Page 48 of Rebel for Claws
Sitting up, she spotted him across the small room, already dressed in his thermal shirt and tactical pants, sitting rigidly in the rickety wooden chair by the frost-covered window. His broad shoulders were tense, and his jaw set in a hard line as he stared out at the pristine wilderness beyond. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his normally immaculate appearance looked rumpled, as if he'd been wrestling with invisible demons all night.
He looks like he hasn't slept at all.
A knot of concern twisted in her stomach as she pulled on her black lace bra and panties, then reached for her thermal shirt. The partial mate mark on her neck gave a faint throb as she moved, and she noticed Alaric's shoulders stiffen at the samemoment. The bond between them hummed with an unfamiliar energy, electric and foreign.
"Are you okay? I said to wake me if something happened," she said, pulling on her tactical pants with practiced efficiency. Her voice was soft but carried clearly in the small space.
Alaric's eyes shifted to meet hers, and she saw something unsettled there—a wildness that hadn't been present before. "I didn't want to wake you," he said, his voice rougher than usual. "Or alarm you."
Vivian paused in the act of pulling on her thick winter socks, studying his face. There was something different about him this morning, an electrifying intensity that made her wolf prowl restlessly. "Alarm me about what?"
He was quiet for a long moment, his hands gripping the chair's armrests until his knuckles went white. When he finally spoke, his words were measured but tinged with uncertainty. "Something in my blood has definitely awakened. My senses are enhanced almost a hundredfold. I can hear Logan's heartbeat three miles away and smell the individual scents of everyone in his group. I feel like I could run a marathon without getting winded, like there's this... power coursing through my body that I've never experienced before."
Vivian's hands stilled on her boots. The secondary prophecy's words echoed in her mind:unprecedented power... abilities unknown.She'd known this might happen, but seeing the reality of it reflected in his troubled expression made her chest tighten.
"You're concerned," she said, not making it a question.
Alaric stood abruptly, beginning to pace the small confines of the hut like a caged animal. "If this level of power and abilities has already awakened from just a partial mate mark..." He ran a hand through his hair, silver catching the morning light. "What's going to happen to me when we complete the mate bond? WillI even be myself anymore, or will I become something else entirely?"
There it is.The fear she'd sensed through their connection, the reason he'd spent the night sitting apart from her instead of holding her close. Vivian finished lacing her boots and stood, her movements deliberately calm despite the storm of emotions brewing in her chest.
"When my enhanced senses and magical abilities first awakened at fifteen," she said, walking toward him, "I felt exactly the same way. Like I was losing myself, like these powers were going to consume everything I was and leave nothing recognizable behind."
Alaric stopped pacing, his intense gaze fixed on her. "How did you handle it?"
"Badly, at first." A wry smile touched her lips. "I spent weeks convinced I was becoming some kind of monster. But eventually, I learned that the abilities settle after a while. You learn to work with them instead of against them. It takes time and practice, but you don't lose yourself—you just become more of who you were always meant to be."
The tension left his shoulders, though worry still creased his brow. "And if I become too powerful? If the other Alphas see me as a threat?"
"Then we'll deal with it." She reached for his face, her fingers tracing the line of his jaw. "Don't panic about something that hasn't happened yet. You're still you, Alaric. I can feel it through our bond."
He leaned into her touch, his eyes sliding closed for a moment. When he opened them again, some of his natural composure had returned. "You're right. We have more pressing concerns than my existential crisis."
"Exactly." She pressed a quick kiss to his lips before stepping back. "Now help me get the rest of this gear on. We have twenty miles to cover and a bastard to catch."
They worked in efficient silence, layering thermal clothing, tactical gear, and winter outerwear until they were both encased in protective equipment. Vivian strapped her throwing knives to her hip holster and secured her twin blades across her back, while Alaric checked their communications equipment and emergency supplies.
"Logan, this is Alaric," he spoke into the comm device, his voice carrying the authority of an Alpha. "We're heading out now. What's your status?"
The response crackled through immediately. "Three miles behind your position and ready to move. We found shelter in a cave system—everyone's rested and armed. Maintaining radio silence unless you need backup."
"Understood. We'll contact you when we reach the target location." Alaric clipped the device to his belt and shouldered his pack. "Let's go hunting."
The trek through the deep snow and mountainous terrain was grueling but exhilarating. Vivian's enhanced abilities allowed her to move with supernatural grace across the frozen landscape, while Alaric's newly awakened senses made him hyperaware of every sound and scent carried on the wind. They moved in perfect synchronization, two predators closing in on their prey.
This is what we were meant to do together,Vivian thought as they crested a particularly steep ridge.Hunt as one.
Hours passed in focused silence broken only by the crunch of snow under their boots and the occasional check-in with Logan's team. The sun climbed higher, casting everything in brilliant white that would have been blinding without their protective eyewear.
Finally, as they approached the twenty-mile mark, Alaric held up a closed fist. Vivian froze instantly, every sense sharpening as she followed his gaze toward a cluster of buildings nestled in a valley below.
"There," he breathed, pulling out high-powered binoculars. "Thorne's abandoned outpost."
Vivian accepted the binoculars when he handed them over, adjusting the focus until the scene below came into sharp relief. What she saw made her blood run cold.
The outpost wasn't abandoned at all. Armed human operatives moved with military precision around the perimeter, their tactical gear and weapons marking them as professional killers. Specialized crates were stacked outside the main building, and even from this distance, she could see the unusual modifications on the weapons visible through the partially open containers.
"Those weapons," she murmured, her voice tight with recognition. "They're designed for specific magical shifter types. Anti-magic ammunition, silver-core bullets, electromagnetic pulse devices."
