Evelyn Moore
They say the forest is beautiful in autumn. But today, it felt… wrong.
It was supposed to be a shortcut. Everyone used it during daylight. I'd walked it dozens of times. But after what Lucian said yesterday, every creak, every rustling leaf felt louder. Hungrier.
Maybe he was just messing with me. Maybe he enjoyed being the broody new boy with cryptic warnings. But part of me — the part that still remembered last year's "bear attack" — didn't think he was joking.
I gripped my phone tighter. No service. Of course.
The deeper I walked, the more the light dimmed. The sun was still up, but somehow, in here, it was all shadow. Like the trees knew I didn't belong. Like they were holding their breath.
A sudden crunch behind me made me spin.
"Hello?"
Silence.
I picked up my pace.
Something was following me — I could feel it. Every instinct screamed to run, but running in these woods never ended well for anyone in horror movies, and I wasn't stupid.
Then I heard it.
A growl. Low. Almost human.
And close.
My heart went wild. I turned around, but no one was there. Just trees. And a flicker of shadow that moved too fast.
"Okay," I whispered. "This is officially insane."
That's when I tripped.
My foot caught on a root, and I hit the ground hard. Leaves flew, dirt scraped my palms, and my breath caught.
And then — out of nowhere — he was there.
Lucian.
He crouched beside me like he'd come from the trees themselves.
"You shouldn't be here," he said, his voice low, rough. Not angry. Scared.
I stared at him. "Were you following me?"
"No," he said too quickly. "I was… near."
"Near?" I blinked at him. "Lucian, I just heard—something growled at me."
His eyes searched mine, flicking to the scratches on my hands.
"It wasn't me," he said. "But I'm not the only thing out here."
Before I could ask what that meant, he helped me up. His hand was warm — too warm — and his grip too strong. Like he forgot how fragile humans were.
We stood close. Too close.
His chest rose and fell like he was holding something back. I wanted to ask a thousand questions. I wanted to ask why his pulse raced when he looked at me. Or why the woods fell silent the second he appeared.
But all I could say was, "You're really weird, you know that?"
Something that almost looked like a smile ghosted his lips. "You don't know the half of it."
Lucian Blackthorn
I wasn't supposed to get close to her.
But when I scented her fear in the woods, I couldn't stay away.
She shouldn't have been there. Not today. Not with the moon pulling at me already. The woods weren't empty anymore. Not since it crossed the borders.
Another wolf.
Not from my pack. Not from this town.
Rogue.
I'd smelled him earlier, just faintly. Watching. Waiting. Testing the edge of my territory.
And now Evelyn had walked straight into his hunting ground.
I'd moved as fast as I could, barely holding back the shift in my legs. If I'd been a second later, he might've seen her. Or worse.
When I found her on the ground, my body tensed on instinct — protect. Guard. Tear anything apart that touched her.
Her skin was scraped. Her scent — fear, adrenaline, earth — was all over me now. And I didn't hate it.
She didn't know what I was, not yet. But she knew something. She saw the edge of the mask slipping.
"You're really weird, you know that?"
That made something ache in me — something dangerous.
If only you knew, Evelyn.
If only you knew the truth:
The only reason she wasn't dead yet… was me.
And next full moon, I wasn't sure even I could stop it.