The forest was eerily silent as I stood motionless, trying to make sense of what had just happened. My heart thundered against my ribs like a warning drum, reverberating through my chest. My senses were on high alert, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, a signal I had learned not to ignore. Something—no, someone—was watching me.
I turned slowly, eyes scanning the trees, trying to pierce through the thick darkness. The moonlight illuminated only fragments of the world around me. Shadows danced between the branches, and for a moment, I thought I saw movement—just a flicker.
"Who's there?" I called out, my voice shaking slightly but still defiant.
Silence. The kind that doesn't offer peace, but tension.
Then came the unmistakable sound of twigs snapping beneath heavy footsteps.
Panic rose in my throat, but I didn't run. Instead, I clenched my fists, grounding myself. I was no longer the girl who used to hide behind others. Not after everything I'd been through. But I wasn't foolish either. Not in a place like Blackclaw Ridge.
The scent hit me before he stepped out from the trees—a mix of pine, musk, and something dangerously familiar.
Mate.
My wolf stirred. I felt her pull, that magnetic yearning that screamed mine.
I stared in disbelief as the figure moved into the moonlight.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Dressed in black. His dark hair was slightly tousled, and his silver eyes glowed under the pale moonlight.
No. No. This couldn't be happening.
"Damien?" My voice was barely a whisper.
His name tasted like ashes on my tongue.
He didn't speak at first, just stared at me with those haunted eyes. The last time I had seen him, he had vanished from the pack after his brother—my ex, Caleb—had broken me in the most public way possible.
I tried to step back, but my body refused to obey. Every part of me screamed to run, to get away from this storm before it devoured me whole.
"What are you doing here?" I managed to ask, my tone hardening.
His jaw clenched. "I could ask you the same thing."
"I'm not in the mood for games, Damien. I've had enough of those."
His gaze darkened. "Then stop pretending you don't feel it too."
The pull. The bond.
My wolf howled inside me, clawing to get closer to him. But my human heart wasn't ready to surrender. Not again. Not to him.
"We're not doing this," I snapped. "Not here. Not now."
Damien took a step forward, and I instinctively stepped back, putting space between us.
"I didn't expect to see you again," I added bitterly. "After what your brother did. After what you left me to face."
His expression twisted, and for a moment, pain flickered in his eyes. "You think I wanted to leave? You have no idea what was going on behind the scenes, Aurora."
I flinched at the sound of my name on his lips.
He sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "You shouldn't be here. It's not safe."
"I'm not afraid," I said, although even I wasn't sure I believed it.
"Then you're being foolish," he snapped. "Do you even know what's happening in these woods lately?"
I crossed my arms, holding myself together. "I don't care. I came here to clear my head. I didn't expect to be… ambushed."
His eyes narrowed. "It wasn't an ambush. I was following a scent. A strange one. And then I smelled you."
I felt my breath hitch.
The mate bond was real. Undeniable. And suddenly, the past didn't matter as much as the truth settling over us like a shroud.
"I don't want this," I said softly. "Not with you. Not now."
Damien's expression didn't change. "You don't get to choose the bond, Aurora. Neither do I."
I turned away, facing the mountains in the distance. The peaks glimmered under the moonlight like ancient sentinels, unmoving, untouched by the chaos below.
"I just want to be left alone."
He didn't move closer, but his voice was low and dangerous. "You won't be safe out here tonight. There's something in these woods. Something unnatural."
"Like what?" I asked, half-hoping he was exaggerating.
His gaze was grim. "We're not alone. And it's not just wolves anymore. Something is stirring. Something old."
The wind howled, and I felt it again—that prickling on my skin, that primal warning in my blood.
Damien was right. Something was wrong.
But even more terrifying than the unseen danger in the woods was the truth settling deep in my heart:
My mate was the one man I had sworn never to forgive.
He was my true mate.