Chapter 1: The Man Who Was Supposed to Save Me

RAVYNNE POV

I don't want to die tonight. It isn't death itself that frightens me. It is what happens if I survive until sunrise. Every Red Moon, the dragon inside me grows stronger, and every seven years, the transformation becomes harder to resist. The last time I lost control, an entire village burned. I still remember the screams, the heat, and the terrible realization that there was nothing I could do to stop the fire once it had begun.

I promised Prince Leander I'd return before sunrise. I'd never broken a promise to him. Never.

Last night, he'd smiled as he handed me another stack of reports. "Don't disappear on me again, Ravynne."

I'd laughed as I took them from him. "Who's going to clean up your messes if I do?"

"Exactly."

That had been our usual exchange, light and familiar, the kind neither of us needed to think about anymore. I had promised him I'd be back. Now I stared at the rusted chains lying across the tower floor and wondered whether I had already broken that promise before the night had even begun.

The abandoned tower trembled beneath the wind. There was no one for miles, no village close enough to hear me, no palace lights on the horizon. Only the forbidden forest surrounded the tower, stretching into darkness as far as I could see. That was why I'd chosen this place. If the dragon escaped me tonight, there would be no one nearby for it to hurt.

Then the fire began.

It erupted beneath my ribs without warning, spreading through my chest and down my arms until every vein felt as though it had been filled with molten metal. I dropped to my knees and gripped the cold stone beneath me, forcing myself to breathe as the heat consumed my body.

A growl stirred inside my mind. 'She is coming.'

I squeezed my eyes shut. "Not tonight."

'Let me out.'

"You know I can't."

'I want to fly.'

The dragon pressed against my consciousness, impatient and restless, and I reached for the chains before she could push any harder. My fingers shook so badly that the first link slipped from my grasp and struck the floor with a metallic clang. I forced myself forward, dragging the heavy chain behind me as my palms scraped against the stone. I'd done this before. Chain myself down and endure the night until the moon faded, hoping that if I could keep the dragon trapped inside me until morning, no one would die.

'Not again.'

The dragon laughed softly inside my head. 'You always say that.'

I ignored her and locked the first shackle around my wrist. Click. Cold iron bit into my skin, and the pain helped ground me. It gave me something else to focus on besides the heat spreading through my body. I fastened the second shackle around my ankle and reached for the final chain.

Then the dragon whispered one word. 'Oakhaven.'

My hand stopped.

Smoke filled my lungs as if it were real, and seven years disappeared in an instant. I was back among burning houses and screaming villagers, watching collapsing roofs disappear beneath black fire that spread faster than I could control. I remembered the heat against my skin, the terror in their voices, and the bodies left burned and dead after the flames finally died.

My body began to shake. "I didn't mean to."

'But you did it.'

"I didn't know what I was."

'You knew enough to enjoy it.'

"Stop."

'You watched them burn.'

I slammed the final lock into place. Click. The memory vanished.

I leaned against the stone wall and breathed through the pain. "I did it."

The dragon went quiet. She wasn't gone, only waiting inside me for the moment I became weak enough to break free.

The moon was already high above the tower, its crimson light spilling through the broken windows and turning the stone floor beneath me the color of dried blood. If I survived until morning, I could return to the palace. I could walk into Leander's office with the same tired smile I always wore after these nights and pretend I hadn't spent the darkness fighting a monster inside my own body. I could keep my promise. I could see him again. Somehow, that thought steadied me more than the chains ever had.

Leander had never known what happened during these nights. He knew I disappeared every seven years, knew there were parts of my past I refused to explain, but he had never forced me to give him answers before I was ready. Perhaps that was one of the reasons I'd fallen in love with him so quietly that even I sometimes pretended it wasn't there. He was a prince, and I was his advisor. There had always been a line between us, and I had never allowed myself to cross it. So I loved him where I was allowed to love him: beside him, protecting him, helping him carry the kingdom that would one day become his. I only needed to survive tonight and return to the palace before he had any reason to wonder where I'd gone.

That was what I wanted. That was all I wanted.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching through the forest.

At first they were distant, almost swallowed by the wind, but they grew louder with every passing second. Measured and deliberate. Someone was coming toward the tower.

My blood went cold.

The door exploded inward.

Dust and stone fragments filled the room as a large shadow stepped through the smoke. Steel slid from a sheath, and I closed my eyes for one brief moment.

So this was how it ended.

A hunter's sword would be kinder than the dragon's fire. At least it would be quick.

A man stood in the doorway. He was tall and broad-shouldered, dressed for combat, with a sword in one hand and a rifle strapped across his back. His dark hair was disheveled from the journey, but there was nothing careless about the way he carried himself. Every part of him looked prepared to kill.

His eyes swept across the tower before stopping on me. Confusion crossed his face.

He lowered his sword slightly. "Who are you?"

I stared at him. The moment our eyes met, something inside my chest shifted. The fire disappeared.

The dragon became completely still.

For seven years, I'd felt as though there was always something burning inside me, something waiting for the right moment to tear through my skin. Now, for the first time, there was silence.

Warmth spread slowly through my chest, and with it came a memory of my mother's voice, buried so deeply inside me that I'd almost forgotten it.

'One day, you'll find your mate.'

My eyes remained fixed on the stranger.

'And when you do, your dragon will know.'

My lips parted before I could stop myself. "You're here."

His brows drew together. "What?"

I barely heard him. The certainty inside me was overwhelming. This was him. My mate. The man I'd spent my entire life believing would someday find me.

He took a cautious step closer. "Where's the dragon?"

I blinked. "The... dragon?"

"My intel says the dragon was seen somewhere in this region." His gaze moved around the tower. "Where is it?"

"You need to leave." My voice came out more desperate than I'd intended.

His expression hardened. "Why?"

"You shouldn't be here."

"That isn't an answer."

"It doesn't matter. Just go."

He studied me for a moment, clearly trying to understand why a frightened woman had appeared in an abandoned tower deep inside the forbidden forest during the Red Moon. Then his gaze shifted toward the broken window.

"I'm not leaving."

My heart sank. "You don't understand."

"I know there's a dragon nearby." He looked back at me. "I've been hunting that creature for years. I'm not walking away because a stranger tells me to."

The words chilled me. He wasn't here for me. He was hunting the dragon inside me.

The warmth inside my chest suddenly felt dangerous. "Please."

He shook his head. "No."

I wanted to tell him. I wanted to scream the truth before it was too late, but pain ripped through my spine before I could say another word. The sensation slammed me backward against the wall, and the man immediately raised his sword.

"What happened?"

I couldn't answer. My bones shifted beneath my skin. A scream tore from my throat as black scales pushed through my forearm.

His expression changed. He took a step backward. "What the hell..."

I grabbed my arm as another wave of pain tore through me. "Don't come closer."

His sword rose. "Stay where you are."

The dragon stirred violently inside me. 'Give him to me.'

"No."

'He came to hunt us.'

"He's not going to hurt you."

The lie barely left my mouth before another scale spread across my shoulder. The hunter stared at it. His face had gone pale, his gaze moving from the scales to my face and back again. The confusion in his eyes disappeared.

"What are you?"

My throat tightened. "You need to leave. Now."

He didn't move. The dragon pushed harder. My fingers began to change, claws emerging beneath my nails as I felt my control slipping away.

"Please."

His sword remained pointed at me. "I won't hurt you if you tell me what happened."

"You can't stay."

"Why?"

"Because if you do..." Another wave of pain broke through me, forcing the words from my throat. "...I'll kill you."

For the first time, fear flickered across his face. But he still didn't leave.

I looked at him and knew there was only one way left to stop what was happening. My voice shook as I said, "The only way to stop this... is for you to kiss me."

He stared at me as though I'd lost my mind. "What?"

"You have to kiss me."

His face twisted in disbelief. "You're asking me to kiss you?"

"Please."

A crack ran through my spine, and I screamed. My hand shot forward, grabbed his jacket, and pulled him toward me before I could lose the last of my control.

His eyes widened.

Then I kissed him.

For one impossible heartbeat, everything stopped. The fire vanished. The dragon fell silent.

His body went rigid beneath my hands, and I felt his breath catch. Then something changed. His sword slipped from his fingers and struck the floor with a metallic clang as his hand caught my waist, not deliberately, but because his body had reacted before his mind could stop it.

The bond surged between us, overwhelming the hatred in his eyes for one brief, terrifying moment.

Our kiss deepened, and for the first time in my life, the dragon inside me felt complete.

Then his gaze dropped. The black scales had spread farther across my arm. He could see the crimson cracks pulsing from the coiled dragon mark around my forearm.

His face changed. The confusion disappeared.

He recognized it. His eyes widened. "No."

He shoved me away so hard that I slammed against the floor. His hand immediately went for his sword, and when he picked it up again, he pointed the blade at my neck.

The warmth inside my chest began to disappear.

He looked at the scales, then at me. "You."

The answer appeared in his eyes before he spoke it. "Oakhaven."

My heart stopped.

"You burned it."

I couldn't breathe.

His sword rose slightly as his hands began to shake. "You killed my mother."

Tears filled my eyes. For one moment, his hatred flickered with something else, something I couldn't understand, but then his grip tightened around the sword.

He pushed the blade forward, but his hand wouldn't obey him. It trembled so violently that he almost dropped the weapon. His free hand pressed against his chest as though he were fighting some invisible force inside himself.

"What did you do to me?"

I smiled through my tears because I finally understood what he was feeling.

"You're..." My voice broke. "...my mate."

His breathing stopped. Even the wind outside seemed to disappear.

"No." Barely a whisper.

"Please—"

"No!"

"I know you felt it."

"I'd rather..." His voice broke, and he swallowed hard before forcing the words out. "I'd rather die..."

The pain in his voice almost hurt more than the sword at my throat. For one impossible heartbeat, I thought he couldn't finish. Then his jaw tightened.

"...than spend eternity loving..." His eyes locked onto mine. "...a monster."

Something inside me broke. Not just my heart. My entire soul.

The warmth vanished instantly, and the dragon screamed inside my mind as though he'd torn something out of both of us. For the first time since my first transformation, I understood what it meant to feel completely alone. My body convulsed, and scales exploded across my skin.

The chains snapped.

One after another, the iron links tore apart beneath the force of the transformation. The tower shook violently, stone walls cracking as dust rained from the ceiling.

The hunter stumbled backward, staring at me in horror. "What the...?"

The fire returned. A hundred times worse. I felt the dragon tearing through me, felt my humanity crumbling beneath the transformation as claws pushed through my fingers and scales swallowed my skin.

"I was happy..." I whispered.

I looked at the man fate had chosen to save me, the man who had just damned us both.

"I wish you'd never found me."

The final chain exploded. The last thing I saw was him raising his sword.

Not to protect me.

To kill me.

I'm sorry, Leander. I couldn't keep my promise. Please... don't let me hurt anyone else.

Then the black scales swallowed the world.