Darkness didn't fall. It drowned me.
Not the gentle drift of sleep or the numb black of unconsciousness. This was different. Heavier. Like I was being pulled into something ancient and alive — a void that whispered and watched.
I don't know how long I was out.
When I woke, I was lying on my side, damp leaves clinging to my skin, the cold forest floor seeping through my clothes. The world felt wrong. Brighter. Sharper. Like someone had peeled away a veil I didn't know was there.
The first thing I noticed was the silence. Not peaceful — tense. Like the woods were holding their breath.
Then came the pain.
It started as a dull throb in my shoulder, where his teeth had torn through my skin. But it quickly spread, hot and electric, crawling through my veins like fire and ice. My whole body pulsed with it — not just pain, but power. Buzzing. Building.
I gasped and pushed myself up, wincing. The wound still burned, but it wasn't bleeding. In fact, the skin looked... wrong. The bite mark shimmered faintly, like silver threads had been stitched beneath it.
I wasn't alone.
He stood nearby — tall, broad, and terrifyingly calm. The same man… no, the same thing that had bitten me. Kael.
I backed away instinctively, pressing my back to a tree. "Stay away from me."
He didn't move. Just watched, arms crossed over his bare chest, the moonlight catching on the strange black tattoo that curved across his collarbone.
"You shouldn't try to stand so soon," he said quietly.
"I wasn't asking for advice," I snapped. My voice shook. My hands trembled. But I wasn't sure if it was from fear, anger… or something else entirely.
"I didn't mean to hurt you," he said.
I laughed bitterly. "You bit me."
"I know."
"Then explain what's happening to me. Why do I feel like my body's not mine anymore?"
Kael's silver eyes locked onto mine. "Because it isn't. Not completely."
I stared at him. Waiting. Dreading.
"You've been marked," he said. "By me."
My stomach twisted. "Marked? Like… claimed?"
He gave a slow, almost regretful nod. "It's more than a claim. It's a bond. A pull between you and me. Between your blood and the pack."
"Pack?" I repeated, heart pounding. "What are you even talking about?"
He took a step closer, slowly, like I might bolt. "I'm not human. Not fully. I'm a shifter. Alpha of the Northridge pack. And now… you're connected to me."
"No," I whispered. "No, that's insane."
"You felt it," he said. "Back in the clearing. Before I bit you. That pull — the feeling that something inside you woke up."
I did feel it. And that terrified me more than anything else.
"What happens now?" I asked, hugging myself. "Do I turn into a monster? Grow fangs and howl at the moon?"
He looked almost sad. "Not exactly. The change comes slowly. But it will come. Your senses will sharpen. Your instincts will shift. You'll feel the moon calling to you, just like I do."
"I never asked for this," I said, voice breaking. "I never wanted any of this."
Kael looked down. "Neither did I."
Those four words stunned me.
He sounded like he meant them — not as an excuse, but a confession.
"I've spent my whole life fighting what I am," he said. "Keeping it contained. Protecting others from it. But something about you… it broke through."
I was quiet for a moment, my breath misting in the cold.
"You said the bite is a bond," I said. "What does that mean for me?"
"It means your fate is tied to mine now," he said. "If you resist it, it'll hurt. If you fight it, it'll fight back. But if you accept it… you'll survive the change. Maybe even thrive."
"And if I don't?"
His voice lowered. "You'll lose yourself. The change will burn through you until nothing human is left."
I staggered back, the truth of it settling like lead in my chest.
I was changing.
Not just physically. Something deeper — primal — had been awakened. Something ancient. Wild. Hungry.
Kael stepped forward again. This time, I didn't move.
"There's a reason no one goes into these woods," he said. "The stories you've heard? They're not wrong. My pack guards this land. And the humans who live near it."
"Then why mark me?" I asked. "Why not just let me go?"
He hesitated, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Because I didn't choose you. My wolf did."
My throat tightened. I didn't understand all of it — maybe I wasn't supposed to yet — but I felt it. Like a thread between us, tugging tighter with every heartbeat.
Kael watched me for a long moment, then turned away. "You should rest. The change is only beginning."
"I want answers," I said firmly. "All of them."
"You'll get them," he said over his shoulder. "Just not all at once."
And then he was gone. One moment there, the next, swallowed by the shadows.
I stood alone in the clearing, heart racing, the bite on my shoulder pulsing like it had its own heartbeat.
Whatever had happened tonight, it wasn't over.
It was just beginning.