Incident

“Killian… help me!” Eve screamed inside her head.

Her voice caught in her throat, drowned out by the Alpha’s heavy breathing above her. Never in her life had she imagined experiencing something this devastating. Amid the agonizing despair, fractured memories of her childhood with Killian flashed through her mind—his face, smiling and laughing freely as he pulled her into a tight embrace. They were remnants of a life that felt a universe away from the horrific reality closing in on her.

That primal fear suddenly sharpened into a desperate drive to fight back. In the pitch-black room, Eve’s fingers brushed against the smooth silhouette of a ceramic vase resting on the bedside table. Without a second thought, she gripped the porcelain with what little strength she had left and smashed it with all her might into the darkness above.

CRASH!

The ceramic shattered. The powerful blow caught the Alpha completely off guard in the heat of his rage, forcing him to stumble back several paces until his spine slammed hard against the bedroom door. The man groaned, gripping his temple as warm, thick blood began to well up and flood down his face.

The moment his grip loosened, Eve lunged. Her eyes locked onto the slightly open window. Ignoring her shredded black dress and the sheer drop from the second floor, she threw herself out into the freezing midnight air.

THUD!

Eve’s body crashed hard into the thick bushes below. An agonizing shockwave shot from her ankle straight up her spine, instantly stealing the breath from her lungs. The dense branches snagged and tore at her already ruined dress, leaving long, stinging scratches across her skin.

She whimpered, pressing down the pain. Before she could force herself upright, her gaze caught moving silhouettes through the tangled foliage. Helena’s guards were marching right toward her position.

Panic surging, Eve dragged herself forward on her hands and knees. She forced her trembling legs to bear her weight despite the excruciating agony, then propelled herself forward in a desperate, ragged limp.

“Hey… who’s there?” one of the guards shouted.

“There’s someone in the brush! Quick, after her!”

The guards immediately sprang into action, giving chase as Eve vanished into the shadow of the forest.

Driven by nothing but the raw instinct to survive, she forced her broken ankle to move. She didn't feel the sharp rocks and broken branches bruising her bare feet, nor did she care that her clothes were in tatters or that her wounds stung with every step.

“Where did she go? Fan out and find her!” The shouts were closing in.

Eve spun behind the trunk of a massive, ancient tree. She clamped her hand tightly over her mouth, suffocating her ragged breaths to suppress even the faintest sound. Submerged in the absolute blackness of the deep woods, she held her breath until the guards lost her trail and charged past her hiding spot.

I’m safe, she thought, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs.

She slid weakly down the rough bark, leaning against the massive trunk that had shielded her. Yet, common sense cut through her relief—she couldn't stay here. Helena’s men would inevitably double back once they realized the trail had gone cold.

Clutching her aching chest, Eve forced her legs back into motion. She stumbled forward through the dark, pressing deeper into an increasingly unfamiliar and suffocating thicket.

Every step was pure torture. White-hot pain radiated from her broken ankle, and her entire body throbbed from the fall. The midnight chill cut straight to her bones through the rags of her dress. Worse still, her head hammered violently, her senses reeling from the forced inhalation of an Alpha pheromone that didn't belong to her true mate.

After pushing through the dark for what felt like miles, her vision began to blur. The forest spun violently, the towering trees merging into a singular, suffocating wall of black shadow. Her remaining strength evaporated. Her legs turned to lead, and her balance slipped away entirely.

THUD!

Eve collapsed face-first onto a bed of damp, decaying leaves, her breaths shallow and ragged. A heavy numbness washed over her, swallowing the pain in her limbs.

Just as the last edges of her consciousness began to slip away, a shift in the air caught her attention. A new pheromone drifted over her. It was entirely unlike Killian's oppressive mix of heavy cedarwood and rich tobacco, which had long since ceased to be a comfort, instead leaving her feeling suffocated and small. This new scent was remarkably cool, clean, and grounding—like sandalwood drenched in fresh rainwater.

“Excuse me, miss—are you all right?” A man’s voice cut through the dark, tight with shock as his eyes took in her torn dress and blood-stained skin.

Silence clung to the stone walls of the Nightshade clan’s castle.

Eve blinked her eyes open, her vision hazy. Bandages wrapped tightly around her torso and limbs, neatly concealing her wounds, yet they did little to dull the sharp throb in her ankle and the deep bruises painting her skin.

“Where am I?” she muttered. The unfamiliar room offered no answers.

As Eve braced her weight against the mattress to force herself up, the heavy wooden door swung open. The tall, burly man who had pulled her from the dark the night before stood in the doorway.

“Don’t move,” the man commanded, his deep voice laced with sudden panic as he witnessed her reckless effort. He strode across the room in long, hurried strides. “Stay down. Your wounds haven’t even begun to knit.”

“A-ah…” Eve winced.

She pressed a palm against her temple as a violent wave of vertigo struck. The world tilted instantly, draining the remaining strength from her arms and sending her crashing back onto the pillows.

Once Eve settled, her breathing shallow, the man pulled up a wooden chair and sat by her bedside.

“I’m Asher, by the way,” he said quietly, his intense gaze anchoring her dazed, exhausted eyes. “What’s your name?”

Eve remained silent for a beat. She blinked against the heavy weight of her eyelids before whispering, “Eve… my name is Eve.”

“Eve, can you tell me what happened to you last night? How did you end up broken and bleeding deep within the Nightshade Forest?”

The question made Eve’s brow furrow. She reached into her mind, trying to grasp the events of the previous night and piece together why her entire body felt shattered. But the harder she clawed for a memory, the more a blinding headache hammered behind her eyes. A suffocating tightness gripped her chest, stealing her breath.

The color drained completely from Eve's face. She stared at Asher, panic twisting her features.

“I… I don’t know,” she whispered, her voice fracturing into violent tremors. Heavy tears of frustration welled up and spilled down her pale cheeks. She gripped the sheets, looking at him with utter terror. “I don’t remember... I don’t know why I’m here! I don’t remember a single thing about last night!”