The forest was different at night.
During the day, it had been threatening. Shadows and movement that made Selene flinch.
But night was worse.
Complete darkness under the canopy. No moon visible through the leaves. Just blackness pressing in from all sides.
Selene walked because stopping meant thinking. And thinking meant remembering.
Isolde's face. Her parents' bodies. The fire. The screaming.
Better to walk. To move. To focus on the next step and nothing else.
Her wolf whimpered constantly inside her chest. A frightened puppy sound. Sensing danger everywhere.
Every rustle of leaves was a soldier. Every crack of a branch was a weapon being drawn. Every shadow was death coming for her.
Selene had never been alone in the forest before.
There had always been guards. Her father's Beta wolves patrolling the estate boundaries. Servants to fetch her if she wandered too far. Family calling her home before dark.
Now there was nothing. No one.
Just a ten-year-old girl walking through darkness she didn't understand.
An owl hooted somewhere above. The sound made her jump. Her hand flew to her father's dagger.
Just a bird. Just a bird.
She kept walking.
The path was barely visible. More a suggestion than an actual road. Her feet found it by instinct more than sight.
Rustling to her left. Something moving through the underbrush.
Selene froze. Heart hammering.
She tried to use her wolf senses. To smell what was out there. To hear beyond human limits.
But she was too young. Too untrained. Her wolf was too scared to help.
The rustling continued. Then stopped.
Silence.
Selene waited. Barely breathing.
Nothing.
She forced herself to keep moving.
A distant howl echoed through the trees. Long. Mournful. Answered by another. Then another.
Wild wolves. Actual animals, not shifters.
Or rogues. Wolves who'd lost their humanity. Gone feral.
Either way, dangerous.
Selene walked faster.
Her feet hurt. The silk slippers she'd worn to the feast were never meant for forest roads. The fabric had torn hours ago. Now she walked on bloody feet, each step leaving dark prints on the dirt path.
Her dress was ruined. The beautiful midnight blue gown her mother had commissioned. Torn. Ash-stained. Bloodstained.
The mark on her forehead throbbed with each heartbeat. A constant reminder of why she was here. Why everyone was dead.
She touched it as she walked. Traced the raised crescent.
This tiny thing had destroyed her world.
Time lost meaning in the darkness. She might have walked for hours. Or days. Or minutes.
Everything blurred together.
Walk. Stumble. Catch herself. Walk again.
Her exhaustion was total. Physical and emotional. Grief sat on her chest like a weight, making it hard to breathe.
She wanted to stop. To curl up and sleep and never wake.
But Alaric's words echoed in her mind. Survive. Live. Grow strong.
She'd promised.
Dawn began to lighten the eastern sky. Gray light filtering through the trees.
Selene had walked all night.
Her legs trembled with each step. Her vision blurred. She was delirious with exhaustion and grief and pain.
A large tree appeared ahead. Ancient. Massive. Its roots creating a small hollow at the base.
Selene stumbled toward it. Collapsed against the trunk.
She couldn't go further. Couldn't take another step.
Her eyes closed without permission.
Sleep took her instantly.
And with sleep came nightmares.
Isolde screaming her name. "SELENE! SELENE HELP ME!"
Her father's wolf form collapsing. Blood pooling. Eyes going empty.
Her mother fighting soldiers. The silver spear piercing her chest.
Flames everywhere. The manor burning. Bodies scattered.
The masked wolves dragging Isolde into darkness.
The mark appearing on her forehead. Burning. Branding.
Selene thrashed in her sleep. Whimpering. Crying.
But she didn't wake.
The nightmares held her. Replaying the massacre over and over.
She was trapped in that night. Would be trapped forever.
Time passed. The sun climbed higher.
Then growling.
Low. Threatening. Multiple voices.
Selene's eyes snapped open.
Three shapes stood around her. Human forms. But their posture was wrong. Hunched. Feral.
Wolves in human skin who'd forgotten how to be human.
Rogues.
They were ragged. Filthy. Scars covered their exposed skin. Their eyes were wild. Unfocused.
The one in front grinned. His teeth were broken. Yellow. Several missing.
"Well, well. What's a little pup doing all alone in the woods?"
His voice was rough. Like he hadn't spoken in years and had forgotten how.
Selene scrambled backward. Her back hit the tree trunk. Nowhere to run.
Her hand went to her dagger. She pulled it free. The blade shook in her grip.
The rogue laughed. A wet, rattling sound.
"Look at that. The pup has claws."
The other two circled. Flanking. Cutting off escape routes.
"She's fresh," one said. Female. Her hair was matted with dirt and blood. "Hasn't been in the wild long."
"Noble born," the third added. Male. Younger than the others but just as feral. "Look at that dress. Or what's left of it."
The leader stepped closer. Studying Selene's face.
His grin widened when he saw her forehead.
"And a marked one, at that."
His eyes gleamed with something like greed.
"The Alpha King's put a bounty on that pretty little head of yours, girl. Big bounty. Enough to feed my pack for years."
Selene's blood turned to ice.
A bounty. They were hunting her. The King's orders had spread beyond just soldiers.
Every rogue. Every desperate wolf. Everyone would want her dead.
"Please," she whispered. "I haven't done anything wrong."
"Don't matter to me what you did or didn't do." The leader pulled a knife from his belt. Rusted. Crusted with old blood. "I got no quarrel with you, pup."
He took another step.
"Nothing personal. Just business."
Selene scrambled backward.
Her spine hit the tree trunk. Hard. Nowhere else to go.
The rogue advanced. His knife glinted in the morning light. Rusted blade. Dried blood crusted on the edge.
She held her father's dagger up with shaking hands. The weapon felt too heavy. Too big.
"That's cute," the rogue said. "Pup thinks she can fight."
The other two laughed. Circling closer.
Selene's wolf surged inside her. Desperate. Trying to emerge. Trying to protect.
Her bones began to crack. The shift starting.
But she was too young. Too scared. The transformation wouldn't complete.
Pain ripped through her body. She gasped. The shift receding.
"Not even a proper wolf yet," the female rogue sneered. "This'll be easy."
The leader raised his knife.
Selene closed her eyes.
She'd survived the massacre. Survived the night. Survived losing everything.
Just to die here. Alone. In the forest.
Maybe it was better this way. Maybe she could be with her family again.
"Touch her and you're dead."
The voice cut through the clearing like a blade.
Cold. Certain. Absolutely lethal.
Selene's eyes snapped open.
The rogues spun. Snarling. Looking for the threat.
A woman stepped from the shadows between the trees.
She was older. Maybe forty. Lean and dangerous in the way predators are dangerous. All coiled muscle and controlled violence.
Her clothes were practical. Leather and rough fabric. Made for movement. For fighting.
Her eyes glowed amber in the dim forest light. Wolf eyes. Alpha eyes.
She was clearly a wolf. But something about her was different. Controlled. Disciplined.
Not feral like the rogues.
The lead rogue's face twisted with recognition. And something like fear.
"This ain't your business, Mira."
So this was Mira. The woman Alaric had sent her to find.
Mira's expression didn't change. Cold. Flat. Deadly.
She drew two daggers from sheaths at her belt. The movement was smooth. Practiced. She'd done this a thousand times.
"I'm making it my business."
A standoff.
The three rogues versus one woman.
The numbers favored the rogues. But something in Mira's stance said numbers didn't matter.
She stood balanced. Weight on the balls of her feet. Ready to move in any direction.
Her daggers were held low. Relaxed. But Selene could see the tension in her arms. Violence barely leashed.
Waiting.
Wanting.
The female rogue shifted nervously. "There's three of us, Mira. You really want to do this?"
"I've killed three rogues before breakfast plenty of times." Mira's voice was conversational. Like they were discussing the weather. "Want to make it four?"
The younger male rogue took a step back. "The bounty ain't worth this."
"It's worth plenty," the leader snapped. "We just gotta..."
"Gotta what?" Mira asked. "Get past me? Good luck with that."
She took a step forward.
The rogues took a step back.
Another step.
Another retreat.
Mira smiled. It wasn't a friendly expression. It was all teeth and promise of violence.
"Here's what's going to happen. You three are going to turn around. Walk away. Find some other way to earn your next meal."
"And if we don't?" The leader tried to sound tough. But his voice shook slightly.
"Then I paint these trees with your blood. And the crows eat well tonight."
She twirled one dagger. Casual. Showing off.
"Your choice. Live or die. I'm good either way."
The younger rogue was already backing toward the trees. "She ain't worth it. Let's go."
"Coward," the leader spat.
"Smart," Mira corrected. "The boy's smart. You should listen to him."
The female rogue grabbed the leader's arm. "Come on. We'll find easier prey."
The leader looked at Selene. At the mark on her forehead. At the bounty he was leaving behind.
Then at Mira's daggers. At her eyes. At the death waiting in her stance.
He spat on the ground. "She ain't worth dying over."
"No," Mira agreed. "She's not. But I am worth killing over. Remember that."
The three rogues melted into the forest. Moving fast. Not looking back.
Silence fell.
Selene stayed pressed against the tree. Her dagger still raised. Her whole body shaking.
Mira watched the forest for a long moment. Making sure they were really gone.
Then she sheathed her daggers. Turned to Selene.
She approached slowly. Hands visible. Open. Non-threatening.
"Easy, little wolf. I'm not going to hurt you."
Selene's wolf stirred. Not in fear this time.
In... recognition? Safety? Trust?
It was confusing. After so much violence, her wolf should be terrified of everyone.
But something about Mira felt different. Felt safe.
Mira knelt a few feet away. Not crowding. Giving Selene space.
Her eyes studied Selene's face. Took in the torn dress. The bleeding feet. The exhaustion.
Then her gaze fixed on the mark. The crimson crescent glowing faintly on Selene's forehead.
Her expression changed. Hardened. Then softened.
Something like sadness moved across her face.
"By the Moon," she whispered. "You're the Eltharion child. The one from the massacre."
Selene's eyes filled with tears. Hearing her family name. Hearing someone acknowledge what happened.
It broke something inside her.
The tears spilled over. Silent at first. Then sobs.
Great heaving sobs that shook her whole body.
She'd been holding it together. Walking. Surviving. Keeping the grief locked tight.
But hearing her name. Being recognized. Being seen.
It all came flooding out.
Mira's expression gentled completely.
She opened her arms. Not grabbing. Not forcing. Just offering.
"Come here, pup. You're safe now."
Selene stumbled forward. Collapsed into those arms.
Mira held her. Strong and steady. Solid in a way nothing had been since the massacre.
"I've got you," Mira murmured. "I've got you. You're safe. No one's going to hurt you anymore."
Selene sobbed into her shoulder. All the terror and grief and exhaustion pouring out.
Her parents. Isolde. The fire. The blood. The mark. The running.
All of it.
Mira just held her. Rocking slightly. Letting her break apart.
"That's it," she whispered. "Let it out. You're allowed to cry. You're allowed to grieve."
One hand stroked Selene's hair. Gentle. Maternal.
"I heard what happened. The whole southern territory heard. The Eltharion estate burned. The entire family killed."
She pulled back slightly. Looked at Selene's face.
"But the rumors said there were no survivors. Everyone dead."
"They think I'm dead," Selene managed between sobs. "The soldiers. They told everyone."
"Good. That means you're safe. For now."
Mira brushed tears from Selene's cheeks with rough, calloused thumbs.
"You found me. Or I found you. Either way, you're here now. You're alive."
She studied the mark again.
"The Crimson Crescent. I've only seen it once before. Decades ago. On a she-wolf who united three warring packs."
"Everyone keeps talking about prophecies," Selene whispered. "About saving or destroying. I don't understand any of it."
"You don't have to. Not yet." Mira stood, pulling Selene up with her. "Right now, you need food. Water. Rest. Healing."
She looked at Selene's bloody feet. Her ruined dress. The mark glowing on her forehead.
"And you need to hide. The bounty those rogues mentioned? It's real. The Alpha King wants you dead. Every desperate wolf in the kingdom will be looking for you."
"I know." Selene's voice was hollow. "He killed my family because he's afraid of what I might become."
Mira's expression darkened. "Is that what you've been told?"
"It's true, isn't it?"
"We'll talk about it. Later. When you're stronger." Mira put an arm around Selene's shoulders. "For now, come with me. My cabin's not far. You'll be safe there."
"How did you find me?" Selene asked as they started walking.
"Alaric sent word. Told me you'd be coming. Asked me to watch for you."
"You know my brother?"
"Met him once. Years ago. When he first came to your family." Mira's voice was neutral. Careful. "He seemed... dedicated to your protection."
Something in her tone suggested she didn't entirely trust Alaric. But she didn't say it outright.
They walked in silence for a while. Mira supporting Selene's weight as she stumbled on bleeding feet.
"Those rogues," Selene said quietly. "You knew them."
"I know of them. Territory like this attracts desperate wolves. Rogues. Outcasts. Wolves who've lost their packs."
"Like you?"
Mira glanced down at her. A small smile touched her lips.
"Smart pup. Yes, like me. I left my pack. Chose to live alone. But I'm not feral. Not desperate. There's a difference."
"Why did you help me?"
"Because I know what it's like to lose everything. To have your pack torn apart. To survive when you shouldn't have."
Her arm tightened around Selene's shoulders.
"And because that mark on your forehead? It means you're important. Dangerous maybe. But important."
"I don't feel important. I feel broken."
"You are broken," Mira said simply. "But broken things can be put back together. Maybe not the same as before. But stronger. Sharper."
She looked down at Selene with those amber eyes.
"You're the Eltharion child. The marked wolf. The one from the prophecy."
"What does that mean?"
Mira's smile was grim.
"It means, little pup, that you're going to change the world. Save it or destroy it. That part's up to you."