The scream tore through the forest like a blade, shrill and ragged, cutting through the air with primal urgency.
Selene jolted upright from where she sat in the dim corner of the Mooncrest mansion library, the old book she had been reading slipping from her fingers and landing with a soft thud. Her breath caught in her throat as another sound followed — a roar, raw and furious, shaking the floor beneath her like the tremor before a storm.
Her heart dropped.
Without thinking, she ran.
Her skirt tangled around her ankles, but she didn't slow. Panic curled tight in her chest as her feet pounded against the stone halls. The noise of fighting grew louder with every step — snarls, the sickening crunch of bone, the clash of teeth on flesh. The air had changed. It reeked of blood and burning.
She burst through the front doors into chaos.
Wolves clashed in the courtyard, a blur of muscle and fang and shadow. The sky above had darkened unnaturally, clouds swallowing the moon until only slivers of silver light flickered down. Smoke curled through the trees — from what, she couldn't tell — and the stench of blood clogged her lungs.
Her breath came in shallow gasps.
It was an ambush. A rogue attack. Mooncrest was under siege.
Pack warriors she vaguely recognized shifted mid-motion, their forms snapping into massive wolves that lunged and tore into the invaders with desperate savagery. The earth was already soaked in blood, the garden paths trampled into ruin. The air rang with cries of fury and pain.
And at the center of it all was him.
Alpha Kael.
He hadn't shifted.
His human form was drenched in blood — some his own, most not — but he moved like a weapon forged from rage. Selene froze as she watched him fight, unable to look away.
His movements were feral, fast, lethal. No hesitation. No wasted strikes. His fists were coated in blood as he took down rogue after rogue, bones cracking beneath his blows.
He fought like a man with nothing left to lose.
For a moment, he didn't seem like a man at all — more a force of nature, violence made flesh.
But then, from the smoke, a rogue charged forward.
Selene saw it before Kael did — a blur of fur and teeth leaping from the shadows. It came not at his face, but at his back — exposed, vulnerable, unguarded.
"No!" she screamed.
Too late.
The rogue's claws tore into his side, and Kael staggered with a choked gasp. Blood sprayed out in a gruesome arc, and Selene's legs moved before her mind could catch up. She sprinted across the courtyard, dodging bodies and flames, heart hammering against her ribs.
Another warrior — Marcus, she thought — tackled the rogue away, but Kael was already collapsing to his knees.
Selene was at his side in an instant, slipping beneath his arm just as he started to fall. His body was hot and trembling. He didn't protest when she wrapped her arm around his waist, didn't push her away. His weight sagged heavily against her as she dragged him back toward the house.
All around them, the battle began to slow. The pack surged forward with a final, furious howl, cutting down the remaining rogues in a coordinated sweep. Victory came swift and blood-soaked.
But it didn't feel like a victory.
Inside the mansion, Selene struggled under Kael's weight as they stumbled through the corridor. The floor was slick with dirt and blood, the sconces flickering as if struggling to hold back the dark. He groaned once, quietly, but otherwise said nothing. His skin was pale and clammy. His shirt stuck to his body, soaked red.
They reached his chambers, and Selene shouldered open the door with a force born of desperation. She guided him toward the bed, where he collapsed with a grunt of pain.
Selene dropped to her knees beside him, panting. Her hands hovered uncertainly over the shredded fabric of his shirt. Her fingers shook.
"I need to clean this," she said, her voice low.
He didn't answer.
She rose and ran to the adjoining bathroom, grabbing the first clean cloths and bandages she could find, then filled a bowl with warm water. When she returned, Kael hadn't moved.
He looked so… still. So mortal.
Selene dipped the cloth into the water, then began to clean the wound as gently as she could. The blood refused to stop flowing. His skin was torn badly, the muscle beneath shredded. She bit her lip hard, trying to stay calm.
He flinched as the cloth touched him. Then his hand shot out — a blur of movement — and grabbed her wrist in a crushing grip.
Their eyes locked.
His were dazed, feral, glassy with pain and exhaustion. But there was something else there, too. A flicker of confusion. A flicker of need.
"Sorry," Selene whispered, not sure if she meant the word or just needed to say something.
He slowly released her. His hand fell back to the bed.
She resumed cleaning the wound, her fingers brushing the ridges of muscle, the heat of his skin fever-hot beneath her palm. Her heart pounded harder with every pass of the cloth. She was too close. Too aware of every breath he took, every twitch of his jaw as he fought through the pain.
"You should've stayed inside," he rasped at last, his voice low and cracked.
"And let you die?" she snapped, before she could stop herself.
The moment the words left her lips, her eyes widened in horror. She expected rage.
Rejection. Cold fury.
Instead, Kael let out a low, breathless laugh — one that surprised even him.
"You have fire," he murmured. "I hadn't noticed before."
Selene stared at him, stunned into silence.
She focused on wrapping the wound, forcing herself to concentrate. The gash ran deep, and her touch was gentle as she secured the final bandage. The air between them pulsed, thick with something unspoken.
When she leaned back, Kael shifted.
He sat up slowly, muscles tense with pain, and reached toward her. His hand brushed a strand of hair from her cheek, the touch featherlight.
Selene's breath caught.
Their faces were inches apart. She could see every line of tension in his jaw, every flicker of emotion behind those silver eyes.
She didn't move.
He leaned in — just barely. The air between their mouths grew warmer. His gaze dropped to her lips.
And for one aching, breathless second, she thought he would kiss her.
She wanted him to.
But then he pulled back, jaw tightening. The moment shattered.
"Leave," he said, voice clipped. Cold again.
Distant.
Selene stumbled to her feet, heart cracking in her chest. She didn't protest. She didn't even nod. She turned and left, the door slamming behind her like a final heartbeat.
She walked blindly through the halls until she reached the safety of her room. Her hands shook as she closed the door and leaned against it, her knees giving out beneath her.
Kael Thorn had touched her like she mattered — then cast her aside as if she didn't.
And still, the echo of that almost-kiss lingered like fire in her blood.
Something had shifted tonight.
And she wasn't sure if it would save her… or destroy her.