(Luna's POV)
The night was colder than usual, the kind of cold that seeps beneath your skin and lingers in your bones. I wrapped my arms around myself as I walked deeper into the woods, away from the pack house, away from everyone who seemed to look at me like I didn't belong. The moonlight slipped through the trees, casting long shadows on the ground, and every step I took echoed with the sound of dried leaves crunching beneath my boots.
I shouldn't have been out here. If anyone saw me wandering alone so close to the border, they would scold me or worse, report me. But the walls of the pack house were suffocating. The whispers, the sideways stares, the pity in some eyes and the contempt in others, it was too much. I needed space. I needed air.
And, deep down, I needed answers.
My heart still carried the sting of Damien's rejection, like an open wound that refused to heal. Even though he hadn't spoken those words directly to me yet, I could feel it in his distance, in the way his eyes darted away whenever mine tried to meet them. A mate bond was supposed to be unbreakable, yet every moment we were near each other, I could feel him pushing against it, resisting it.
Why?
That question haunted me, and maybe that was why I had started sneaking out here at night. Something about the woods called to me, as if the truth I was searching for was hidden somewhere in the shadows.
I paused when I reached the clearing near the old oak tree. My breath fogged in the air, and my wolf stirred uneasily inside me. She was restless tonight, pacing back and forth, warning me of something I couldn't yet see.
Then I heard it.
A low growl. Not too far.
My body stiffened, and I turned slowly, scanning the darkness. My senses sharpened, ears straining, nose twitching, but it wasn't Damien's scent or any wolf I recognized. This one was strange, thick, heavy, and almost metallic. Blood.
I crouched low, my fingers brushing against the grass for balance. My heart pounded so loudly I was sure it would give me away. The growl came again, closer this time, vibrating through the ground beneath my feet.
I should have run. A sane wolf would have run. But something inside me whispered that if I ran, I would regret it forever.
So I stayed.
And then I saw him.
A pair of glowing red eyes emerged from the darkness, cutting through the shadows like fire. My breath caught in my throat. I had heard stories of wolves with unnatural eyes, cursed wolves, ones who lived in the shadows of packs and thrived on destruction. But I had never seen one with my own eyes.
The wolf stepped into the clearing, larger than any I had seen before. His fur was black as midnight, his shoulders broad and his steps heavy. But it wasn't just his size that terrified me, it was the aura that poured off him, thick and suffocating like a storm pressing down on the earth.
I stumbled back, my pulse racing. My wolf whimpered inside me, urging me to retreat, but my feet wouldn't move.
The wolf tilted his head, studying me, and then his form began to shimmer. In seconds, he shifted, his massive body shrinking into that of a man.
And that was when the real danger began.
He stood tall, his dark hair falling into his sharp eyes, and his body rippled with lean muscle. A scar ran across his chest, and the red glow in his eyes dimmed slightly but never disappeared.
"You shouldn't be here," he said, his voice low and dangerous.
I swallowed hard, finally forcing myself to step back. "Neither should you."
His lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. "Brave little wolf."
I didn't know what gave me the courage to speak, maybe the same reckless part of me that always got me into trouble, but I asked, "Who are you?"
He stared at me for a long moment, as if deciding whether to answer. "Someone your Alpha doesn't want you to know about."
My heart skipped. "You know Damien?"
His eyes darkened. "Better than you think."
The weight of his words pressed against me like chains. I didn't understand, but something about the way he said it made me feel as if the secret he carried was tied directly to me.
I shook my head. "You should go. If the patrols catch you, they'll…"
"They'll what?" His voice turned sharp, mocking. "Kill me? They've tried before."
Fear prickled down my spine, but it wasn't just fear. There was something else, something I couldn't explain. A pull. A connection I shouldn't have with a stranger. My wolf shifted uncomfortably, confused, as if torn between warning me to flee and urging me to step closer.
"Why are you here?" I whispered.
His eyes softened just a fraction, but his jaw remained tight. "Because the truth has a way of revealing itself, no matter how hard your Alpha tries to bury it."
The truth. My heart hammered harder. "What truth?"
He leaned closer, his presence overwhelming. "That you, little wolf, are not who you think you are."
The ground seemed to tilt beneath me. My mouth went dry. "What are you talking about?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he reached out, his hand brushing against my arm. The moment his skin touched mine, a jolt shot through me, electric and terrifying. My wolf howled inside me, a sound of recognition that made no sense.
I yanked my arm back, stumbling. "No. That's impossible."
His eyes burned into mine. "Is it? Haven't you felt it? The whispers in your blood, the shadows in your dreams? Haven't you wondered why your bond with Damien feels so broken?"
I froze, my chest heaving. He was right. I had wondered. I had questioned. But how could this stranger know?
"You're lying," I said, though my voice trembled.
"If I were lying, your wolf wouldn't be reacting this way," he countered, his voice calm now, almost pitying. "Deep down, you already know the truth. That bond with Damien? It was never meant to be."
My eyes stung with sudden tears. "Stop."
But he didn't. His voice dropped lower, like the whisper of the wind through the trees. "You are cursed, Luna. Marked before birth. Your fate was never to belong to Damien, no matter how much you wished for it."
The world around me blurred, my vision swimming. Cursed. Marked before birth. The words clawed at me, tearing through the fragile hope I had been clinging to.
"No," I choked out. "That can't be true."
He took a step back, his gaze still locked on mine. "Believe what you want. But soon, the truth will come for you. And when it does, you'll realize that tonight was just the beginning."
Before I could respond, he shifted back into his wolf, his massive body disappearing into the trees with terrifying speed. The clearing fell silent again, but the echo of his words lingered, wrapping around me like chains I couldn't escape.
I stood frozen beneath the moonlight, my chest tight, my thoughts a tangled mess. Cursed. Marked. Not meant for Damien.
I didn't know how long I stayed there, trembling and lost, but one thing was clear, I couldn't tell anyone what just happened. Not yet. Not until I understood it myself.
And deep down, a small, broken part of me feared that the stranger was right.
Because what if I really wasn't meant to be Damien's mate?
What if my entire life had been a lie?