The dream came in fragments and flashes of crimson moonlight, the scent of rain-soaked fur, the taste of iron on her tongue. Eden ran barefoot through the woods, the earth alive beneath her soles. Trees bent toward her like they recognized her. Shadows chased her, but she wasn't afraid. She was chasing something too. A howl split the sky. She turned and saw herself standing in a pool of silver water, eyes glowing like the moon, hair dripping with blood. Then, wakefulness. Eden jolted upright, breath sharp, her skin damp with sweat. Morning sunlight filtered weakly through the cracked blinds of Vanessa's bedroom. The house creaked around her like it remembered being full and hated its current emptiness. Eden pulled the blanket tight around her shoulders. The memory of the dream was fading but the feeling lingered. It wasn't just a dream. She could feel it in her bones.
Downstairs, the kettle whistled. She hadn't turned it on. Cautiously, she crept down the stairs and into the kitchen. The air felt different but charged. The lights flickered once, then stabilized. "Hello?" she called out but there was no answer. The kettle had stopped. Steam rose in slow curls from the spout. A single mug sat on the counter, empty and waiting. She didn't put it there. Then, the sound of shuffling came from the sitting room. Eden grabbed the nearest object, a fireplace poker and rounded the corner. A girl stood there, not more than sixteen, pale, thin and dressed in a moth-eaten cloak that hung off her shoulders like it belonged to someone much larger. Her eyes were startlingly
bright and amber like a wolf's. "Don't scream," the girl said. "I didn't mean to scare you." Eden lowered the poker. "Who the hell are you?" The girl blinked. "You're Eden Vale. Aren't you?" Yes, I am. "Then you need to come with me." The girl tilted her head. "They're going to kill you if you stay here." Fifteen minutes later, Eden was lacing her boots with shaking fingers while the strange girl who introduced herself only as Wren paced the kitchen. "I don't understand," Eden said, slinging her jacket over her shoulders. "Who's trying to kill me? Why?" "Because you broke the rules," Wren muttered. "You came back. You asked questions. And you're marked." Eden froze. "What do you mean, marked?"
Wren lifted her sleeve and showed her wrist. A symbol that is thin as a scar, shaped like a crescent inside a spiral and had been burned into the flesh. It shimmered faintly even in daylight. "You've got one too," Wren said. "I saw it. When you slept last night." Eden stared. "You were watching me?" I had to, Wren said, eyes flicking toward the window. "The forest told me to." Eden almost laughed until she realized Wren wasn't joking. "What are you?" she whispered.
"I'm what's left of those who ran." Wren's voice cracked like dry leaves. "They can't kill me. I'm already gone." Wren led her through the back of the property, past an old greenhouse and into the woods. Morning fog clung to the moss and branches like old silk. The trees didn't creak or sway. They listened. "This is insane," Eden muttered, pushing aside a thicket of brambles. "Why are we going deeper into the woods? Why not go to the police? Or someone in town?" Wren stopped. Her face went pale. "You still think they're just townspeople?" she asked quietly. "You think Silverthorn has a sheriff and a PTA?" Eden hesitated. Wren stepped closer. "The council, the butcher, the priest and half the town are all pack or worse, they protect the curse because they are the curse." Eden's pulse thudded in her ears. Wren kept walking.
They arrived at a clearing where the ground dipped into a hollow bowl of earth, half swallowed by roots and in the center sat a stone altar, its surface cracked, etched with faded runes. "This is where they made the oath," Wren whispered. "The first blood, the first betrayal. It still echoes here." Eden stepped forward. The closer she got, the heavier the air became. She could feel it, something ancient pressing down on her, like she wasn't meant to be here. Like she wasn't ready. Wren turned to her. "Your aunt brought me here. When I was twelve. She was trying to undo it. She thought the bloodline curse could be broken." And what happened to her? Wren's face twisted, she got too close and the Hollow swallowed her. Suddenly, a low growl split the air. Eden turned, a massive shadow emerged from the trees, tall, humanoid, but wrong, too long in the limbs, too silent for something that size. It is not wolf, not man and not natural. Its eyes glowed amber, locked on Eden. Wren screamed, "RUN!" Eden bolted, crashing through the woods, heart thundering, branches tore at her arms, brambles ripped her jeans. She heard Wren's footfalls beside her, then a scream behind her. She turned. Wren was gone but the creature was still coming. She ran blindly until she hit a slope and tumbled, rolling down into darkness. The world tilted and she slammed against something cold and solid. A hand grabbed her arm. Not claws. "Eden," a voice growled. She looked up, it was Kade. He pulled her into a narrow ravine, shoving her behind him. She could barely see through the branches but she heard the thing above them, pacing and sniffing. Then... silence. Kade waited, muscles coiled and breath low.
After minutes stretched unbearably long, the forest fell still. He turned to her, eyes blazing. "What the hell were you doing out here?" I...I was with someone, a girl and her name is Wren. She said the council-" Wren? Kade's voice darkened. "She's dead, Eden." No, Her voice cracked. "She was with me and she...she took me to the Hollow" You went to the Hollow?" he roared. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" She trembled. "I'm trying to find out what happened to my aunt." Immediately, Kade's expression shifted. From fury to something colder, something sadder. "I warned her too," he said quietly. "Just like I warned you." Eden looked up at him. "You know more than you're telling me." He didn't deny it. She grabbed his arm. "Then help me."
He stared at her hand on his skin. It's not that simple. "Yes, it is." She stepped closer. "Because I'm not leaving and if you don't help me, I'll find someone else who will." His jaw tightened. Then, slowly, he nodded. "You want answers? Fine but you won't like what you find."
Back at his cabin, hidden behind thick forest, where no roads led, Kade lit a fire and poured her something hot with bitter smelling. Eden clutched the mug like a lifeline. "You're marked," he said flatly. "That means the forest sees you. The pack smells you and the Hollow wants you." Why? Eden whispered. I'm no one. "No." He looked at her. "You're Vale blood and that's not nothing."
"My aunt?" She was trying to end it, to free the wolves from the curse. The council didn't like that and they silenced her. Did they kill her? "I don't know," Kade admitted but she's not dead, not yet. The Hollow keeps things it finds... useful." Eden's hands shook. "And Wren?" Kade's face darkened. "Wren died years ago. The night of the last Blood Moon. If you saw her" He hesitated. "it wasn't just a ghost. It means the veil is thinning again." He looked at her. "Which means the next Blood Moon is coming and very fast." Outside, the wind picked up. A howl echoed, but it wasn't natural. It sounded like mourning. Like warning. Eden turned toward the window and saw something in the tree line.
Not wolf, not man but it was waiting.