Aarini Shah had never seen the moon bleed before.
She stood on the rooftop of her tiny apartment, breath trembling as the sky above her shifted from dusky blue to a deep, impossible crimson. The full moon—usually soft, white, gentle—was burning like a molten wound in the heavens.
And it was staring directly at her.
A sudden gust of icy wind slammed into her, stealing her breath. Her pulse spiked. The air grew thick—almost alive—buzzing with something ancient, something primal. Something that did not belong to the human world at all.
Aarini wrapped her arms around herself.
"What is happening…?" she whispered.
The world didn't answer.
Instead, the moon did.
The crimson glow intensified until it felt like the sky itself was made of fire. And then—
a silver beam shot straight down, piercing through clouds, cutting the darkness, falling onto the rooftop.
Falling onto her.
The light wrapped around Aarini's body like invisible chains, lifting her hair, burning her skin with a cold that felt older than time. She tried to step back—but her feet were frozen in place.
Her heartbeat thundered.
Her vision blurred.
And she felt it—
a presence, watching her from within the light.
Not human.
Not kind.
Not mortal.
It whispered her name as though it had known her for centuries.
"Aarini…"
Her knees almost buckled.
She pressed a trembling hand against her chest.
"Who's there?" she breathed.
The rooftop fell silent—dead silent—except for the whisper of fate curling around her like smoke.
And then came the voice—
a low, powerful rumble that shook the air.
"Finally, I've found you."
Aarini spun around.
No one was behind her.
But the voice wasn't behind her.
It wasn't in front of her.
It wasn't in the air.
It was inside her mind.
Her pulse froze.
"W–Who are you?"
The voice seemed to smile, cold and possessive.
"Your rightful mate."
Aarini swallowed hard. "This is a dream. Some weird hallucination. I'm just stressed—"
"No."
The voice darkened.
"Tonight, the moon has chosen you. You belong to me now."
She choked on her breath.
"Belong? To who?"
The answer came with a roar that echoed through the sky—so loud the birds exploded from the trees, and the city lights flickered.
"I am Lycandros Veyrion.
The Silver Wolf King.
And you, Aarini Shah…
are my Moonbound Bride."
The silver light around her burst—exploding like shattered stars—throwing her backward.
Aarini crashed onto the rooftop floor, gasping, shaking, her heart crumbling under the weight of a reality she didn't ask for and couldn't understand.
When she opened her eyes, the moon had returned to normal.
But something wasn't normal at all.
A glowing mark—shaped like a crescent moon wrapped in silver flames—now burned faintly on her wrist.
Her breath hitched.
"No… no… this can't be real."
But the voice whispered again, soft and lethal.
"Run if you want.
Hide if you try.
Across worlds and lifetimes—I will always find you."
Aarini's entire body went cold.
Because she knew one thing with perfect clarity:
Whatever had claimed her tonight…
was coming.
And it wasn't human.