The first thing Selene felt was pain sharp, bright, blooming beneath her collarbone like fire trapped under her skin.
She jolted upright, breath uneven. Morning sunlight spilled through the window, but the room felt wrong. The air shimmered faintly, as if the ghost of the Blood Moon still clung to her walls.
Her hand flew to her shoulder. No wound.
No blood.
Just smooth skin… and the burning throb beneath it.
She pushed aside her hair.
And froze.
A small crescent-shaped mark shimmered at the base of her throat silver, delicate, and pulsing softly like a heartbeat.
Her heartbeat.
"No… no, no what is this?" she whispered.
The mark glowed brighter. A low hum filled the air, vibrating through her bones. Her vision blurred at the edges, and for a moment, the world around her flickered.
She saw gold eyes in the dark.
A voice whispering her name.
Rain. Blood. Moonlight.
Selene stumbled to the mirror.
Her reflection stared back wide-eyed, pale, terrified. Then.
Her irises flashed silver.
She gasped and grabbed the table to steady herself.
"What is happening to me?"
A knock rattled the door.
"Selene?" Her mother's voice. "Breakfast is ready."
Selene jerked her hair forward, covering the mark. "Coming!"
Her voice cracked. She forced a shaky breath and walked downstairs.
The house smelled like warm bread and herbs. Everything looked normal. Too normal.
Her mother glanced at her. "You look pale. Did you sleep at all?"
Selene nodded too quickly. "Just… tired."
But as she reached for a cup, her fingers brushed the wood and the mark pulsed again. A flash of someone else's heartbeat thundered through her chest. Strong. Deep. Not hers.
Selene dropped the cup. It shattered.
Her mother frowned. "Selene.."
"I'm fine. Sorry. I just need some air."
She stepped outside, clutching her chest. The world spun, but something inside her something not human pulled her toward the forest.
Her feet moved before she made the decision.
Every leaf seemed sharper.
Every sound louder.
Every scent clearer.
She stopped at the riverbank, breathing hard.
The mark pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Then a whisper slid across her mind.
"Selene."
She turned sharply.
No one was there. But the air carried a scent faint, wild, familiar. The same scent she remembered from last night.
Rain and moonlight.
Her knees weakened. "It's him… the man from the forest."
She backed away, heart racing then stepped on something.
A footprint.
Large, deep, pressed into the soft riverbank soil. Still fresh.
Her breath hitched.
He had been here.
Recently.
A cold shiver crawled up her spine.
Why was he close to her home?
And why could she feel him like a heartbeat echoing beneath her skin?
The wind shifted.
Wolves howled far beyond the mountains.
The mark on her neck burned like a brand.
Selene staggered backward.
And slipped.
Her foot hit the edge of the bank, and she fell into the shallow water. The cold shocked her lungs. She pushed herself up.
And froze.
Her reflection was no longer alone.
Behind her, in the rippling water, stood a tall figure with glowing gold eyes.
She whirled around.
Nothing.
But the image lingered in her mind, too vivid to ignore.
She hugged her arms, trembling. "Why can I see him? Why can I feel him?"
The mark throbbed harder.
Her breath quickened.
Something was waking inside her.
Something ancient.
Something that didn't belong to a human girl.
Selene backed away from the river, her heartbeat rattling against her ribs. The air felt different now thicker, heavier, alive. Every breath she took tasted of iron and rain, the same scent she remembered from the forest.
She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stop the trembling.
"Get it together, Selene… It's just shock. Just nerves," she whispered, though even she didn't believe her own voice.
The trees around her rustled with an unnatural rhythm, as if something moved between them just out of sight. She could feel it.
Not footsteps. Not breath.
A presence.
Watching her.
The wind shifted again, and the mark pulsed in warning.
Pain shot down her neck, sharp enough to steal her breath. She dropped to one knee, clutching the glowing crescent beneath her collarbone.
"Stop… please stop…"
The world flickered.
A forest drenched in red.
Silver eyes staring through smoke.
Whispers of a language she didn't understand.
A man's silhouette moving toward her slow, inevitable.
Then.
She snapped back into her body with a gasp, coughing on the cold air.
"What was that…?"
Her fingers shook violently. The mark beneath her skin felt alive, as if something inside it was trying to wake up or break out.
She stumbled backward until her back hit a tree. She gripped the bark to steady herself, struggling to slow her breathing.
Someone had connected to her.
Someone who wasn't human.
She looked back at the water's surface. Her reflection rippled, and for a fleeting second, her eyes flashed silver again.
Selene squeezed her eyes shut. "I need help… I need answers."
But who could she tell?
Her mother would panic.
The villagers would think she'd been cursed.
The elders would forbid her from going near the forest ever again.
And the man the creature who saved her…
He was nowhere to be found.
Yet she could still feel him.
A faint pull beneath her skin.
As if an invisible thread stretched between them, tightening when she moved too far from the river.
She swallowed hard and forced herself to stand. "This can't be real. I'm human. I'm just human…"
But the lie dissolved the moment the mark beat once more like a second heart.
Selene turned away from the river and followed the small path through the trees. Each step felt heavier than the last. Her senses were sharper now: she could hear the distant rustle of a deer moving three ridges away, the slow drip of water from mossy stones, even the thunder of a storm still forming miles beyond the valley.
It terrified her.
By the time she reached the edge of the forest, her legs were shaking. The familiar sight of her home brought a shaky breath of relief.
She pushed open the door quietly.
Her mother wasn't in the kitchen anymore.
Instead, she stood in the hallway, arms crossed, face pale with worry.
"Selene… where did you go? I told you not to wander after what happened last night."
Selene hesitated. Her throat tightened.
"I just needed air," she said softly.
Her mother stepped closer and brushed Selene's hair aside almost exposing the mark. Selene flinched and moved back instantly.
Her mother's eyes narrowed. "What's wrong with your neck?"
"Nothing. Just..just a bruise," Selene lied, forcing a shaky smile.
Her mother didn't look convinced, but she let it go for now.
Selene slipped into her room and shut the door, leaning against it as her breath trembled out of her chest.
The moment she was alone, the mark glowed again faint, as if sensing danger.
She pressed her palm over it and whispered, "Please… stop."
But it wouldn't stop.
It pulsed stronger.
And then
A sound echoed faintly through her window.
A growl.
Low.
Close.
Too close.
Selene's blood went cold.
Someone or something was outside.
A cold wind swept across the river, carrying a faint growl low, guttural, and unmistakably close.
Selene's pulse stumbled.
The mark flared white-hot.
And from the shadows of the tree line, a pair of golden eyes blinked open.
Someone had found her.
And it wasn't the man who saved her.