hing howled in the distance, not an animal, not human. Something in between. She turned. The trees lining the horizon bowed inward, as though leaning closer. Their branches moved, not in wind, but

mark beneath it. A symbol, not a wound. Black and slightly raised, like a brand pressed into her skin. It is not ink and not human made. She reached to touch it and the moment her fingers brushed the edge, a burning shot through her arm like fire licking bone. Eden bit back a cry, breathing through her teeth. "What the hell is happening to me?" She was still in the room Kade had taken

as thick with damp earth and something else like copper and burning pine. She found the town's library by instinct, drawn by the feeling that someone or something wanted

m, barefoot, wearing a white dress stained with mud at the hem. Her eyes were too pale, almost silver. Her voice was low, too steady. Do I know you? Eden asked. The girl didn't answer. She tilted her head. "You're marked." Eden's hand moved protectively to her ankle. "What does that mean?" It means he saw you. And now he's wai

he reached the cottage, she wasn't alone. Kade stood at the back, his arms bare, his eyes darker than usual. His scar looked deeper today. He didn't turn as she approached. "You found the mark," he said. How do you know? she queried. "I could feel it." His jaw worked. "I warned you not to dig." Eden crossed her arms. "My aunt vanished. Someone branded me with something out of a nightmare and a child ghost in the library told me a thing un

nt wasn't the first Vale to disappear. He turned to her. "Your family's blood woke something and it's hunting through you now." She took a step back. "I didn't ask for this." No one does. Kade replied. She looked at him, really deep "but you... you're cursed too, aren't you?" Kade hesitated. Then he unbuttoned his shirt and turned his back to her. Dozens of scars carved into his skin like runes. Some healed. Some still raw. "I shift on the full moon but not like the others. My form isn't just wolf it's something worse. It is somet

he looked at Kade and felt the mark on her skin burn, not with fear, but with knowing. "I'm not leaving,"

coming." She turned to him. "What happens then?" He looked up at the sky as clouds moved to