The Billionaire's Forbidden Mate

The forest was on fire.

Not with flames, but with screams.

Layla ran barefoot across the dirt, the cold roots slicing into her skin as she stumbled through the trees. Her breath tore from her lungs in ragged gasps, each one burning more painfully than the last. She didn't dare look back. She didn't need to. She could still hear them.

The rogues.

Their growls rattled through the night like thunder, vibrating through her bones. They were close, too close. The scent of blood and wet fur followed her like a curse, a metallic perfume that clung to her skin.

Keep running.

Her wolf whispered inside her, trembling.

Layla pushed harder, legs shaking from exhaustion. She had shifted for the first time only an hour ago, violently, painfully, unexpectedly. She had barely understood what was happening before the attack came.

Rogue wolves had stormed their camp without warning. One moment, she was celebrating her first shift with the few pack members who still tolerated her. The next, she was watching them die.

Jax...

Nora...

The Beta's son...

Gone.

She didn't know who survived, if anyone did. She didn't even know why the rogues attacked. But she knew one thing:

They weren't after the pack.

They were after me.

Her heart hammered painfully as she leapt over a fallen log, nearly collapsing on the other side. She pressed a hand to her side, feeling the sting of a claw wound slicing under her ribs.

Not yet. Not here. Don't stop.

Her wolf begged her to shift again, to run on four legs instead of two. But Layla was too weak. Her bones still ached from the first transformation, her body trembling from exhaustion.

So she ran as a human, stumbling between trees, branches whipping against her skin. The night air was thick with the scent of danger, the moon glaring down at her like an unforgiving eye.

A howl ripped through the forest, closer now.

Layla choked on a sob.

"Please," she whispered to no one. "Please, not like this."

Ahead, the forest thinned. The glow of distant city lights flickered through the trees like stars fallen to earth. Layla pushed toward them, her heart soaring with a single desperate hope.

If I can reach the city, they won't follow.

Humans. Noise. Cars. Lights.

They won't risk exposing themselves.

Branches tore at her hair as she sprinted toward the clearing.

Behind her, the rogues crashed through the trees like a storm.

Layla burst out of the forest and into the open, her feet hitting pavement so hard she cried out. The sudden brightness blinded her. Streetlights, neon signs, an endless stretch of buildings towering in the night.

Civilization.

She didn't slow.

Cars honked. People shouted as she darted across the road like a wild animal. She didn't stop to explain or apologize. Fear drowned out everything.

Her legs finally gave out when she reached a narrow alley between two tall buildings. Layla collapsed against the cold brick wall, her breaths sharp