Chapter 5: Chosen by the Moon

They moved her before dawn.

Ari barely remembered agreeing—only the exhaustion, the fear buzzing under her skin, and the weight of too many eyes watching her every move. The city was quieter at this hour, streets slick with leftover rain and secrets. Dante drove again. Kai followed this time, pacing the car from rooftop to rooftop like gravity meant nothing to him. Lennox walked beside them, silent as a shadow.

The building they stopped at didn’t look special. Just another high-rise tucked between abandoned factories and flickering streetlights.

“That’s it?” Ari asked.

Dante nodded. “Pack housing. Neutral ground.”

“Neutral for who?”

“For wolves who don’t want bloodshed,” Kai said. “And humans who don’t know they’re prey.”

Inside, the air felt different. Clean. Guarded. Symbols were carved into the walls—marks she didn’t recognize but felt in her bones. Her skin prickled as they passed through the threshold.

Lennox paused behind her. “Once you step in, you’re under pack protection.”

She hesitated. “And if I don’t?”

His gaze softened—just a fraction. “Then the city eats you alive.”

She stepped inside.

The door shut with a heavy click, sealing her fate.

The apartment itself was simple but secure—steel doors, reinforced windows, a balcony overlooking the city skyline. The moon hung low and fat in the sky, watching like it had a stake in her future.

Dante leaned against the counter, arms crossed. “This is temporary.”

“Everything feels temporary right before it becomes permanent,” Ari shot back.

Kai’s jaw tightened. “You don’t understand what’s happening.”

“Then explain it,” she demanded. “All of it.”

Silence stretched.

Finally, Lennox spoke. “Some humans attract wolves. Rarely. Usually without knowing why.”

Ari crossed her arms. “And I’m one of them.”

“Yes,” Dante said quietly. “But it’s worse than that.”

Her heart skipped. “How?”

“You weren’t just noticed,” Kai said. “You were chosen.”

The word landed heavy.

“Chosen by who?”

Lennox’s gaze lifted to the window. The moonlight silvered his face. “The moon,” he said. “And the bond it recognizes.”

Ari shook her head. “That’s not a thing.”

Dante stepped closer. “It is. And once it happens, wolves feel it. The pull. The instinct to protect. To claim.”

Her pulse spiked.

“And if someone claims me?” she asked.

Kai’s voice was tight. “Then you stop being just human.”

The room felt too small. Too hot.

“That’s not happening,” she said firmly. “I didn’t ask for this. I don’t want it.”

Lennox approached slowly, like she might bolt. “Want doesn’t matter to instinct.”

Dante cut in sharply. “Enough.”

The command snapped through the room, thick with Alpha authority. Lennox stopped instantly. Kai turned away, breathing hard.

Dante met Ari’s eyes. “No one is touching you.”

Her chest loosened—just a little.

“Yet,” he added.

Her stomach flipped.

“You’re under my protection,” he continued. “Which means no claiming. No marks. No bonds.”

Kai scoffed. “You won’t be able to hold that line forever.”

Dante’s eyes flashed. “Watch me.”

The tension between them crackled like live wire.

Ari swallowed. “So what am I supposed to do? Hide forever?”

“For now,” Dante said. “Yes.”

Lennox’s gaze burned into her. “The moon won’t wait.”

As if summoned, a deep howl rolled across the city—long, hungry, close.

Ari shuddered.

Kai stepped toward her before he could stop himself. “You’re not safe outside this building. Not after tonight.”

His hand hovered near her arm, trembling with restraint.

She looked at him—really looked at him—and saw the struggle etched into his face. Fear. Hunger. Protection. Desire.

“You feel it too,” she whispered.

He didn’t deny it.

Lennox turned away sharply, fists clenched. “This is why humans break packs.”

Dante’s voice dropped. “Or save them.”

Everyone went still.

Ari’s breath caught. “What does that mean?”

Dante hesitated—then said it anyway. “Some bonds don’t destroy. They redefine.”

Her heart slammed against her ribs.

The lights flickered.

Outside, footsteps echoed—too many, too deliberate.

Lennox’s head snapped up. “They’ve found us.”

Kai growled low in his chest, eyes flashing gold. “Rogue pack. Three—no, four.”

Dante straightened, all hesitation gone. “Ari, stay inside. Do not open the door for anyone.”

“What about you?”

His gaze lingered on her, dark and intense. “This city won’t take you. Not tonight.”

They moved fast, disappearing onto the balcony and into the night.

Ari rushed to the window despite herself.

She saw it all—the blur of bodies across rooftops, the flash of claws, the shimmer of shifting forms under moonlight. Wolves collided with bone-rattling force, growls echoing between buildings.

And then she felt it.

A tug. Deep in her chest.

Her heartbeat synced with theirs.

She gasped, clutching her sternum as heat flooded her veins. Images flashed—gold eyes, blood on concrete, hands gripping her waist, teeth at her throat—not in violence, but possession.

“No,” she whispered. “No, no—”

The door behind her rattled.

A voice whispered from the other side. “Chosen girl…”

Her blood ran cold.

Whatever she was becoming—

The city already knew.

And it was coming to collect.