Leah's paws pounded against the damp forest floor, her breath steady but her mind anything but. The silence of the woods should have been calming, but it wasn't. Something was wrong.
The air felt too thick, too heavy.
Like something unnatural was near.
She pushed forward, trying to focus. Sam had assigned her patrol tonight, and she wasn't going to let her personal problems get in the way. Not the mate bond, not the pull in her chest, not him.
Especially not him.
She slowed as she neared the northern border, her nostrils flaring. The sharp, acrid scent of vampires lingered in the air, but something else was there too.
Something… unfamiliar.
Her instincts flared, hackles rising as she crept closer.
Then she saw it.
Or rather, him.
A figure stood at the edge of the clearing, leaning against a fallen tree like he didn't have a care in the world. Silver hair glowed in the moonlight, contrasting sharply with his dark clothes.
Leah's stomach twisted.
Alric.
She bared her teeth, stepping forward with a snarl. "What the hell are you doing here?"
He didn't even flinch. Just turned his head slightly, those molten-orange eyes locking onto hers.
Heat.
A pulse of warmth spread through her, the mate bond flaring to life in his presence. She shoved it down, focusing on her irritation instead.
Alric finally moved, pushing off the tree with a lazy grace that shouldn't have been possible for someone his size.
"Guarding," he said simply.
Leah narrowed her eyes. "This is our land. We don't need your help."
Alric smirked. "If I hadn't been here, you would have needed a lot more than help."
She stiffened.
Her eyes flickered past him, and that's when she noticed it—the faint scent of burned flesh.
Her stomach clenched.
"You killed them?" she asked slowly.
Alric's smirk widened. "I burned them."
A chill ran through her, and not just because of what he'd done, but how he'd said it.
Like it was nothing.
Like it was easy.
Leah shifted into her human form, crossing her arms as she glared up at him. "What the hell are you?"
Alric tilted his head, as if amused by the question. "You haven't figured it out yet?"
Leah scowled. "You don't smell like a leech, and you're not a shifter. So what are you?"
His molten eyes glowed brighter, and for the first time, Leah felt the full weight of his presence.
Ancient. Unyielding.
Something far beyond anything she had ever encountered.
He took a slow step forward, closing the space between them.
"I am a Hellhound," he said, voice smooth but carrying something dark underneath.
Leah's heart skipped.
"A what?"
Alric held her gaze, his expression unreadable. "A guardian of the underworld. A hunter of the damned." He paused, his smirk returning. "And apparently, your mate."
Leah's breath hitched.
Her mind screamed at her to reject it, to fight it, to run.
But she couldn't.
Because the bond pulsed between them, undeniable and unbreakable.
Her fists clenched. "You're lying."
Alric raised an eyebrow. "Am I?"
Leah swallowed hard, her chest tightening. She had spent her whole life thinking she understood the supernatural world, that she knew what lurked in the shadows.
But this?
This was something else entirely.
And worst of all…
She wasn't sure she wanted to escape.