Moonbound Hearts

The night air was heavy with rain and pine, thick enough to taste. Baylee ran through the forest, her paws whispering over moss and soil, heart pounding to the rhythm of the wild. The forest knew her—every root, every scent, every shadow. It had been her refuge since she’d left the Ironclaw Pack months ago. Out here, no one whispered her name like a curse or pitied her for the mark that never came.

But tonight was different. The moon hung swollen and red above the trees, bleeding through the branches like a watchful eye. The Blood Moon. The night when fate was supposed to reveal what was meant to be—and destroy what was not.

Baylee didn’t believe in destiny anymore. Not after Gunner.

The thought of him was enough to twist something deep inside her chest. He had been her first everything—her first kiss beneath the wolf moon, her first shift under his watchful gaze, her first heartbreak when he’d turned his back on her for power. The Alpha’s son couldn’t choose a mate who didn’t strengthen his line. And Baylee, the orphaned daughter of a disgraced warrior, had never stood a chance.

So she’d run.

And running was all she knew how to do.

But the forest whispered tonight. The wind carried something new. A pulse. A presence.

Baylee slowed near the river, shifting to her human form as the moonlight caught on her bare skin. Her body hummed with tension, her senses sharp and searching. The air trembled with something she couldn’t name.

That’s when she smelled it.

A scent so rich and intoxicating it nearly brought her to her knees. Wild cedar. Storm rain. Something ancient that called to her wolf with a voice older than time.

Her breath hitched. Her wolf stirred.

Mate.

The word burned through her like fire.

“No,” she whispered, backing away as if she could outrun the truth. “No, not again.”

She turned, ready to flee, but a deep voice rolled through the shadows, low and steady.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

Her head snapped toward the sound. A man stepped from between the trees, tall and broad-shouldered, the moonlight brushing across his face. His eyes glowed faintly—gray, almost silver—and they locked on her as though he’d known her forever.

He wore nothing but the shift of his own skin, the scent of his wolf surrounding him like heat and stormlight. He wasn’t Ironclaw. She could sense that immediately. There was a calm strength in him, something she’d never seen in the men she’d grown up with.

Her pulse thundered. “Who are you?”

He stopped a few feet away, raising his hands slightly to show he meant no harm. “Collin. Of the Silverveil Pack.”

Baylee’s stomach dropped. Silverveil. Of all packs, it had to be them. The Ironclaws had fought Silverveil wolves for generations over territory and pride. Every child in her pack had been raised to hate them—to fear them.

Yet here she stood, heart racing, skin tingling, staring at a man whose scent sang to her bones.

“The Moon Goddess must be laughing,” she muttered under her breath.

Collin tilted his head, his eyes narrowing slightly. “You felt it too, didn’t you?”

Baylee swallowed hard. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t believe in mates.”

He smiled faintly, but there was sadness in his eyes. “Belief doesn’t change what’s true.”

Something in his tone made her chest ache. It wasn’t arrogance—it was certainty. The kind that came from surviving things she couldn’t imagine.

She took a step back. “Whatever this is, it’s a mistake.”

Before Collin could reply, a growl sliced through the night—low, guttural, familiar enough to freeze her blood.

No.

Not now. Not him.

The forest went still as the wind shifted again, carrying a scent she’d hoped never to breathe again. Smoke and iron. Gunner.

Collin’s expression sharpened. “We’re not alone.”

Baylee barely had time to move before a dark blur shot from the trees. Gunner shifted mid-leap, landing on two feet in front of her, his chest heaving, eyes glowing molten gold.

“Baylee,” he rasped, voice low and dangerous. “You’ve been busy.”

She stared at him, torn between shock and fury. “You followed me.”

“I’ve been tracking you for weeks.” His gaze slid past her to Collin, his lip curling. “And now I see why.”

Collin didn’t flinch. “Step back, Ironclaw. She doesn’t belong to you.”

A snarl ripped from Gunner’s throat. “You think I’m letting some Silverveil bastard near her?”

Baylee stepped between them, hands trembling but steady. “Enough! Both of you!”

Gunner’s eyes softened as he looked at her, just for a moment. “I made a mistake, Baylee. I shouldn’t have marked Maren. I—”

“You did what you had to,” she cut in sharply. “You made your choice.”

Collin’s wolf growled softly behind her, the air crackling with power.

The Blood Moon hung above them, glowing brighter now, as if the Goddess herself were watching.

Gunner’s gaze darkened, his voice raw. “He’s not your mate, Baylee.”

Her wolf surged against her skin, defiant. “He is.”

The silence that followed was thick enough to drown in. Gunner’s jaw tightened, his fury barely leashed. Collin’s stance remained calm but ready—protective.

Baylee took a breath, lifting her chin. “You need to leave, Gunner.”

“You think you can run from me again?” he growled. “You’re still mine, Baylee.”

“No,” she whispered, voice trembling but firm. “I never was.”

The wind howled through the trees, carrying the sound of distant thunder. Collin stepped closer, his hand brushing against hers in silent support.

And as the first drops of rain fell through the canopy, Baylee knew that whatever peace she’d built in exile was over.

Fate had found her again—and this time, it came with teeth.