THE BEAST STOLEN BRIDE

[LILY'S POV]

Ford ran like the devil himself was chasing us, and maybe he was. Maybe the devil wore silver fur and ice-blue eyes that had promised me forever less than an hour ago.

Trees blurred past. My fingers ached from gripping his fur, my thighs burning from holding on. Behind us, howls split the air. Tyler's pack. Still hunting.

We ran for what felt like hours before Ford finally slowed. He veered toward a rocky outcropping where a motorcycle sat hidden under camouflage netting.

He shifted back to human, catching me before I could fall.

"Get on," he ordered. He was bleeding from at least three wounds. The scent of copper and sweat clung to him.

"I don't even know you," I said.

"Get on the bike or I leave you here for Tyler's hunters." His gold eyes locked on mine. "Your choice. Live or die."

Behind us, the howls grew closer.

I got on the bike.

Ford swung on in front of me. He gunned the engine, and we shot forward so fast I had to wrap my arms around his waist or fall off.

His skin was hot against my palms. Scarred. My wedding dress was still damp from the river, cold silk clinging to my skin while his body radiated heat.

We hit the main road doing eighty. Ninety.

"Are you insane?" I screamed over the engine roar.

"They track by scent!" he shouted back. "Speed breaks the trail!"

Wind tore at my hair. The desert air turned cold as the sun dropped.

We rode for over an hour before Ford slowed, turning onto a dirt road that led nowhere.

Half a mile in, a cabin appeared. Small, weathered. Solar panels on the roof.

Ford killed the engine. Silence rushed in.

"This is my place," he said. "Off-grid. Neutral territory. Tyler can't touch you here without starting a war."

"How long have you been planning this?"

"Six months." He held out his hand. "Since the day Grant Mitchell told me what his son really was."

I stared at his scarred hand. Silver marks cut across his knuckles.

"Tyler did that to you?"

"Yeah. Silver chains. Three days." Ford's voice went flat. "He wanted information. I didn't give it to him."

I took his hand. Let him help me off. My legs buckled, and he caught me.

"Easy. Adrenaline crash."

His arms were warm. For one moment, I wanted to stay there.

Then I shoved him away. "You kidnapped me!"

"I saved your life. Whether you believe it or not."

"Why should I believe you?" Tears burned my eyes. "Tyler said you murdered your own pack!"

"And you believed him? Just like that?"

"He's my fiancé!"

"Was." Ford unlocked the cabin door. "Past tense. Come inside before Tyler's scouts find us."

I stood there, everything I thought I knew crumbling.

"What if I just walk away? Call Tyler-"

"Then you'll be dead by sunrise." Ford looked back at me. Not anger in his eyes. Grief. "And I'll have failed. Again."

"Failed what?"

"Keeping someone alive when it mattered."

He disappeared inside.

Tyler's voice echoed in my memory. I can't wait to make you mine. Finally mine.

Finally. Like he'd been waiting.

I followed Ford into the cabin.

It was small but clean. One room. Bed, kitchenette, wood stove. Ford pulled on jeans, his back to me. More scars.

"Sit. We need to talk."

"I want answers." I wrapped my arms around myself. "You keep saying Tyler was going to kill me. Prove it."

Ford pulled out a file folder and tossed it on the table.

"Open it."

My hands shook as I flipped it open.

The first page was a photograph. Bodies. Wolves torn apart. Blood.

I gasped, slamming it shut. "What is that?"

"Stoneclaw Pack massacre. Twenty-three wolves slaughtered." Ford's voice was ice. "Tyler ordered it."

"That's impossible-"

"Bank records. Payments to the wolves who carried it out. All traceable to Tyler."

"Those could be fake-"

"Testimonies from three survivors. All saying the same thing."

My head spun. I gripped the table.

"Why?"

"Territory. Power." Ford's jaw clenched. "And because my Alpha was going to report him to the Grand Council."

"Your Alpha?"

"I was Stoneclaw's Beta. Everyone I cared about died that night. Everyone except Owen and me."

The grief in his voice was raw.

"I'm sorry. But that doesn't explain why you crashed my wedding."

"Because Tyler's not done killing." Ford pulled out another document. "Marriage contract. Read clause seventeen."

In the event of the bride's death during the first year of marriage, all property, rights, and bloodline privileges transfer to the surviving spouse.

"I don't understand-"

"You're signing over something you don't know you have." Ford leaned forward. "Tell me about your parents. The ones who died when you were eighteen."

"Car accident-"

"I don't think they were your real parents. I think they were guardians. Paid to hide you."

"That's insane-"

He pulled out a birth certificate. Old, yellowed.

Lily Anne Blackwood. Parents: Marcus Blackwood and Elena Blackwood.

Not Thompson. Blackwood.

Marcus and Elena Blackwood. The names meant nothing. But looking at them made my chest ache.

"Who are these people?"

"Your real parents. Marcus and Elena Blackwood. Murdered when you were seven." Ford's expression was grim. "And you were there, Lily. You saw it. They just made you forget."

The room tilted. I stumbled backward.

"No. I would remember-"

"Memory suppression. Same drugs they used to keep your wolf dormant." Ford's voice was quiet. "Tyler knows what you are. Knows what bloodline you carry. That's why he chose you. That's why he rushed the wedding. And that's why he planned to kill you the moment you were legally his."

"No." Tears spilled down my cheeks. "You're lying-"

I lunged for the door.

Ford moved faster, blocking my path. "Where are you going?"

"Away from you!" I tried to shove past. He caught my wrists.

"Lily, listen-"

"Let me GO!"

A howl cut through the air. Close.

Ford's head snapped toward the window. "Shit. They found us."

He released me, peering through the blinds. His body went rigid.

"How many?"

"Ten. Maybe more." He turned to me. "In thirty seconds, Tyler's wolves break down that door. You have to decide. Go back to Tyler? Or trust me?"

Outside, footsteps crunched. Voices shouted.

"I don't even know you!"

"I know." Ford moved to the back window. "But you know Tyler. You know how he made you feel. How he always knew where you were. How he isolated you. How fast everything moved." His gold eyes found mine. "Does that sound like love? Or does that sound like a trap?"

The front door exploded inward.

Wolves poured through.

Ford shifted and launched himself at them.

"RUN!" he snarled. "Back window! NOW!"

I ran.

Crashed through the window, glass tearing my dress, my skin. Hit the ground running, my heart hammering.

Does that sound like love? Or a trap?

Behind me, wolves howled.

I ran into the desert, not knowing who to trust, not knowing what I was, knowing only one thing: Nothing would ever be the same again.