Evelyn Moore
I dreamt of the forest that night.
Only this time, I wasn't walking through it—I was running. Barefoot, fast, breathless. The trees were shadows with eyes, and something was chasing me.
No, hunting me.
I turned, heart hammering. A figure stood among the trees. Not a wolf. Not a man. Both.
Eyes glowing gold.
Then I woke up gasping, tangled in my sheets, my window wide open. The cold air bit at my skin, and for a moment, I could swear I smelled pine, wet soil… and something wilder. Like fur.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown Number: Don't go near the woods again.
I stared at the message, pulse thudding. It didn't say who sent it, but I knew.
Lucian.
And yet, my first thought wasn't fear.
It was: How did he get my number?
⸻
The next day, Lucian wasn't in class.
Which was weird, because no one else seemed to notice or care. Like he'd never existed.
At lunch, I asked around. "Hey, has anyone seen Lucian?"
Talia raised an eyebrow. "Lucian who?"
I stared at her. "Lucian Blackthorn? The new guy?"
She gave me a blank look. "There's no new guy, Evie. Are you messing with me?"
I felt the blood drain from my face. This wasn't a prank.
I saw him. Talked to him. He saved me.
Unless… No. That was real.
Wasn't it?
I needed answers. And the only place to find them was the forest.
⸻
Lucian Blackthorn
I shouldn't have texted her.
But I couldn't help it.
Her scent still clung to my skin. She was like smoke in my lungs—impossible to hold, impossible to forget.
And the dream… I felt it too. That happens sometimes with them. The ones you're bonded to. It starts small—shared dreams, emotions. But it grows.
Especially under the blood moon.
And the blood moon is coming.
I stayed home to control the shift. My body was already changing. My bones ached. My pulse raced like prey. I'd clawed the walls just to stay in my skin.
But when I closed my eyes… I saw her.
Running through the forest.
I smelled her fear again.
That rogue was watching her. I could sense it. He was circling closer.
And if I didn't stop him—he'd take her.
She's not ready for what I am. For what we are.
But if I wait too long… she won't be ready for what's coming either.
⸻
Later That Night – Evelyn's POV
The forest was darker than I remembered. My flashlight barely cut through the thick trees. I didn't know what I was looking for — proof, maybe. A sign I wasn't going crazy.
That's when I saw it.
Claw marks. Deep. Fresh. Etched into the bark of a pine tree like something was trying to tear it open. Four long gashes. One shorter. The fifth claw.
Wolf.
But no real wolf could make marks like that.
I stepped back—too fast—and snapped a branch underfoot.
A growl. Behind me.
I turned—
And something lunged out of the dark.
But it didn't reach me.
Lucian tackled it mid-air.
Everything happened too fast: teeth flashing, claws slashing, snarls so loud the ground shook. Two shadows fighting under the half-moon.
Then silence.
Lucian stood over the other thing — bigger, bloodier, almost inhuman — and it slinked away, growling.
Lucian was panting, chest rising and falling like he'd just held a monster back with his bare hands.
He turned to me slowly, eyes glowing like a wildfire.
"You shouldn't have come here."
I stared at him, chest heaving. "What the hell was that?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he stepped forward, gently touched the side of my face, and whispered:
"You're not safe anymore."