Bloodclaw Territory, Midnight Forest
Avelyn ran like the wind was chasing her.
Branches clawed at her skin, roots threatened her footing, but she didn't stop. Couldn't. Not now. Not when they were so close behind.
Behind her, the world was burning. Or maybe it was just her lungs. She didn't look back.
Up ahead, the trees thickened. The scent of pine and old ash filled her senses, then something else. Something stronger. Primal. Alive.
She'd crossed a border. A dangerous one.
Bloodclaw territory.
Avelyn skidded to a halt on a ridge, breath ragged, chest heaving. Her magic pulsed in warning beneath her skin. The bond she didn't understand. The curse she couldn't remember. All of it stirred to life the moment her foot touched this cursed soil.
Then she felt it.
Not footsteps. Not growls.
A presence.
Him.
Damien Blackthorne stood motionless at the edge of the northern border, his senses razor-sharp under the weight of the moonlight. The air smelled wrong. Not of rot or death, but of something just as dangerous.
Wild jasmine. Rain-soaked earth. And something older than the forest itself.
Something... awakened.
His fingers flexed at his sides, claws threatening to emerge. His wolf, never far from the surface paced within him like a caged beast, agitated and snarling.
She's close," Damien murmured, voice low like a growl. "Too close."
Beside him, his beta and oldest friend, Kade, crouched to the forest floor. He sniffed, fingers brushing a fresh footprint in the mud. "The trail's no more than five minutes old. Fierce. Confident. She knows how to move without being followed."
"She's not from around here," Damien said, already following the scent with practiced ease.
"Alpha," Kade murmured, crouching by a track. "Fresh prints. Light-footed. She's fast."
"She's here," Damien growled, eyes narrowing. "And she's not from this world."
He didn't mean it literally. And yet, as he closed his eyes and let the scent consume him, a shiver ran down his spine.
His wolf clawed at his skin, howling inside him.
Mate..
He stopped walking. Clenched his jaw.
No.
Not now. Not her.
Kade glanced up. "You feel it?"
Damien didn't answer.
He was already gone.
Avelyn heard him before she saw him.
A snap of a branch. The rustle of leaves. And then…
A blur of motion lunging from the shadows.
She spun, dagger flashing. Steel met skin. A hiss of pain.
He grabbed her wrist mid-swing, their bodies crashing together. She didn't fall. She didn't flinch.
She fought.
Their faces inches apart, breath mingling, tension crackling like a live wire.
Damien stared into her storm-amber eyes framed by wild curls and fury. Her scent coiled into his lungs, into his blood, deeper than instinct.
His Luna.
Avelyn yanked against his grip, baring her teeth. "Touch me again," she hissed, "and I'll bury this blade in your throat."
Damien's gaze didn't waver. "You just signed your death sentence, little wolf."
"I've been dying my whole life," she snapped. "Try me."
The bond snapped into place like a snare. Avelyn felt it too, though she didn't recognize it. Not yet. But Damien saw it in her eyes. The flicker. The confusion. The pull.
She didn't understand what she was. Who she was.
And that terrified him more than her blade.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
She ripped her arm free, stepping into the moonlight. Dirt and blood streaked her arms. Her eyes burned. Her dagger glittered in her grip.
"Someone you'll wish you killed tonight."
Kade emerged from behind the trees. "She's not backing down."
"No," Damien said. "She's claiming her ground."
Avelyn tilted her head, lips curling. "This land was never yours."
That caught him. "What did you say?"
"I said" she spun her dagger between her fingers "you don't belong here, Alpha."
He advanced, fury darkening his eyes. "You're coming with us."
"I'd rather die."
"Not tonight," he growled. "Tonight, you answer my questions."
Then, without warning, he moved. Fast.
She slashed,missed.
He caught her mid-spin and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of rebellion.
"Put me down, you overgrown ego!" she yelled, fists pounding his back. "I will gut you, I swear!"
"Promises, promises," Damien muttered, stalking back toward the ridge.
Kade raised an eyebrow. "That went well."
"She's a rogue," Damien said. "A dangerous one."
"And your mate."
Damien didn't answer.
Because it was true.
And because her scent still haunted him.
But mostly because of what he saw in her eyes when their bond sparked to life.
Not submission. Not surrender.
Recognition.
As if she'd known him before.
As if she'd been running toward him all along.
Avelyn kicked again, snarling. "I hope the prophecy is real, you bastard. Because if I'm your doom"
She leaned close enough for her breath to touch his neck.
"then you deserve it."
Damien didn't respond. His chest was heavy, his blood hot.
The bond was real. The prophecy was in motion.
And if she was the key to his doom, there was only one thing left to decide.
Was she worth the fall?