The forest was alive with whispers. Every shadow seemed to crawl toward Lunara as she stumbled deeper into the Forbidden Forest. Her knees were scraped, her chest still ached from Kael's rejection, but it was the howl inside her soul that truly terrified her.
It had been silent for twenty-one years—her wolf sleeping peacefully in the back of her mind. Until now.
A surge of power erupted in her veins, fiery and alien. Her hands shook, fingers leaving glowing claw-like marks on the bark of a tree she leaned against. The moonlight, full and piercing, touched her skin, and for the first time, Lunara saw her reflection in the lake nearby—but it wasn't fully human.
Her eyes glimmered silver. Her ears twitched. A faint snarl escaped her lips.
"Who… who are you?" she whispered to the wolf stirring inside her.
The answer was not words but a wave of instinctive knowledge. Strength. Danger. Hunger. Rage. She was not weak. She never had been. Kael had been blind.
A rustle behind her made her spin, claws forming involuntarily. The forest was dark, but a pair of glowing yellow eyes stared at her from the shadows. A wolf? A human? She couldn't tell.
"Interesting…" a deep voice echoed, and her heart skipped. Not Kael. Not anyone she knew. A presence far stronger than the Alpha who rejected her.
"Who's there?" she demanded, her voice firmer than she felt.
From the shadows stepped a tall figure, cloaked in darkness. Eyes like molten gold scanned her from head to toe, and a grin tugged at the corner of his lips.
"You," he said slowly, savoring each word, "have been touched by the Moon Goddess… and I intend to claim what is mine."
Lunara's wolf growled. Her body tensed. She didn't know if she should fight… or flee. But instinct told her: this was no ordinary Alpha. This one was dangerous. Dark. Deadly.
And yet… she felt something stirring in her chest. Not fear. Not completely. Something else.
Something familiar.
"Leave me!" she snapped.
The figure laughed, low and threatening, stepping closer. "Oh, my little wolf. You cannot run from what is already bound to you."
Lunara's heart pounded as the silver glow around her intensified. Her wolf's power surged, claws extending, teeth baring. The forest seemed to lean in closer, watching, waiting.
She realized then that this exile was not punishment—it was awakening.
And far away, in the Silverfang Pack, Alpha Kael Thorn shivered as a sudden pain tore through his chest. The bond he had broken… was not gone.
It had simply chosen a new master.
(Lunara's wolf awakens fully, and a new, dark Alpha claims a connection with her)