Luna's vision swam as the silver light faded, leaving her gasping on the cold concrete floor. The claws that had sprouted from her fingertips were gone, but she could still feel the echo of that wild power thrumming beneath her skin.
"This isn't real," she whispered, pressing her palms against her temples. "This is some kind of hallucination. Someone drugged me, or I'm having a breakdown from too much work stress, or—"
"Luna." Victor's voice cut through her rambling thoughts. When she looked up, his fangs had retracted, but those crimson eyes still burned with inhuman intensity. "We need to leave. Now."
"I'm not going anywhere with you." Luna struggled to her feet, her legs unsteady. "I don't care what you think you know about me, or what kind of psychotic break I just had. I'm calling the police."
She reached for her phone, but Victor's hand shot out faster than human reflexes should allow, gently but firmly grasping her wrist.
"Look around, princess," he said quietly. "Do you really think the police will believe what happened here?"
Luna followed his gaze. The warehouse looked like a war zone. Bullet holes scarred the concrete walls, and the body of her attacker lay motionless near an overturned shipping container. But it was the way the man had died that made her stomach lurch—his throat had been torn open as if by some massive predator.
"You did that," Luna breathed. "You killed him."
"He was going to kill you." Victor's grip on her wrist loosened but didn't release. "They all were. This was a trap, Luna. Someone wanted you dead."
"But why? I'm just a lawyer. I handle corporate acquisitions, not..." She gestured helplessly at the carnage around them. "Not whatever this is."
"Because you're not just a lawyer." Victor stepped closer, and Luna caught his scent—something dark and intoxicating, like expensive cologne mixed with winter air and danger. "You're Luna Silvermoon, heir to the most powerful werewolf pack in North America. And there are people who would kill to prevent you from claiming that birthright."
Luna shook her head violently. "Stop saying that name. My name is Luna Blackwood. I don't know any Silvermoons, I don't know any werewolves, and I sure as hell don't know any—"
The warehouse door exploded inward.
Three more figures burst through the entrance, moving with the same inhuman speed Victor had displayed. But where Victor moved like a predator, these newcomers moved like soldiers—precise, coordinated, lethal. They wore tactical gear and carried weapons that looked far more advanced than standard firearms.
"Hunter teams," Victor hissed, pulling Luna behind a container. "They're here for you."
"For me? But I thought you said I was some kind of werewolf princess!"
"You are. And they're the ones who've been hunting your kind for centuries."
The lead hunter's voice echoed through the warehouse, amplified by some kind of electronic device. "Luna Blackwood, by order of the Human Protection Council, you are commanded to surrender yourself for supernatural containment and processing."
"Supernatural containment?" Luna's voice cracked. "What does that even mean?"
Victor's expression darkened. "It means they want to cage you, study you, and eventually dissect you to understand how werewolf genetics work." His hand moved to something inside his jacket. "I won't let that happen."
"Target is behind Container Seven," another hunter called out. "Thermal imaging shows two heat signatures."
"One human, one Class Five supernatural," the leader confirmed. "Approach with extreme caution."
Luna felt that strange burning sensation in her chest again, stronger this time. The scent of the warehouse—oil, rust, river water—suddenly became overwhelming, as if her senses had been dialed up to eleven. She could hear the hunters' heartbeats, could smell their fear beneath the tactical gear.
"Something's wrong," she whispered. "Something's happening to me again."
Victor's eyes widened as he looked at her. "Your eyes," he breathed. "They're glowing."
Luna looked down at her hands. Silver light was beginning to emanate from her skin, growing brighter with each passing second. The burning in her chest spread outward, and she could feel something wild and powerful clawing its way to the surface of her consciousness.
"Victor," she gasped. "I can't control it."
The first hunter rounded the corner of their container, weapon raised. But instead of firing, he froze, staring at Luna in apparent shock.
"Command, this is Alpha Team," he spoke into his radio. "The target is... she's manifesting. Repeat, full supernatural manifestation in progress."
"Impossible," the leader's voice crackled back. "Bloodline awakening doesn't happen spontaneously in adults. She should be dormant."
"Tell that to the giant wolf spirit forming behind her."
Luna spun around and nearly screamed. A massive silver wolf, translucent but clearly visible, had materialized in the air above her. Its eyes burned with the same light that was pouring from her skin, and when it opened its mouth, she could see fangs that looked capable of tearing through steel.
"What is that thing?" Luna's voice came out as barely a whisper.
"That," Victor said with something like awe, "is your wolf. Your true form. And she's magnificent."
The spirit wolf let out a howl that seemed to shake the very foundations of the warehouse. Every piece of glass in the building shattered simultaneously, and the hunters stumbled backward, clutching their ears.
"Fall back!" the leader shouted. "Fall back! We need reinforcements and Class Seven restraints!"
But the hunters' retreat was cut short as Victor moved. Luna had thought he was fast before, but now he became little more than a blur of motion. One moment he was beside her, the next he was among the hunters, moving through them like a force of nature.
One hunter raised his weapon, but Victor simply... disappeared. He reappeared behind the man, one pale hand pressed against the hunter's neck. The man crumpled without a sound.
"Victor!" Luna called out, but her voice was drowned by another howl from the spirit wolf.
The power building inside her was becoming unbearable. She felt like she was going to explode, or transform into something she didn't understand, or simply cease to exist under the pressure of energies she couldn't comprehend.
The second hunter fired a weapon that didn't look like any gun Luna had ever seen. A net of crackling energy shot toward Victor, but he twisted aside with inhuman grace. The net hit a metal support beam instead, and Luna watched in amazement as the steel began to corrode and dissolve.
"Supernatural restraint rounds," Victor called to her as he grabbed the hunter's weapon and crushed it in his bare hands. "They're designed to neutralize our kind."
Our kind. The phrase hit Luna like another revelation. Whatever Victor was—vampire, she assumed, based on the fangs and superhuman abilities—he was including her in that category. Not human anymore. Something else. Something dangerous.
The leader of the hunters had retreated to the warehouse entrance, but he wasn't running. Instead, he was speaking rapidly into his radio, calling for backup that Luna suspected would be far worse than these three.
"We have to go," Victor said, appearing at her side again. The other two hunters lay unconscious behind him. "More will come, and next time they'll bring enough firepower to level this entire building."
"I can't." Luna looked down at her hands, which were still glowing with that eerie silver light. The spirit wolf hovered protectively above her, its massive form radiating power that made the air itself feel heavy. "I don't know how to make it stop."
Victor's expression softened, and for a moment, he looked less like a supernatural predator and more like a man genuinely concerned for her wellbeing. "The awakening process can be overwhelming," he said gently. "Your wolf has been dormant for twenty-five years. She's... enthusiastic about finally being free."
"My wolf," Luna repeated numbly. "I have a wolf."
"You are a wolf, Luna. Or rather, you're both. Human and wolf, existing in perfect balance." Victor held out his hand to her. "But right now, we need to get you somewhere safe so you can learn to control this power."
Luna stared at his outstretched hand. Everything logical in her mind screamed that this was insane, that she should run from this man and his impossible claims about her nature. But the spirit wolf above her seemed to recognize Victor, and some deep instinct told her that he was telling the truth.
She was no longer the Luna Blackwood who had walked into this warehouse an hour ago. That woman had been human, had been safe, had been normal.
This woman—whoever she was becoming—needed help. And Victor Ravencrest, terrifying as he might be, was apparently the only one offering it.
Luna reached out and took his hand.
The moment their skin touched, the silver light flared brighter, and she felt something click into place between them. Not romantic, exactly, but... connected. As if some invisible thread now bound them together.
"What was that?" she gasped.
Victor's eyes widened in surprise. "That shouldn't be possible," he murmured. "The connection shouldn't form so quickly, especially without the formal ritual..."
"What connection? What ritual?"
But Victor was already pulling her toward a service exit at the back of the warehouse. "Questions later, survival now. Can you run?"
Luna looked down at her designer heels and pencil skirt. "Not in this outfit."
In one fluid motion, Victor scooped her up in his arms, cradling her against his chest. "Then I'll carry you."
"Wait, I can't just disappear! I have a job, a life, an apartment—"
"All of which will be under surveillance within the hour," Victor said grimly as he kicked open the service door. "The hunters have extensive resources, Luna. If they've marked you as a target, nowhere in your old life will be safe."
The spirit wolf dissolved as they stepped into the night air, but Luna could still feel its presence somewhere deep inside her consciousness. Like a roommate she hadn't known she had, now stirring to life after a long sleep.
Victor moved through the shadows between buildings with supernatural grace, carrying her as if she weighed nothing. Luna found herself pressed against his chest, close enough to realize that he had no heartbeat.
"You're really not human," she whispered.
"No more than you are," Victor replied. "Though I suspect you're far more dangerous than I am."
"Dangerous? I'm a corporate lawyer who drinks too much coffee and hasn't been to the gym in six months."
Victor's laugh was dark and musical. "You're a werewolf princess whose awakening just shattered every piece of glass in a three-thousand-square-foot warehouse. Trust me, Luna Silvermoon—dangerous doesn't begin to cover what you are."
As they disappeared into the labyrinth of Manhattan's industrial district, Luna caught a glimpse of black SUVs converging on the warehouse behind them. Reinforcements, just as Victor had predicted.
She was no longer safe in her old life. Hell, she was no longer even the same species as her old life.
But as terrifying as that truth was, she found herself trusting the man carrying her through the darkness. Victor Ravencrest might be a vampire, might be her supposed enemy, might be leading her into even greater danger.
But right now, he was also the only thing standing between her and the people who wanted to cage her like an animal.
Luna closed her eyes and tried not to think about what she was going to wake up as tomorrow.
End of Chapter 2