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(Aria's POV)
I spent half the night convincing myself it hadn't happened.
That the man with amber eyes was a dream, a lightning-flashed hallucination cooked up by exhaustion and too much caffeine.
But morning came anyway.
The storm was gone, replaced by the usual Ravenwood haze—the kind that sits low and refuses to leave, like the town itself is holding its breath. I pulled on my diner uniform, told myself to stop being dramatic, and pretended I didn't keep checking the mirror for a bruise around my wrist where he'd grabbed me.
Nothing. Just skin.
Like the whole thing never happened.
By the time I got to the diner, the smell of coffee and burnt toast was already everywhere. My best friend, Tessa, was behind the counter, chewing her gum like it owed her money.
"Rough night?" she asked, eyeing the dark circles under my eyes.
"You have no idea."
I told her a half-truth: that I'd gotten caught in the storm, that I thought I saw wolves. I left out the part where one turned into a man.
She snorted. "Wolves don't hang around here anymore. Not since—" She stopped herself, lowering her voice. "Not since the pack took over the hills."
The pack. Everyone in Ravenwood whispered about them but never out loud. Powerful. Dangerous. The reason nobody ventured too deep into the forest.
I forced a laugh. "Right. Guess I just imagined it."
The bell over the door chimed, and the words died on my tongue.
He walked in.
Same dark hair, same impossible eyes.
Lucian.
Only this time he wasn't half-naked and covered in rain. He wore a black shirt rolled at the sleeves, jeans that fit like sin, and that same unreadable expression—the kind that made you forget what you were doing.
Tessa whispered, "Who is that?"
"I—uh—no idea," I lied.
He moved through the diner like he owned the place, quiet confidence in every step. People stared without meaning to. Even the air seemed to tighten around him.
He sat at the corner booth, eyes flicking once toward me. Just once—but it was enough.
"Table three," Tessa said, handing me a menu. "You take him. He looks like your type."
If only she knew.
I grabbed the menu and walked over, heart hammering. "Coffee?" I asked, voice steadier than I felt.
Lucian didn't look up. "Black."
His voice—deep, calm, familiar enough to send a shiver through me.
"You shouldn't be here," he said quietly, still not meeting my eyes.
My pulse stumbled. "Funny, that's exactly what you told me last night."
That made him look up.
And there it was again—the connection I couldn't explain. Like standing too close to a fire you can't back away from.
"You were in the forest," he said. Not a question.
"You were a wolf," I shot back before my brain could stop me.
Tessa's voice called from behind the counter, asking if I needed help. I shook my head, eyes locked on Lucian.
He leaned forward slightly. "You didn't see that."
"I literally did."
A muscle in his jaw twitched. "Then for your own good, forget it."
"Why? You going to bite me if I don't?"
For a second, his expression softened—almost like he wanted to smile. But then it vanished, replaced by that same distant cold.
"Careful," he murmured. "You don't know who you're provoking."
"And you don't know who you're threatening," I whispered back.
We stared at each other for a long moment before he slid a twenty onto the table and stood.
As he walked out, he paused at the door and said, just loud enough for me to hear,
"Stay away from the woods, Aria."
I hadn't told him my name.
The bell chimed again as the door closed behind him.
Tessa appeared at my elbow, eyes wide. "Okay, spill. Who was that?"
I stared at the empty booth, at the untouched coffee, at the twenty-dollar bill still damp from his hand.
"I think," I said slowly, "that was trouble."
And deep down, part of me already knew—I wasn't going to stay away from the woods.
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End of Chapter 2.