Chapter Six – The Stranger in the Woods

The marsh stank of blood and rot.

Selene wiped her blade against the reeds, but the black ichor clung stubbornly to the steel, refusing to release its hold. It wasn’t natural blood—it felt wrong, cold even through the metal. Her stomach twisted, not with fear but with a grim understanding.

Whatever had come for them tonight had spoken truth.

Marked. Bound. Forbidden.

Her hands shook. She hid them quickly in the folds of her cloak.

Rowan paced the clearing like a caged storm. His claws still half-formed, retracting and flexing with every pass. His amber eyes glowed too bright, the beast coiled just beneath the surface, restless and violent. Sweat slid down his ribs, steam rising from his heated skin.

Lucien, in contrast, stood still as carved marble.

He leaned against a twisted willow, elegant as ever, though Selene noticed the stiffness in his shoulders and the way his coat clung to drying blood on his sleeve. His silver eyes gleamed sharper than usual—hungry, alert, tracking Rowan’s every movement.

“Speak,” Rowan snapped at last, voice breaking rough. “What was that thing?”

Lucien arched a single brow, tracing his fingers along the bark. “Not mine. Not vampire. Not wolf.” His lips curved into a faint smile. “Something older. Something that smelled of the grave long before even my kind walked it.”

A chill crawled up Selene’s spine.

“And it knew me,” she whispered.

Rowan stopped pacing, fists clenching. “It knew us. Don’t twist this into just you, Selene. Whatever this bond is—that thing was drawn to all three.”

Lucien’s gaze sharpened. “Which makes it dangerous. To others…” He paused, eyes flicking between Rowan and Selene. “…and to us.”

Rowan rounded on him. “Don’t say us like we’re a unit.”

Lucien stepped away from the tree, slow and smooth. “And yet we fought as one, didn’t we? Instinctively. Seamlessly.” He took another step, shadows bending around him. “Tell me, wolf—didn’t it feel right?”

Rowan’s growl vibrated the air. “Don’t—”

“Stop.” Selene stepped between them, hands raised. The fog swirled around her feet, glowing faintly in the moon. “We nearly died tonight. We don’t even know what we’re bound to. And all you two can do is circle each other like wolves over fresh meat.”

Her voice cracked through the clearing.

Silence slammed down.

Lucien’s smirk faltered into something unreadable. Rowan exhaled hard, shoulders slumping as his claws finally retracted.

Selene’s chest rose and fell rapidly. “We can’t ignore this anymore. The council sees it. That creature saw it. And if we keep pretending it’s not real…” Her breath trembled. “…it will kill us.”

For a long moment, no one breathed.

“Selene—” Rowan began, but she cut him off.

“No. Don’t speak unless you can admit it.” Her eyes moved between them, fierce despite the trembling in her limbs. “Both of you. Say it.”

Rowan’s jaw clenched. Then, slowly, painfully, he exhaled.

“Fine.” His voice was raw. “I feel it. With you. With him.” His gaze flicked to Lucien, bitter but honest. “I hate it. But it’s there.”

Lucien’s smile returned, softer this time, almost reverent. “I’ve felt it since the cathedral. Fire. Ice. And the witch between.” He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “It’s the rarest bond of all—triadic. Forbidden because it cannot be broken.”

Selene’s breath caught. “Cannot?”

Lucien’s silver gaze pinned her.

“Not without breaking you.”

Heat flushed through her. And fear. And something far too close to desire.

The fog seemed to coil tighter, listening.

Selene felt the bond pulsing between them—alive, growing, demanding. Her body trembled with adrenaline and something more dangerous.

Rowan moved first.

He stepped toward her, warmth rolling off him like fire, his presence grounding and consuming. “If this is fate…” His voice dropped, rough. “…we can’t keep pretending.”

Lucien mirrored him, stepping in with silent grace, the night bending around his outline. His cool fingers brushed Selene’s wrist, sending a shock through her veins. Rowan’s warm hand settled against her hip.

Selene gasped.

For a heartbeat, all three touched again.

Heat and cold collided at her center. Her pulse fluttered wildly. Rowan’s breath hitched. Lucien’s lips parted slightly, as though tasting her heartbeat from the air.

The bond surged—alive, electric, impossible to resist.

Selene’s knees weakened. Her lips parted. The fog trembled with them, swirling in spirals around their bodies.

Rowan leaned in, voice low enough to shatter her spine.

“This is madness.”

Lucien’s lips nearly grazed her throat.

“This is eternity.”

Selene’s chest heaved. Her body ached with want, with fear, with inevitability. She felt them both—heat and frost, fire and shadow—pulling her into a storm she was no longer certain she wanted to escape.

She closed her eyes.

And then—

The ground shuddered beneath their feet.

The marsh water rippled violently. Reeds snapped like brittle bones. Something vast moved beneath the surface—massive, slow, ancient.

The moment shattered.

Rowan threw Selene behind him, claws erupting once more. Lucien blurred ahead, silver eyes flaring. Selene drew her dagger, the runes sparking in the dark.

A deep, distant rumble rolled through the marsh—a warning, or a promise.

Selene’s heart slammed against her ribs.

Whatever hunted them wasn’t finished.

And neither, she realized with a tremor that shook her soul, was the bond.