Ava couldn't speak. Her fingers went numb, though the fire crackled behind her and Callum stood just feet away, glowing faintly in the porch light like some kind of beautiful myth come to life—and bleeding out.
"One of you?" she echoed.
Callum nodded once. "Not yet. But soon."
"You're not making any sense," she whispered, shaking her head. "I'm not—my parents were human. Normal. I would know if I had…" She stopped, afraid of finishing the thought. Wolf blood. A curse. A secret life buried under skin.
"You grew up away from this place, didn't you?" Callum said gently. "Far from the Hollow. That was on purpose."
"My mom left after my dad disappeared when I was little," she murmured. "She never talked about it."
"She was protecting you," he said. "From us. From what she thought would come for you."
He reached toward her, then hesitated. "Can I show you something?"
She nodded.
Callum stepped into the cabin's doorway, breathing carefully. He pulled back the hair at the base of his neck and turned.
There, just under his shoulder blade, was a mark—not a tattoo, not a scar. A birthmark, shaped like a crescent moon wreathed in vines. It glowed faintly, the same strange silver as his eyes.
Ava stared.
"I've seen that," she whispered. "On me."
His gaze locked on hers. "Where?"
She reached down and pulled up the hem of her shirt, just slightly, revealing the side of her ribs. There it was: faint, almost invisible except under the firelight. An identical crescent moon.
Callum inhaled sharply. "It's true, then."
"What is?"
"You're Moonbound."
The word landed like thunder.
"I don't know what that means."
"It means you were born under the Blood Moon, just like I was," he said. "It means you're fated to awaken. To choose a pack. Or be claimed by the wild."
"I haven't changed," she whispered. "I'm not a wolf."
"Not yet," he said. "But the moon's pulling on you now. I can smell it. It's why you came back. Your instincts are waking up."
She wrapped her arms around herself. "And if I don't want it?"
His expression darkened. "Then the forest will take you anyway. Because once the blood wakes, there's no going back. You'll shift, Ava. You'll feel everything. And when you do…"
He stepped closer, voice soft as smoke.
"…you'll need someone to anchor you. Or you'll lose yourself."
She felt it then—like something was rising inside her chest, just under the skin. Something warm and wild, coiled like a promise.
"What do I do?" she asked.
"Come with me," Callum said. "There's a place beyond the ridge. A hidden glade. My pack is waiting. We can protect you—help you through your first shift."
"And if I go?"
Callum's jaw clenched. "Then we're bound. Like the moon to the tide. You and me. Two halves of something ancient. Something no curse can break."
She looked down at her mark. It seemed brighter now, as if it had heard him.
A howl rose in the distance.
Callum turned sharply. "They've found us."
"Who?"
"Rogues. Wild ones. They can smell a first-shift."
He grabbed her hand. "You have to choose, Ava. Right now."
She didn't hesitate.
"Then let's run," she said.
And they did—into the night, into the woods, into a destiny neither of them could escape.