The branch snapped under Serenity's boot. She froze. Her silver eyes glowed like moonlight in the black forest. Every muscle in her body went tight. The hunters were close—too close.
"There!" a rough voice yelled behind her. "I saw light!"
Serenity's heart beat against her ribs. She pressed her back against the thick oak tree, feeling its rough bark through her torn jacket. Her breath came out in small white puffs in the cold night air.
Run, her wolf whispered inside her mind. Run now. But running meant making noise. Noise meant death. Heavy boots crashed through the bushes. Men with guns and silver bullets were getting closer.
The Syndicate never gave up once they started hunting. And tonight, they were hunting her.
"Serenity Vale!" Commander Briar's voice cut through the darkness like a knife. "We know you're here, little dog. Come out and we might let you live."
Lies. They always lied. Serenity touched the deep cut on her arm where a silver blade had sliced her three hours ago. The wound still burned like fire. Silver hurt her kind more than normal people.
It was one of the reasons the Syndicate used it to hunt magical beings like her. Move, her wolf urged again. They're almost here. She took a quiet step sideways. Then another. A twig crunched somewhere to her left. Another shooter was trying to circle around her.
"The Alpha's blood is on your hands, girl," Briar called out.
Her voice was getting closer. "Alpha Marcus trusted you. He welcomed you into his pack. And you killed him in his sleep like a coward."
"I didn't!" The words burst out of Serenity before she could stop them. Stupid. So stupid.
"Found her!" a man yelled. Flashlight beams swung toward her hidden spot.
Serenity saw their pale rings of light dancing between the trees like evil spirits. In two seconds, they would see her silver eyes reflecting the light back at them.
She closed her eyes and reached deep inside herself. The wolf power that lived in her bones began to wake up. Heat spread through her muscles. Her hearing got better. She could smell the hunters now—gun oil, fear-sweat, and something else. Something that smelled like metal and blood. The light hit her face.
"There!" Briar screamed. "Shoot her!"
Serenity's eyes snapped open. They blazed like twin stars. The power inside her burst outward. She moved faster than any average person could move.
The world became a blur of brown tree stems and green leaves. Bullets whistled past her head. One touched her shoulder, spinning her around, but she kept running.
Behind her, men cursed and tripped. Their heavy boots couldn't match her speed. She was part wolf, and wolves were born to run. But she was also tired. So tired. She'd been running for three weeks straight.
Ever since that terrible morning when she woke up covered in blood that wasn't hers. Just the thought of it all brought tears to her eyes.
She had been alone for a long time and had no one to call a friend nor a family. Alpha Marcus had been more than a father to her. He'd found her when she was just a scared kid with nowhere to go. He'd given her a home with his pack. Given her hope when it seems all hope was lost. Food. Safety. Love.
She was finally settling in amongst pack members and her smile was shinning bright once again. Then someone had killed him in his bed. They've murdered him and framed her. When the pack found her the next morning, she was sleeping in the guest room next to his. Blood covered her hands and clothes. A metal knife lay on the floor beside her bed.
The same knife that had killed Alpha Marcus. She remembered nothing. She had no other recollection of the previous night other than just going to sleep and then waking up to screaming of pack members and the Luna.
The pack's other wolves had wanted to kill her right away. Only Marcus's son, Beta James, had stopped them. He'd given her one hour to run before he let them hunt her down.
That was twenty-one days ago. Now the Syndicate was hunting her too. They wanted her alive, which was somehow worse than the pack wanting her dead. The Syndicate gathered supernatural people like her. They locked them up. Used them. Broke them. All sort of atrocities were done to them and just the thought of it all sent shiver down her spine.
"Keep it together."
Serenity burst out of the thick woods into a small clearing. Moonlight fell on her face like cold water. She could see better now, but so could anyone chasing her.
She spun around, listening. The yelling was farther away now. Maybe she'd lost them. Her silver eyes swept the clearing. Nothing moved except tall grass waving in the night breeze.
An old stone well sat in the center, covered with green moss. It looked like it hadn't been used in years. She walked toward it on shaking legs. Her shoulder throbbed where the bullet had cut her.
She needed to rest. Just for a minute. That's when she smelled it. Another wolf. But not just any wolf. This smell was strong and wild and dangerous. It made the hair on her arms stand up.
Her own wolf side went very still inside her, like a rabbit feeling a hawk overhead. Whoever this was, he was powerful. More powerful than any wolf she'd ever met.
She turned slowly toward the smell. A man stepped out from behind the old well. He was tall and broad across the shoulders. His hair was light blonde, almost white in the moonlight. But it was his eyes that made her stomach drop. They were dark like winter storm clouds. Cold. Empty. And completely focused on her.
"Serenity Vale," he said. His voice was deep and rough, like rocks grinding together. "I've been looking for you."
She took a step back. "Who are you?"
"Someone who needs what you can give me."
He moved closer. She could see his face better now. It was beautiful but carved with old pain. Scars crossed his cheeks.
"My name is Kael Thorne." The name hit her like a punch. Every magical person knew that name. Kael Thorne, the Cursed Alpha.
The wolf so dangerous that even other Alphas feared him. Stories said he'd killed entire packs. That darkness followed him wherever he went. That he was slowly dying from some terrible curse.
"Stay back," she whispered. Her silver eyes flared brighter.
He smiled, but it wasn't a nice smile. "You killed Alpha Marcus. The whole magical world is talking about it. Some say you've gone mad with bloodlust."
"I didn't kill him!" The words tore out of her throat.
"I know." His gray eyes never left her face. "Because I know who really did."
Serenity's world stopped spinning. "What?"
"But that information comes with a price." Kael took another step forward. Now she could see the curse marks on his skin—dark lines that crawled up his neck like deadly vines.
"You're going to help me break the curse that's killing me and my pack."
"I don't know how to break curses."
"You will." His smile got colder. "Because you're not just any wolf, are you, Serenity? You're something much more interesting."
Before she could ask what he meant, sounds crashed through the trees behind her. The Syndicate searchers had found her trail again.
"Choose quickly," Kael said. His hand moved to the sword at his side. "Come with me freely, or let them take you. But know this - I'm the only one who can tell you the truth about that night."
Shouts echoed between the trees. Flashlight beams began to dance at the edge of the area. Serenity looked at the cursed Alpha. Then at the forest where her enemies were closing in. Her silver eyes blazed like fire.
"If you're lying to me-"
"Then you can kill me," Kael finished. "But first, you need to decide. Right now."
The first hunter burst into the clearing, gun raised. And Serenity made her choice.