Chapter 1

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The Beast in the Woods

The first scream didn’t sound human.

Liana froze mid-step, her breath catching as the echo sliced through the pine-drenched night. She was already deep into the forest trail—a shortcut she’d taken a hundred times after her shifts at Pete’s Diner—but tonight felt... wrong. The air was too still. The moon, too full.

She pulled her hoodie tighter and cursed under her breath. “Mind your business, Liana,” she muttered. “Get home. Don’t be the dumb girl in the horror movie.”

But then she heard it again.

A second scream. Definitely human this time. Followed by snarling—wet, animalistic, and close.

She should’ve turned around. She almost did.

But something pulled her forward. Not bravery. Not stupidity. Something else. A strange pull in her chest, like a magnet tugging her through the trees.

She stepped off the trail.

Branches slapped her face. Her boots slipped on damp leaves. The screaming had stopped—but the growls hadn’t. They were deeper now. Closer. And then she saw it.

In a clearing bathed in moonlight, two shapes tore into each other like demons. One massive, black-furred creature pinned a smaller brown one to the ground. Claws flashed. Blood sprayed. Bones cracked.

Liana gasped—and the black beast turned.

Its eyes locked on hers.

Not yellow. Not red. But silver—so cold and intelligent it made her legs go weak. The beast—a wolf, her mind finally registered—released the dying animal and rose to its full, monstrous height.

Seven feet. Muscles rippling beneath dark fur. Fangs bared. A walking nightmare.

Her instincts screamed: RUN.

She turned.

Too late.

A blur of motion—then a heavy weight crashed into her, knocking the breath from her lungs. She hit the forest floor hard. Something warm and wet hit her cheek. Blood? Drool?

“Please—” she rasped, kicking. “Please don’t—!”

The beast loomed over her, chest heaving, mouth open—and then—

It stopped.

Just... stopped.

For several heartbeats, it stared at her. As if confused. As if listening.

Then it sniffed.

Once.

Twice.

A low, guttural sound rumbled from its throat—not a growl this time. Something darker. Hungrier. The silver eyes flared, and then—

The beast shrank.

Bones cracked. Fur retracted. Limbs twisted. In seconds, what stood before her wasn’t a monster, but a man.

And not just any man.

He was naked, covered in blood and scars, with a body carved from nightmares and sin. Broad shoulders. A sharp jaw shadowed with stubble. Eyes still glowing faintly silver.

He looked like a god sculpted for war.

“You...” he said, voice like gravel soaked in honey. “What the hell are you?”

Liana scrambled backward, heart pounding. “I—I saw—”

“You weren’t supposed to,” he snapped. His eyes narrowed. “What’s your name?”

She didn’t answer.

He crouched in front of her, every movement slow, lethal. “You’re trembling,” he murmured, brushing his thumb across her pulse. “Scared of me?”

Liana slapped his hand away. “Stay the hell back!”

His mouth twitched. Not quite a smile—more like a challenge accepted.

Then, from behind them: howls. Multiple. Close.

The man—no, the Alpha—snapped his head toward the sound, nostrils flaring.

“They found us,” he muttered.

“Who? Who’s—”

He moved fast. Too fast. One moment she was crouching in the dirt. The next, she was in his arms—one arm under her knees, the other around her back—as he broke into a sprint through the woods.

“Put me down!” she yelled, beating her fists against his chest. “Let me go!”

“No.”

“I don’t even know you!”

He looked down at her, eyes burning silver again.

“I’m Kael Damaris. Alpha of the Bloodfang Pack. And you just stepped into my world, little girl.”

A howl rang out, closer now. The woods vibrated with energy she couldn’t name.

“You should’ve stayed on the path,” Kael growled. “But it’s too late now.”

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