Chapter 2: Blood and Bone

The forest exploded into chaos.

Kael’s voice had barely left his lips when I turned and saw it—the creature lunging from the shadows, its form twisted, not quite wolf, not quite anything natural. It was twice the size of any rogue I’d ever seen, its fur matted with blood, its eyes glowing like coals. The air reeked of rot and something darker—something unnatural.

Kael leapt between us before I could move. His shift wasn’t elegant like I remembered. It was violent, quick, primal. His bones cracked and reformed mid-air, and where Kael had stood, a massive dark-gray wolf landed with a snarl that shook the trees.

I froze. For a heartbeat, my body forgot how to breathe.

Then instinct roared awake.

I turned and ran.

The forest flew past in blurs of bark and shadow. My wolf—silent for so long—stirred inside me, pushing at my skin like she wanted out, wanted freedom. But I didn’t shift. I couldn’t. I hadn’t in over a year. Damon had made sure of that.

Still, my feet remembered the paths I used to take as a girl. The ones that snaked away from the estate, through the hidden glades, into the deeper woods where even the patrols never ventured.

Behind me, the sounds of battle echoed—snarls, crashes, the sickening crack of bones colliding.

Kael was fighting alone.

And something in me hated that.

I skidded to a stop by an old tree split in half by lightning years ago. My breath came in ragged gulps. My heart thudded like war drums in my chest. And still… I hesitated.

I could keep running. I could find the old border trail, disappear into the human towns, lose myself in the anonymity of a world without mates or alphas or expectations.

But Kael had come back.

For me.

And whatever that thing was—it wasn’t normal. It wasn’t a rogue. It wasn’t pack.

It was something else.

Something worse.

A snarl cut through the silence like a blade, closer this time. A yelp. A thud.

My blood ran cold.

Without thinking, I spun and ran back.

When I found them, Kael was limping. Blood soaked his fur, deep gashes down his side, but he still stood tall—between me and the beast.

And the creature?

It was watching me.

Ignoring Kael entirely.

Its nose twitched, and I felt something… shift. A pull. Not like the mate bond—this was darker. Hungrier.

I took a step back, but it mirrored me.

“Elara, move,” Kael’s voice rang in my head through the pack bond. “Now.”

“I don’t— I can’t shift,” I sent back, panic rising.

He growled low, angry at the world, not me. “Then run.”

But it was too late.

The creature lunged again, and this time, I didn’t dodge.

I didn’t need to.

Because something inside me snapped.

Not like breaking—but like awakening.

Heat surged through my limbs, and my knees buckled as pain lanced through my spine. My wolf, my silent, battered wolf, rose with a scream that wasn’t entirely my own.

Bones cracked. Muscles tore and reformed. And in the space of seconds, I shifted.

For the first time in over a year.

My fur was pale silver, streaked with white. Smaller than Kael, sleeker. But fast.

Free.

And furious.

The creature reared back, startled by my sudden transformation. I launched at it with a growl that felt like vengeance and fire rolled into one. Kael joined me instantly, two wolves against the dark.

It wasn’t a clean fight. It wasn’t elegant or graceful like the battles in the training yards.

It was survival.

And it ended when Kael sank his jaws into the creature’s neck and snapped.

The forest went silent.

The creature collapsed, its body twitching once, then going still.

I shifted back, breathless, naked in the dirt and trembling. Kael stood over the creature, his chest heaving, blood dripping from his muzzle. A moment later, he shifted too—back into the man I remembered, though his eyes were darker now, more haunted.

“Elara.” His voice was rough. “You shifted.”

“I didn’t know I could,” I whispered. My arms wrapped around myself out of instinct and shame. “He said I was too weak. He said—”

Kael was beside me in a second, draping his cloak over my shoulders. “He was wrong.”

I wanted to cry. But I didn’t. I was done giving Damon my tears.

Instead, I asked the one thing I needed to know.

“What was that thing?”

Kael glanced at the corpse. “Not a rogue. It was twisted. Corrupted. That’s why I came back.”

I blinked. “You came back because of the creature?”

“I came back because of you,” he said. “But that thing? It’s just the beginning. Something’s happening out here. Packs are going dark. Wolves disappearing. Not just rogues—alphas. Entire bloodlines.”

I swallowed hard. “And you think Damon’s involved?”

He hesitated.

And that was answer enough.

We buried the creature under the old oak. Kael didn’t want the pack to know yet. He said it would cause panic. Said we needed more answers first.

But the moment we got back to the estate, the air changed.

Guards were everywhere. Lights in every window. Damon’s aura pulsing through the ground like thunder.

And waiting for me, at the top of the stone steps, was him.

Damon.

Tall. Perfect. Handsome in a way that never softened.

His smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“You went for a walk?” he asked, voice silk and steel.

“I needed air.”

His gaze flicked to Kael beside me. “And you decided to bring back an old flame.”

“I didn’t bring him back. He saved my life.”

“Oh?” Damon stepped down a stair. “Then I should thank him.”

Kael stiffened beside me. “No need.”

Damon tilted his head. “You’re on my land, Kael. That makes you my guest. For now.”

“Just here for answers,” Kael said flatly.

“Funny,” Damon said, “so am I.”

And that’s when the guard came running up behind him, breathless.

“Alpha. We… we found something near the southern border. Buried under the old graves.”

Damon didn’t look away from Kael. “What did you find?”

The guard hesitated. “A body. Or… what’s left of one. Female. Young. With a mark carved into her skin.”

My stomach turned.

Kael’s jaw clenched.

“What mark?” I asked, even though I already knew.

The guard looked between us, pale. “The same one the creature had burned into its chest.”

Damon finally smiled, slow and dangerous.

“Well,” he said, “looks like you brought back more than trouble, Elara.”