Chapter 1: The Proposal Disaster

Luna’s POV

The café is loud, crowded, and full of judgmental eyes—but none of that compares to the panic exploding inside my chest.

Because a boy is kneeling in front of me.

Kneeling. Like this is some cheap rom-com proposal scene.

“Luna,” he says, voice trembling, “will you marry me?”

My soul leaves my body.

The entire café gasps. Someone drops their fork. A girl shrieks, “Omg, say yes!” Another whispers, “Who even is she?”

I stare at the boy—Ethan Rell, my classmate, the one who once asked for my notes and I thought that was the end of our interactions. Apparently not.

He holds out a ring. A real, shiny, blinding ring.

I blink. Once. Twice.

“No.”

It slips out of my mouth before my brain can stop it. Ethan freezes. The café freezes. I swear even the electric fan stops spinning.

I stand abruptly, knocking my chair backward. Heat burns through my face. My palms sweat. My heartbeat is too loud, too wild.

This is why I avoid attention.

This is why I avoid people.

This is why I avoid… everything.

Suffocating eyes. Expectations. Pressure. A moment I didn’t ask for.

“I—I have to go.” My voice cracks.

I turn.

And I run.

Straight out of the cafe.

Across the street.

Past confused pedestrians.

Into the mouth of the forest that borders our town.

The shadows swallow me whole.

The Forest — Minutes Later

Branches slap against my skin. Roots snag my shoes. The air grows colder the deeper I go.

Stupid. Why did I run here?

This forest is basically a local horror story.

People say wolves live here. Others say ghosts. Some say nothing but death.

But right now, anything is better than a public proposal.

I stop to catch my breath, leaning against a tree. My chest still tight. My pulse hectic.

Why would Ethan propose? I barely talk. I barely exist. I keep my head down for a reason.

People like me aren’t meant to be noticed.

Not when there are… secrets.

Think of the silver blood.

No, don’t think of the silver blood.

I shake my head.

No more panic. No more—

Crunch.

A twig snaps behind me.

I straighten slowly. The forest is quiet. Too quiet. No wind. No birds. No insects.

Only the feeling that something big is watching me.

“Hello?” I whisper.

The shadows move.

Before I can react, a blur of black collides with me—no, not collides—saves me. A strong arm grabs my waist and yanks me backward just as a massive wolf with glowing red eyes lunges from the bushes.

I scream.

But the person holding me is faster. He leaps—no, soars—out of the wolf’s path, landing with a grace no human should possess.

I twist to look at my savior.

And stop breathing.

He is… beautiful.

In a terrifying, dangerous, otherworldly way.

Tall. Broad shoulders. Ink-black hair falling over golden eyes that glow faintly in the dark. His jaw sharp enough to cut glass. His clothes dark, tactical, something between a soldier and a predator.

His grip on my waist tightens as the red-eyed wolf snarls.

He growls back.

Actually… growls. Like a warning, low and lethal.

Then he steps in front of me, shielding me completely with his body.

“Stay behind me,” he murmurs, voice deep enough to vibrate through my ribs.

I should be terrified.

I should run.

I should pretend this is a hallucination.

Instead, I whisper, “What are you?”

He doesn’t answer.

He just shifts his stance—and the wolf freezes as if recognizing him. Its ears flatten. It whimpers.

Then it runs.

Just like I did.

The stranger exhales as the danger passes. Slowly, he turns to face me.

And those golden eyes—ancient, grieving, relieved—lock onto mine.

Everything inside me stops.

His gaze softens, like he’s seeing something impossible. Like he’s seeing a ghost.

His lips part. His breath shudders.

Then he whispers,

“Luna.”

My name.

My real name. Not the one on school records. Not the one humans use.

My heart stutters.

I step backward. “How do you know me?”

He follows—one step, slow and controlled, as if trying not to scare me.

“You…” His voice cracks quietly. “You’re alive.”

He lifts his hand, like he wants to touch my face. But he stops inches away, fingers trembling.

This man—this warrior—looks like he’s breaking.

“I’ve looked for you for thirteen years,” he whispers.

Something ice-cold pours down my spine.

Thirteen years.

The same night I was found bleeding in the river.

The same night my memories disappeared.

The same night the silver blood first appeared.

“I don’t know you,” I say, voice shaking.

He smiles. It’s soft. Sad. Devastated.

“You don’t remember.” He breathes out the words like a wound reopening. “But your soul does.”

“What—”

He steps closer—too close—until I feel his breath.

Then he says something I never expected to hear again that day. Something even more terrifying than Ethan’s proposal.

“Luna,” he whispers, “please marry me.”

My jaw drops.

“What is wrong with everyone today?!”

“It’s not today,” he says quietly. “It’s destiny.”

I choke. “We just met!”

He shakes his head slowly, eyes blazing. “You were always meant to be mine.”

“Nope.” I step back again. “Goodbye.”

I try to leave.

He catches my wrist—not hard, not painful, but firm. Warm. Familiar in a way that scares me.

“Don’t go there,” he warns, pointing behind me.

The trees shift. The shadows move again. Something growls in the dark.

A cold realization settles over me.

Whatever saved me earlier wasn’t luck.

Something is hunting me.

“Who are they?” I whisper.

His eyes darken with anger. “The ones who want you dead.”

Dead.

The word hits harder than the proposal.

“What—why me?”

“Because of what you are,” he says softly, “because of what you carry in your blood.”

My throat tightens. “What… I carry?”

He lifts his hand again, slower this time, giving me a chance to pull away.

I don’t.

His fingers trace my wrist—

and a silver shimmer glows beneath my skin.

My secret.

My curse.

The thing that should not exist in humans.

I snatch my hand away. “Don’t touch me!”

But he looks at me like he’s seeing a miracle.

“Moonborn.” His voice breaks. “My mate.”

“I’m not your anything!”

He closes his eyes briefly, as if in pain. “You don’t have to trust me yet. But you need to come with me. Please.”

“Why would I go with a stranger in the forest?”

“Because staying here means dying.”

He points behind me slowly.

“And because they’ve found you.”

A bone-chilling howl echoes through the forest.

Then another.

Then many.

Circle tightening.

Shadows closing in.

His golden eyes meet mine—no longer soft, but fierce.

“Choose, Luna.”

He extends his hand.

“Come with me and live… or stay here and die.”

My breath catches.

I look at his hand.

Then at the wolves emerging from the trees, red eyes glowing.

I make my choice.

Just as something massive leaps at me—

Blackness explodes.

A roar shakes the forest.

And a giant wolf with gold eyes tackles me to the ground.

To be continued.....