Finn's cries echoed through the trees.
Leila's heart nearly burst with relief when she spotted the small red-haired boy curled beneath a fallen log, trembling, his tiny hands covering his ears.
"Finn!" she rushed forward.
The child looked up, tears streaking his dirt-smudged cheeks. "L-Luna…"
She gathered him into her arms instantly, checking for wounds. A shallow scratch on his knee. Nothing more. Thank the Moon.
Behind her, the forest remained unnaturally silent.
Too silent.
Dominic stood a few paces away, watching.
He hadn't moved closer. Hadn't offered comfort. Hadn't spoken.
Yet the air felt heavy with his presence.
Power radiated from him — controlled, restrained… but lethal.
Leila rose slowly, holding Finn against her chest.
"I have him," she said, her voice steadier than she felt.
Dominic's crimson gaze flickered to the child, then back to her.
"You went too deep into neutral territory," he said calmly. "Your pack's scent fades two miles back."
Neutral territory.
So he wasn't inside her pack lands.
That meant he had been near the borders.
Watching.
"Why do you know that?" she asked quietly.
A faint smirk touched his lips — not warm, not amused. Calculating.
"An Alpha always knows the borders."
Something in his tone unsettled her.
He wasn't speaking like a rogue.
He was speaking like a ruler.
The Shadow of a Legend
As they walked back through the woods, Dominic moved ahead of her — silent as a stalking predator.
Leila couldn't stop looking at him.
The elders' voices echoed in her memory:
"Dominic was born under a blood moon."
"His first shift killed three wolves."
"His parents begged the Goddess for mercy."
"The curse chose him."
Yet this wolf had just saved her.
Saved Finn.
Rogue wolves did not retreat for anyone.
But they had for him.
Because they feared him.
Or obeyed him.
Her grip tightened around Finn.
"Why did they listen to you?" she finally asked.
Dominic didn't slow down.
"They didn't listen," he replied.
"They survived."
A chill slid down her spine.
A Warning
They reached the thinning part of the forest where sunlight filtered brighter.
Dominic stopped.
"This is as far as I go."
Leila stepped forward, anger rising unexpectedly.
"You roam near our territory."
His eyes sharpened.
"You wander into mine."
Silence stretched between them.
Mine.
The word lingered heavily.
"You don't have a pack," she said carefully.
His jaw tightened slightly.
"I have wolves who choose to follow me."
That was different.
Not assigned.
Not born into.
Chosen.
Before she could respond, a distant horn echoed through the trees — her pack's search signal.
They were looking for her.
For Finn.
Panic would already be spreading.
She shifted Finn higher in her arms. "I need to go."
Dominic's gaze lingered on her face longer than necessary.
For a moment, something changed in his expression.
Recognition.
Interest.
Calculation.
Then it was gone.
"Stay out of the deeper woods, Luna," he said.
Her pulse skipped.
He didn't say Leila.
He said Luna.
As if reminding her of her position.
As if measuring it.
She turned to leave, but his voice stopped her once more.
"Your pack is weaker than you think."
She stiffened.
"That's not your concern."
"It will be."
A threat?
Or a warning?
She didn't know.
And that terrified her more than his red eyes ever could.
When she looked back again—
He was gone.
Like a shadow swallowed by the forest.
The Return
By the time Leila reached the clearing, chaos had erupted.
Warriors were shifting in agitation. Mothers were crying. Kael — her mate and Alpha — stood at the center, fury rolling off him in waves.
When he saw her emerge from the trees carrying Finn, relief flashed across his face.
Then suspicion.
"Where were you?" Kael demanded, striding toward her.
"I went after Finn. Rogue wolves were near the deeper border."
Murmurs spread instantly.
"Rogues?"
"So close?"
Kael's jaw tightened. "You went alone?"
"Yes."
His eyes darkened. "That was reckless."
Reckless?
She had saved a child.
Before she could respond, Finn spoke weakly, "A big wolf scared the bad ones away…"
The clearing fell silent.
Kael's head snapped toward the child. "What big wolf?"
Finn blinked. "Red eyes."
The silence deepened.
Fear.
Real fear.
Leila's heart pounded.
Kael turned to her slowly.
"Tell me," he said quietly.
She held his gaze.
And for reasons she didn't fully understand…
She hesitated.
That hesitation did not go unnoticed.
"Dominic," she finally said.
The name struck the clearing like thunder.
Several warriors cursed under their breath.
One elder stepped back as if struck.
Kael's expression hardened into something dangerous.
"He approached you?"
"He drove the rogues away."
That only seemed to make it worse.
Kael stepped closer, lowering his voice so only she could hear.
"Did he touch you?"
Her breath caught.
"No."
But she remembered how close he had stood.
How the air between them had burned.
Kael's nostrils flared.
"You will not go near the borders again."
"I didn't choose to meet him."
"You chose to go alone."
There it was.
Blame.
The pack began dispersing, but the whispers didn't stop.
Dominic.
The cursed alpha.
Near their lands.
And Leila had encountered him.
Alone.
Nightfall
That evening, Leila couldn't sleep.
Moonlight spilled through her window, silver and haunting.
Her wolf stirred restlessly beneath her skin.
Not frightened.
Alert.
Aware.
And something else…
Drawn.
She rose quietly and stepped outside.
The forest was calm.
Too calm.
Then she felt it.
A presence.
Her breath slowed.
She walked toward the edge of the clearing, heart hammering.
The moment she crossed into shadow—
A powerful force slammed into her senses.
Dominance.
Raw.
Ancient.
And close.
Her wolf surged forward inside her, not in fear—
But in recognition.
A deep, instinctual pull snapped tight in her chest.
And from the darkness beyond the trees—
Two red eyes opened.
Watching her.
Not attacking.
Not moving.
Just watching.
Her pulse thundered in her ears.
"Why are you here?" she whispered into the night.
Dominic stepped partially into the moonlight.
His expression was unreadable.
"You felt it too."
Her breath hitched.
"Felt what?"
He held her gaze.
"The shift in the air."
"The bond trying to form."
Her heart stopped.
"No," she breathed.
Impossible.
She already had a mate.
Dominic's voice dropped lower.
"Tell me, Luna…"
"Why did your wolf not fear me?"
The truth trembled on her lips.
Because her wolf had not wanted to run.
It had wanted to step closer.
The wind picked up suddenly, swirling around them like an omen.
And for the first time in her life—
Leila questioned fate.