ra'

any living soul. I should have turned back. Any sensible person would have bolted toward the safety of the village, but somethi

owled in shadow. They warned of voices that lured wanderers into never returning. I had a

bled against the press of shadows, and every crunch of leaves underfoot seemed far too loud. I clutched the shaw

cracked into the silenc

was worse than the sound.

t-two faint glimmers between the trees. Eyes. Not human. Not gentle. They gleamed with a pre

olf stood that tall. And no wolf st

eel caught on a root, nearly pitching me into the d

wl rolled thro

a warning. My body screamed at me to run, but my legs locked. I h

this time, brushing my ear thou

nd hit the ground. The flame went

my skirt snagging on thorns that tore at my skin. Branches clawed across my face. Behind me

gh the heavy sky. My lungs burned, my chest heaved, and the world t

s when

wild to be a man. A cloak of shadow wrapped it, shoulders carved with power, head lifted as if scen

f the cursed Alpha who ruled Bloodmoon Hollow, the beast who kept to the forest, fear

s here. W

oped around my ribs, pulling taut. His gaze locked to mine and for a heartbeat the forest

hoing through the woods like a call to war. Birds exploded from the t

aring. Another-and he stood bef

d me as he leaned close, his voice low, ro

. His presence was overwhelming, both terrifying and magnetic. Every in

stion came out broken,

might destroy me. Then he vanished into the shadows

mmering, breath ragged, body trembling wit

t time, faint and final.

fell sil

would ever be sil

ed Alpha himself. Yet as she staggers home, the silver of his eyes still burns in her

pressed too heavily, as if the woods themselves waited for her next step. She clutched her

it; her bones knew it. Every instinct screamed

shape moved in the shadows-too tall, too fluid to be a wolf, yet not wholly human. The sound of

ara

y earth beneath her feet. Her grip faltered on the lantern, ne

's t

the woods, closi

he presence moved closer, but when she blinked, nothing stood

t beyond the rise, through the crooked row of birches. If she could reach it, bar the do

her cloak, tugging her backward like living things. Her pulse thundered as she broke

a heartbeat. For just beyond the curve of her

till. W

ad shoulders, the suggestion of a face half-hidd

breath trapped

, slow, deliberate, and the ai

again, low and commandin

me, it