The power died with a sigh, plunging the apartment into a darkness that felt alive. The city's hum vanished beneath the growl of the storm, and Melody heard only her heartbeat frantic, too loud.
Lucien stood by the window, every line of his body tensed like a bowstring. The faint light of the blood moon filtered through the curtains, turning his eyes to liquid silver.
"Stay away from the windows," he said quietly.
Melody obeyed before she could think. She backed toward the center of the room, clutching her camera like a weapon. "What's happening?"
"The pack caught your scent," he replied. "They hunt anything the moon marks."
"Marks?" Her voice cracked. "I'm not one of you."
Lucien's head tilted slightly. "No. But you're bound to us now."
Outside, the howls rose again closer. The air smelled of rain, metal, and the strange ozone of Lucien's moonfire. He pressed a hand to the door, murmuring something in a language she didn't know. A sigil appeared like frost.
"What was that?" she asked.
"A ward. It'll hold them for a while."
"You talk like this happens every day."
"It does. You just never saw it before."
In the half-light, the scar along his jaw caught the moon's gleam, his gaze softening. "They'll smell your fear," he said gently. "Breathe slower."
Melody tried focusing on the rain, the creak of floorboards, his steady breathing. "What do they want from me?"
"Not you," he said. "What's inside you?"
Before she could ask, the ward flared blue. A heavy impact shook the door. Another. The sigil splintered.
Lucien swore. "They shouldn't be this strong."
"Who are they?"
"Rogues," he said flatly. "Wolves who sold their souls to the Hollow Moon. They've forgotten the goddess and they want her blood."
"Their what"
The door exploded inward. Three shapes burst through, claws and teeth gleaming amber.
Lucien moved faster than sight. His coat tore as claws extended. He struck the first rogue's throat, kicked the second into the wall. The third lunged for Melody.
She screamed, diving aside as claws grazed her arm. Pain flared hot. Lucien roared a sound not human and slammed the creature down.
"Close your eyes!" he barked.
Light seared through her lids, white-blue. When she opened them, ash drifted through the room like snow.
Lucien stood panting, shirt ripped, a shimmer of silvery-black fur rippling beneath his skin before fading.
"Now you see," he said.
Melody pressed her wound, staring. "You're"
"Not human," he finished.
Outside, the street was littered with smoking pawprints. "They'll be back," he murmured. "The mark on your neck calls to them."
Melody's fingers brushed the faint crescent glowing beneath her skin. "What does it mean?"
Lucien looked to the moon. "It means you're her," he said softly. "And that means you're mine to protect."
The ward's glow faded. Rain whispered through the broken door. Lucien paced, his movements too fluid, too controlled as if the beast beneath his skin still lingered.
"You should've run," he said.
"I don't take orders from strangers who break into my apartment."
"Then you'll die like one."
There was no cruelty in his tone, only weariness. He knelt, tore a strip from his sleeve, and bound her arm gently. The fabric smelled of rain and iron.
"They won't stop," he murmured. "The mark calls to them."
"Then take it off."
He shook his head. "The goddess doesn't give gifts that can be undone."
Melody swallowed. "You said the Hollow Moon that's what they serve?"
Lucien's jaw tightened. "She's a shadow. A hunger that once ruled half the sky. When the goddess cast her out, the world split one side worships light, the other feeds on it."
"And I'm caught between them."
His eyes met hers. "You were always caught between them."
Something in his voice soft, familiar made her chest ache. "You talk like you know me."
"I did," he said quietly. "A long time ago."
Rain drummed the window, echoing her pulse. "You're serious."
Lucien turned away. "The cycle wasn't supposed to begin until the next eclipse."
"What cycle?"
"Rebirth. Punishment. The goddess keeps rewriting the same tragedy until one of us learns mercy."
Her laugh came out brittle. "You're insane."
"Maybe. But insanity keeps you alive in our world."
Lightning flashed the room revealed in ruin: splintered wood, clawed walls, soot drifting like snow. Lucien picked up her camera and handed it to her. "Keep this close. It's more than glass now."
"What do you mean?"
"The lens saw the mark before you did. It's bound to you. Use it, and it'll show what hides between the heartbeats of this city."
He moved toward the door. "Pack a bag. You can't stay here."
"You're taking me somewhere?"
"A safehouse under the old cathedral."
"And if I refuse?"
Lucien looked back, pupils flashing gold. "Then I dig your grave before dawn."
Fear settled into something practical. Melody grabbed her bag. As she stuffed it, she caught his reflection in the mirror half man, half shadow, silver eyes gleaming. For a heartbeat, another version appeared: older clothes, a crown of bone, a battlefield drenched in moonlight. Then it vanished.
She turned sharply. "What was that?"
"The past," he said. "And the reason we're both cursed."
Thunder boomed. A single, lonely howl echoed through the storm. Lucien's head tilted, listening to a language only he could hear.
"They're calling for their Alpha," he murmured.
"Which means?"
"The hunt has only begun."
He opened the shattered door. Moonlight caught his silhouette broad shoulders, fur glinting faintly along his arms. For an instant, she saw invisible chains dragging from his shadow.
She followed him into the storm.
The city looked different now: every streetlamp flickered like a candle before an unseen wind. In the distance, sirens wailed loudly beneath them, another rhythm pulsed, the heartbeat of something ancient awakening.
Lucien glanced back once, eyes glowing faintly in the dark. "Welcome to the night, Melody." He said almost sadly.
Then he led her into it.