The moon was bleeding.
Selene stood at the edge of the Midnight Ravine, her bare feet sinking into the cold dirt, the wind whipping her silver-blonde hair like wild ribbons behind her. Above, the blood-red full moon pulsed in the sky—its glow searing through the forest like a wound in the heavens.
Tonight, the curse would begin.
And tonight, she would break everything.
Her heart pounded louder than the howls in the distance. Her wolf clawed beneath her skin, restless, afraid, ready. She tightened her grip on the leather satchel strapped across her shoulder—the only thing she owned now. Inside: a fake ID, cash she'd stolen from the Alpha's vault, and a stolen vial of wolfsbane.
She would need all three to survive the night.
> "You don't get to decide my future anymore."
She whispered it to the wind, to the ghosts of her ancestors, to the Moon Goddess herself. Her words tasted like ash.
Behind her, the ground shook—fast footsteps. A twig snapped.
He was coming.
Raiden.
Her mate by force. The man her father—Beta Marcus—had bartered her to like livestock in exchange for power and land. A brutal, ruthless Alpha who didn't know the meaning of love, only ownership. She could still feel the phantom of his grip on her arm, his threat echoing in her mind from hours earlier.
> "You can run, Selene. But I will find you. And when I do, you'll wish you had let me mark you tonight."
Her stomach churned. Her wolf whimpered.
But she didn't look back.
She ran.
The forest swallowed her whole. Branches scraped her arms. Shadows twisted. Her bare feet hit rocks and roots, but she didn't stop—not when a snarl echoed behind her, not even when her lungs begged for air.
She had one goal: reach the edge of the territory by midnight.
Because once she crossed the border, she'd be in neutral lands.
And Raiden could no longer claim her without starting a war.
A war even he wasn't arrogant enough to spark.
Selene's body burned, her wolf fighting to shift under the Blood Moon. But she couldn't risk it—not when the Council's trackers could scent her within seconds. She had to stay in human form.
She reached the stone archway—a relic from the Old Ones, the border between the Nightclaw Pack and the rest of the world. A boundary no Luna was ever allowed to cross alone.
Lightning cracked across the sky.
And there he was.
Alpha Raiden, emerging from the trees like a demon birthed from rage and smoke. His eyes glowed a vicious red, his body already halfway shifted. Fangs. Claws. Fury.
> "You think you can defy me? You think the world outside will protect you?"
Selene didn't reply.
She stepped across the arch.
The air shimmered.
Raiden let out a roar of frustration, slamming his clawed hand against the invisible boundary. Magic sparked, burning his skin. He couldn't follow.
> "I'll find you, Selene. You carry my mark, even if it's incomplete."
Her breath hitched.
She didn't carry his mark.
But… she carried something else.
She turned, eyes glowing faint blue now. Her wolf meeting his.
> "You don't know what I carry," she said coldly. "And by the time you find out, it'll be too late."
Then she turned her back to him.
And stepped into the unknown.
---
Six Weeks Later
City of Aeloria – Lunar District
The city pulsed like a living beast—neon lights, midnight music, and the scent of rain on pavement. Selene had changed her hair, hidden her scent, and blurred every trace of her past.
Now, she was Elena Mare, a night waitress at a downtown bar where no one asked questions—especially of beautiful girls with broken eyes.
But that night, she made one mistake.
She stayed after her shift.
It was raining. She needed warmth. Just for a moment.
And that's when she saw him.
The stranger.
Dark suit, undone tie, hair a storm of shadows and moonlight. He stood under a flickering streetlamp, head tilted to the sky like he was listening to something only he could hear.
Selene's wolf stilled.
Danger. Power. Pull.
She should've walked away.
Instead, she stepped toward him.
> "You're not from around here," she said, voice steady.
The man turned, his eyes a haunting shade of frost blue.
A beat.
A spark.
> "Neither are you."
She would never remember how they ended up in that hotel. Or what exactly they said. Only that it was wild, desperate, forbidden. Like the world was ending and they were the last two left.
That night, he made her forget.
Forget the pain.
Forget the curse.
Forget who she was supposed to be.
---
Three Months Later
Small Town: Rosehaven Ridge
Selene stared at the pregnancy test in the tiny bathroom of her basement apartment. Her fingers trembled. The two lines were clear.
Her knees hit the floor.
She was carrying the child of a stranger.
A man she never thought she'd see again.
A man she didn't even know.
A man whose scent still haunted her dreams—wolf, pine, and heartbreak.
But something else haunted her more:
The child she carried… was not fully human.
Her wolf already whispered it.
She could feel the baby's heartbeat—stronger, faster.
And his aura?
Alpha.
His Eyes, Her Fear
The air inside the cabin was thick with tension, as if the wooden walls themselves were holding their breath.
Selene locked the door behind her, her heart thundering in her chest. She pressed her forehead to the cool wood, trying to silence the war inside her. But nothing could muffle the sound of her son's quiet breathing—safe, for now.
"Mommy?" the toddler whispered, tugging gently at her long cardigan.
She turned and knelt, cradling his small face in her palms. "It's okay, baby," she whispered, brushing a kiss to his forehead. "We're safe. No one will find us here."
But she didn't believe that. Not really.
Outside, the crimson moon hung low, casting ominous shadows through the small window. She drew the curtains quickly, her hands trembling.
How long until he found her?
Killian.
Alpha of the Blackfang Pack. Her fated mate. Her curse.
And her son's father.
She hadn't seen him in three years—since the night she ran barefoot through the rain, pregnant and bleeding, with nothing but the strength of a shattered heart. But she could still remember the look in his icy eyes when she left.
Pain. Rage. Betrayal.
And something else she didn't dare name.
Her son, Elias, had his eyes. That piercing, otherworldly blue that glowed faintly under the moon. It was a secret she had guarded with her life.
Selene tucked Elias into the makeshift bed, wrapping him in a worn blanket. She sat beside him on the floor, gripping an old photograph in her hand—the only picture she had of them together, before everything burned.
Suddenly, a wolf's howl split the night.
Long. Low. Too close.
Selene shot to her feet, her body instinctively tense. She grabbed the drawer where she kept her emergency bag—silver dagger, moonstone amulet, and the charm that masked her scent.
But as she looked into the mirror on the wall, her breath caught.
The mark on her neck—the one Killian had branded her with under the blood moon—was glowing faintly.
He was near.
He had found her.
Found by the Alpha
The forest outside the cabin stirred with life.
Leaves rustled unnaturally, not with wind—but with footfalls. Heavy ones. Purposeful.
Selene's heart slammed against her ribs as she pulled Elias close and backed away from the window. Her hands trembled as she reached for the moonstone amulet, whispering the ancient chant to conceal her and her child's presence.
But it was too late.
The front door creaked open—not slammed, not broken—opened, by someone who knew exactly where she was and no longer needed permission to enter.
A tall figure stepped into the shadows of the room. Rain glistened on his dark leather jacket. His scent—cedarwood and power—flooded the cabin before his voice did.
> "You thought you could hide from me forever, Selene?"
Her breath caught.
Killian.
He hadn't changed.
If anything, he was more dangerous—sharper jawline, broader shoulders, power rolling off him like thunder in a storm. His piercing blue eyes locked on hers, glowing with restrained fury... and something much more painful.
"You're not supposed to be here," Selene whispered, her voice cracking like thin glass.
> "Neither were you—when you ran away. With my heir."
At that, Elias stirred behind her, his small face peeking out.
Killian's gaze snapped downward.
And in that instant—everything froze.
Selene tried to block Elias with her body, but the damage was done.
Killian saw it. The truth.
The boy had his eyes.
His blood. His legacy. His son.
The Alpha took a slow step forward, expression unreadable. Selene's pulse raced as she positioned herself protectively in front of Elias, dagger clenched in her hand.
"One more step, and I swear I'll—"
But Killian's voice cut through her threat.
> "He's mine. You stole him from me."
Selene's lip trembled, but she stood her ground.
> "You don't deserve him."
Lightning flashed behind the cabin windows, illuminating the pain on both their faces—love twisted into rage, and loss reborn as something primal.
Then came the words she hadn't expected to hear:
> "I didn't come here to fight you, Selene… I came to bring you home."
The Truth Between Us
Selene's breath hitched.
> "Home?"
She almost laughed.
That word had once meant Killian's arms. His pack. His protection.
But now it meant betrayal. Blood. And everything she'd barely survived.
"There is no home left for me, Killian."
Her voice wavered, but the steel in her eyes did not.
He stepped further into the room, Elias now watching curiously from behind her legs, clutching the hem of her worn sweater.
> "You think I wouldn't have protected you?" he asked, voice low, hurt vibrating beneath the command in his tone.
Selene's anger surged.
"Where were you when they came for me? When your mother tried to force the Ritual Bond?"
"When I had to run to save our child?"
Killian's jaw clenched, a flash of something—regret? Shame?—in his eyes.
> "I didn't know… I swear it, Selene. They told me you left. That you rejected me. That you—"
He stopped himself, breathing deeply.
"I searched for you every moon since."
Selene's grip on the dagger loosened, her hand trembling.
She wanted to believe him. Goddess, she did. But trust had become a luxury she couldn't afford.
Still… Elias was staring up at the man as if something in his tiny heart already recognized him.
His father.
Killian crouched, holding out his hand—not to her, but to the boy.
> "What's your name, little wolf?"
Elias peeked at Selene for approval. When she gave a tiny nod, he whispered:
"Elias."
Killian swallowed, emotion clouding his gaze.
> "Elias," he repeated like a sacred vow. "You're strong. Just like your mother."
There was silence between them, charged with a storm of old wounds and unspoken truths.
Then Killian stood again, turning his eyes back to Selene.
> "There's more coming, Selene. Darker forces than before. You can hate me—but you need me. And he… needs us both."
She wanted to scream at him, to curse the Moon Goddess for binding her fate to his. But deep down, her wolf stirred.
Because she knew…
This wasn't over.
Not between them.
Not with the child of the Alpha and his Luna standing between a kingdom of secrets—and a war yet to come.
The Storm Behind His Eyes
Selene turned away from Killian, needing space to breathe.
She could still feel the magnetic pull of his presence, the intoxicating scent of forest and fire that once lulled her into his arms.
But this wasn't the mate she had once loved.
This was the Alpha. The man who ruled a kingdom.
The man who had broken her heart.
> "Why now?" she asked, barely above a whisper. "Why find us after all this time?"
Killian's voice was soft, but his words pierced her.
> "Because I never stopped looking. And because they're coming."
Selene stiffened.
"Who?"
> "The Blackridge Syndicate. Rogue hunters. Someone's feeding them names… and power. Packs are falling. And someone wants Elias."
Her blood turned cold.
She had heard whispers in the shadows. Unnatural rogues. Strange marks carved into dead bodies. And the dreams—Goddess, the dreams of fire and chains.
Selene hugged Elias to her chest.
> "I can protect my son."
> "You shouldn't have to do it alone," Killian said firmly. "Come with me. We'll go back to Silverclaw. We'll be safe there."
Selene laughed bitterly.
"Safe? In the pack that hunted me down? In your mother's den?"
Killian's eyes darkened, and for a moment, the Alpha surfaced—cold, brutal, commanding.
> "She will not touch you. I've taken over the council. I've changed everything."
His voice cracked.
"Because I thought… if I ever found you again… I wanted to be worthy."
That broke something in Selene.
Not enough to forgive.
But enough to listen.
She looked down at Elias, who now clutched Killian's fingers without fear.
The boy's eyes—Killian's eyes—shone with a trust Selene wasn't sure she could afford.
And yet… something inside her whispered:
You were born to stand beside him.
And he was born for more than running.
Selene looked up at Killian.
Eyes hard. Chin high.
"We leave tonight."
The storm had already begun outside the cabin.
But the real storm…
Was coming for them all.