Chapter 1: The Scent of the Moonlight
The forest was deathly silent—too silent for a full moon night.
Alpha Kael prowled through the northern ridge, each footstep quiet despite the weight of his wolf form. His dark fur shimmered under the moonlight, and his golden eyes scanned the trees with the practiced calm of a predator. The woods had been restless for days, and Kael's instincts told him tonight was no ordinary hunt.
A shift in the wind.
Blood.
And something else.
He paused, nostrils flaring. The scent cut through the crisp mountain air like lightning—human, yes. But laced with something older… something wrong. His lip curled in a snarl, though his heart thudded with sudden urgency.
He found her in the clearing, crumpled near the base of an ancient pine, her skin pale as frost and hair tangled like moonlight in the grass. Blood soaked through the torn fabric of her dress. But it wasn't just the blood that shook him—it was her scent.
Kael shifted in an instant, bones snapping, fur retreating, muscles contorting. He stood naked, tall, imposing—his eyes still glowing faintly gold. He knelt beside her, brushing her hair from her face.
She stirred.
And when her eyes opened—silver, luminous, full of a pain he recognized too well—Kael felt his breath catch.
A whisper escaped her lips. "Don't let them find me…"
And then she fainted in his arms.
Kael's hands trembled.
She shouldn't have smelled like that. Not human. Not wolf. Not anything he'd ever known.
But one thing was certain.
She was his.
His mate.
And som
eone wanted her dead.No way.
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