Chapter 2: The Wolf and the Journalist

(Lucian’s POV)

I smelled her before I saw her.

Even from the edge of the forest, miles away from the town, the sharp scent of the city drifted into the air—faint, but unmistakable. It clung to her, a mixture of car exhaust, perfume, and something else, something distinctly human. She wasn’t like the others in Blackthorn Ridge, the ones whose lives were tangled in the earth and the forest, whose scents were woven into the bones of this place. No, this one... she was foreign. Too clean, too polished, too sharp.

I stood at the crest of the ridge, overlooking the town as dusk began to fall. The sun dipped lower, casting long shadows over the forest, turning the sky a burnt orange. The familiar pull of the moon thrummed beneath my skin, not strong enough to force the change, but enough to make my muscles tighten and my senses sharpen. The full moon was coming, only days away, and with it, the hunger that lived in every bone of my body.

The air around me was heavy, thick with the scent of damp earth and the slow decay of autumn leaves. But underneath it all, I could still smell her. New blood. New curiosity.

My eyes followed the main road that cut through the trees, leading straight into the heart of Blackthorn Ridge. She was down there now, driving into a place she didn’t belong, a place that would chew her up and spit her out if she wasn’t careful.

I gritted my teeth, turning away from the town, letting the shadows of the forest wrap around me like a second skin. My pack was restless. They could feel the change coming too. The air was charged with it, an electric pulse that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I needed to get back to them, to remind them of the rules, to keep them in check.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

Chloe Reynolds.

The name had been whispered through the town for days before she even arrived. A journalist, they said. Someone coming to dig into the animal attacks, to ask questions that no one here wanted to answer. And now that she was here, I knew it was only a matter of time before she found herself standing on the wrong side of a secret.

People like her didn’t last long in Blackthorn Ridge. Outsiders. Curious types. They didn’t know how to stay quiet, how to leave well enough alone. They came here, poking around, looking for answers, and they usually found more than they bargained for.

And me? I’d be the one left to clean up the mess.

I took a deep breath, letting the cold, crisp air fill my lungs, grounding myself. The forest stretched out around me, endless, ancient. It was my home, my territory. Every inch of it, from the tips of the tallest trees to the hidden paths that only the wolves knew, was mine to protect. And that meant protecting it from her, too.

I started to head back into the woods, my feet silent on the soft earth. The trees bent overhead, their branches casting long, skeletal shadows in the fading light. My senses were on high alert, the way they always were this close to the full moon. I could hear the soft rustle of leaves, the distant call of a bird, the quiet murmur of the wind through the branches.

And beneath it all, I could hear the town. The soft hum of car engines, the muffled voices of the few people who still dared to be outside after dark. Blackthorn Ridge was quiet tonight, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. Not with her here.

A low growl rumbled in my throat, but I swallowed it down. My instincts were all wrong tonight, twisted and tangled. Something about her had my blood humming, a low, dangerous pulse that I couldn’t shake. It wasn’t just the scent of her, though that was part of it. It was the feeling that came with her presence. Like a storm rolling in, heavy and electric, promising chaos and destruction.

I couldn’t let her get too close.

I couldn’t let her uncover what lay hidden beneath the surface of this town.

I broke through the trees and into a small clearing, where the rest of the pack was already waiting. Their voices drifted to me on the wind, low murmurs that quieted as I approached. There were six of them tonight—my core group, the ones who had been with me the longest. They stood in a loose circle, tension rolling off them in waves. Their eyes gleamed in the dim light, sharp and dangerous.

“She’s here,” Selene said, her voice low and smooth, like a whisper carried on the wind.

Selene had always had a knack for knowing things before the rest of us. She didn’t need to ask if I knew who she meant. I could see it in her eyes, the way they glinted in the fading light. She was just as aware of the newcomer as I was, maybe even more so.

I gave a curt nod, stepping into the center of the circle. “I know.”

“She’s already asking questions,” Jaxon muttered, his arms crossed over his broad chest. He was the biggest of us, his hulking frame always radiating barely contained energy, like he was one wrong word away from snapping. “The whole town’s talking about it.”

“And they’re talking too much,” I said, my voice a low growl. “The last thing we need is someone like her stirring things up.”

Jaxon’s lip curled into a sneer. “Maybe we should make sure she doesn’t get the chance.”

My eyes snapped to him, a warning burning in my gaze. “We don’t need a mess, Jaxon. We don’t draw attention to ourselves.”

He held my gaze for a moment longer before looking away, his jaw tight with frustration. I knew what he was thinking. I could feel it radiating off him in waves. The same thought had crossed my mind, too, but we weren’t animals—not entirely. We had rules, lines we didn’t cross.

“We watch her,” I said, my voice cutting through the silence. “She’s not going anywhere without us knowing about it.”

“And if she finds something?” Selene’s voice was soft, but her words were razor sharp. She always knew how to get under my skin, always testing the limits. There was a reason she was my second-in-command, but there were days when I wondered if she’d ever be content with second place.

“She won’t,” I said, though even I wasn’t sure how much I believed it.

Selene’s eyes gleamed in the darkness, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “And if she does?”

I held her gaze for a long moment, the air between us thick with tension. “Then we make sure she forgets.”

I left the pack to their patrols, disappearing back into the forest. The moon was rising now, casting a pale silver light over the trees, turning the world into a wash of shadows and light. My senses were still buzzing, my blood thrumming with the energy that always came before the change.

I tried to push thoughts of her from my mind, but they kept creeping back in, like an itch I couldn’t scratch. Chloe Reynolds. The journalist. The outsider.

She was going to be a problem. I knew it the moment I caught her scent. And yet... I couldn’t stop thinking about her. There was something about her, something that tugged at me, even though I knew I should stay far, far away.

Get it together, Lucian.

This wasn’t the time to get distracted. There were bigger things at play, things that needed my full attention. The full moon was close, and the pack was restless. We were on the verge of something, something dangerous, and the last thing I needed was an outsider poking around, asking questions.

But even as I told myself that, I couldn’t help but wonder—what was it about her that had me on edge? It wasn’t just the danger she posed to the pack. It was something else, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Something that stirred deep in my chest, a pull I couldn’t explain.

I shook my head, pushing the thoughts away as I moved deeper into the forest, letting the familiar rhythm of the woods soothe me. The scent of pine and earth, the sound of the wind rustling through the branches—it was all grounding, reminding me of who I was, what I was.

I was the alpha of this pack. It was my duty to protect them, to keep the secrets of Blackthorn Ridge hidden. And no matter how much she intrigued me, no matter how much my instincts screamed at me to follow her, to learn more about her... I couldn’t let her get too close.

I had to keep her at a distance. For her sake. And mine.

By the time I reached the edge of town, the night had fully settled in. The streets were empty, the windows dark. Blackthorn Ridge had always been a quiet town, but it was more than just quiet tonight—it was still. As if the town itself was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.

I kept to the shadows as I moved down the main street, my senses alert, every sound magnified in the silence. The town was familiar to me, every creaky board, every hidden alley. I knew it like the back of my hand. But there was something different about it tonight. A tension in the air that I couldn’t shake.

And then I saw her.

Chloe was sitting in the window of the diner, her head bent over a notebook, a pen tapping against her lips as she stared out the window. The light from the neon sign flickered above her, casting her face in a soft, pink glow. She looked... focused. Determined.

I stayed in the shadows, watching her for a long moment, trying to get a read on her. She didn’t look like the type who scared easily, and that was a problem. People who weren’t afraid of the dark usually didn’t survive it.

Her gaze shifted toward the window, and for a split second, our eyes met. My breath caught in my throat, my body tensing instinctively. She didn’t look away, her eyes searching the shadows, as if she could feel my presence, even though she couldn’t see me.

For a moment, I considered stepping forward, introducing myself, making my presence known. But something held me back. A nagging feeling at the back of my mind, a voice that whispered that getting too close to her would only lead to trouble.

I turned away, disappearing into the shadows before she could see me.