Chapter 4 Hunting for me?

Chapter Four

Tiara’s POV**

The room went silent after his words.

Kill us both. Not threaten. Not punish. Kill.

My breath stuttered in my chest as Maxie’s hands slowly fell away from my shoulders. His eyes remained locked on mine, stormy gray swirling with something raw and unguarded.

Fear. Not for himself. For me.

“I need you to listen,” he said. His voice was low, steady, carrying the weight of secrets held for far too long. “You cannot have another episode like that tonight. Not when the King is here.”

My pulse beat unevenly. “An episode? Maxie, I saw something from your memories. I felt something. That is not normal.”

“I know,” he said. “That’s why we have a problem.”

I pushed to my feet, swaying slightly. “You cannot keep treating me like a puzzle piece you are trying to hide. If I am dangerous, I deserve to know why.”

He stepped closer. Too close. The kind of close that made the bond inside me ache and tighten until every breath felt stolen.

“You are not dangerous,” he murmured. “But what you carry is.”

I froze. “What I carry?”

His jaw flexed, and he looked away. “Your aura. Your presence. Your wolf. Everything about you draws attention you cannot afford.”

“Attention from who?”

“From the King.” His voice hardened. “From anyone with enough power to sense what you are.”

I shook my head. “I do not even know what I am.”

He looked at me then, truly looked, like he was trying to memorize my face before it disappeared again. “That is the only reason you are still alive.”

My stomach twisted. “Maxie, please. Tell me the truth.”

His grip tightened around the back of a chair until the wood creaked. “If I tell you now, Tiara, you will walk straight into danger because you will think you can handle it. You cannot. Not yet.”

The door suddenly swung open.

Leo stood there, breathless. “Alpha. They are requesting your presence. The King asked for you by name.”

Maxie swore under his breath. “Of course he did.”

Leo’s eyes flicked toward me. Softer. Concerned. “She should not be alone.”

Maxie’s posture stiffened. “She is safer here than anywhere near that monster.”

My heart thumped painfully. “Why does the King matter so much? Why does he make you afraid?”

Maxie’s jaw tightened. “Because he always takes what is not his to take.”

Before I could respond, Leo stepped forward. “Alpha. Now.”

Maxie dragged both hands through his hair, exhaling slowly as if he was forcing his wolf back down.

Finally, he turned to me.

“Stay here,” he said quietly. “Do not open the door for anyone but me or Leo. Do not speak to anyone. Not even if they claim I sent them.”

I swallowed. “Maxie, what if something happens to you?”

His eyes softened, the only crack in his armor. “I will be fine.”

He wasn’t convincing, not even to himself.

But then he stepped closer. Close enough that I felt the warmth of his breath. Close enough to feel the bond pull tight between us, a thread straining not to snap.

For one heartbeat, he lifted his hand as if to touch my cheek. Then he stopped, fingers hovering inches from my skin, trembling.

“I cannot lose you again,” he whispered.

I blinked. “Again? There it is again, Maxie. Why do you keep saying that?”

He flinched like I had slapped him.

Leo cleared his throat. “Alpha.”

Maxie stepped back instantly, all emotion wiped from his face. “Stay here,” he repeated.

And then he was gone.

The door shut behind them, leaving me alone with the pounding of my own heartbeat.

I waited five seconds.

Then ten.

Then twenty.

The silence stretched too long. Thick and suffocating. My wolf pressed beneath my skin, restless and unsettled, pacing in circles.

Something was wrong.

I crossed the room, pacing, trying not to think about the visions. Or Maxie’s fear. Or the way my heart seemed tied to his without my permission.

After several minutes that felt like an eternity, I moved toward the window. The torches in the courtyard flickered as warriors lined the path to the main hall. Their posture was stiff, guarded. Lycans in black armor stood among them, towering and silent.

My wolf growled deep inside me.

Not safe.

Not safe.

My chest tightened. “I should not just sit here.”

But Maxie’s warning echoed through my mind. Stay here.

Another ache cut through my skull, sharp and blinding. I grabbed the edge of the table, squeezing my eyes shut as another flash hit me.

Not a memory. Not this time.

A vision.

Maxie standing before the King. His head bowed. A blade pressed to his throat. My own voice screaming his name. Then blood. Everywhere.

I gasped, stumbling back.

“No. No, no. I cannot stay here.”

The air around me buzzed, my heart racing too fast. My wolf surged forward, her voice filling my mind with a single demand.

Find him.

I turned toward the door.

But before I could reach it, a soft knock echoed on the wood.

My breath caught.

“Tiara,” a voice called. “It is me. You can open the door.”

Maren.

Relief flooded through me. I reached for the handle.

Then stopped.

Maxie’s warning came back to me, sharp and cold.

Do not open the door for anyone but me or Leo.

I drew my hand back. “Maren?” I called. “Why are you here? The Alpha said no one should come in.”

“I know, child,” she answered gently. “But I came to fetch you. The King is asking to see you.”

My blood turned to ice.

No.

No, no, no.

“Maren,” I whispered, “why would the King ask for someone he does not know?”

She hesitated for a fraction of a second.

Barely noticeable.

But I noticed.

“Because,” she said slowly, “he sensed your aura.”

My wolf’s snarl ripped through my mind.

Not Maren.

Run.

I stumbled back from the door. “You are not Maren.”

Silence.

Then a sound that was not her voice at all. A deeper tone. Male. Cold.

“Clever girl.”

My heartbeat shot into my throat.

The door handle turned.

I backed away until my spine hit the window.

“Open the door,” the voice said, low and dark. “Or I will tear it off the hinges.”

My wolf stood on edge, fur raised, teeth bared.

Not safe.

The door shook under a heavy blow.

I pressed a hand against my chest, feeling the bond pulse like a desperate heartbeat.

Maxie.

Find him.

The second blow cracked the frame.

I lunged for the window.

Another strike.

Glass.

Wind.

Cold.

Branches.

I climbed onto the sill, heart racing so hard I could barely breathe. The forest below was a dark blur, wild and deep. But anything was safer than the thing on the other side of that door.

The third blow splintered the wood.

I whispered an apology to Maxie.

Then I jumped.

The world spun. Branches ripped at my arms, my legs. Pain shot through my side when I hit the ground. But I forced myself up, my wolf howling inside me.

Run.

So I did.

Through the trees, through the mist, through the cold night air that tasted like danger.

I didn’t know where I was going.

I didn’t know what waited ahead.

But I knew one thing with every pounding heartbeat.

Someone in this packhouse wanted me dead.

And Maxie was the only person who ever stood between me and the darkness looking for me.

Tonight, I was alone.

And the King had finally found what he had been hunting for.

Me.