Rain poured over Black Hollow like the sky itself wanted to drown the secrets buried in its soil. Aria sat on her bed, soaked to the bone, trembling. Her clothes clung to her skin, her hair dripping onto the floorboards. The silver mark on her neck pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat that didn't belong to her.
Every few minutes, she swore she could feel something — a flicker of anger that wasn't hers, a pang of hunger deep in her gut. It was as if someone else lived inside her skin.
Lucian.
She closed her eyes, gripping the sheets. "Get out of my head," she whispered. But the pull didn't fade.
Outside, thunder cracked, followed by a knock at her door. She jumped.
When she opened it, Sheriff Cole stood on the porch, rain dripping from his hat. "Evening, Miss Vale," he said, voice low. "Mind if I ask you a few questions?"
Her stomach dropped. "About what?"
"About the body we found by the ridge." He studied her face. "Someone said they saw you near the woods yesterday."
Aria hesitated. "I—I was walking. I didn't see anything."
The sheriff's eyes narrowed. "You sure about that? Because the tracks we found—human footprints—matched your size."
"I said I didn't see anything."
He sighed. "Look, Aria, I know you're not lying type. But whatever's out there—it's not human. If you saw something, now's the time to say so."
Her pulse thudded. "What do you mean, not human?"
Cole glanced toward the tree line. "You've lived here long enough to hear the stories. Wolves that walk upright. Eyes that glow red when the moon turns. Most folks think it's just legends, but legends start somewhere."
Aria swallowed hard, clutching the edge of the door. "You think… that thing killed the man?"
"I think something out there wants to remind us who the woods belong to." His voice dropped. "Stay inside at night, Aria. Lock your doors. And if you see anyone—anything—that doesn't look right, you come straight to me."
He tipped his hat and left, boots squelching in the mud.
Aria closed the door and leaned against it, heart pounding. Her mark pulsed again, harder this time, as if reacting to the fear.
He's close.
The voice wasn't hers, yet it echoed in her skull. She spun around, scanning the room. The window was open. The curtains fluttered in the wind.
Lightning flashed. For a split second, she saw him — Lucian — standing in the shadows just beyond the glass, rain running down his bare shoulders, his eyes glowing faintly gold.
Before she could speak, he was inside. One heartbeat, he was outside the window. The next, he stood in her room, dripping rain and fury.
"What part of stay away didn't you understand?" she hissed.
"I told you to leave the forest. You didn't." His voice was calm but edged with something wild. "Now they know about you."
"Who?"
"My pack," he said. "The Nightshade wolves. They smelled my mark on you. To them, it's a violation of the Blood Oath."
Her pulse quickened. "What oath?"
Lucian stepped closer, the air tightening between them. "No Alpha can mark a human unless it's by choice. It's forbidden. The council sees it as a curse—a dilution of blood. They'll come for you, and when they find you, they'll come for me too."
Aria's throat tightened. "Then fix it! Take it back!"
"I can't." His gaze softened, but his jaw stayed clenched. "A mark like that only fades when one of us dies."
The room went still. The rain outside slowed to a whisper.
"So that's it?" she said bitterly. "You ruin my life, tie me to your curse, and expect me to accept it?"
Lucian didn't flinch. "You think I wanted this? You think I don't know what it means?" He took another step forward, his presence filling the room. "You were in the woods when I lost control. If I hadn't marked you, you'd be dead. That mark—" he touched the side of her neck, fingers trembling "—is the only reason you're alive."
His touch burned, but it wasn't pain. It was something rawer — a pull that went bone-deep. She could feel his pulse under his fingertips, syncing with hers.
"I don't want your protection," she whispered, but her voice betrayed her.
"Liar," he murmured.
For a moment, the world narrowed to breath and heartbeat and rain. Then the door rattled — hard. Someone was outside.
Lucian's head snapped up, nostrils flaring. "They're here."
"Who?"
"The enforcers," he growled. "Run, Aria. Out the back."
She hesitated, but the next knock wasn't a knock at all — it was a crash. The front door burst open, wood splintering. Three figures entered, dressed in black leather, their eyes glowing faint amber in the dark. Wolves in human skin.
"Lucian Draven," one of them said, voice cold. "You've broken the oath."
Lucian shifted in front of her, shoulders squared. "She's under my protection."
"She's human," the man spat. "The council doesn't recognize your claim."
Aria's breath caught. The men began to change — bones cracking, claws unfurling, fur tearing through flesh. The sound was sickening and primal.
Lucian turned to her. "Close your eyes."
"Lucian—"
"Now."
She obeyed.
The room erupted in chaos — snarls, crashes, the shattering of glass. When she dared to peek, Lucian was already mid-shift, larger than the others, his fur black as night, his eyes burning gold. He tore through the first attacker, claws raking across his chest. Blood sprayed against the walls.
The second lunged, but Lucian caught him midair, snapping his neck with a sound that made Aria flinch. The third fled through the window, howling into the storm.
Lucian stood panting, fur receding, eyes dimming back to gray. His chest heaved, blood soaking his skin.
"They won't stop," he said. "They'll tell the council you're marked. The rest will come."
"What do we do?"
He looked at her then — not as prey, not as a mistake, but as something he was terrified to lose. "We run," he said.
He stepped closer, his voice low, urgent. "There's a place beyond the ridge, deep in the Hollow. My pack won't follow there. Not even the Alpha council dares."
"And if they find us?"
Lucian's eyes glimmered gold again. "Then I'll kill anyone who tries."
Aria swallowed, glancing once more at the ruined room, the blood on the walls, the mark on her skin. There was no going back.
"Then let's run," she whispered.
He nodded once — and together they vanished into the rain.