The woods were alive at night.
Not in the peaceful, whispering kind of way, but in the way that made Selene's skin crawl — as if every shadow held teeth.
She clutched her lantern tighter, the trembling light flickering against the dense pines surrounding her. Her boots crunched against fallen leaves, muffled by the thick fog curling low across the forest floor. She shouldn't be out here. Not this late. Not this close to the cursed borders.
But she couldn't ignore the pull anymore.
It had started weeks ago — the dreams. The blood. The howls under a blood-red moon. Each morning she'd wake with sweat on her brow and scratches across her arms she couldn't explain. Her aunt said it was sleepwalking. Her best friend Marek joked she was just cursed. She laughed it off.
Until last night.
Last night, she'd dreamt of fire. Of her village burning. Of wolves with glowing eyes tearing through everything she loved. She saw herself standing among them, not afraid, but powerful — with claws and fangs and rage boiling in her chest.
And when she woke up this morning, there was a single word scratched into her wooden floorboards:
*"Run."*
Selene's pulse raced. She knew that name. Everyone did. The Moonfangs were the most ruthless werewolf pack in the region. Rumors said their Alpha once tore a man apart with his bare hands for looking at him wrong.
"Why did you bring me here?"
"Because you're not just some village girl," Kael replied. "You're Moonbound. The last of a bloodline that could either save or doom us all."
Selene shook her head. "I don't understand any of this. I've never shifted. I don't even believe in all this werewolf nonsense."
"You will." He walked to the window, drawing the curtain slightly. Moonlight poured in.
"Tomorrow is the blood moon," he said. "That mark on your chest will burn. Your body will change. And when it does, every pack will come for you — either to claim you or to kill you."
Selene felt her stomach churn. "Why me?"
Kael turned, his face unreadable. "Because your blood carries the curse. The one my pack has feared for generations. The one I swore to stop. Even if it means killing you."
Silence.
Selene stood slowly, trying to keep her voice steady. "So why didn't you?"
Kael looked at her for a long time. Then quietly:
"…Because I see the same fire in you that once lived in me."
Their eyes locked.
The fire crackled.
Outside, a howl echoed through the night — long and mournful.
And Selene knew… nothing in her life would ever be normal again.
"You shouldn't be here," he said, voice deep and clipped.
"I— I didn't mean to—" she stammered.
He tilted his head slightly, nostrils flaring. His eyes narrowed.
"You're not human," he said quietly.
Selene's heart dropped. "What?"
"You smell… different. Wild."
She stood up shakily, trying to maintain eye contact. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just—"
"Selene, right?" he interrupted.
She froze. "How do you know my name?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he stepped forward and reached out, fingers grazing the skin of her collarbone where her shirt had slipped.
Right over the strange birthmark she'd always hidden — a crescent moon entwined with claw marks.
His expression darkened. "Moonbound."
A sharp pain stabbed her head — visions flooded her eyes. Fire. Blood. Wolves bowing before a girl with glowing eyes.
Then blackness.
***
Selene awoke with a start.
She was lying on a soft bed in a dark room lit only by a fireplace. Heavy curtains blocked the windows. Her jacket and boots were gone, replaced by a long linen shirt.
"Where am I?" she whispered.
"You're safe. For now."
She turned to see him — the silver-eyed man — sitting in the corner, arms crossed.
"Who are you?" she asked.
He stood. "Kael. Alpha of the Moonfang Pack."
So now, she was here. In the forest. Following the pull in her bones, the aching heat crawling under her skin.
Then, the wind changed.
She froze.
It carried something… metallic. Blood.
A growl sounded ahead — low, guttural, and not human. Her heart stopped as yellow eyes appeared in the darkness.
One. Then two. Then five.
Wolves.
Not ordinary ones. These were massive — as tall as her shoulders, their fur thick and dark like shadows come alive. Their teeth bared in snarls, lips curling with hunger.
Selene stepped back, her lantern shaking.
One lunged.
But before it could reach her, a blur of black slammed into it, sending it flying into the trees with a yelp. The other wolves turned, snarling as the figure stood between them and Selene.
A man. No — something more.
He was tall, broad, his coat flaring behind him like wings. His presence radiated power, darkness clinging to him like a second skin. Silver eyes glinted beneath the hood of his cloak, and when he spoke, it was with the command of someone who wasn't used to being disobeyed.
"Back off."
The wolves whimpered — then scattered, tails tucked.
Selene collapsed to the ground, gasping for air she didn't realize she'd been holding. The man turned, his expression unreadable.