The forest was quieter than usual.
Olivia had always loved evening walks through the woods near her aunt's house. It was her way of escaping the noise of the world—her quiet ritual of peace. But tonight, the silence felt wrong. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
She paused, one booted foot crunching a brittle leaf, and looked around. Shadows danced between the trees as dusk bled into night. The hairs on her arms prickled.
Something was watching her.
"Hello?" she called out, voice barely above a whisper.
No answer. Only the rustle of leaves. Maybe it was a deer. Maybe.
She turned around to head back—but then, she heard it. A low growl. Deep. Predatory. Close.
A massive black wolf stepped out from between the trees, its eyes glowing with a golden light. It wasn't normal. It couldn't be. No creature should feel this... intelligent.
Frozen in fear, Olivia stumbled backward.
The wolf didn't pounce. It stared. As if it recognized her.
Suddenly, from the opposite side of the woods, a dark blur shot forward—another creature. This one wasn't a wolf. He was a man—tall, muscular, with glowing silver eyes. He growled, not at her, but at the wolf.
"Go!" he barked over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off the beast. "Run!"
Heart pounding, Olivia obeyed. She sprinted blindly through the forest, branches whipping her arms and face. She didn't stop until she reached the edge of the trees, collapsing onto the road, gasping for breath.
What was that?
And who was the man who saved her?
The next morning, she woke up in her bed, unsure how she even made it home. The whole thing felt like a dream—until she saw the scratches on her arm.
And the pair of golden eyes still burned in her memory.
In the shadows of the forest, Jaden—Alpha of the Blackfang Pack—watched from a distance.
"She's the one," he murmured.
Beside him, a man stepped out—pale as snow, eyes crimson.
"She's mine," said Darius, voice like silk. "You wolves always forget that humans bleed for us."
Jaden growled low. "Not this one."
And so it began.
The girl who didn't know the monsters were real…
Was about to discover she was bound to the beast.