Periphery Outpost, Deep Forest Territory
The wind howled against the wooden beams of the small watch station nestled deep in the woods. Rain still tapped the roof in a soft, lingering rhythm, but the storm had passed.
Inside, the fire had dwindled to embers. Selene sat on the edge of the cot, fingers wrapped tightly around a mug of lukewarm coffee, staring into the ashes as if they could explain how her life had shifted in a single night.
Behind her, Matteo stirred.
He'd been silent since they got back—since she'd pulled his bleeding body through rain and mud after that rogue ambush. Since she'd screamed his name when his eyes rolled back and she'd thought—for one horrifying moment—that he might not survive.
Since she'd kissed him like he was the last man on earth.
Selene didn't do feelings. She didn't do softness. But gods help her, something had cracked open last night.
"You're pacing in your head again," Matteo's voice broke through the quiet, rough and tired.
She turned slightly to look at him, half-reclined on the cot, one arm slung over his abdomen. Shirtless. Bandages on his ribs. And still managing to look infuriatingly good.
"Do you always eavesdrop on people's thoughts?" she asked dryly.
"Only yours. They're loud."
"Then maybe you should stop listening."
He sat up slowly, wincing as the injury pulled tight. "If I stopped listening, I'd have missed you whispering my name last night. Twice."
Her cheeks flushed, but her eyes didn't flinch. "You were delirious."
"I was dying," he said. "But not deaf."
She turned fully to face him now, defensive walls bristling. "Matteo—"
"Selene." His voice was gentler now. "It wasn't just the storm. It wasn't just adrenaline. Something changed between us. And you can keep pretending it didn't—"
She crossed the small space between them in two strides and kissed him hard.
It wasn't soft. It wasn't tentative.
It was frustrated and vulnerable and honest.
When she pulled back, breathing shallow, her voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't know what the hell this is. But I know I hated watching you bleed. I hated how scared I was."
Matteo touched her face, reverent. "You love like a soldier. Fierce. Brutal. But real."
She blinked at him, emotions rising so fast she almost didn't recognize them.
"I don't know how to do this," she admitted.
"I don't need you to know how. Just… don't run this time."
A long pause passed. Then she sat beside him on the cot, leaning against his bare chest, feeling the steady thump of his heart under her palm.
"I won't," she said quietly.
And for once, Sabine let herself be held.
Just held.
Not for strategy. Not for survival. Just because she wanted to be.
_ _ _
Sector 12 _Forbidden Pines
The path narrowed as they rode deeper into the dense pine forest. The air grew colder, the light dimmer—trees so thick they nearly blocked out the midday sun. Selene's wolf senses prickled. The quiet here wasn't just natural. It was... intentional.
She rode ahead of Matteo, cloaked in a matte-black riding jacket, a long blade strapped to her back. Her silver eyes scanned the terrain ahead—watching, calculating, always alert.
Behind her, Matteo leaned low on his mount, posture relaxed but eyes sharp. He knew Selene had slipped into soldier mode—quiet, controlled, closed off—but he also knew her pulse. He could feel it every time she shifted her weight slightly in the saddle. She wasn't just hunting something out here.
She was hunting silence. Distance. Control.
And it made him want to chase her all the more.
"We're coming up on the coordinates," Selene called, voice steady. "Still no sign of movement. The scouts said Darius's men were seen crossing into this zone."
Matteo frowned. "So either they've gone to ground… or this is a trap."
"Both can be true."
They dismounted in a small clearing just past a dead ravine. The air stank faintly of ash and iron. Something had bled here—and recently.
Selene knelt near a scorched patch of moss, fingers ghosting over it. "Fire magic," she murmured.
"Witch-born?" Matteo asked.
She shook her head. "No. This is wolf work. Controlled. Purposeful."
"Darius."
Her silence confirmed it.
Then her comm buzzed. Static hissed, then a choked voice came through: "—Selene. Matteo—do not—too late—watch the trees!"
The line went dead.
Matteo barely had time to draw his blade before the first shadow lunged from the canopy above.
They moved fast—feral wolves in war form, smaller than true alphas but sleek and brutal, bred for speed. Darius's experiments.
Selene spun mid-swing, slicing through one midair, the blade singing as it cut. Blood sprayed against her jacket, and her wolf snarled beneath her skin. Matteo fought beside her, a deadly rhythm between them—his axe cleaving through two in a single motion, her blades moving like water and wind.
But they kept coming.
"They're herding us," Matteo shouted.
Selene's eyes darted to the thinning treeline behind them. "We move. Now!"
They ran.
The forest blurred past—branches whipping, snarls closing in from behind. Then Selene saw it: a narrow cave mouth tucked behind an outcrop of stone. She dove for it, yanking Matteo in just as claws scraped across the rock behind them.
Inside, it was dark and tight. The air was humid with moss and age. Their breathing echoed, loud in the silence.
Selene slammed her back against the wall, gripping her dagger, chest heaving. Matteo leaned beside her, blood dripping from a shallow cut across his collarbone.
"Are you—" she started.
"I'm fine," he said. "You?"
"I'm pissed."
He let out a low laugh, shaking his head. "You're beautiful when you're angry."
She turned her glare toward him. "Flirting during a tactical retreat?"
"Not flirting," he said, voice rougher now. "Just being honest. I watched you fight. You're... terrifying. And goddamn gorgeous."
Something in her eyes flickered.
"You're bleeding," she said, but her fingers reached out slowly—tentatively—to touch his chest. The pad of her thumb grazed his skin. Her gaze softened just slightly. "You scared me again."
Matteo leaned in. "Maybe you should stop falling for reckless men with axes."
"I haven't fallen."
"You will."
Their lips met before she could deflect. This kiss was slower than the last—less desperate, more charged. More dangerous, because it felt like something was being offered.
Selene didn't stop it.
She let herself fall for just a moment. Let herself feel his heartbeat under her hand. Let herself imagine what it would be like if they weren't soldiers, if they weren't being hunted, if love wasn't a liability.
Then the forest howled again, and the moment broke.
She pulled back, breathless. "We need to move."
Matteo nodded. But as they stepped deeper into the cave, something glimmered in the darkness ahead—symbols carved into the stone, glowing faintly red.
"Selene," Matteo said quietly. "What the hell is that?"
She moved forward, blade raised, heart pounding.
"We've found one of the moon pillars," she whispered. "This wasn't a trap for us. It was a distraction."
"A distraction for what?"
She turned to him, eyes wide.
"For Adunni."
_ _ _
The Moon Pillar: Blood of the First Howl
Cave Sanctuary, Beneath the Forbidden Pines
The tunnel narrowed before it widened again—expanding into a hidden chamber veined with glowing roots, pale crystals, and walls carved with symbols older than either of them could identify. The pillar stood in the center: tall, monolithic, carved from obsidian etched with flowing lines that shimmered silver and red in the torchlight.
Selene's breath caught.
She had seen diagrams of the moon pillars in ancient war tomes—the last vestiges of the Old Tongue, built by the First Pack when werewolves still lived openly, ruled by moon priests and bonded with witches of the blood flame.
But nothing prepared her for the gravity that poured off this stone. It felt alive—humming beneath the surface of her bones, pulsing in her skin like a second heartbeat.
Matteo circled the pillar slowly. "It's reacting to something," he murmured, "but not just us."
Selene stepped forward. As she approached, a symbol at the base began to glow brighter—one resembling a wolf crowned by fire and a crescent moon split by water.
Her fingers brushed it.
A flash surged through her—a burning vision not her own:
A dark-skinned woman, regal and defiant, standing atop a cliff wrapped in moonlight, her wolf form glowing beneath her skin. She raised a silver dagger, blood trailing down her palm, speaking words Sabine couldn't understand.
Around her, warriors knelt. Behind her, a white-haired man with golden eyes watched—awed and afraid.
Selene gasped and staggered back, her hand clenching into a fist.
"Selene!" Matteo caught her, steadying her against the stone wall. "What did you see?"
She met his gaze, shaken. "I think I saw her. Adunni's bloodline. Her ancestor. One of the First Priestesses."
Matteo's jaw tightened. "This whole place is a sanctuary to her line, isn't it?"
Selene nodded slowly. "But it's also something else. A key, maybe. A beacon."
They turned toward the walls. Dozens of glyphs shimmered faintly now, as if awakened by her presence.
Selene stepped toward them, voice low. "These aren't just decorative. They're a map."
Matteo moved beside her. "Of what?"
"Of the old bloodlines. Of the lunar gates. Of everything Darius is trying to corrupt."
As she read further, her pulse quickened.
"Matteo… this," she whispered, pointing to one jagged mark etched over an old name, "this is him. Darius. His name was erased from the line."
Matteo frowned. "Why?"
She stepped back. "Because he wasn't just cast out. He was unbound."
Matteo's eyes narrowed. "Meaning?"
"Meaning he's not just rogue. He's been severed from the Lunar Accord itself. He has no anchor to the Moon Cycle. That's why he's unstable."
They stared at each other.
"He's trying to corrupt the next vessel," Selene realized, voice trembling. "He wants to either control Adunni… or break her. If she fulfills the prophecy, he'll be obliterated."
Matteo's face hardened. "Then we need to warn Luca."
Just as he turned, the chamber rumbled.
The pillar glowed brighter, and the roots in the walls twisted violently.
Selene reached for her blade. "It's a defense system!"
"No," Matteo said, pulling her behind him. "It's testing you."
The light shot into Selene's chest.
She screamed—but there was no pain, only memory. A thousand voices. A thousand howls. And in the center of them all, Adunni's grandmother's voice, whispering: "The daughter of storm and fang must find the truth beneath the trees."
Selene collapsed to her knees, panting.
Matteo was beside her instantly. "Selene—hey—talk to me."
She looked up, sweat glistening on her brow. "I saw it. Her fate. The final bond… it won't just shape Adunni's future. It could rewrite all of ours."
Matteo cupped her face. "Then we protect her. No matter what."
Selene swallowed. "Even if it kills us?"
Matteo's voice was steady. "Especially if it does."