The cold night air struck Kael's skin the moment he staggered out of the mansion.
It felt sharper than it should have. Every breath burned his lungs, not from pain, but from clarity. The world no longer felt distant or blurred. It pressed against him from every side, alive and loud. The trees groaned as they swayed. Insects crawled through the grass with tiny, frantic sounds. Somewhere far away, an owl cried, its call stretching long and lonely through the dark.
Kael stumbled forward and caught himself before he fell.
His shoulder throbbed where the werewolf had bitten him, yet the pain was already fading. That frightened him more than the wound itself. Pain was supposed to linger. Pain was proof something was wrong. But this was different. The ache was retreating, replaced by warmth that spread through his chest and limbs like fire under his skin.
Something inside him was waking up.
His blood hummed. Not quietly. Loud enough that he could feel it in his ears, pounding in rhythm with his heart. Each beat felt heavier, stronger, as if his body had learned a new way to exist.
Selene appeared beside him without a sound.
She moved like the night itself, smooth and alert, her dark cloak barely brushing the ground. Her eyes glowed faintly red as they swept across the trees, the shadows, the broken outline of the mansion behind them.
"We cannot stay here," she said, her voice calm but tight. "They will come."
Kael swallowed and tried to speak. His throat felt dry, scraped raw by fear and shock.
"Who?" he managed.
Selene did not look at him. "Everyone who can smell what you are now."
She took his arm and guided him forward. Her grip was firm, steady, far stronger than it looked. They moved away from the house and into the forest behind it, branches snapping softly beneath their feet.
Kael glanced down at his hands as he walked.
They looked the same. Still human. Still his.
Yet they felt different.
Stronger. Lighter. When he flexed his fingers, the movement was smooth and exact, as if his body obeyed him without delay. He bent and picked up a fallen branch lying in their path. The wood felt light, almost weightless. Without thinking, he snapped it in half.
The sound echoed too loudly in the quiet woods.
Kael froze.
His breath caught as he stared at the broken branch in his hands.
"I didn't mean to," he whispered.
Selene finally looked at him.
Her gaze was sharp, measuring. Curious.
"What is happening to me?" Kael asked. His voice shook despite his effort to stay calm. "I feel like I'm burning and freezing at the same time. I hear things I shouldn't. I can smell the earth. The trees. You."
Selene slowed her pace.
"You are no longer entirely human," she said carefully. "Your body has crossed a line it cannot return from."
Kael stopped walking.
"No," he said. "That's not possible."
She turned to face him fully now, moonlight catching the pale edges of her face. "You were bitten by a werewolf. You were dying. I gave you my blood to save you."
"That should have killed me," Kael said. "I've read the stories."
"So have I," Selene replied. "And yet you stand here."
Kael shook his head, panic clawing up his chest. "You said hybrid. That's not real."
"It is now," she said quietly. "Part vampire. Part werewolf. Something else layered beneath it."
He stared at her.
"My parents were normal," he said. "They worked normal jobs. We lived in a small house. They argued about bills and food and whether the roof leaked."
Selene's expression did not change, but her eyes softened slightly.
"I do not know why you survived," she said. "Only that when I tasted your blood, it was different. Old. Strong. Not human."
The words settled heavily between them.
Kael felt dizzy.
Questions flooded his mind, colliding with memories of childhood that suddenly felt thin and fragile. Birthday candles. School mornings. His mother's tired smile. His father's quiet laugh. None of it felt fake, but now it felt incomplete, like a story missing pages.
"Can I control it?" he asked.
Selene studied him again, slower this time. "Not yet. Power like this awakens in layers. Right now, your instincts are louder than your thoughts. You must move before they find us."
She turned and started running.
Kael hesitated only a second before following.
They moved deeper into the forest, the ground uneven beneath their feet. Kael expected to trip, to fall, but his body reacted before his mind could catch up. He stepped over roots he hadn't seen. He ducked branches without thinking. His breathing stayed steady, his muscles responding as if they had trained for this moment all his life.
Moonlight spilled through the trees in broken silver lines.
Every sound was sharp now. The crunch of leaves. The snap of distant twigs. The low echo of howls carrying through the woods.
Kael's stomach tightened.
"They're close," he said without realizing how he knew.
Selene glanced back at him. "Good. Your senses are opening."
A sudden movement in the brush to their left made Kael turn instantly. A branch fell from above, snapping toward his head. He caught it midair without effort and tossed it aside.
His heart raced.
"I can feel everything," he said, almost in awe. "It's too much."
"It will feel like that at first," Selene replied. "Your body is learning how to exist again."
They reached a small clearing where the trees parted. Moonlight bathed the ground in pale light. Selene crouched behind a fallen log and motioned for Kael to follow.
The howls were louder now.
Closer.
"You are hunted," Selene said quietly. "The moment your blood changed, it sent a signal. Werewolves feel it. Vampires feel it. Other things too."
Kael's hands clenched.
"What about humans?" he asked. "Do they know any of this is real?"
Selene shook her head. "Most never will. The world you know is built on lies meant to protect it. Fear spreads faster than truth. We hide to keep balance."
"And me?" Kael asked.
Her gaze lingered on him. "You are not part of the balance. You are something new."
A low growl rolled through the clearing.
Kael turned slowly.
Between the trees, two glowing eyes watched them. A lone wolf stepped forward, larger than any normal animal, its movements cautious but curious. Its nose lifted as it tasted the air.
Selene moved first.
She sprang forward, a blur of motion, placing herself between Kael and the wolf. The creature snarled and lunged. Kael felt something pull inside him, an instinct screaming to move.
He did.
He dodged, faster than thought, his body flowing into motion. The wolf snapped at empty air. Kael struck without planning to, his fist connecting with the animal's side. The impact sent it skidding backward through leaves and dirt.
Kael stared at his hand, breath ragged.
The wolf hesitated, eyes flicking between Selene and Kael. It growled once, low and uncertain, then retreated into the trees.
Silence returned.
Selene turned toward him slowly.
"You reacted," she said. "Good."
Kael swallowed hard. "That thing should have killed me."
"And yet it didn't," she replied.
They moved again, slower now, weaving through the forest as the night deepened. Selene guided him, pointing out sounds, teaching him how to listen without panicking, how to let the flood of sensation pass through him instead of drowning in it.
At a narrow riverbank, they stopped.
Water flowed quietly, reflecting the moon like broken glass. Kael knelt and dipped his fingers into it. He felt the current move around his skin, cool and alive.
Selene watched him from a distance.
"You are changing," she said softly. "And change attracts attention."
Kael looked up at her.
Her eyes glowed softly in the dark, dangerous and beautiful all at once. For a moment, the fear eased. Something else stirred in its place. A pull. A connection he could not explain.
Her hand brushed his as she turned away.
The touch was brief.
It sent a shiver through him.
They moved deeper into the forest, night closing around them.
And somewhere far beyond the trees, something ancient stirred.
Watching.
Waiting.
This was only the beginning.