Knotting His Rejected Breeder

Dane reined his black stallion to a sharp halt where the Old Farming Road cut through the dark canopy of the forest, right where his scouts had reported finding the abandoned, splintered wagon. He dismounted smoothly, his leather boots sinking into the damp, mossy earth. The forest was uncharacteristically quiet, save for the wind rustling through the pines.

Henrik pulled up beside him, his horse snorting in protest as he dragged on the reins. He exhaled a heavy, exasperated sigh that echoed in the quiet woods.

"Whoever is hunting her has long caught up by now, Dane. Whatever dark business she and her family are entangled in, it isn’t our concern. We have bigger obligations."

"You swore we’d find her," Dane said, his voice dropping into a flat, icy register that left no room for argument. He didn’t turn around to look at his second-in-command. "That’s the only reason I permitted you to ride with me. If you’re not going to be of any help searching for her, then turn your horse around and head back to camp."

"We should turn back!" Henrik snapped, leaning forward over his saddle horn, his eyes wide with frustration. "We need to stay focused on our mission. Need I remind you why we came to Silvercrest in the first place?! They expect you to win the Princess hand. But you have clearly lost sight of which Princess that is. Her name is Aurora. Let me spell that out for you. A.U.R.O.R.A. Aurora."

Ignoring the tirade, Dane stepped off the main path and walked toward the treeline near the overturned wagon. Two sentries, who had been shadowing their movement from the brush, stepped out from the treeline, watching Dane’s subtle hand gestures before melting back into the shadows.

Henrik swung his leg over his mount and hit the ground with an agitated huff, trailing close behind Dane. "Look at how you’re risking everything over a girl you barely know! Why are you so bloody obsessed with a stranger, Dane? What has gotten into you?"

Dane paused, his eyes scanning the crushed ferns and bent saplings. He quieted his breathing, letting his senses expand. "I don’t fully understand it myself," he admitted, his voice low and thoughtful. "Ever since that encounter in the market with her... My wolf hasn’t settled since. I developed a soft spot for her."

"A soft spot," Hendrick muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes. "Unbelievable."

Dane reached into his coat and pulled out a scrap of grey wool torn from her skirt and the wooden wolf. He tossed Hendrick the wooden wolf.

Dane lifted the cloth to his nose, inhaling deep. Hendrick did the same with the wooden wolf. The scent was faint. Together, they began circling the clearing, moving in widening arcs, noses slightly flared as they searched for her larger scent trail.

Suddenly, both men froze at the exact same instant, turning their gazes toward a dense, shadowy trail where the canopy blocked out the moonlight.

Hendrick tilted his head, a wry, reluctant smirk touching his lips as he looked over at Dane. "Well... we still might be able to salvage your hero complex after all, Alpha. That scent matches her lilac perfume. Fresh, too."

They had caught Destiny’s trail.

Moving silently through the underbrush, they moved like hunting predators. Within minutes, the sound of raised voices and harsh breathing drifted through the trees. They closed in on a small clearing hidden by towering oaks.

Dane abruptly threw out a flat arm, catching Henrik across the chest to halt him behind a massive oak trunk. "Wait," Dane murmured, his eyes locking onto the scene ahead. "Let’s see how this plays out."

"You’re coming with us, Destiny," the lead rogue sneered. "Tell the old fool to stand down. We outnumber you. Come quietly, and nobody has to get hurt."

Destiny’s father planted his feet. "You don’t have a clue who you’re messing around with, boy."

Destiny didn’t stay hidden behind her father. She pushed past his arm, stepping into the light, her eyes flashing with pure, fiery defiance. "Hey, bastard! Who are you calling an old fool? Why don’t you bring your head over here so I can rip it off the rest of your body?!"

Behind the oak tree, Dane and Hendrick exchanged startled glances.

The lead rogue’s expression darkened into ugly rage. "Kill the old folks," he barked at his men. "Bring me the girl alive!"

Four attackers lunged at once. Destiny’s father met the first two with raw aggression, but he was far past his prime. An experienced, battle-scarred fighter dodged his heavy swing, slipped behind him, and pinned him in a suffocating headlock within seconds.

Destiny sidestepped the rogue charging her, grabbed his arm, and drove him face-first into a boulder, taking him out of the fight temporarily. But her mother had no such luck. The remaining rogue tackled her hard into the dirt, pinning her wrists above her head while his jaws snapped inches from her throat, his teeth sinking slightly into the column of her neck.

"Stop!" Destiny screamed, the defiance in her voice instantly cracking into desperation. "Stop! I surrender! Just leave them alone!"

"Music to my ears," the lead rogue grinned. "But your surrender means nothing to me now, sweet girl. Slaughter the old folks."

Dane crossed the clearing in a heartbeat, appearing behind the rogue holding Destiny’s father. Henrik struck simultaneously, closing on the attacker holding her mother down. They plunged their bare hands straight into the backs of the attackers, tore out their still-beating hearts, and tossed them carelessly into the dirt.

The two rogues collapsed instantly, lifeless.

Dane stepped forward, wiping a speck of blood from his jaw with the back of his hand, his eyes cold and terrifyingly calm. "My, my," Dane said, his voice smooth as silk. "Her surrender means nothing to you? You should be ashamed of yourself."

The lead rogue gasped, taking a panicked step back as he felt the crushing weight of Dane’s aura wash over the clearing. His eyes widened in utter horror as he recognized the face. "Alpha... Alpha Dane..."

Without waiting another second, the guy turned on his heels and bolted into the pitch-black woods, crashing through the bushes in absolute terror.

Dane didn’t bother giving chase. He turned his attention to the man on the ground and extended a hand. "Are you hurt?" he asked softly, pulling Destiny’s father up effortlessly.

The older man winced, rubbing his bruised throat, but managed a faint, rugged chuckle. "You should see the other guy. Thank you... Alpha."

Destiny stood frozen, her eyes wide as she looked from the dead rogues to Dane. "Alpha?" she repeated, her voice dripping with surprise.

Henrik stepped forward, brushing the forest debris off his tunic with a theatrical gesture. "That’s Alpha Dane. Newly crowned leader of the Blood Moon pack."

Destiny’s jaw tightened slightly as a flush of embarrassment hit her cheeks. She straightened her shoulders. "If I had known you were an Alpha, I would’ve minded the way I talked to you in the market earlier. Thank you for rescuing me and my family."

Dane offered a quiet, reassuring smile. "You are very welcome. Now... who were those men?"

Destiny turned sharply toward her parents, her concern instantly shifting back to the mystery surrounding them. "Yes, Mom, Dad—who is after me? Who knows me well enough to call me by my name in the middle of nowhere?"

Her mother gathered herself from the ground, leaning heavily on her husband. "We don’t know, darling," she whispered. "If we knew, do you really think we would ever put you in danger like this?"

Henrik crossed his arms, leaning against a tree. "Looks to me like you all are already in deep danger."

"We can help you," Dane offered immediately, stepping closer to the family. "Just tell us who is hunting you."

"Alpha, we really don’t know," her father said, his voice trembling with anger. "The point is... someone abandoned her as an infant in the woods. We took her in. We raised her as our own. And now, suddenly, someone wants her back. Can you imagine? After all the love and sacrifices we gave, they just want to come and snatch our precious Destiny away? I will never allow it."

"We would die before we let anyone take our baby girl," her mother added, her eyes flashing with fierce protectiveness that matched her husband’s.

Dane nodded with deep respect. "You won’t have to die. I can protect you. You’re welcome to come with us after the Ceremony of Choosing, if you’re tired of living on the run."

Henrik turned to Dane, his eyes practically bugging out of his head. "They are?!" he asked, horrified at the thought of bringing unknown fugitives back to their pack.

"Silvercrest isn’t safe for us anymore," Destiny murmured, looking down at her scraped knuckles. "Besides, Mom, Dad... we were already considering leaving."

Her father raised a hand, looking at Dane with deep mistrust. "Why would an Alpha who doesn’t even know us give a shit about us? How do I know you’re not from her past? How do I know you’re not part of the group trying to take her away? Destiny, don’t easily trust strangers. Just because someone offers you help doesn’t always mean they are genuine."

Dane met the older man’s suspicious gaze head-on without taking offense. "You are right to question us. You’d be a fool not to. But I told you—I have a soft spot for your daughter. My wolf wouldn’t let me sleep at night if I let anything happen to her. So, I am not leaving until I know exactly what your family is running from, and until she is safe."

Henrik threw his hands up in genuine amazement. "Wait, we’re not leaving?!"

Dane shot Hendrick a sharp, cool side-glance. "I said I am not leaving. You can go ahead and turn back if you want." He turned back to the family, his voice softening. "Look here, Mr. and Mrs..."

"Vance," Destiny supplied without hesitation.

"Mr. and Mrs. Vance," Dane said firmly. "I can’t force you to trust me. And I don’t fully understand why every instinct in my body is telling me to protect your daughter. But if you want to keep her alive, you have to give me the benefit of the doubt."

Destiny looked between Dane’s unwavering gaze and her exhausted parents. She stepped forward, laying a hand on her father’s arm. "Dad, we can’t outrun whoever is coming after me on our own. I almost lost both of you tonight. I wouldn’t trust blindly either... but something in my gut says we should follow the Alpha."

Henrik rubbed his temples, muttering under his breath, "Oh, great. Now this is completely awkward."

Dane smiled faintly, gesturing back toward the main trail where their horses were tied. "Now please, come on. Mount up. I have a Ceremony of Choosing to get to."

Without another word, the group made their way back to the road. The tension remained, but a fragile pact had been formed. They rode hard through the remaining darkness, the trees blurring past them until the grand stone towers and illuminated spires of Silvercrest Castle broke through the forest line ahead.

As they approached the outer gates, the low, reverberating sound of ceremonial horns echoed across the valley, signaling that the Ceremony of Choosing had already begun.

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