***ANDREIS' POV***
The sky was bruised with twilight when we reached the northern ridge. I moved silently beside Mia, our footsteps muffled by the tall grass and pine needles carpeting the forest floor. She kept close to me, her eyes scanning every shadow, alert and determined. Despite the looming tension, I couldn't help but feel pride swelling in my chest. She was no longer the unsure girl who once snuck away from her guarded home. She was becoming someone stronger—a leader in her own right.
We were meant to meet Zevian here.
But something was off.
The air was too still, too quiet. No wind. No insects. Even the forest animals knew something was wrong. I felt it in my bones—this was not just a meeting. This was a test. A trap.
Mia reached for my arm. "Do you feel that?"
I nodded. "He's not coming. But someone else is."
From the shadows, figures moved—Zevian's people, cloaked in black, eyes glowing faintly in the low light. Two. No, three of them. I pushed Mia behind me instinctively.
"Stay close."
They moved fast, but I was faster.
My body shifted as I felt the change rush over me. Bones lengthening, muscles tightening, fur ripping through skin. Mia gasped behind me—her first time seeing me like this. A massive wolf, brown-eyed, fur thick and dark like the shadows themselves.
I could smell her surprise. Her awe. Even through my primal senses, I could feel the thrum of her heartbeat stuttering.
I lunged.
The first of Zevian's scouts went down hard beneath my paws, groaning as I knocked the wind out of him. The second tried to run, but Mia, quick on her feet, managed to grab a fallen branch and trip him. I was proud.
The third fled, disappearing into the trees.
I didn't pursue.
We had two.
My form shifted back, breathless from the transformation. Mia looked at me wide-eyed, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
"You… you look like something from a dream," she whispered. "A beautiful one. A powerful one."
I touched her cheek. "You weren't afraid?"
"I was stunned," she said softly, "but not afraid. I knew it was still you."
We brought the two injured scouts back to the farm. They were restrained, but the Alpha–Bill, still ordered medical attention for their wounds.
"We are not like him," he said firmly, looking each of them in the eye. "You may be our enemies, but we will not abandon our honor."
Under questioning, one finally broke.
"Zevian doesn't care about the war," he said. "It's not about territory. It's her." He looked at Mia. "It's her blood."
The room went silent.
Mia took a step back. "My… what?"
"He thinks your blood can unlock something," the scout wheezed. "A power that will make him invincible. He wants to take you alive."
I reached for her, pulling her close. Her body trembled.
That night, after securing the prisoners and reinforcing the guards, Bill, Marco, and I gathered in the study.
"He's getting bolder," Marco said, leaning over the map laid across the table. "If he thinks he can snatch Mia that easily, we need to increase the southern patrols."
Bill nodded. "And he's underestimating us. But we can't let our guard down."
"He knows about Mia's blood," I said darkly. "He thinks it's the key to some greater power. We need to assume he'll come himself next time."
"What about allies?" Marco asked. "The outer clans?"
"They'll come," Bill replied. "I've sent ravens already. But it's Mia we need to protect at all costs."
"She's not just a girl anymore," I said, my voice low. "She's Awakening. Her gift is beginning to show. She might be our only hope to stop him."
Bill placed a firm hand on my shoulder. "Then we'll fight beside her. All of us."
I decided to find Mia in her room, she sat curled on the edge of the bed, staring out the window. Her hair spilled over her shoulders like ink, her fingers clenched tightly in her lap.
"I feel like everything is unraveling," she whispered.
I sat beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist. "You are the key to stopping him, Mia. Not just because of your blood, but because of who you are."
She turned to me, her lips trembling. "What if I fail? What if he gets to me?"
I leaned in, pressing my forehead against hers. "Then he goes through me first. And that will never happen."
The air shifted between us, thick with unspoken words and desperate longing.
I kissed her.
This time, slower. Deeper. The kind of kiss that says stay with me. The kind that tastes like fire and moonlight.
Mia melted against me, her hands tangling in my shirt, pulling me closer. Her fear faded, replaced with something softer, stronger.
I lifted her into my arms and laid her gently on the bed. She gazed up at me, cheeks flushed, eyes shimmering.
"I want this," she said, voice barely above a whisper. "I want you."
Our clothes slipped away, piece by piece, until there was nothing between us but skin and need. I kissed every inch of her—her collarbone, her shoulder, the hollow beneath her jaw where her pulse beat strong.
She was warmth and wonder beneath me, her body arching to meet mine, fingers trembling as they ran across my back.
It was slower this time. More intense. Every movement deliberate. Every breath shared.
She gasped my name when we came together, and I held her tightly, anchoring her to the moment, to me.
The world disappeared.
Only us.
Afterward, she curled into my chest, her fingers tracing circles on my skin.
"I don't know what tomorrow will bring," she said.
"Neither do I," I admitted.
"But I want to face it with you." She said smiling from ear to ear.
I kissed her hair. "Always."
And outside, the wind howled.
The war hadn't come yet.
But it would.
And when it did, we would be ready.