The full moon hung low and heavy over the ancient forest, like a glowing crown tossed to the sky. Its pale light sifted through the gnarled branches, casting eerie silver shadows that danced across the mossy ground.
Tonight was no ordinary night. The air hummed with a strange energy, thick and wild the kind that made every hair on my skin stand on end, the kind that whispered secrets only the oldest bloodlines could hear.
I shouldn't have been here. But something pulled me a magnetic tug beneath my ribs, a burning in my chest I couldn't ignore.
"Raven," a low voice cut through the night. Cold. Commanding.
I froze.
From the shadows, a figure stepped into the moonlight, tall and regal, his dark hair gleaming like black silk. His eyes, the sharpest blue I'd ever seen, locked onto mine with a possessive intensity that felt like a tether around my soul.
"You're not meant to be here," he said, voice edged with warning.
But I was already too far gone caught in a web of fate I didn't understand, yet couldn't escape.
My heart thundered in my chest, matching the wild rhythm of the forest. Something ancient stirred inside me, a pulse of power begging to be unleashed.
"Why does it feel like my whole world is about to change tonight?" I whispered.
He didn't answer. Instead, his gaze flickered toward the edge of the trees, where a second figure emerged tall, fierce, and raw, with chestnut hair and emerald tattoos winding like veins across his skin.
Kade.
The rogue.
The one who should have been my enemy.
But under the watchful moon, everything blurred loyalty, danger, desire.
And I realized, too late, that my life was no longer my own.
The prophecy had begun.
Before I can step back, the forest explodes into chaos. A howl shatters the silence a signal. Lucians jaw tightens, Riven's eyes flash. And from the shadows, dozens of glowing eyes emerge, circling us like hungry wolves.
"Run," Lucian commands. But the truth claws at me this night will mark the beginning of everything I feared, everything I was born to fight.
The forest around us seemed to hold its breath. The cold wind whispered through the trees like a warning a prelude to the storm I didn't know was coming. I stood frozen, heart pounding as the eyes in the darkness multiplied, glowing brighter like the very moon itself was calling wolves from every shadow.
Lucianl's voice sliced through the silence again, low and sharp: "Raven, get behind me."
Behind him, the ground thudded softly heavy footsteps growing louder in the underbrush. The pack was gathering, and I wasn't sure if they were there to protect me… or hunt me.
My mind scrambled for answers. How had I ended up here, alone, in the middle of the royal pack's forbidden forest, when I barely understood what I was?
Born human, raised in the city's cold steel and neon lights, I'd thought my life was ordinary until the night my blood started burning and my senses sharpened beyond belief. That was when the dreams began, dreams of wolves and crowns, of battles fought in shadow, of a destiny written in blood.
And tonight, under the blood moon's watchful eye, it all felt too real.
Kade shifted beside Lucian, his gaze scanning the tree line like a predator sizing up prey. His green tattoos pulsed faintly in the moonlight symbols I didn't understand but could feel vibrating against my skin. "They're here for you," he muttered, voice rough but steady. "Not all of them want to kill, but none of them will let you go easy."
I swallowed hard, wanting to run, but my feet were rooted in place. The pull in my chest grew stronger like something deep inside was waking up, demanding I remember something I had forgotten long ago.
Lucian stepped forward, his royal robes flowing like liquid night, the silver embroidery catching the moonlight like stars. "You carry the blood of the ancient line," he said, voice thick with something between awe and fear. "That makes you a target and a prize."
"Why me?" The words slipped out before I could stop them. "I'm nobody."
"Not anymore," Kade said sharply, stepping closer. His breath was warm on my neck, and despite the danger, a strange comfort bloomed there. "You're the key to everything. To our survival. To the prophecy."
"Prophecy?" I echoed, the word tasting like ash.
Lucian's eyes darkened, stormy and unreadable. "Long ago, our ancestors spoke of a Luna born from a human's blood a bridge between worlds, destined to lead the pack through darkness. That's you."
I wanted to laugh. Luna? Bridge between worlds? Sounds like something from a bad fantasy novel. But then the pack's howls shattered the night, and suddenly, none of it felt impossible.
More figures emerged from the trees, their forms shifting between man and wolf with fluid grace. I caught glimpses of fur, claws, glowing eyes the legends were real.
And so was the danger.
"Raven," Lucian said, his voice suddenly fierce. "We have to move. Now."
He grabbed my hand cold but sure pulling me through the undergrowth. My pulse spiked. Every step felt like I was sinking deeper into a world I'd spent my life running from.
The pack moved as one, silent and deadly. Kade stayed close behind, his presence both a shield and a challenge. I couldn't deny the attraction simmering beneath the surface — dangerous, forbidden, and utterly consuming.
As we broke through the trees, the clearing ahead took my breath away.
A circle of stones, ancient and worn, stood bathed in moonlight. In the center, a figure knelt, wrapped in shadows their identity hidden.
"Who is that?" I whispered.
Lucian 's grip tightened. "Our enemy. And the key to everything."
Suddenly, the figure raised their head, revealing eyes as cold and fierce as winter ice. A wolf's snarl twisted their lips as they stood, muscles coiled to strike.
"We're too late," Lucian said, voice heavy with regret.
The night exploded in violence howls ripped the air, claws slashed through flesh, and I was caught in the storm.
Fear clenched my stomach, but beneath it, something fierce ignited. I wasn't just a pawn or a prize. I was a force one that would decide the fate of the pack, the prophecy, and the man who claimed me.
Or the rogue who stole my heart.
The enemy lunged, and I braced for the fight of my life. But before I could react, a searing pain tore through my chest and the world went black.