Chapter 5 You were my mate

Chapter Five

Maxie’s POV**

The moment I stepped into the grand hall, I knew something was wrong.

The Lycan King stood in the center of the room with his guards circling him like a pack of wolves around a fresh kill. His golden eyes scanned every corner, every shadow, every breath of air, as if he were searching for something hidden.

Or someone.

Leo moved beside me, stiff and alert. “He is restless,” he whispered. “Too restless.”

Restless was an understatement. King Cameron’s aura rolled through the hall like a thunderstorm, crushing the room under its weight. Every wolf had their head lowered, throats bared in submission.

Everyone except me.

I walked forward, chin raised, meeting the King’s gaze head-on. His eyes sharpened, calculating.

“Alpha Maxie,” he drawled. “You took your time.”

“I do not answer to lycans,” I replied, my voice steady. “You asked for me. I am here. Say what you came to say.”

Leo sucked in a quiet breath beside me. Several guards tensed, ready to leap. But King Cameron only smiled, slow and cold, like a predator toying with prey.

“Always so brave,” he murmured. “Or perhaps foolish.”

My wolf snarled.

The King stepped closer. “I caught a scent near your borders today. Something rare. Something powerful.” His voice dropped into something darker. “A scent I have not smelled in years.”

My chest tightened. “I keep close watch over my territory. No threats have crossed into it.”

His smile widened. “Threats rarely walk into danger. They run from it.”

My heart sank.

Run.

Something in the back of my mind snapped. I felt a sudden pull, sharp and painful, through the bond I had spent years fighting.

Fear.

Tiara’s fear.

Leo looked up sharply. “Alpha?”

I tried to reach her through the bond. Even if she could not hear me fully, I could sometimes feel a whisper of her emotions. But this time, instead of confusion or uncertainty, I felt panic.

Pure, cold, suffocating panic.

I turned to leave, but King Cameron stepped into my path. “Leaving so soon?”

“I need to attend to something,” I said, struggling to keep my voice calm.

“You need to attend to me.” His tone sharpened. “Your hospitality has been lacking. I have not even been offered wine.”

“My apologies, Your Majesty,” Leo said quickly. “I will have someone bring refreshments immediately.”

The King ignored him. His gaze stayed locked on me, narrowing. “What has you so nervous, Alpha?”

I gritted my teeth. “Nothing.”

The King leaned close, his breath brushing my ear. “Then why does your wolf shake like he smells a ghost?”

Before I could respond, a guard burst into the hall, panting. “Your Majesty. A disturbance near the guest wing. A broken window.”

My heart dropped.

Tiara.

King Cameron’s smile returned, sharper than a blade. “Interesting.”

I didn’t wait.

I shoved past him and ran.

Leo cursed and sprinted after me. The warriors scattered out of the way as I tore down the hallway, my wolf clawing at my chest.

Not her. Not again. Not this time.

We reached the guest wing in seconds. The door to her room hung off its hinges. Wood splinters littered the floor. The air reeked of a scent that turned my blood to ice.

Rogue.

One of them had been here. One of them had almost reached her.

Leo swore. “Where is she?”

I shoved open the ruined door and rushed inside. The room was empty. The bed untouched. The candle still burning.

But the window was shattered outward, not inward.

She fled.

She jumped.

“Moon above,” Leo whispered, staring at the broken glass. “She went into the forest.”

My breath hitched. The forest was thick, steep, unforgiving. Wolves got injured in those trees even when they were trained. And Tiara, gods, she was still healing. Still fragile. Still confused.

She would never survive alone.

I moved to shift, to let my wolf take over, but Leo grabbed my arm. “Wait. The King will notice.”

“I do not care,” I snapped.

“He will think you are hiding something.”

“I am.”

Leo’s eyes widened. “Maxie.”

I didn’t stop.

I couldn’t stop.

I tore out of my clothes, bones cracking as the shift ripped through me. My wolf exploded forward, hitting the ground running before my clothes had even fallen.

The night swallowed me whole.

The forest was cold and thick with mist. Every tree, every branch, every movement pulled at memories I had buried so deep I almost forgot how they cut.

The last time I searched these woods at night, I never found her.

Not this time.

I threw my head up and caught her scent instantly. Fresh. Sharp. Laced with adrenaline.

Tiara.

My wolf howled.

I bolted through the underbrush, leaping over rocks, dodging branches that clawed at my fur. Her scent grew stronger. Closer. Desperate.

Then I heard it.

Footsteps. Snapping branches. Fast breathing. A stumble.

She was running.

And something else was following her.

Another scent filled the air. Not lycan. Not wolf.

Iron. Blood. Death.

A rogue.

I pushed harder, muscles burning, lungs tearing. The forest blurred as I surged forward. A growl ripped from my throat, deep and violent.

Mine.

My vision sharpened. My hearing tunneled.

Then through the trees, I saw movement.

A small figure stumbling through the brush, breathing hard, clutching her side. Her hair tangled, her feet bare, her skin scraped from the fall.

Tiara.

She turned her head slightly, eyes wide with fear.

And behind her, only a few paces away, a shadow broke through the trees. A rogue, gaunt and feral, hunger lighting its eyes.

My wolf roared.

Tiara tripped.

The rogue lunged.

I launched myself forward with every ounce of strength I had left.

I slammed into the rogue before its claws could touch her. We rolled across the dirt, teeth bared, snarls ripping through the woods.

I tore into its throat, ripping through flesh, letting the taste of blood fill my mouth until the creature fell limp beneath me.

Silence.

Only my own breathing. Hers too, soft and trembling.

I lifted my head.

Tiara sat on the ground, staring at me with wide, terrified eyes. Her chest heaved. Her hands shook. Dirt smeared her knees and arms.

When she finally spoke, her voice cracked. “Maxie?”

I shifted back, ignoring the pain, ignoring the cold, ignoring everything except the fact that she was alive.

I crawled toward her, reaching out slowly. “Tiara. You should not have run.”

“I had to,” she whispered, tears building. “Someone came to the door. Someone pretending to be Maren. I knew it wasn’t her. I felt it. I had to run.”

I cupped her face in both hands, desperate, terrified, relieved all at once. “You could have died.”

Her breath hitched. “I know.”

“You could have been taken.”

“I know.”

“And yet you still jumped.”

She swallowed hard, eyes shining. “Because I saw it. I saw you die in front of the King. I saw his blade at your neck. I saw blood. I saw me screaming. I could not stay. Not if it meant losing you.”

My breath caught.

Her lips trembled.

“You keep saying again,” she whispered. “You keep looking at me like I am someone you remember. Someone you lost.” She placed a shaking hand against my chest. “Tell me the truth, Maxie. Who was I to you?”

My heart stopped.

My wolf pushed forward, begging me to say it.

She watched me with a tear slipping down her cheek.

“Please,” she whispered. “I need to know.”

I closed my eyes.

Then I spoke the truth that had been buried in my bones for years.

“You were my mate.”