The pack house felt wrong the moment Ronan left.
The silence wasn't peaceful—it was tight, stretched thin over a storm Evelyn could not see but could feel pounding beneath her skin. The walls creaked even though there was no wind. The floor trembled like it was holding its breath. The shadows in her room gathered thick at the corners, restless and alert.
They knew.
Something was coming.
And it terrified them.
Evelyn stood by the window, hands pressed flat against the cold wood as she stared at the dark line of trees where Ronan had disappeared minutes earlier. Only minutes. Yet her chest felt hollow, as if a piece of her had been ripped out and carried into the forest with him.
Her wolf paced inside her mind, claws skittering, breath heavy with panic.
Go to him. Go to him now.
"No," Evelyn whispered. "He told me to stay."
Her wolf snarled with frustration.He's hurting.
A chill slid down her spine.
"No… no, he's fine. He always comes back."He had said so himself.He was Alpha. Untouchable. Unbreakable.
But the bond didn't lie.
A crack of agony—sharp, sudden, electric—shot through her chest.
She gasped, one hand clutching her heart.
"Ronan?" she whispered.
The shadows snapped upward at her feet, rising like startled creatures.
Another jolt slammed into her—this one deeper, like claws raking the inside of her ribs.
Her knees buckled.
Ronan is wounded.
"No…" Evelyn breathed, panic rising. "No, he's—"
A roar exploded through the night.
Not a battle roar.Not a warning.Not a challenge.
It was a sound that tore the world in half.
A sound of pain.
Ronan's pain.
Evelyn's breath shattered.
For a moment she didn't even realize she had screamed. The sound ripped out of her involuntarily, raw and terrified, her wolf howling through her chest.
The shadows surged up her legs, sensing her fear, curling protectively around her waist.
Her heart slammed wildly against her ribs.
"Ronan—"
Her voice broke before the name could leave her lips.
Another roar.Weaker this time.
Her fingers dug into the windowsill.She felt the pain bleeding through the mate bond—sharp, burning, searing. It wasn't fatal, not yet, but it was bad enough to send terror shaking through her bones.
She couldn't stand still.She couldn't breathe.She couldn't let him fight alone.
The mate bond would never forgive her.
"Take me to him," she whispered.
The shadows trembled—wanting to obey—
The door burst open.
A young warrior stumbled inside, breathless, eyes wide with panic.
"Evelyn!"
She spun around. "What happened?"
His eyes darted to the swirling shadows around her, but he shoved his fear down and spoke quickly.
"Alpha Ronan is under attack. There are dozens—maybe more. Hunters. And not normal ones. They're using silver. Witchcraft circles. Traps. We—"
He swallowed.
"They came prepared to kill an Alpha."
Evelyn's pulse stopped.
It felt like the world fell out from under her feet.
"Is he—?"
"He's fighting. But he's bleeding. Badly."The warrior lowered his voice."And he's alone."
Evelyn's vision went black at the edges.
The bond pulsed inside her, violent and frantic. Her wolf snapped her teeth in fury.
The shadows around her writhed like smoke caught in a storm.
"Take me to him," she said—voice shaking, breath wild.
But the warrior lifted his hands. "No, Evelyn. He specifically ordered—"
"I don't care what he ordered!" she snapped, stepping forward, shadows snapping at her heels like a warning. "If he dies out there, I—"
She stopped before her voice cracked.
The warrior hesitated, torn between fear and loyalty.
Evelyn's eyes burned silver. "I'm not asking."
Before he could answer, the shadows wrapped around her thighs, tightening like a belt, lifting her slightly off the ground.
Evelyn turned toward the open window.
"I'll be faster alone."
"Wait—!" the warrior shouted.
Too late.
The shadows launched her forward, and Evelyn flew through the window, swallowed by the night.
The wind tore at her hair as she shot through the trees like black lightning. She didn't run.She didn't leap.She didn't shift.
She was something else entirely.
Branches bent out of her way before she touched them. Leaves curled inward, recognizing the darkness she carried. The forest parted to let her pass, every shadow alive and racing beside her.
Her senses sharpened unnaturally.
She smelled blood.
Ronan's blood.
She tasted silver in the air.She saw flickers of torchlight.She heard metal clashing against bone.
And the closer she got, the more her wolf keened inside her chest.
Faster. Faster. Faster.
She burst into the clearing—
And the world went silent.
Ronan was a storm of dark fur and rage, fighting with supernatural strength despite his wounds. His massive wolf form snarled and tore through attackers, but the hunters were too many.
Silver arrows punctured his side.Blood dripped down his left leg.A deep slash marred his shoulder.
Circles of witchcraft symbols glowed faintly on the ground—meant to drain his strength and trap him.
He staggered.
The sight nearly broke something inside her.
A hunter raised a silver spear.
"Pin the Alpha down!"
Ronan roared, but he was slowing.
Then—Evelyn screamed.
"RONAN!"
Her voice carried like thunder.
The shadows behind her exploded into the clearing, slamming through trees and hunters alike with a force that shattered bone and sent bodies flying.
Every head whipped toward her.
"What the—?!"
"Is that—dark magic?!"
"She's the bounty girl!"
"She's the Goddess-marked!"
Ronan's wolf froze mid-attack.His massive head whipped toward her, golden eyes blazing with shock and something deeper—relief, terror, and something he didn't want to name.
"Evelyn," he growled, voice broken through the bond.
She ran to him instantly.
Shadows cleared the path for her, slicing traps, ripping silver from the air, shattering weapons.
She dropped to her knees beside him, hands trembling as they touched his fur.
He pressed his head into her chest like he needed her to breathe.
"You shouldn't be here," he growled weakly.
"I wasn't going to let you die," she whispered, tears burning hot behind her eyes.
His wolf nuzzled her, blood dripping into the grass.
"I can't lose you," he breathed.
Her heart faltered.
But the hunters regrouped behind them, weapons raised.
Ronan tried to stand, but his injured leg collapsed beneath him.
Evelyn rose slowly, stepping in front of him.
The shadows rose higher—slick, lethal, coiling like living blades.
Her voice was no longer human.
"If you want him…"Her eyes glowed silver, bright as moonfire."…you go through me."
The hunters hesitated.One whispered, terrified:
"She's the prophecy."
Another shook his head, voice cracking."No. She's worse."
Evelyn smiled.A cold, terrifying smile.
"Run," she said."I dare you."
No one did.
So she lifted her hand—
The shadows writhed eagerly.
And the forest held its breath.