Chapter 1 :The Night of Awakening

Aria’s POV

The city never truly slept, but tonight it felt like it was holding its breath.

Cold wind brushed against my neck as I walked down the quiet street, the flickering streetlights making every shadow look alive. It was almost midnight, and my shift at the café had gone longer than I planned. The tips were good, but I wasn’t sure they were worth the nervous chill creeping up my spine.

I pulled my jacket tighter around me, glancing down both ends of the street. Empty. Still, the silence didn’t feel peaceful. It felt wrong.

The only sound was my footsteps clicking against the pavement and the soft hum of traffic far away. My phone screen lit up as I checked the time—11:48 p.m. No messages. Not from Maya, who’d promised to pick me up, and definitely not from anyone else.

I sighed and stuffed the phone into my pocket. “Just a few more blocks,” I whispered to myself.

Then I heard it, a growl.

Low. Rough. Animalistic.

I stopped walking. My pulse spiked instantly. I turned toward the alley beside me, squinting into the darkness. A faint rustle echoed, followed by another growl, deeper this time.

“Hello?” My voice came out shakier than I wanted.

No answer. Only the sound of claws scraping against concrete.

Every instinct screamed at me to move, but my body froze for a split second too long. A pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness.

“Oh my God,” I whispered, stumbling back.

The creature stepped out of the shadows, and my mind couldn’t process what I was seeing. It looked like a wolf, but wrong, bigger, its fur darker than night, teeth gleaming under the faint light.

I ran.

My sneakers slapped the pavement as I sprinted down the street. I could hear it behind me, fast, heavy, hunting me. My chest burned, and my lungs screamed for air. I turned a corner, but my foot caught the edge of the curb. I fell hard, scraping my knees against the ground. Pain shot through me, and I gasped.

When I looked up, it was there.

The beast towered over me, growling low, its hot breath washing over my face. Its eyes glowed like fire. It crouched, ready to strike.

I froze. My mind blanked.

Then a voice cut through the air, deep, commanding, impossible to ignore.

“Back.”

The word carried power. I felt it in my bones. The creature hesitated, whined, and slowly stepped away.

From behind it, a man stepped into the light.

Tall. Broad shoulders. Dark clothes. His presence filled the entire street like a storm rolling in. His eyes glowed gold, bright, burning, inhuman.

He didn’t look at me at first. His attention stayed on the creature. “You’re not supposed to be here,” he said coldly.

The rogue wolf growled again, but its body trembled. Then, with a sudden snarl, it turned and vanished into the alley.

The man finally looked at me.

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

His face was sharp, intense, almost too perfect. The kind of face you’d think belonged to a dream, not a person standing over you in the dark. His eyes glowed faintly even after the wolf had gone.

“Are you hurt?” His voice was smooth but hard, like he wasn’t used to asking questions, only giving orders.

“I— I don’t think so,” I stammered, trying to catch my breath.

He stepped closer and knelt beside me. The faint smell of pine and rain clung to him. His hand brushed over my knee, checking the scrape. His touch was warm, too warm.

“You shouldn’t walk alone at night,” he said quietly.

“I didn’t think a wild animal would jump me in the middle of the city.”

His mouth twitched, not quite a smile. “It wasn’t a wild animal.”

My stomach turned. “Then what was it?”

He looked at me for a long moment, like deciding how much to tell me. “Something you shouldn’t have seen.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Sometimes no answer is safer.” He stood and held out his hand. “Come on.”

I hesitated. Something about him made me uneasy, but also safe, in a way that didn’t make sense. I took his hand, and electricity shot through me, sharp and instant.

He froze too, his golden eyes flickering.

“What was that?” I asked softly.

“Nothing,” he said quickly, letting go. “Go home. Don’t look back.”

“Wait,” I called, but he was already walking toward the alley.

“Who are you?”

He didn’t answer. The shadows seemed to swallow him whole, and then he was gone.

For a while, I just stood there, staring into the darkness where he’d disappeared. My pulse still raced, but not entirely from fear anymore.

When I finally started walking again, my thoughts wouldn’t stop circling back to him, those eyes, that voice, that impossible moment when the air itself seemed to hum between us.

I told myself I’d never see him again. That it was just a strange, terrifying night.

But deep down, I knew I was lying.

Something had started tonight. Something I couldn’t explain.

And whatever it was, it wasn’t done with me yet.

~~~~~~~

Kael’s POV

I should have left the city the moment I felt her scent.

But fate had other plans.

The rogue had been hunting for days, and I’d tracked him here to end it quietly. I didn’t expect to find a human girl standing between us. The moment I saw her, something shifted in the air, a pull so strong it nearly broke my control.

Her scent hit me like a wave. Sweet. Wild. Familiar in a way that made no sense.

The bond.

It shouldn’t have been possible. Bonds were sacred, old, and only existed between wolves. But when her eyes met mine, I felt my heartbeat match hers. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, restless, possessive.

When I spoke, she listened like my voice carried gravity. It wasn’t just fear. She felt it too, the connection.

That scared me more than anything.

After the rogue fled, I almost stayed. The sight of her trembling on the pavement, trying to be brave even when she was terrified, stirred something I hadn’t felt in years.

But I couldn’t let myself fall into that again. Not with a human. Not with her.

I told her to go home and walked away.

I thought distance would dull it, that if I left her alone, the pull would fade. But when I reached the edge of the district, I caught her scent again—blood.

I looked down at my hand. The faintest smear of her blood from when I’d helped her up.

The rogue had marked her.

My chest tightened. If any of the others caught wind of it, she’d become prey. The scent of a marked human was an invitation to every predator that lived in the shadows of this city.

I clenched my fists. I had sworn never to get involved with humans again. The last time I broke that rule, I lost everything.

But this wasn’t a choice anymore.

She was part of it now, part of me.

And whether she knew it or not, her awakening had already begun.

~~~~~~

That night, Aria tossed and turned in her bed, unaware that her dreams were shifting. Her heartbeat echoed through the air, syncing faintly with the rhythm of another heartbeat somewhere far away.

On the rooftop across the street, Kael Draven stood beneath the pale glow of the moon, eyes glowing gold as he watched over her apartment.

The scent of her blood, faint but intoxicating, drifted through the night.

He whispered to the darkness, “You shouldn’t exist in my world… but it’s too late now.”

The wind carried his words away, but the bond had already formed.

And under the moonlight, something ancient stirred inside them both.