The forest was too quiet.
Too still.
Evelyn felt it first — a tension in the air, like the world was holding its breath. The shadows curled at her ankles, restless. Warning her.
Ronan was already striding ahead of his warriors when she caught up, breath sharp.
"What do you feel?" she whispered.
He didn't answer immediately. His jaw tightened, nostrils flaring. Then—"They're here."
The Ironfang.
The enemy pack that had hunted her for weeks. The ones who wanted her blood, her power, her head.
The ones who would never stop.
The moon was a thin crescent above them, but the scent of danger was thick — metallic, electric.
Alpha Caden and his warriors appeared at the tree line, torches burning behind them like a second sunrise.
Evelyn's heartbeat slammed painfully.She knew that face, those yellowed eyes, that cold hunger.
He was the one who had chained her.The one who had tried to break her.
Ronan's growl vibrated the ground.
"Stay behind me," he muttered.
But Evelyn stepped forward instead.
"No."
Ronan shot her a look — the look — the one that said he would rather tear the world apart than let anything touch her.But she was done being hidden.Done being a weakness.Done letting anyone else fight her battles.
The shadows whispered around her:
Let us free…
Caden smirked when he saw her."So the little monster returns."
Ronan moved so fast the air cracked — he was in front of Evelyn, teeth bared.
"Call her that again," he snarled, "and I'll rip out your tongue."
Some of Ironfang's wolves shifted nervously.Others smirked.Bloodthirsty.
Caden spread his arms."Let's end this, Ronan. You hide a threat in your territory. A cursed mate. A witch-made abomination."His eyes gleamed at Evelyn."She belongs to me."
Ronan lunged — but Evelyn grabbed his arm.
"Wait."
He froze.
She stepped past him.
Every warrior — friend and enemy — stilled as the shadows rose behind her like a black halo.
"You took me once," she said softly."You thought I was weak."
Caden laughed. "You were weak."
Her eyes flickered — black, then silver, then black again.
The forest answered her.
"No," she whispered."I was dormant."
The battle began in a single breath.
A howl split the night — raw, violent, hungry for blood.
Then chaos.
Ironfang wolves shifted mid-leap, fur bursting through skin, claws glinting like knives.
Ronan's warriors roared back, forming a defensive crescent around Evelyn.
Ronan shifted in a flash of silver — huge, brutal, magnificent — and launched himself at Caden.
The two alphas collided with a sound like thunder.
Evelyn didn't shift.
She didn't need to.
The shadows surged through the air, swirling around her arms like smoke turned alive.She lifted her hand—And darkness obeyed.
A wolf charged her—The shadow coiled and snapped like a whip, throwing him into a tree so hard the trunk cracked.
Another leapt—She twisted her wrist, and the darkness spiraled upward, wrapping the wolf mid-air and slamming him into the ground.
Warriors stared, stunned.
Some terrified.
Some awestruck.
None dared touch her.
But the enemy was endless.
Evelyn's power rippled — beautiful and terrifying — until her legs faltered.Her vision wavered.The shadows trembled, flickering like dying flames.
Too much.Too fast.
She stumbled—
And an Ironfang warrior burst from the bushes behind her.
Claws out.Teeth bared.Aiming straight for her throat.
Ronan felt it.He whipped around, eyes wild — too far to reach her in time—
"EVIE!"
But a snarl exploded beside her, and Ash — Ronan's Beta — tackled the wolf to the ground, ripping him away from her.
"Breathe!" Ash shouted at her."Don't lose control—!"
But Evelyn was losing it.
The world blurred.Her pulse pounded painfully.The shadows around her flared too bright, too sharp—Then snapped violently inward.
Her knees buckled—
And Ronan was suddenly there, catching her before she hit the ground.
His chest was heaving.Blood matted his fur.But his eyes — his eyes were all fear.
"Evie— look at me," he rasped (half-shifted, voice broken and rough)."Stay with me."
"I— I can keep fighting," she whispered.
He shook his head once, hard.
"No. You'll kill yourself."
But the shadows hissed around her:
More… more… MORE…
Caden laughed from across the battlefield.His face was bloody.His grin was sharp.
"She can't control it," he taunted."She'll destroy you before she destroys us."
Ronan's wolf snapped its jaws.
Evelyn swayed, clutching Ronan's arm.
"I won't hurt you," she whispered.
He pressed his forehead to hers.
"You already did," he murmured, voice trembling."When you almost died."
Then:
"Let me protect you, dammit."
For the first time, Evelyn didn't argue.
She nodded.
Ronan rose to his full wolf height, pulling her behind him—
But the sky suddenly erupted with another howl.
Deep.Ancient.
The kind that made the ground vibrate.
Warriors froze mid-strike.
Shadows hissed.
Ronan stiffened.
Evelyn looked up.
And her heart slammed into her ribs.
From the darkness of the forest…A third pack emerged.
Not Ironfang.Not Moonfall.
These wolves were bigger.Older.Scarred.
The ones whispered about in fear.
The ones who served the prophecy.
The ones who claimed the chosen.
The ones who wanted her.
Ronan's voice was a low snarl:
"Bloodmoon Pack."
Evelyn's breath stopped.
The alpha stepped forward — eyes glowing red as burning coals.
"We have come," he said, "for the Shadowborn."
Every warrior turned toward Evelyn.
Ironfang. Moonfall. Bloodmoon.
All staring at her.
The battlefield went silent.
Except for the shadows rising behind her…Answering the call.