Luna Everleigh's POV
***
"Well, well," the woman mused. "So it's finally happened."
I turned to see an older woman entering the lodge, her presence commanding despite her smaller frame. Her silver-streaked hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her piercing amber eyes studied me with an intensity that sent a shiver down my spine.
She wasn't just anyone.
She was someone important.
"Nalia." Rhydian inclined his head slightly, though his posture remained rigid. "You saw this coming?"
A small smile played on her lips as she took slow, measured steps toward me. "I saw glimpses." Her gaze didn't waver as she looked at me. "A human bound to the Alpha by fate. A bond that was never meant to exist."
My breath hitched.
"What does that mean?" I demanded, my voice barely more than a whisper.
Nalia's smile didn't fade. Instead, she tilted her head, as if considering how much to reveal. "You are an anomaly, Luna. A thread woven into a tapestry you were never meant to be part of."
The words sent ice through my veins.
I didn't know what terrified me more—the way she spoke about me as if I were wrong…
Or the way Rhydian didn't deny it.
I turned to him, searching for any sign of reassurance, but his expression was unreadable.
"What am I?" My voice cracked, my hands curling into fists.
Nalia exhaled softly. "Not just human, that much is certain."
The room felt smaller, the air heavier. My world had already crumbled once tonight. And now, it was shifting again beneath my feet.
"I don't understand," I whispered.
Nalia reached out, brushing a stray strand of hair from my face. It should have been a gentle gesture, but it sent a shock through my system. A pulse of warmth. A flicker of something other coursing through my veins.
Her eyes glowed faintly. "You will."
I staggered back, my heart hammering.
No.
No, no, no.
This couldn't be real.
I was just Luna. Just a woman who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But deep down, beneath my fear, beneath the chaos of the night…
A part of me knew.
Nothing would ever be the same again.
—
(To be continued…)