Pain.
It pulsed through every nerve like fire licking her bones.
Aria gasped awake, her lungs burning as if she had been drowning. The cold air hit her face, sharp with the scent of pine, blood… and something else. Something ancient.
She tried to move, but her limbs were heavy. The forest canopy above her swayed gently, moonlight peeking through, casting silver shadows on the ground.
Then she remembered—
The rejection.
The running.
And the glowing eyes in the dark.
Rogues.
They had surrounded her just beyond the pack's border. She remembered fangs, snarls, and claws slicing through air. But… she should be dead.
Why wasn't she?
A soft rustle.
She turned her head.
And there he was.
Leaning casually against a tree was a man unlike any she'd ever seen. Tall and sculpted, skin pale like carved marble, eyes a piercing red that shimmered in the moonlight. He wore dark clothing that seemed to blend into the shadows around him, and his presence felt… unearthly.
"You're awake," he said, voice smooth as silk, but with a dangerous edge. "I was starting to wonder if you'd survive the bite."
"The… bite?" Her voice was hoarse.
"You were attacked. Wolves. Feral. I saved you. Barely."
She tried to sit up, but he was suddenly beside her in a blink, moving faster than her eyes could follow.
"Don't strain yourself," he said, gently helping her. "Your body is healing… but it's not healing like a normal wolf's would. Curious."
Her eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"
He smiled, fangs barely visible. "Lucien Draven. King of the Night borne."
She flinched. Vampire.
"Relax," he said with a tilt of his head. "If I wanted you dead, I'd have left you for them. But I think you're worth more than just a corpse."
"What do you mean?"
Lucien's gaze burned into hers. "You're not just a wolf, Aria Blackwood. There's something else inside you. Something… powerful. I felt it the moment you screamed beneath the moon."
She shivered—not from fear, but from something deeper. Something waking up inside her.
"You're changing," Lucien whispered. "And your precious Alpha? He
Just lost the rarest gem in the supernatural world."