For a heartbeat, the world was still.
The clearing stood frozen in the broken moonlight—Ronan bleeding behind her,shadows circling her like wolves made of night,and ten hunters staring at her with a mixture of hunger and dread.
The prophecy girl.The impossible mate.The human who shouldn't have survived the rejection.The one with power that belonged only to ancient creatures.
Evelyn Kane.
Her bare feet sank into the soft dirt.Her hair whipped around her face, carried by a wind that hadn't existed until she arrived.Her eyes glowed—full silver, bright enough to stain the whole clearing in pale light.
She looked nothing like the terrified woman Ronan had met days ago.
She looked like fate.
"Kill her!" someone shouted.
But the man's voice cracked halfway through the command.
Evelyn tilted her head slowly, pupils narrowing like a predator's.
"Wrong answer."
The shadows surged.
But the sky beat her to it.
The moon dimmed—then brightened—then flared blood-red.
Gasps erupted from every throat.
Even the hunters stepped back.
Ronan's wolf lifted his head weakly, eyes narrowing.
The Blood Moon.
But this was not the normal blood moon that came once every century.This was something else.
A moon soaked in prophecy.
The forest trembled violently.Birds fled in a frantic wave.Every wolf in the territory howled in instinctive terror.
And Evelyn—
She felt the power hit her chest like a burning star.
Her knees buckled.Her breath vanished.Pain seared through her ribs, her spine, her lungs.Her eyes burned like someone had poured fire into them.
"Evelyn!" Ronan's voice cracked through the bond—hoarse, desperate, furious.
She hit the ground, hands sinking into the dirt.
The shadows scattered, shrieking like living things. They weren't in control anymore—they were terrified.
The blood moon pulsed.
And inside her—
Something woke up.
Fire ran through her veins.Her heart slammed once—twice—then roared into a rhythm that didn't feel human.
Her vision blurred.Her hearing sharpened unnaturally—she could hear hearts pounding, branches cracking, the metallic tremor of silver blades.
And beneath it all—
Ronan's heartbeat.
Weak.Too weak.
Her wolf snapped inside her skull:
Stand.Protect him.Now.
Evelyn dragged herself up, trembling, breath shallow, but something impossibly strong unfurling inside her.
"What the hell is she?" a hunter whispered.
Another shook his head violently."No human can survive a Blood Moon surge—"
"She isn't human," Ronan growled from behind her, his voice vibrating with primal truth.
The hunters hesitated, exchanging uncertain looks.
That was all the opening she needed.
Evelyn lifted her hand.
Her fingertips dripped shadows, thick as ink, pulsing to the rhythm of her heartbeat.
A hunter lifted his blade. "Don't move—"
Evelyn didn't listen.
The shadows shot forward.
A black wave slammed into him, flinging him across the clearing. He hit a tree so hard the bark cracked. His weapon fell uselessly to the ground.
Another hunter lunged, blade raised.
She turned toward him—and her eyes flickered red for a heartbeat.
Not silver.Red.Like the moon.
The man froze mid-step, choking as his own shadow wrapped around his throat.
He clawed at it helplessly.
"Stop," Evelyn whispered.
Her voice wasn't angry.
It was command.
And the shadow obeyed—tightening.
The hunter dropped.
The others stumbled back, faces pale.
"This is wrong.""She's supposed to be untrained—""She's not supposed to have blood moon eyes!"
Evelyn tilted her head.
Blood moon eyes.
That's what the red had been.
She blinked once—and the silver returned, swirling with streaks of crimson.
The hunters turned to flee.
Evelyn didn't chase them.She didn't have to.
The shadows shot past her like arrows, slamming into the fleeing men and knocking them to the ground. They screamed, struggling, but the darkness held them pinned.
The clearing went silent again.
Evelyn's chest heaved with ragged breaths, her vision swimming from the surge. Every muscle in her body shook violently. She felt like she was burning from the inside.
The shadows slowly slithered back to her feet, coiling like tamed beasts.
"Evelyn," Ronan rasped softly.
She turned.
And the sight of him nearly collapsed her all over again.
Ronan tried to push himself upright, but his wolf form trembled. Blood dripped down his flank in steady trails. Silver glinted inside his wounds.
He was hurt.
Badly.
The moment she reached him, he nudged her hand with his muzzle, whimpering—something an Alpha never did.
Her chest cracked with pain that had nothing to do with the bond.
"It's okay," she whispered, running her hand through his fur. "It's okay, I've got you."
He growled weakly. "You should not have come."
"And you should not have been dying," she whispered fiercely.
His wolf blinked slowly, touching his forehead to hers.
"Claim me," he breathed—so softly she barely heard.
Evelyn froze.
"What?"
His voice was rough, desperate."If you claim me, I heal faster… I can fight."
Her heart stuttered.
"But the prophecy—"
"I don't care," he snarled through the bond. "I need you. Now."
Her breath hitched.
His golden eyes softened.
"Please."
Evelyn swallowed hard, tears stinging the corners of her eyes.
But before she could answer—
The shadows around them trembled.
Then—
Snap.
A twig cracked in the distance.
Evelyn stiffened.Ronan snarled.
More heartbeats.
Dozens.
No—hundreds.
Surrounding them.
The hunters were only the first wave.
Backup had arrived.
And they weren't human.
Wolves—feral, wild, untamed, breath steaming in the cold—stepped slowly from the trees. Rogues. A whole pack of them. Their eyes glowed red, wrong and rabid. Something controlled them.
Evelyn rose to her feet.
Ronan forced himself up beside her, swaying.
Their shoulders brushed.
The entire forest held its breath.
And the alpha rogue in front grinned, voice dripping with hunger:
"So… the prophecy girl finally shows herself."