The forest woke up before he did. Wolves moved in the dark. The air felt sharp, different, and alive, every sound seemed like a warning.His heartbeat pounded hard like thunder in his chest. Raven stood at the edge of the ridge bare chested as the dawn was till a thin gray breath behind the trees.His wolf pushed beneath his skin trying to break out restless and hungry. The night has been calm until that pulse came raw and burning.It was magic. Old wild and female.He could sense it still humming along the borders of Duskfall like a stormy wind. His pack had gone silent as their bond felt shaky and full of unease. "Alpha," one of his pack member murmured with a low voice. "Do you feel that too?"Raven didn't answer because his eyes had already turned gold. The ground shook under his feet. The wind rushed down the hill carrying a mix of smoke, rain, and something else. Like something sweet and dangerous all at once. His curse stirred in his blood, as his old ache crawled up his spine. He tightened his jaw, he had never felt this kind of pull since he was born. The wolf inside him pressed forward, his teeth went bare, and tail high. Raven cursed under his breath. "Not now."But it was too late. He took off into the forest with bare feet and a graceful walk. Branches tore at his skin but his body barely felt it. The deeper he ran, the colder the air became. The hum turned into a slam,a heartbeat that wasn't his. The river waved ahead fast, and wild. The scent drew him closer and sharper with every step he took. Rain began to fall soft at first, then harder washing through the forest. Lightning cracked somewhere far off but he didn't flinch, he moved like storm itself, the kind that devoured peace and left only ruin behind.His wolf guided him now. And then he saw it. A shape, still, half curled on the river bank, pale against the dark stones. Her hair floated on the water. A soft light glowed from her hands, running along her veins.He slowed immediately. Every instinct in him screamed to approach and stay away but her scent hit him first.The kind of scent that doesn't belong to mortals.Magic glowed around her like fog as the air vibrated with energy. Raven's heart raced, he didn't know what it was… but his wolf did. His mate. The word cut through him like a knife. Her froze as the curse in his blood coiled, fighting to be calm, and trying to it burn away.His chest tightened until he could barely breathe.He stepped closer ignoring the roar building in his throat.She looked small, fragile, and soaked in rain, but something about her silence made his pulse hesitated.When he squatted beside her, the glow brightened. The rain didn't touch her, it curved around her body like invisible hands. He reached out his hand to remove a strand of hair from her face.The moment his fingers brushed her skin… light exploded.A shock tore through him, hot and violent. His wolf roared as his body locked. For a moment their hearts beat together.The magic climbed up his arm, hot enough to hurt.Raven's head snapped back as he tasted blood.The mark on her wrist flared red and then matched his. His curse reached first bursting like fire in his veins. The world circled, the forest trembled. He had never felt this before, not with anyone, not in all his years of silence and darkness.She wasn't just magic.She was the spark his curse had been waiting for and that terrified him.He pulled back his hand as his chest heaved. The rain hissed around them fast and heavy.She breathed then… one shallow shivering breath and the faintest sound that left her lips. "Raven…."He went still.No one knew his name out here. No one.
Her body moved before she woke up. She shivered first then a gasp. Her eyes opened to the morning light and a man squatted above her. Raven's hand lingered inches from her face. There was still a trace of light between them, his body locked in control, every of his muscle drawn.He didn't speak at first, he only looked at her as the mark of her wrist still glowed, faint but alive. "Who are you?" He asked in a rough tone.Sera blinked against the rain, her throat felt raw. She tried to stand but his hand pressed her shoulder down. "Don't move.""I…" her voice broke out. "Where am I?"He didn't answer as fury filled his eyes. His eyes moved from her face to the river and then to the edge of the forest where mist thickened again."You crossed my borders," he said. "No one crosses them."But she felt the pull again. That strange pulse in her blood. Her palms tingled, the light under her skin tried to surface but she forced it back. "I didn't mean to.""Liar." His tone was calm but the word hit. "Magic doesn't drift by mistake."The forest stirred behind them as a softer step entered. "Alpha Thorne," a calm voice said. Eveline walked out of the fog, her cloak soaked, and her hands open. The air changed when she came closer as the scent of herbs and salt replaced it.He turned to her, his attention shifted from Sera but didn't leave. "She's with me," Eveline said. "She's mine to watch over. She walks in her sleep, and I had to make sure she was safe."Raven's stared didn't move from Seraphina. "Your apprentice bleeds magic. That's not sleepwalking."
"I'm a healer," Eveline said calmly. "My home is on the border. You know the residue of herbs can..""….smell like witch fire?" He cut in. "Don't insult me."For a moment, none of them moved. Rain still fell on Sera's face as she tired to breathe without shaking. She didn't understand what had happened or why his presence felt like a storm in a body.Eveline went to her, kneeling beside her. She trembled as she touched her. The glow under Sera's skin dimmed. "You see?" Eveline murmured. "It's passing."