The sun was on its way to set, causing the forest to look dimly lit. Birds scattered across the sky, sensing the shift in the wind, while the borders that separated the Taylor and Greek pack borders were each lined in such a way they maintained themselves. Selene stood at the edge of her territory, where moss had warmly and against it's will covered the walls of a temple from where she stood. Her fingers grazed the bark of a birch tree as she inhaled deeply, scenting the crisp air. But what she searched for wasn't there. Not anymore. Or not little or as close as she wanted it.
She had dreamed of him again. The same piercing gaze. The same storm that stirred inside her every time his scent—so unfamiliar, so wrong but it was curled in her lungs.
Mingi Hart.
A name that now lived behind her eyes, haunting her thoughts. A human. A human who shouldn't matter.
But he did.
Lost in thought she didn't realize her beta whose heavy footsteps approached from behind. "You shouldn't be out here alone, not after what happened last night."
Selene's jaw tensed and she rolled her eyes in displeasure . "I'm not afraid of the dark Alia, I'm not afraid of anyone."
"It's not the dark you should fear." Alia stepped beside her. "It's the prophecy you keep running from."
Selene didn't answer. Her wolf stirred beneath her skin, restless and alert. She could still feel the connection from that previous night deep beneath her soul—the pull that nearly broke her composure in front of her entire pack. The pull that almost caused her whole life and that of her family.
Alia's voice softened. "You rejected him, Selene. And yet here you are. Again."
"He saved my kind" Selene's voice was low, hesitant. "There's more to him than meets the eye. There's a sign I'm missing out. He could've left her there and continued his way."
"But he didn't." Alia's tone shifted. "And now your wolf knows. Doesn't she?"
It turns out the wolf Mingi saved was Selene in her wolf form. As the Alpha she had the ability to stand strong even with a wounded werewolf of herself laying somewhere else.
Selene turned away, trying to fight the guilt clawing at her chest. "He's a human."
"He's more than that," Alia whispered. "I saw the way he looked at you. He didn't see a broken girl. He saw the moon. He saw someone his heart longed for."
Selene inhaled sharply. Her wolf howled in agreement within her, but she immediately made sure it had no chance to long for anything or anyone not meant for her. There was no place in her world for weakness. Or longing.
Mingi Hart tapped his fingers against the hospital desk, his eyes fixed on the patient chart before him, though he hadn't read a word in minutes. His mind was elsewhere—back in the woods, to the strange woman with raven hair and eyes that could make time stop.
He'd seen plenty of blood. But never like that. Never someone lying broken in the forest, burning with fever, yet radiating power beneath fragile skin.
Selene.
He didn't realize how long he had kept on mumbling her name. How he still fell her presence long after she had disappeared into the night. Like smoke.
"Mingi," Elias called from the doorway, arms crossed. "You're zoning again. What's going on with you?"
Mingi blinked. "Sorry. Just tired."
Elias raised a brow. "Tired doesn't explain why you came home last night with torn sleeves and mud on your shoes. What happened in those woods?"
Mingi hesitated. He didn't know how to explain it. The wounded woman. Her glowing eyes. The unnatural heat of her skin.
"I found someone," he said finally. "She was hurt. Really bad. But she… healed fast. Too fast."
Elias straightened. "What do you mean? Like adrenaline? Shock?"
"Like something I can't explain." Mingi glanced at his hands. "It's like she wasn't human."
The Blood Moon Festival was less than a week away, and already, preparations had begun in the Greek pack's mountain stronghold. Banners were being strung between trees, meat cured, firewood stacked. The air was thick with excitement—and tension.
Lucian stood on the terrace overlooking his camp, arms folded as he watched his wolves spar below. His Beta, Roman Vane, stood beside him, eyes sharp.
"They grow strong," Roman remarked. "But your future Luna has been… distracted."
Lucian's gaze hardened. "Selene is a capable leader."
"And yet she rejected a mate bond last night in full view of her pack. Public humiliation."
Lucian didn't respond. The news had reached him swiftly. Rejection of a fated mate was rare. Unheard of, especially by someone like Selene. She was always so calculated. So dutiful.
"Find out who he is," Lucian said at last. "I want to know why he's worthy of her defiance."
Roman nodded once and vanished down the corridor.
Lucian remained, hands clenched around the iron railing. For years, he had been groomed to marry Selene. She was not just a political match; she was the only Alpha who could match him in strength, mind, and fury.
And yet, she had looked into another's eyes—and chosen to deny fate.
The dreams returned.
Selene swiftly got up from her dream, breathing at a fast and heavy pace. How long was this going to continue for she thought. The vision had been clearer this time: Mingi, standing in the heart of a flaming forest, golden light wrapped around him like armor. And then—his eyes turned silver. Not human. Not anymore.
She threw the blanket off her body and got up. She walked through the room in thoughts . She needed answers.
And so, at dawn, Selene left.
She didn't tell Alia. She didn't wake Aeron. She shifted into her wolf form and crossed the border alone, her paws light on the dewy earth, her black fur glistening in the morning mist.
She found him in the hospital courtyard, sitting alone with a mug of coffee and the soft sounds of an old radio crackling beside him.
She shifted back behind a hedge, slipping into the extra clothes she kept hidden under a rock. Nerves tangled in her chest.
He looked up before she even approached, as though he'd felt her coming.
Their eyes met.
And just like that, the world stilled.
Mingi stood. "You're real."
Selene nodded. "I shouldn't be here."
"But you are."
Silence stretched between them, fragile and electric.
"You left without a name," he said.
"Selene."
He smiled faintly. "Like the moon."
She looked away. "I came to thank you. For helping me."
"You don't owe me anything. But I need to know—what are you?"
Selene stiffened. "Something you don't want to understand."
"Try me."
She hesitated, then stepped closer. "You should stay away from me. People like you don't survive long in my world."