Dawn painted the Blood Moon territory in shades of fire and rust, the light catching on the dew like scattered drops of blood. Selene stood at the edge of the training grounds, her shadows coiled tight beneath her skin, watching as Kael addressed his warriors.
He moved like a storm given form, all controlled power and sharp edges, his voice carrying over the growls of his pack.
"Roran is missing."
A murmur rippled through the gathered wolves. Selene's fingers twitched toward the dagger at her thigh, the one she'd stolen from the morgue when no one was looking. The blade hummed against her palm, cold as the grave.
Find the knife. Follow the blood.
Liora's words clung to her like a second shadow.
Kael's gaze cut to her, golden and unreadable. "We track him. Now."
No one protested. No one even looked at her. The pack moved as one, shifting into their wolf forms in a ripple of muscle and fur. Selene remained human, her shadow-wolf form was too volatile, too visible. But the magic in her veins itched to break free.
Kael hesitated at the tree line, his massive grey wolf form tense. Waiting. For her.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and followed.
The forest swallowed them whole.
The scent trail led deep into the pines, where the trees grew so close their branches tangled like lovers' fingers. Roran's path was erratic, doubling back, circling, as if he knew he was being hunted.
Selene's boots sank into the damp earth. Every rustle of leaves, every snap of a twig, set her teeth on edge. The dagger's hilt grew slick in her grip.
Then the wind shifted.
Blood.
Fresh and metallic, thick enough to taste.
Kael's wolf stiffened, his ears flattening. The pack fanned out, low to the ground, as they crept toward the source, a clearing where the sunlight didn't reach.
Selene's pulse hammered.
Roran knelt at the center, his back to them, his shoulders heaving. The earth around him was blackened, the grass withered as if scorched. And in his hands…
"Moon's breath," one of the warriors whispered.
…he cradled Liora's severed head.
Her golden hair was matted with gore, her lips sewn shut with coarse black thread. But her eyes...
They were wide open.
Watching.
Roran turned.
His face was streaked with blood, his pupils blown so wide his irises were swallowed whole. "Took you long enough," he rasped.
Kael shifted back, his naked skin gleaming with sweat. "What the fuck have you done?"
Roran smiled. Then he laughed, a sound that cracked down the middle, too sharp, too wrong. "What you couldn't." He lifted Liora's head like an offering. "She was weak. Just like your mother. Just like her." His gaze locked onto Selene.
Her shadows surged.
Kael moved faster.
He crossed the clearing in three strides and slammed Roran to the ground. The impact sent Liora's head rolling, her dead eyes staring up at the sky.
"Why?" Kael snarled.
Roran's grin never wavered. "Ask your father."
Then he twisted…
…and drove a rusted blade into Kael's side.
Blood sprayed.
The pack erupted.
Selene was moving before she could think, her shadows lashing out like whips. They wrapped around Roran's wrist, yanking, but he was already rolling away, his form blurring at the edges,
Ghost wolf.
The realization hit her like a punch.
Roran wasn't just involved.
He was one.
Kael staggered, his hand pressed to the wound. "Selene..."
Roran lunged for her.
She met him with steel and shadow.
Their blades clashed, the impact shuddering up her arms. Roran was stronger, faster...his movements unnaturally fluid...but her shadows were hungry. They slithered up his legs, his torso, biting into his skin like serpents.
He hissed. "You don't even know what you are."
"Enough to kill you," she spat.
His laugh was a wheeze. "Then do it."
Behind them, Kael roared.
Roran's gaze flickered past her...just for a heartbeat...but it was enough. Selene pivoted, driving her dagger up beneath his ribs.
The blade sank in to the hilt.
Roran gasped, his breath hot and rancid against her cheek. "Stupid girl," he choked. "He'll never love you. Not when he learns the truth."
Then his body dissolved...
...into mist.
Into nothing.
Selene stumbled, her dagger clattering to the ground. The pack howled, the sound equal parts fury and fear.
Kael collapsed to his knees.
She reached for him, her hands shaking. "Let me..."
He flinched away.
The rejection stung worse than any blade.
Then his voice, raw and ragged: "What the hell was that?"
Selene had no answer.
Only Liora's head, staring blankly at the sky.
And the creeping dread that Roran's words were more than just poison.
He'll never love you.
Not when he learns the truth.