The forest was colorful in a manner Lily had never experienced before.
She was slumped in a low-slung pine, covered in a rough wool blanket that carried a whiff of smoke and cedar. All around her throbbed — the leaves, the wind, the ground beneath her. The howls outside weren't quite those of an animal. They were another thing altogether.
They were language.
She wrapped the blanket tighter around herself, shivering though the fire still burned close. Her mind was a mess like branches above her. It pained her to breathe in her ribs, but it was not because of bruises. It was the heft of feeling adrift — severed from all things she'd known, lost in the unknown.
She didn't own anything now. No family. No home. Not even fear left to cling to.
Only him.
Adrian Vukan.
She looked up. He stood at the edge of the firelight, tall and terrifyingly still, as though carved from night itself. The flickering flames danced across his face — chiseled jaw, dark hair pulled back, broad shoulders rising and falling with slow, controlled breaths.
He didn't appear like a monster. That's what made her most afraid.
His silver-gray eyes fastened on hers. Her breath stopped.
You should rest," he stated, his voice low, deliberate.
"It's not possible," Lily said, swallowing. "It's too quiet."
Adrian tilted his head slightly and stepped closer. "You were nearly raped. You watched men die. Quiet is survival."
"Quiet is when the bad things happen," she whispered.
That stopped him.
For what felt like an eternity, he did not speak. He then settled down next to her without touching, but close enough that he could be radiating warmth, or was it another feeling? That unmistakable tug in her breast, that started the instant she witnessed him move… and did not avert her gaze.
"Your name," he asked. "Lilian"
"Lily," she replied.
"Lily," he reminded himself once again, experimenting.
The way his voice surrounded it made her stomach flutter. That was not right. It was only a few days that her world was shattered.
But how he regarded her, as if she wasn't some other faulty object to repair, which made it impossible not to feel.
"I should be afraid of you," she whispered.
His gaze darted to hers. "You should."
"You tore those men apart like they were made of paper."
"They were."
His voice carried no regret. No apology. Just facts.
Lily stood up completely. "And what's yours made of?"
Adrian didn't answer.
His jaw clenched, eyes narrowing slightly. She saw something flash there; pain, anger, shame- before he looked away, staring into the fire.
"Bone. Blood. Curse," he announced at last.
Lily swallowed hard.
"You… saved me," she whispered. "And I don't think you even wanted to.".
"I didn't," he said.
That should have stung. It didn't. It was a sound a man made, as he attempted to persuade himself.
Silence between them. Heavy and Charged.
Then he rose. "Come. I want to show you something."
Deep in the woods at midnight
They proceeded in silence.
Adrian glided like a shadow, silent and sure-footed, never snapping a branch or rustling a leaf. Lily struggled to keep up, barefoot and bruised, but didn't say a word. She would not be weak. Not again.
Not in front of him.
As they pushed through a clearing, her breath stopped.
It was a tiny pool, supplied by a soft waterfall that poured across mossy rock. The water glittered in the moonlight, shimmering silver-blue, amidst radiant white flowers that bloomed only at night.
Adrian stood back and allowed her to gaze.
It's beautiful," she breathed in amazement.
"This is where I go if I feel that wolf in me rising," he said.
Lily slowly faced him. "You're saying… during the time of curse invasion?"
He nodded.
"I don't always win," he declared.
She approached him, gazing into his face. Moonlight showed him the weary creases below his eyes, the thin scar bisecting his right eyebrow, the movement of his jaw when he was keeping down feelings.
You're always in control," she stated. "Aren't you?
Adrian gazed down at her.
His voice dropped, rough as gravel. "No. Control is an illusion. One I bleed for."
Their gazes met. Her breath was shaking.
She needed to say something, anything, but then she looked and saw it: his veins throbbing in his throat, his shoulders tensed, his nostrils flaring slightly.
You're holding back a secret… now," she whispered.
His eyes flared, the silver igniting.
"You smell like fear," he stated tightly. "Like grief. And something else.".
He stepped forward.
"Ad-"
"Do you think I don't want to touch you?" He was low-key menacing. "I do. That's the issue."
It thumped against her chest. She stepped back, and her foot slipped against the edge of the lake.
He gripped her wrist- hard, rough, hot.
Both were silent for a moment.
And then, she saw it. Not the beast. Not the killer.
The man.
Terrified. Starving. Desiring something he didn't think he was worthy of.
She put her other hand across his softly.
You can't frighten me," she whispered.
His eyes searched hers. Furious. Desperate. Fragile.
Then he yanked his hand free and stood in front of her, fists clenched at his waist.
"Do not say that," he snarled. "Do not lie to yourself."
"I'm not lying."
He stepped into the shadows.
"I don't know what I've done. What I've become."
"I saw it."
"You saw a glimpse. One day, the wolf won't stop at the enemy. He'll turn on anything. Anyone."
Even you.
He didn't say it, but it was hovering in front of them.
Lily stepped toward him anyway.
"You saved me," she repeated. "I think that you continue to save people but refuse to accept it.".
"I kill people, too."
"You kill monsters."
He turned to face her fully, eyes burning.
"I am the monster, Lily."
And yet… he had a certain quality in his tone. Not pride. Not pity.
A confession.
Her lips came unstuck. "You don't want to be."
The silence after that was deep. Not empty; charged.
She stepped closer, hand on his arm. He lost his breath. His body went rigid, an animal holding back.
I don't know what this is between us," she whispered," but I'm not afraid.".
His eyes went to her lips. His jaw locked. He edged forward but only a step or two, a breath's depth apart.
And then he stopped.
He stepped back.
No," he snarled. "I won't touch you. Not tonight.".
Lily did not protest. She stood still and watched him struggle within.
She did not require him to kiss her. Not yet. But she knew — without a doubt now — that the wolf was not her enemy. And that Adrian Vukan was already hers.