POV: Caleb
---
He felt her before she walked in.
The moment the bell above the diner door chimed, something shifted in his chest — not pain exactly, not fear either. Something older. Woven deep into the marrow of him.
She smelled like wind and distant lightning. Like something forgotten.
And when she looked at him, it wasn't surprise he saw. It was recognition.
He hadn't said her name yet. Luna. He could feel it on her. Or maybe the moon had whispered it to him.
Now, standing beside her with Rhea at the door, Caleb's instincts roared beneath his calm. His father's voice echoed in his head — "Heir first. Wolf second." But instinct didn't care about titles. And right now, instinct told him this girl had just thrown everything off balance.
"Rhea," he said, stepping between the two women.
"You're standing too close to her," she replied, not bothering to lower her voice. "Again."
The entire diner had fallen quiet. Forks hovered above plates. The waitress was still as stone.
"She's just passing through," Caleb said. "Let it go."
Rhea's eyes didn't even flick to him. "She's not passing through. She's circling something. Or something's circling her."
Luna didn't flinch, but Caleb caught the small movement of her hand—curling into a fist in her lap.
"She's not your concern," he said.
"That's where you're wrong." Rhea's voice dropped, colder than the air outside. "Your father wants to see you. Tonight."
Caleb nodded once.
Rhea gave Luna one final look, eyes narrowing, lips tight with something between suspicion and hatred. Then she turned and left, her coat trailing behind her like a tail of frost.
The door swung closed. The bell chimed.
The diner began to breathe again.
Caleb sat down slowly. "You should be careful around her."
"I wasn't planning on inviting her to brunch," Luna said.
He almost smiled.
She wasn't like the others. She didn't ask what pack meant. Didn't flinch when Rhea said "your father." Didn't act surprised that a town like this could even exist.
He studied her in silence for a moment longer, then stood. "Don't go out after dark tonight."
"I wasn't planning on hiding either."
"You should," he said quietly. "Because after the moon rises… even I might not be able to stop them."
Without another word, he left the diner, stepping out into the cold wind and fading light.
The forest called to him. The pack. His father. His blood.
But so did something else.
Her.
And that scared him more than the full moon ever could.
Chapter Two – Blood Ties (continued)
POV: Caleb
---
The forest was never silent.
Even in the deepest hours of night, it whispered — with creaking limbs, rustling leaves, and the soft thump of paws in the dark. Caleb moved through it like he was born from it, boots barely touching the ground.
By the time he reached the Hollow's eastern ridge, the last traces of sunlight had bled from the sky. Only the moon remained, a swollen silver coin pinned above the pines. Almost full. Almost time.
The clearing was already waiting.
A circle of stones carved centuries ago. Firelight flickered from torches jammed into the earth. And within the ring, the wolves had gathered — not in their shifted forms, but close enough. Strong bodies. Coiled energy. Eyes that glowed faintly in the dark.
His father stood at the center.
Alpha Elias. Broad-shouldered, silver creeping through his beard, the kind of presence that didn't need to raise its voice to be heard. He turned as Caleb stepped into the ring.
"You're late."
"I didn't run," Caleb said. "I walked."
Some of the wolves chuckled under their breath. Elias did not.
"Did you speak to the girl?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"She doesn't know what she is," Caleb said. "But she's not ordinary."
"She's dangerous."
"She's alone."
"That makes her more dangerous." Elias stepped forward, close enough for Caleb to feel the heat rolling off him. "You of all people should know what happens when outsiders stir the bloodline. It weakens us. It corrupts the order."
Caleb met his father's eyes, unblinking. "Or maybe it changes it."
A tense silence followed.
Behind them, Rhea leaned against a tree, arms crossed. Watching. Listening. Judging.
Elias turned back to the circle. "This girl did not wander here by accident. The mark on her scent is old. Blood-magic old. We've seen it before."
That turned heads. Caleb tensed. "You said the line was gone."
"We thought it was," Elias said. "But if she carries even a drop of that blood—"
"She's a threat," Rhea cut in. "And you're too close to see it."
Caleb's jaw clenched, but he said nothing.
Elias raised a hand, silencing the murmurs around the ring. "If the prophecy is waking, we cannot afford to guess wrong. You will keep your distance, Caleb."
"And if I don't?"
His father stepped closer again, voice low but sharp as a blade. "Then you'll force me to choose between you and the pack."
Caleb's heart beat once, heavy.
He meant it.
The circle of wolves stared, waiting for a reaction. For a shift. For war.
But Caleb only nodded, slow and tight. "I'll watch her."
"You'll stay away."
"I'll do what needs to be done," he said. Then turned, without waiting for permission, and vanished into the trees.
He didn't shift. Not yet. Not with so much fire still inside him.
The pack didn't trust her. His father feared her. Rhea wanted her gone.
And Caleb?
Caleb didn't know what Luna was.
But his wolf had already decided.
She was his.
And that was the most dangerous thing of all.