The night air was still — too still.
Aiden Thorn moved through the forest like a shadow, silent and predatory, the moonlight cascading over his broad shoulders and highlighting the faint silver glint of his tattoo — the mark of the Alpha, branded in sacred ink down the side of his neck. His wolf stirred beneath his skin, restless and alert, pacing just under the surface.
There was something wrong with the night.
The trees of Blackwood Pines groaned softly under the weight of an invisible pressure. The wind had stilled. No birds called. No crickets sang. The forest had gone silent — and silence in these woods was never a good omen.
Aiden crouched low beside a fallen log, his fingers brushing against the damp earth. His golden eyes flickered, glowing faintly in the dark as his senses extended. There — a scent. Faint, floral, foreign.
Human.
He straightened slowly, his jaw tightening.
There were wards around Blackmoon Pack territory. No human should be able to cross them, not without triggering the alarm spells or being torn apart by the outer sentries. But this scent didn't come from someone passing through by accident. It was too deep inside. Too centered.
Someone had been here a while.
Aiden didn't like unknowns. He especially didn't like them when they felt this... wrong.
He moved again, faster this time, navigating the woods like he'd been born to them — which, in truth, he had. Every inch of this land was imprinted in his memory. The trees, the ridges, the hidden paths worn down by generations of wolves.
He passed the Hollow Tree, a natural marker that signaled he was less than two miles from the sacred glade. That's when he felt it — a pull. A strange, invisible thread tightened in his chest.
The sensation made his heart stutter.
Then he heard it.
A whisper.
Not a sound exactly, more like a vibration in the air, like the forest was speaking a language older than any spell. It chilled him. It excited him. And for the first time in years, Aiden felt unsure.
He was the Alpha.
Nothing was supposed to shake him.
But something was definitely not right.
He pressed forward.
And that's when he saw her.
She lay at the base of an ancient oak, curled up on her side, barely visible beneath the curtain of silver moonlight streaming through the leaves. Her skin was pale, her dress torn, her arms scraped like she'd run through the woods blindly.
But it was her scent that hit him first — like wildflowers caught in a storm.
Aiden's wolf surged to the surface in a violent jolt.
Mate.
He staggered back a step, eyes wide.
No. No, this couldn't be. She was human. And humans didn't have mates.
Did they?
He approached slowly, every muscle coiled, every instinct screaming. She looked so fragile, like a porcelain doll someone had dropped into a world too cruel to cradle her.
She stirred.
Aiden froze.
Her eyes opened — pale blue, ringed with silver. She blinked, unfocused, then locked onto him.
"You're real," she whispered.
Her voice sent a shiver through him. Not from magic, not from fear — from recognition. Something deep, soul-bound.
He knelt beside her. "Who are you? How did you get in here?"
"I don't know," she murmured. "I woke up in the dark. I kept running. There were... creatures."
"What kind of creatures?"
She shook her head slowly. "I couldn't see them. Only the eyes."
Aiden scanned the trees, every sense hyper-aware. He didn't smell blood — not hers. But the scent of shadow magic lingered faintly on the breeze. That wasn't just dangerous — it was forbidden.
He looked back at her. "What's your name?"
She opened her mouth — then hesitated. Panic flashed in her eyes.
"I... I don't know."
She tried to sit up and gasped, clutching her side.
"Easy." Aiden reached out, his fingers brushing her arm.
The moment their skin touched, a jolt of electricity raced through them both. She gasped. Aiden flinched.
Their eyes met again.
The bond snapped into place like a lock sliding shut.
And in that moment, everything changed.
He felt her — not just her presence, but her fear, her confusion, her pain. Her soul brushed against his, tentative, trembling. And yet there was something else buried beneath it all — a spark of power ancient and terrifying.
Aiden's breath caught in his throat.
This girl was not normal.
And she was not safe.
But neither was she the threat.
He helped her up slowly, letting her lean on him. Her skin was burning hot, feverish.
"You're not from here," he said quietly.
She shook her head.
"I don't know where I'm from."
He frowned. "You crossed magical wards that should've killed a normal human."
She looked up at him, frightened and unsure. "What does that mean?"
"It means you're not human."
She stared at him like he'd just spoken another language. Then her knees buckled, and she nearly collapsed again. He caught her before she fell.
The forest groaned again — a sound like old bones cracking.
Then came the growl.
Low. Guttural. Hungry.
Aiden's eyes snapped up.
From the shadows, three figures emerged.
Wolves — but not of any pack.
Their fur was matted, eyes glowing red and black mist swirling around their bodies like smoke.
Shadow wolves.
"Stay behind me," Aiden growled, stepping forward as his body began to shift.
The girl screamed as the wolves lunged.
Aiden met them head-on, shifting in mid-air, bones cracking, fur erupting from his skin, claws gleaming in the moonlight. He slammed into the first wolf with enough force to knock it into a tree. The second lunged, biting deep into his shoulder, but Aiden twisted, sank his teeth into its throat, and tore it free.
The third charged the girl.
"No!" Aiden roared, breaking from the fight.
But before the wolf could reach her, something else happened.
The girl screamed — not from fear, but from fury.
Her body glowed.
A pulse of silver light exploded from her chest, slamming into the attacking wolf and sending it flying. The creature hit a tree with a sickening crunch and didn't get up.
Aiden stared at her, chest heaving, blood dripping from his claws.
"What the hell are you?"
She looked just as stunned as he was.
"I... I didn't mean to. I don't know what I did."
Aiden turned as the other shadow wolves began to recover.
More were coming.
He could feel them in the earth.
He didn't have time for questions.
He shifted back to human form and grabbed her hand. "We need to move. Now."
"But—"
"No time."
They ran through the woods, the howls of the shadow wolves echoing behind them.
Aiden knew he was breaking every law the Council had ever written by taking her with him,
But he also knew one thing for certain:
Whatever she was, wherever she came from, she was now his.
And he would kill anyone who tried to take her.