Salina sat upright in bed, her sheets tangled around her legs, her heart racing.
Kade.
But something felt wrong.
Outside, the sound of sirens grew louder.
She threw on a hoodie and leggings, shoved her feet into sneakers, and rushed down the porch steps of her cabin. The air was too quiet, too tense. Neighbors lingered on their porches, whispering. One woman clutched her robe tightly around herself and crossed herself.
Something bad had happened.
She jogged down to the road, where two sheriff's cars were parked at the mouth of the forest trail. Yellow tape flapped in the wind.
Deputy Williams stood grim faced near the tape. When he spotted her, he stepped into her path. You need to go back."
"What happened?" Salina asked, trying to walk past him.
"It's not safe. Two bodies were found this morning. Mauled." He hesitated. "Whatever did it wasn't a bear."
A chill slid down her spine.
She looked into the trees, the trail where Kade had found her, warned her, and where something else had torn two people to pieces.
"They were hikers," Williams said. "Young and Camped out overnight. Didn't stand a chance."
Blood. She could smell it on the air now. Faint, metallic. Her stomach turned.
She stepped back from the tape, her thoughts spiraling.
It wasn't Kade. It couldn't be.
But the voice in her head whispered: You don't know exactly what he becomes.
~~~~
Kade stood on the edge of the ravine, knuckles white, his jaw clenched.
He had smelled the death before the humans ever arrived.
The metallic tang of blood.
Two campers, shredded. There throats ripped, limbs mangled. The scent wasn't his. He hadn't shifted last night. He'd been near Salina. Yet he knew exactly who it was.
Lucien.
The bastard had come into his territory.
Kade slammed his fist into a tree, bark cracking under the force. Birds scattered from the branches.
Lucien had done this to provoke him. To send a message. And worse Salina's scent still lingered in the woods. Lucien had been close enough to smell her.
Close enough to want her.
The thought made Kade's wolf rage beneath his skin.
A twig snapped behind him.
"You're losing control," came a voice. A calm and measured, female.
Kade turned. A tall woman with silver eyes and midnight dark braids stepped out from the trees.
"Mara," he said tightly.
She was one of the Elders, sent to monitor the balance in shifter territories. Neutral, usually. But today she looked anything but detached.
"Two humans dead. Your mark on a human girl, even though is not physical yet. Lucien walking freely across borders. The council will want answers."
"Then they can come to me directly."
Mara's expression didn't change. "They might. But they'll come with claws bared. You've broken code."
Kade growled low. "She's mine."
"She's unclaimed. Unturned. If she dies before her bond is sealed, your wolf will lose control and so will you."
His jaw tightened. "I won't let anything happen to her."
"Then prove it. Keep Lucien away. Keep her safe. And prepare for what's coming. This isn't just about a rogue werewolf anymore. Something darker is stirring."
"Darker?" Kade's brows furrowed.
Mara looked toward the east, where shadows crept unnaturally across the trees. "Lucien isn't acting alone. There's an old magic reawakening in these woods. A force even the council can't predict."
Kade's fists clenched. "What does it want with Salina?"
"It wants to break you. And she's your weakness."
~~~~
Back at her cabin, Salina tried to calm her racing thoughts. She had taken the day off work. Her phone buzzed nonstop, texts from coworkers, townspeople gossiping about the attack.
Then came a knock.
She opened the door.
Kade stood there, his hoodie pulled up, eyes stormy.
She stepped aside. He came in without a word.
"Tell me it wasn't you," she said softly.
He looked at her, wounded. "You think I'd harm anyone after what we've shared?"
She didn't know what to say.
He came closer. His presence calmed her and set her nerves on edge at the same time. "Someone's trying to frame me. Someone dangerous. You're not safe."
She shivered. "Then tell me the truth. About what you are. About what I am.
He paused.
"You're bonded to me. That means your soul is tied to mine. It's rare. Powerful. And dangerous. You'll start changing soon."
"Changing?"
"You'll feel the pull. The instincts. The hunger. You'll hear things. See things. Wolves choose their mates only once. I've chosen you."
She exhaled, dizzy. "So what now?"
He stepped close. "Now you decide if you're willing to trust me no matter what happens. The council is watching. Lucien is hunting. But I will protect you, even if it means starting a war."
She looked into his glowing eyes, heart pounding. "Then teach me. Everything. I want to know what I'm becoming."
Kade nodded. "We'll start with your senses. You may already notice things shifting sounds, scents, emotions. Tomorrow, we leave this cabin. I'm taking you to the Northern Ridge. It's safe, protected by my pack."
"There are more of you?". Salina asked confused
"Not like me. Not anymore. But there are wolves who would die before letting Lucien near you."
A long silence fell between them.
Then Kade turned to the window, his eyes narrowing. "We're out of time."
She followed his gaze.
Across the distant ridge, smoke was rising.
---
Meanwhile, in a quiet coffee shop on the edge of town, Salina sat across from her best friend Bianca, stirring her untouched cup of tea.
"I don't know what's going on anymore," Salina whispered, staring into the swirling liquid. "Something's... off. The way she's been acting. The things I've heard. There's talk of wolves, Bianca. Wolves doing things wolves shouldn't be able to do."
Bianca raised an eyebrow, already halfway through her vanilla ice cream ."Salina. You seriously came all the way here to tell me you think your friend's dating a werewolf?"
Salina frowned. "I'm not saying he's literally a werewolf, but... what if he's something else? I don't know ,dangerous."
Bianca laughed so loudly a few heads turned. "God, you sound like one of those drama shows you used to binge in college. Next you'll tell me the guy has glowing eyes and eats raw meat in the moonlight."
Salina hesitated.
"Wait" Bianca leaned forward, eyes wide with mock horror. "Does he sparkle too? Or just howl at bedtime?"
"This isn't funny."
"It's hilarious. Come on, Salina. It's probably just some hot loner with issues and an accent. Salina you always had a thing for the broody type."
But Salina couldn't laugh. Her fingers trembled around her teacup.
Because deep down, she knew something was wrong.
Something was coming.
And they were all caught in the middle of it.
~~~~
But later that day, Salina took matters into her own hands. She waited by her cabin until Kade returned.
"We need to talk," she demanded.
Kade raised a brow. "About?"
"You. And what you are. Don't lie to me. I'm not leaving until I know. Is this some kind of twisted prank? Some secret society cosplay crap?"
Kade stepped closer, his voice low. "You want to know the truth? You sure you can handle it?"
"Yes."
Without warning, Kade's eyes glowed gold. His bones shifted. Muscles expanded. In a flash of rippling flesh and cracking sound, fur erupted from his skin and his face stretched into a muzzle. In seconds, where Kade had stood, a massive black wolf now loomed before her.
Salina's scream caught in her throat.
The wolf bowed its head slightly still Kade. Then it stepped back and shifted again, re-forming into the man she'd known.
Sweat glistened on his brow. He met her wide, stunned eyes.
"Still think it's a joke?"
Salina's legs nearly gave out. "I... I think I need to sit down."
Kade helped her to a bench.
"Now you know. Don't get involved unless you're ready to run with wolves. Because this isn't ending soon."
Salina nodded faintly, her mind spinning. One thing was certain.
Everything she thought she knew had just shattered.Salina couldn't sleep.
The image of Kade transforming into that monstrous, majestic wolf replayed in her mind like a broken film reel. His bones shifting, his skin tearing, his eyes glowing gold it was all too real. Too terrifying. Too... impossible.
But it had happened.
Now, curled up on her couch under a thick blanket, she stared at the ceiling of her apartment. Every creak of wood, every rustle outside the window made her flinch. Her hands trembled each time she reached for her tea.
Kade was a werewolf.
And she was entangled in whatever madness he was part of.
Salina had always considered herself practical. Logical. She believed in science, in facts. But tonight, none of that mattered. Because she had seen it with her own eyes. Heard the sounds of his bones cracking and watched fur bloom from human skin.
Her phone buzzed on the table. Another message from Bianca:
BIANCA: u okay? still paranoid about furry boy?
Salina didn't reply. She couldn't. Not when the truth was clawing at the edges of her sanity.
She grabbed her coat and keys. She needed air.
---
Outside, the streets were cold and silent. Fog curled in tendrils around the lamp lights like ghosts. Salina walked aimlessly until her feet led her to the edge of the forest.
The same forest where the bodies had been found.
She paused, her heart hammering.
A twig snapped behind her.
She turned sharply, only to see a shadow dart behind a tree.
"Who's there?" she called, her voice trembling.
There was Silence.
And then..
"You shouldn't be out here."
She spun around to find Kade again, his hood drawn low. But even in human form, he looked... different. Wilder. As if the shift had left a mark on him that wouldn't fade.
"You're following me now?"
"No. I'm protecting you. Lucien knows you've seen me. That makes you a liability."
Salina backed up a step. "Liability?"
Kade's eyes softened. "I won't hurt you. But you need to understand what you're part of now. This isn't a storybook, Salina. There are rules. Bloodlines. Wars. You've seen a piece of it and that makes you a target."
Salina shook her head. "This is insane. I didn't ask for any of this."
"Nobody asked for it."
" It's your fate, you have to accept it.
"What stupid fate?".
Her throat tightened. "She doesn't know, does she? Not really. She still thinks she's human."
Kade's silence was answer enough.
Salina stared