The night swallowed everything.
No stars. No moon. Just the whisper of the wind slicing through the trees as Eloise ran barefoot through the forest, clutching a small bundle wrapped in a torn blanket. Her breath came in sharp bursts, her heartbeat pounding so hard she thought the sound alone might give them away. The scent of blood lingered on her... she could not tell if it came from her wounds or from the dying Alpha she had just betrayed.
Behind her, the forest trembled with howls. Not human. Not animal. Wolves, dozens of them closing in.
"Eloise!" The voice thundered through the night, low and cold, dripping with rage. It was Damian her mate and soon to be her executioner.
She did not look back. She could not afford to. Her baby stirred in her arms, soft cries muffled against her chest. "Shh, my love," she whispered, kissing his forehead. "Please… just a little further."
Roots clawed at her feet, tearing her skin, but she did not stop until she reached the edge of the cliff. The river below roared like a beast, its currents wild and merciless. Perfect. It was the only way.
Eloise turned, her golden eyes glowing faintly under the darkness. "You will not have him, Damian," she murmured to the night.
Branches snapped. The scent of iron filled the air... Alpha presence.
He was near.
"Eloise!" Damian's growl rolled from the trees, deep enough to shake the air. He stepped out of the shadows like a storm given form.. tall, broad, his eyes burning the color of dying embers. His chest was bare, smeared with blood, the mark of a fresh wound stretching across it. The one she had given him.
"Give me the child," he said, voice calm but deadly. "And I will let you live."
"You will kill him," she said, clutching the baby tighter.
Damian's lips curled into a smirk. "He is not meant to exist. You know the prophecy... a child of two bloods brings the end of our kind."
His voice turned cold. "You think I would risk that?"
Eloise's eyes wide open "You are afraid of him. You always were."
"Afraid?" Damian laughed, a sound that sliced through the night. "No, Eloise. I am protecting what's left of us. That thing in your arms is not a miracle. It is a mistake."
A growl tore from her throat... deep, wild, primal. "He is my son."
"Then die with him."
Before she could move, Damian lunged. The world exploded claws against flesh, teeth flashing in the dark. Eloise ducked, twisting with the agility only a wolf could master. His claws grazed her shoulder, tearing flesh. Pain seared, but she did not give up. She spun, using the force to push him away but he was stronger and faster. His hand closed around her neck, lifting her off the ground.
"Always too human," he hissed. "Too weak."
Her vision blurred, spots of light dancing across her sight until the faint cry of her baby reached her ears again. The sound broke something inside her. With one last surge of power, she slammed her clawed hand into Damian's chest, right where his heart should have been. His grip loosened. Blood spilled, hot and dark. He stumbled back, snarling.
Eloise gasped for air and stepped back toward the edge of the cliff. The wind roared around her. The baby began to cry again, louder this time, his tiny fists trembling. "I am sorry," she whispered to him, her tears mixing with the rain that had begun to fall. "But you must live."
Damian's eyes widened. "Eloise, don't..."
She did not wait.
With a final, broken breath, she kissed her son's forehead. "Find your way, my child. When the Half Moon rises again, you will know who you are."
Then she jumped off the cliff.
The river swallowed her and the infant whole.
***
The forest fell silent.
For a long moment, Damian stood there, blood dripping from his wound, watching the river foam and rage beneath him. His heart thundered with something he did not want to name... fear, maybe… or regret.
Behind him, shadows moved his followers emerging from the trees.
"She is gone," one of them muttered.
Damian's jaw tightened. "No," he said, voice low. "The child lives."
The others exchanged uneasy glances. "But Alpha, they were swept downstream..."
"I said he lives."
His eyes burned brighter, the crimson deepening until the pupils were swallowed whole. "And when he returns, the world will burn." He then walked away.
TWENTY YEARS LATER
The moon hung full in the sky, silver light bleeding through the clouds. In a quiet human town miles away from the cursed forest, a boy jolted awake, breath sharp, heart pounding. The same dream again. The woman's voice, the river, the fall. And always, the faint echo of a shadow woman calling his name.
(Brandy).
He sat up, drenched in sweat, staring at his trembling hands. For a second, he swore he saw claws instead of fingers then he blinked, and they were gone.
Outside, a wolf howled long and low, too close to the edge of town. Brandy's chest tightened.
Something inside him stirred, whispering a truth he could not understand yet.
He did not know it, but the forest had not forgotten him.
And neither had Damian.