The forest was too quiet.
Not peaceful—wrong. Every instinct in me screamed to move, to run, even as my legs felt… different. Stronger. My senses sharper. The faintest rustle of leaves felt like a shout in my ears.
But beneath it all was something else. A hum, low and steady, pulsing in rhythm with my heartbeat.
The power. Whatever the Moon Goddess had done to me, it was alive, coiled beneath my skin like a predator waiting to strike.
A twig snapped. My head snapped toward the sound before I could think, my vision sharpening to see through the shadows. Two figures. Rogues, circling, their scents sharp with hunger and bloodlust.
My wolf snarled, but the growl that left my throat wasn't hers. It was deeper. Wilder.
They lunged. I moved faster than I ever had before. My claws tore through one before I even realized what I was doing. The other bolted, but I caught him—my hand on his throat, lifting him off the ground.
His struggles weakened. My fingers tightened. And then… something strange happened.
Heat flowed from him into me. His energy, his very life, seeping into my veins like liquid fire. My wounds sealed. My strength surged. And I wanted more.
The rogue's eyes glazed over as he went limp. I dropped him, horrified, my hands shaking.
"What… what am I?" I whispered, backing away from the corpse.
A howl split the night. Not a rogue's. A call — deep, commanding, powerful.
My stomach turned cold. I knew that voice.
Kael.
Somehow, impossibly, he was here. And he was closing in.
I bolted into the trees, but the hum beneath my skin pulsed harder. It wasn't just fear. It was… recognition.
Like my new power knew him, and wanted me to stay.