved. A strange, agonizing look of profound grief and overwhelming protection washed over his sharp features. Blood was calling to blood, screaming a truth that his mind couldn't yet comprehend.
"I am not a superhero, little one," Killian answered, his voice impossibly soft, devoid of any growl or dominance. "I am a King. I protect my people."
"I protect my mommy," Leo announced proudly, puffing out his small chest. "That's why I yelled at the bad doggie."
A tiny, genuine smirk tugged at the corner of Killian's lips. It transformed his entire face, making him devastatingly, heartbreakingly handsome. It was the exact same smirk he had given me four years ago in the dark.
"You did a good job," Killian praised the boy, his large, calloused hand reaching up to gently ruffle Leo's messy black hair.
Leo giggled, leaning his head directly against Killian's massive bicep, completely content and entirely safe in the arms of the monster who had kidnapped us.
I slumped back against the leather seat, a single tear slipping down my cheek.
The sheer, undeniable bond forming instantly before my eyes was terrifying.
I had spent four years running, trying to rewrite the stars and hide my son from this violent world.
But looking at them sitting side-by-side—two identical pairs of stormy grey eyes, two identical arrogant smirks—I realized the absolute, horrifying truth.
I hadn't saved Leo from the Alpha. I had just delayed the inevitable.
The heavy SUV slowed down, turning off the main highway.
"We are here," Killian announced, his posture stiffening as the vehicle rolled to a stop.
I looked out the tinted window. We had passed through a set of massive, twenty-foot-high steel gates.
Beyond them lay a sprawling, gothic-style stone fortress completely surrounded by dense, black pine forests.
Hundreds of glowing eyes watched from the tree line as our vehicle pulled into the grand courtyard.
Welcome to the Shadow Pack. The prison I would never be allowed to leave.