로그인MICHAELA'S POV My foot slipped as I tried to get away. For one impossible second, I remained suspended between balance and disaster. Then gravity made the decision for me. The ground vanished from beneath me. My stomach lurched violently into my throat. The sensation was exactly like missing a step in the dark, only infinitely worse. I caught a clear glimpse of the creature above as my body went into free fall. It was absolutely hideous. Time slowed as I looked up at it. Loose stones, the ravine wall, the monster at the edge above me. It looked human in the way a broken doll looks human. Wrong. Deeply wrong. Its limbs were too long, the joints too sharp beneath skin stretched tight over bone. Patches of grey clung to its frame like old parchments. It's hair only appeared to exist in fragments on its head. The face was almost a person's face, yet absolutely not. Hollow eyes stared down at me. Eyes that sat too deep in the skull to be human. The creature's cheeks had collap
DAMON'S POV "What do you mean they sent her to the Wilds?" I asked Mason, my voice deadly quiet as his explanation of everything that had happened while I was consumed by bloodlust finally sank in. The Wilds. Of all places. The Wilds. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying not to lose my composure as a war raged inside my head. Unlike what I might have let Rhoda believe, it was still frighteningly difficult to hold on to my sanity. Ever since I returned, I had felt myself teetering on the edge. When I finally opened my eyes, the situation wasn't any better. Mason was saying something to me, but I couldn't quite hear him anymore. Because suddenly all I could see was red. Rhoda watched me closely from the side, silent, her expression unreadable. My head pounded. My fingers curled into fists at my sides. The Wilds. I remembered the stories. Every wolf did. Expeditions that never returned. Scouts who vanished. Entire search parties swallowed by the fores
DAMON'S POV "Where is she?" I asked Georgia, leaning against the doorframe with one hand, my head bowed low to prevent anyone from seeing my eyes. I got no answer. I lifted my head slightly, just enough to see Georgia frozen in the middle of the room, a spoon clutched in her hand as she stared at me wide-eyed. Several other kitchen staff appeared to be in a similar state of shock, their expressions a mixture of fear, worry, and apprehension. I clenched my fists, willing myself to be patient. Willing myself to stay calm. Even though I wanted to storm toward someone, anyone, and demand they tell me where she was before I started ripping things apart. I reminded myself that their reactions were valid. I couldn't exactly expect them to react casually to their Alpha showing up in the kitchen looking as though he'd just lost a battle against a forest. I staggered forward but nearly lost my balance as the room spun around me. That was enough to jolt some of the occupants out of thei
MICHAELA'S POV Morning came painfully slow, yet I couldn't get half the rest I needed. After eating some food, my search for the Moonshade continued. I began heading for the ravine next when I realized I wasn't quite sure where I was on either the ancient or modern map. Everything that happened last night had thrown me off course, and it took a few hours to get back on the trail again. By late morning, I was already halfway to the ravine. I hadn't expected to get this far in such a short time with the plethora of thoughts that had been raging in my head since last night. I pushed everything that wasn't Moonshade-related to the back of my mind as I got closer to the ravine. As I approached the location, I realized I was growing increasingly nervous with every step. The ravine was my last hope, and I was banking everything on it. If I didn't find the Moonshade and make it back to the pack before midnight, the fear, the risk, the danger, everything I had endured would have
MICHAELA'S POVThe silence feels wrong.I don't know how else to explain it.A few minutes ago, the forest had been filled with those horrible screams. Now there is nothing. Not even lingering echoes.It is as though the forest has simply swallowed the sounds whole.I sit frozen beneath the stone shelter, my flashlight resting beside me. Waiting. Expecting another scream.One minute passes. Then another.Nothing comes.The silence presses against me from every direction.I hate it.My gaze drifts toward the entrance. Darkness stares back. The beam of my flashlight reaches only a short distance beyond the stones before the forest consumes the rest.I tell myself I'm safe. Or at least safer.The thought does very little to comfort me.A shiver runs through me. Not from the cold, but from memory.My stomach twists violently.The corpse flashes through my mind again.The roots.The smell.The face.Goddess.I squeeze my eyes shut.Immediately regret it.The image only becomes clearer.I o
MICHAELA'S POV The sounds overlap until it becomes impossible to tell where one ends and the next begins.My pulse slams violently against my ribs. My mouth goes dry. For one terrible second, I simply stand there. Staring into the darkness. Listening. Waiting. The screams continue. Not pausing for a second.Some sound distant. Others sound frighteningly close. One erupts somewhere to my left and I nearly jump out of my skin.A second answers from deeper within the forest. Then a third. And a fourth.The sounds ricochet through the trees like some twisted conversation.I will my body to move but my bones suddenly feel like lead as my gaze moves in every direction trying to comprehend what the hell is happening.When my body finally remembers how to move, the sounds feels like they are closing in on me. Ringing so loudly in my ears that I begin to fear I might be losing my damn mind.Every time I glance back, everything I look around there is still nothing. I see absolutely nothing. T
“I don’t understand,” I say, looking between the two shapes bathed in shadow. “You guys were here the entire time?”“Yep,” the male answers.“Why didn’t you say anything when I was yelling my lungs out?”“We figured you were still getting settled. Didn’t want to disturb you.”I glare at his cell, e
I write a letter addressed to Mum and then one to Talia. I hand it to Sandy, who eyes the paper like it’s a live grenade. Her fingers hover over it before she takes it, slow and reluctant. I offer a weak smile. “Thank you for all your help, Sandy. I owe you.” She snorts, barely hiding her scowl.
After saying goodbye to Bailey, I head towards rehearsals, feet practically bouncing in anticipation. I weave between stalls, the hum of pre-festival chatter around me, but stop short when I see him — leaning against the edge of the square, half-shifted, green eyes glinting under the lanterns.
When our lips meet, every form of reasoning obliterates. My mind combust into electric sensations. He growls, taking control of the kiss. Mouth claiming mine with the urgency of a collapsing star. Heat pours between us, reckless and blinding. When my lips part, it isn't an invitation. It’s ine







