FATED TO THE RIVAL

Liana's POV

I didn't stop running.

Branches lashed at my skin, slicing shallow cuts into my arms as I tore through the trees, but I didn't feel them. I could barely feel anything. My heart was racing so fast I thought it might burst. My breath came in short, sharp gasps as I pushed my body harder, further, deeper into the forest—away from him.

The moment our eyes met, something inside me… shattered. Or maybe it awakened.

I collapsed behind a thick tree, my knees giving out beneath me. I clutched the earth with trembling fingers, trying to hold onto reality, to slow my spinning mind. But I could still feel him—his presence burning on my skin, his scent thick in my lungs.

Pine. And smoke. And him.

"Mate," Ria whispered again, for the hundredth time since we'd locked eyes. Her voice was soft and breathless, almost reverent.

"No," I choked out, shaking my head violently. "No. This can't be happening. Not him."

But she was already slipping into that haze again, obsessed, dazed, utterly enchanted.

"Did you see him, Liana? His eyes? The way he looked at us like we were everything?"

"He's Ronan," I spat. "He's the Alpha of Bloodfang. He's a killer. He's the reason we've had to hide our training grounds. He's the reason mother has scars. He's the reason we live in fear!"

Ria whimpered, but it wasn't guilt—it was longing.

"He's powerful. Fierce. A true Alpha. And he's ours. I've never felt anything like that before. I want him."

"You want a monster," I hissed, wiping the tears that stung my eyes. "You want to be claimed by the same wolf who's slaughtered our people?"

"I want our mate." Her voice was low now, dangerously desperate. "You don't understand, Liana. I ache for him. My soul feels ripped without him near. Don't you feel it too?"

Of course I did.

My chest burned with a pain I couldn't explain. An emptiness, like I'd lost something vital the moment I ran. And yet I knew—if I turned back now, he'd still be there, waiting to take me.

No. I wouldn't be claimed like some fragile thing. Not by him. Not by a Bloodfang.

I stood up slowly, every part of me trembling. I had to go home. I had to talk to my father. If there was any way to stop this, to undo the bond, I had to find it.

But a part of me already knew the truth.

The bond was real.

And Ronan… Ronan wasn't going to let me go.

And worse than that…

Ria didn't want him to