POV — Seraphina
The evening settled over Westvale like a heavy, quiet blanket. My apartment smelled faintly of reheated pasta, the hum of the refrigerator the only sound accompanying my restless thoughts. I sank into the chair by the desk, opening my laptop with shaking hands.
Maybe there's something online… something about this mark.
I typed feverishly: "golden mark on neck," "mysterious glowing symbols," "wolf or vampire markings," "supernatural signs." Each search returned the same frustrating emptiness. Forums filled with trolls and fiction, articles about nothing real, and academic pages that only deepened my confusion.
Nothing explained the warmth, the pulse, the faint hum that threaded through the mark. It was as if it had a heartbeat of its own — alive, insistent, tied to me in a way I couldn't understand.
I leaned back, rubbing my eyes, and cursed under my breath. Why can't I find anything?
Then a sharp twist of pain made me clutch my stomach. Groaning, I realized — period. I had forgotten the timing entirely, caught up in school, shadows, and now… the inexplicable mark at my neck.
"Figures," I muttered, hopping up to grab my coat. I didn't have much choice. The nearest pharmacy was a twenty-minute walk, and I needed supplies — sanitary products and some medicine.
The streets were eerily quiet as I stepped out, the city lights flickering weakly. Shadows stretched longer than they should, and every rustle of leaves made my pulse spike. I hugged my coat tighter, wishing the night would pass unnoticed.
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KAEL POV
From the darkened rooftops across the street, I watched. Every instinct in me bristled as I tracked her movements. The pack had argued when I left. Jarek, my beta, had growled in warning. "Kael! Human territory is dangerous! You can't just leave!"
I had ignored him. From the moment I'd marked her, an unseen thread had tied us together. The golden mark on her neck pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat only I could sense. My fangs had elongated, yes — instinct, alpha call — but it was not for domination. It was connection. Protection.
Tonight, she was vulnerable. Her senses were dull from fatigue, fear, and something natural that only humans understood. I remained in the shadows, silent, alert, waiting for the smallest threat to cross her path.
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POV — Seraphina
Halfway down the street, my stomach tightened again. I gritted my teeth, shoving aside thoughts of the mark and the glowing golden thread that had invaded my life. I just wanted this night to end, to return home safe and unnoticed.
But fate had other plans.
A figure stepped from the darkness ahead, tall and impossibly still. My breath caught in my throat. Golden eyes — not Kael's, different, sharper, colder — met mine. My pulse leapt. I wanted to run, but my legs refused, as though some unseen force rooted me to the spot.
He stepped closer. The air around him was… different. Not just cold, but commanding, magnetic. My instincts screamed danger, yet something deep inside recognized him.
"Seraphina," he said, voice low and deliberate. He didn't need to shout; his tone carried across the empty street. My name rolled off his tongue like it had always belonged to him.
My heart thudded painfully in my chest. The mark at my neck throbbed in response, warm and alive, pulling me toward him even though I had never met him. Goosebumps prickled my arms.
I forced myself to take a step back, clenching my fists. Who are you? What do you want from me?
The figure tilted his head slightly, a flash of sharp amusement in his eyes. "You've been touched," he murmured. "By more than one world… and they are both watching."
A chill ran down my spine. He stepped back, vanishing partially into the shadows, but I felt him — the pull, the presence — linger. My chest tightened, my pulse raced, and for the first time, I realized my life was no longer just human.
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KAEL POV
I growled low in my throat, teeth bared in the shadows. She was too close to another predator. My instincts screamed, yet I remained hidden, bound by rules I could not break without revealing myself.
But this wasn't over. The thread between us — the mark — pulsed with warning. I would not lose her, not to him, not to anything.
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POV — Seraphina
The pharmacy lights glimmered in the distance, but I could not focus on them. The chill, the pull, the voice… it lingered. My fingers brushed the mark at my neck, warm and insistent.
I shivered. Somewhere between fear and fascination, I knew my life had changed forever. And in the distance, two shadows circled me: one burning with fierce protection, the other waiting, patient and knowing.
I was caught between them, unaware of the storm my heart and destiny were about to face.