The forest exploded into chaos.
Snarls vibrated through the ground as shadowy figures lunged from between the trees. Luca moved first—fast, precise, deadly. His blade caught the moonlight as he slashed through the first wolf, sending sparks of silver across the ancient stones.
Selena mirrored him, her movements fluid and sharp, fangs glinting, eyes blazing. She struck with supernatural speed, dodging claws and teeth as she snapped a creature's neck with a clean twist.
Enemies surrounded them, but their bodies moved in instinctive unison—two forces fighting as though they had trained together for centuries.
"What are these wolves doing on vampire land?" Selena shouted as she dodged another attack.
"They're not mine," Luca growled, stabbing his blade through a rogue's side. "Rogues don't answer to any pack."
Rogues—wild, feral wolves with no allegiance. Dangerous even to werewolves.The forest had not seen them in decades… until now.
Selena kicked one back, her chest rising and falling with supernatural breath."So they wandered across the border. That still doesn't explain why they're hunting you."
Luca didn't answer.He couldn't.Because behind the snarling, behind the fury, he felt something else—A pressure.A pull.A warning.
The Moon.
When the last rogue wolf collapsed to the forest floor, silence returned in heavy, uneven breaths. The trees shook. Mist curled between the roots. Overhead, the moon glowed a deep, unnatural silver.
Selena wiped blood from her cheek."Something's wrong tonight."
Luca nodded. "I felt it before I left the keep. A strange pull. Like the moon was calling."
"To you?"
"To us," he corrected quietly.
Selena stiffened. "Don't say that."
"Why? You felt it too."
She turned away, cape sweeping the leaves. "That doesn't mean we accept it. You're a wolf. I'm a vampire. Whatever this is—this… bond—it should be impossible."
"It is impossible," he said. "But it's happening."
She stopped walking.He stepped toward her.The air tightened.
For a moment, the forest seemed to hold its breath.
"You can't deny it," Luca said softly. "When your wound reopened earlier, I felt it. When you're afraid, I feel it. And when you stepped into this clearing, it was like breathing for the first time in days."
Her lips parted, but no words came. Because she had felt it too — stronger than anything she'd ever known.
But before she could answer, a cloud shifted across the sky.
The moon darkened—Then turned blood-red.
The same shade as her eyes.The same shade as the prophecy carved into the ancient stone that both clans feared.
Selena whispered, "No… not again."
The Blood Moon.
The last time it appeared, a war between vampires and wolves nearly destroyed both clans.
And now… it pulsed over them like a crimson omen.
Luca stared at it in horror. "Tell me you know what this means."
Selena swallowed. "I do. And you won't like it."
"Tell me anyway."
She turned to face him, her expression heavy with dread."The Blood Moon only appears when a forbidden bond is formed—one that threatens the balance between our races."
Luca's chest tightened. "A bond like ours."
She nodded once. "If the clans discover this, Luca… they won't just hunt us."
"What then?"
"They'll try to break the bond."
"How?"
Her eyes lowered."There's only one way."
The silence that followed was colder than winter.
Luca stepped closer, refusing to let fear separate them."I'm not letting anyone touch you. Not your Queen. Not my father. Not the Moon itself."
Her breath shook. "You can't protect me from fate."
"Watch me."
The bond pulsed again—strong enough to make the trees tremble. Selena staggered slightly, and Luca reached out, catching her wrist.
The moment he touched her, the world shifted.
Flashes. Memories. Visions.
A crown dripping with blood.A battlefield of ash.A lone figure standing between two armies—and falling.
They gasped and pulled apart.
"What was that?" she whispered.
"A warning," Luca said. "Or a glimpse of what's coming."
Before either of them could speak again, the ground vibrated beneath their feet.
Hoof beats.Torches.Voices.
Selena's eyes widened."Your pack. They're tracking you."
Luca cursed under his breath. "They must have followed my scent."
"And if they see me with you—"
"They'll attack," he finished.
Selena stepped back into the shadows. "I'll go."
"No." He followed. "Not like this."
"Luca—"
"We face this together."
She held his gaze for a long moment.Something soft flickered in her eyes—fear, hope, longing, something she wasn't ready to name.
But she shook her head."No. If they catch you with a vampire—especially me—it'll start a war. And I can't… I can't let that be my fault."
She vanished into the mist with vampire speed—gone, but not gone far.
Luca felt her presence lingering. Watching. Protecting from a distance.
He sheathed his blade just as Kael and the pack burst into the clearing.
Kael dismounted first, eyes scanning the bodies of the rogue wolves."Luca… what happened here?"
Luca forced a steady breath."Rogues. They came out of nowhere."
Kael stepped closer. "You fought them alone?"
Luca hesitated—only for a fraction of a heartbeat."Yes."
Kael's eyes narrowed."You're lying."
Luca's jaw clenched.
He could still feel Selena's heartbeat in the shadows.He could still see the Blood Moon reflected in her eyes.He could still hear her whisper:
You can't protect me from fate.
But he would try.
Even if it destroyed them both.