CHAPTER 1: BEGINNING OF THE END

Flashback: ARACHNE’S P.O.V

“Promise me!”

Helena’s voice cuts through the room like a blade, ragged and desperate. She’s dying. Bleeding out, trembling, and barely holding on.

I grip her hand, heart pounding loud enough for both of us to hear. “Hel, please—”

“Promise me, Arachne.” Her fingers latch onto my wrist like a lifeline. Her nails bite into my skin, but it’s not the pain that sends a chill down my spine—it’s the way her eyes, wild and glassy, lock onto mine with a desperation I have never seen before.

“Promise me that no one will ever know about her. Not him… not my brother.”

Another scream tears from her throat. The baby’s coming—fast. Too fast. I press down on her shoulder, trying to keep her still. But she’s thrashing, drenched in sweat, teeth clenched against the pain.

“I can’t keep this from him,” I whisper. “He’s the father—”

“I don’t care!” She spits through her gritted teeth. “Promise me!”

I hate this. I hate all of it. I hate that I’m the one here—the one watching her slip away, while the man who should be here doesn’t even know what’s happening.

I want to scream. How could she ask me to carry a secret that could start a war? It’s dangerous, but I know she's right. If Gus finds out, he’ll never stop until the child is dead.

Helena gasps again. Her grip falters. “Please.”

I swallow hard, my throat tight with tears. “I promise.”

The second I say it, she collapses against the mattress. I catch the baby, small and blood-slicked, as she slips into the world with a piercing cry.

“She’s beautiful,” I whisper.

Small, fragile and covered in blood, the baby takes her first breath, her tiny body trembling from the cold air.

Helena’s tears aren’t from pain this time, but something deeper. Something stronger.  “Let… let me hold her.”

“Here.” I lay the child on her chest, and for a second, everything is still. Silent. Helena presses a shaking kiss to her daughter’s forehead, tears slipping down her temples. Then, her body jerks. A wet, gasping sound escapes her lips. Her eyes flutter, unfocused.

No. Not yet.

“Helena, please—I can save you,” I say, pressing my hands to her skin, already weaving a spell.

She gazes at me with bloodshot eyes that nearly shatter every bit of my soul.

“I'm tired, Ary. Please...just make sure she’s safe.” Her lips barely move now, her voice nothing more than air. “Don’t let him find her.”

“I will. I promise,” I whisper, my voice cracking as I force myself to stay strong for her. For me.

“Mia,” Helena says, with a faint smile crossing her pale lips. “That's what I want her to be called. After my mother. Take care of my daughter, Arachne.”

With my heart breaking, I watch as her body sags and her fingers slip away from mine. And just like that, she’s gone.

My best friend is gone.

A heavy silence settles over the room, broken only by the soft cries of the baby in my arms. All I want to do is scream, sob, and curse whatever fate decided this was how it had to be. But I don’t. I can’t. Instead, I do what I swore I would.

Protect the child. And there is one sure way I know how to do that.

I press my palm to the baby’s tiny chest and whisper a spell. The air hums, thick with power as it sinks into the baby's skin, sealing her wolf, her true nature, burying it so deep that no one will ever sense what she really is.

To the world, Helena and her daughter died tonight.

And that’s exactly how it has to stay.

***

TWENTY TWO YEARS LATER.

MIA'S P.O.V

“Dammit!”

I jolt awake, breath shallow and heart racing.

It came again. That same damn dream.

I wouldn't be so angry if I could remember it but I don't—all I’m only ever left with is the same ache, same loss, but never any memory. It always seems to elude me, and I can never figure out why.

It's infuriating.

I rub my face and swing my legs over the bed. “Shake it off, Mia.”

The air feels strange this morning. Heavy. Charged. Like the calm right before a storm.

I head for the bathroom, try to push the weird tension off my shoulders, but it clings. I can’t explain it, but something in me feels… restless. Anticipating something I can’t name.

Why does it feel like something big is about to happen?

I feel like I need to move, to go somewhere, but where? And why? Why do I feel like… someone or something is waiting for me?

By the time I make it downstairs, the jittery energy buzzing through me hasn’t faded. Arachne, my mom, is already at the kitchen table, sipping her tea and eyeing me with that piercing look of hers, the one that sees too much.

“You’re grinning,” she says.

“What? I’m not—” I stop. Okay, maybe I am. “I just feel good, that’s all.”

Her gaze sharpens. “Why? What’s the occasion?”

I shrug and grab an apple from the counter. “I don’t know. It’s weird. It’s like… today is going to be important. I can feel it.”

She doesn’t react immediately. She just watches me, her fingers curling slightly around her teacup.

“Be careful today, Mia.”

I roll my eyes. “You know I always am.”

“Still.”

“Come on, Mom. You're not going to get all witchy on me are you?”

“Of course not,” she says and pours herself a cup of coffee. “You know I only practice as a hobby.”

“I know, I know. Weird hobby but then again, everyone has their own. As to why you would want to get involved with all that supernatural crap is beyond me.”

“Whatever,” she says as she sets her cup down with a soft clink. “I need you to run some errands for me. Go to the herb store and pick up a few things. Take your time getting back.”

Take my time? That’s new. Usually, she wants me home as soon as possible, no detours.

“Uh, okay? Anything specific I should look out for?”

She slides a small list across the table. “Just these.”

I glance at the paper, then tuck it into my pocket. “Got it.”

But before I make it out the door, something tugs at my memory. A name.

“Hey mom?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you… know anyone named Helena?”

The silence that follows is thick enough for me to wonder if she heard me at all. I turn to look, only to see her frozen at the sink, her back rigid and shoulders motionless.

“Mom?”

“What?” She asks, startled as she turns to face me. “Why do you ask ?”

“I don’t know. It just popped into my head. Never mind.”

She nods, a little too safe. “Alright. Be safe.”

The moment I step outside, the excitement  intensifies. The world is sharper, brighter, and the sky is a shade of blue that almost hurts my eyes. Every sound is crisp—the distant hum of traffic, birds chirping, leaves rustling in the breeze. It’s like I’m more alive than I have ever been.

I shake my head, trying to focus as I walk toward town. The market is only a few kilometers away, but the closer I get, the more I feel it. The pull. Like something is waiting for me. But I can't tell what.

As I round the corner, I slam into something solid—a wall but with more warmth. My breath leaves me in a sharp gasp as strong hands grab my arms, steadying me before I can fall, and that's when I feel it.

Electricity.

A shock explodes through my skin, like a live wire snapping to life under my flesh. I suck in a breath, eyes snapping up, and my whole world tilts.

He's tall. Built. Dark haired, with grey eyes that resemble a storm. They’re almost too clear, too intense, like he’s staring right through me. My heart hammers within my chest, and my pulse is a frantic rhythm in my ears. I should say something, anything, but my brain has gone completely blank.

His grip tightens ever so slightly, like he doesn’t want to let go. Then, just as suddenly, one word crashes through my mind like thunder; loud and possessive, like it doesn’t belong to me at all.

Mine.