Dawn painted the sky in pale rose and gold as Jennie, Kai, and two trusted warriors—Gareth and young tracker Liam—crossed the neutral border toward the old inn.
The inn sat in a small human settlement just outside pack territory: a weathered timber building with smoke curling from its chimney and a faded sign creaking in the wind. Humans ran it, unaware of the supernatural guests it often sheltered. Neutral ground. Safe for meetings like this.
Jennie walked between Kai and Gareth, silver hair tied back in a practical braid, ice-blue eyes scanning the treeline. She wore dark leathers borrowed from the warriors' stores—fitted, functional, a far cry from servant grays. The moon pendant was hidden beneath her shirt, but she felt its cool weight against her skin.
Kai hadn't left her side since sunrise. His presence was a steady heat at her back, the bond humming with quiet protectiveness. He hadn't spoken much, but his green eyes kept flicking to her—checking, reassuring.
Gareth cleared his throat. "The rogue's already inside. Alone. No scent trail leading in or out—same as yesterday."
Liam, barely twenty and still awed by the future Alpha, nodded. "Humans say he's been polite. Paid in advance. Asked only for a private room."
They entered the inn. The common room smelled of coffee, bacon, and woodsmoke. A few early human travelers glanced up curiously, then away—something in the wolves' eyes warned them off.
Elias waited at a corner table near the hearth, cloaked figure relaxed but alert. His platinum-blond hair caught the firelight, silver eyes lifting as they approached.
He rose, hands open in greeting. "You came."
Jennie stepped forward. "I had questions."
Elias's gaze moved briefly to Kai—assessing, not challenging—then back to her. "And you brought escort. Wise."
Kai's voice was low. "She's under my protection."
Elias inclined his head. "I would expect nothing less from her mate."
The word hung in the air. Kai's posture eased fractionally.
They sat. The warriors took positions near the door, eyes on the room.
Elias leaned forward, voice quiet. "Ask what you need."
Jennie didn't hesitate. "How do you know I'm Veiled?"
Elias smiled faintly. "Because the night of your awakening, every surviving Veiled bloodline felt it. Like a bell rung across the world. I was farthest north—tracking old hunter signs—when the shadows called me south."
Kai frowned. "Surviving? How many are left?"
"Few," Elias said. "Scattered. Hidden among rogues or human cities. Some mated into regular packs and suppressed the blood. The Purge was… thorough."
Jennie's fingers tightened on the table edge. "Show me."
Elias extended his hand, palm up. Shadows rose from nowhere—coiling, darkening the space above his skin until a perfect miniature wolf formed, white and silver, pacing in circles before dissolving.
Jennie's breath caught. She mirrored the gesture. Her shadows answered instantly—darker, cooler, forming the same wolf but larger, more detailed, with ice-blue eyes that glowed.
Elias's silver eyes widened slightly. "Stronger than I expected. Your blood is pure."
Kai watched the display, expression unreadable but proud.
"What can you teach me?" Jennie asked.
"Control," Elias said. "The shadows are part of you, but without discipline they'll feed on emotion—rage, fear, desire. They'll grow wild. Dangerous."
He glanced at Kai. "Especially around a mate bond."
Kai's jaw tightened.
Jennie felt heat rise in her cheeks but kept her voice steady. "And the hunters?"
Elias's face darkened. "They never died out. A secret order—human and wolf alike—who believe Veiled blood corrupts packs. They went underground after the Purge failed to erase us completely. Your awakening… it's a beacon to them too."
Kai leaned forward. "How close?"
"Close enough that I passed their scouts on the way here. They're watching borders. Waiting for confirmation."
Jennie's shadows stirred restlessly around her chair, unseen by humans but noticed by the wolves.
Gareth shifted uneasily. "We should return. Report this."
Kai nodded but didn't move. "One more question. Why help her?"
Elias met Jennie's gaze. "Because I was once the scared child with no answers. And because the Veiled were always meant to protect packs—not destroy them. If hunters come, they'll target her first. Then any pack that shelters her."
Silence settled.
Jennie felt the two tugs again—Kai's warm pull grounding her, Elias's cool call urging her toward truth.
"I'll train," she said finally. "But not alone. Kai comes with me."
Elias considered, then nodded. "Acceptable. We start tomorrow—at dawn, in neutral woods between here and your border."
As they rose to leave, Elias touched Jennie's arm lightly. "One thing more. The moonflower you conjured—it's a sign. Pure Veiled blood can grow them anywhere. They're wards. Protection."
Jennie thought of the flower preserved in shadow back in her glade.
Outside, the warriors scouted ahead. Kai walked beside Jennie, close enough that their arms brushed.
"You trust him?" he asked quietly.
"I trust what I felt," she said. "The shadows recognized him."
Kai's hand found hers—brief, strong. "Then I trust you."
The bond flared warm and bright.
But as they crossed back into pack territory, Liam suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, his young frame going rigid, nose lifted high to the wind.
The group halted instantly, instincts honed by years of patrol kicking in. The forest around them seemed to hold its breath—no bird calls, no rustle of small creatures, only the faint whisper of breeze through pine needles.
"New scent," Liam whispered, voice barely audible, eyes wide. "Faint. Human… and silver."
The word silver landed like a blade.
Kai's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, green irises flashing gold as his wolf surged forward. "Hunters."
The air thickened with tension. Gareth's hand moved to the knife at his belt, body angling protectively toward Jennie. Liam's gaze darted to the treelines, searching for movement.
Jennie felt it too—a prickle along her skin, cool and warning, like frost forming on glass. The shadows at her feet stirred before she even called them, rising instinctively in a subtle veil that wrapped around the four of them. Not full invisibility—yet—but enough to blur their outlines, soften their footfalls, mute the sound of their breathing. The forest light dimmed around them, as though dusk had fallen early in that one small circle.
Kai glanced at her, approval and fierce protectiveness flashing across his face. The bond thrummed with shared alertness—his strength, her stealth, braided together.
"How many?" Kai asked Liam, voice low and commanding.
Liam inhaled again, deeper. "Two. Maybe three. They passed this way less than an hour ago. Heading deeper—toward the pack house trails."
Gareth growled softly. "They're bold. Or desperate."
"Or they know exactly what they're looking for," Jennie said quietly.
All three males turned to her.
She met their gazes steadily, ice-blue eyes calm despite the storm building inside. "They felt the awakening too. Elias warned me."
Kai stepped closer, body shielding hers without thinking. "They won't touch you."
Jennie's shadows tightened around them protectively, responding to the steel in his voice. For a moment, the veil deepened, and even the warriors' outlines shimmered uncertainly.
Liam's eyes widened. "Goddess… I can barely see you all."
Gareth gave a low whistle of respect. "That's no parlor trick."
Kai's hand found Jennie's briefly—warm, grounding. "We go straight to my father. Quietly. No alarms yet. We need to know how they got this close without detection."
Jennie nodded. The shadows parted just enough to let moonlight guide their steps, then closed again behind them like a drawn curtain.
As they moved swiftly through the trees—four figures cloaked in living darkness—the forest seemed to watch.
A game had begun, yes.
But this time, the hunters weren't the only ones who could walk unseen.
And the Veiled Wolf was no longer prey.
Far behind them, on the border stone they had passed minutes earlier, a fresh mark appeared—carved deep into the rock with a silver-tipped blade: a circle bisected by a single vertical line.
The ancient hunter's rune for "target acquired."
The chase was on.