Kael Storm wasn't afraid of many things. He'd faced rival packs, hunted rogue wolves, and led warriors into battles most Alphas avoided. But as Seraphina stepped out of the cursed forest, something in him twisted. She wasn't the same girl he had known. Her skin glowed like warm moonlight, her eyes shimmered silver, and the air around her felt... heavier, almost sacred. She didn't look at anyone but him. Not the priestess. Not the guards. Just him. The same way she had months ago when he told her she wasn't strong enough to be his mate. He remembered the crack in her voice, the pain she hid. Now she stood before him, powerful and distant, and for the first time in his life, Kael felt unsure of everything he'd ever believed.
The village fell into silence. People whispered prayers, knelt, or ran. Seraphina didn't flinch. She walked straight to the ancient altar at the village's center—the one where the dead were mourned—and placed her palm on the stone. The carvings glowed under her touch. The priestess gasped. "This can't be..." she whispered, trembling. Kael stepped forward, drawn to her like gravity. "What happened to you?" he asked, his voice rough, uncertain. Seraphina's gaze slid to him slowly, and when she spoke, it wasn't loud, but it pierced him. "I remembered who I was." The way she said it—it wasn't just about the forest. It was about everything. Her past. Her pain. Her bloodline. And suddenly Kael realized something terrifying: she had never needed him to survive. She had just needed time to awaken.
That night, as the village locked doors and prayed to the moon, Kael stood outside her old hut, staring at the place she used to sleep when she was small, alone, and forgotten. He remembered the way she used to follow him around as kids, the way she had once smiled at him like he was the only star in her sky. And now? He wasn't even a shadow in hers. But something darker stirred beneath his skin, something ancient. His wolf was restless, pacing. Seraphina had come back different—and his instincts whispered that her return would shift everything. Not just in the village. Not just in him. But in the world. And when the second howl echoed through the night—louder, closer—Kael realized something he hadn't thought possible: The forest didn't just change her. It had marked her. And something was coming for her now.