Blood on The Roots

Selene

The trees held their breath.

Every leaf. Every branch. Every wild, watching thing around us had gone still—as if the forest itself sensed what was coming.

The air was thicker now. Heavier. Laced with a primal charge that made my wolf restless beneath my skin. She wanted out. She wanted blood.

And for the first time… I didn’t want to stop her.

Killian stood beside me like a storm waiting to break. His body tense. His jaw set. That wild golden glow was already burning in his eyes, and I could tell—he was holding back for my sake.

He didn’t want to take this moment from me. He wanted me to choose it.

I tilted my head toward the trees. "They’re circling."

He nodded once. "Testing the perimeter. Damon always sends scouts first. Cowards before claws."

A low growl rumbled from my chest. It surprised me—not because it was there, but because it sounded like it belonged.

"Let them come," I whispered.

Killian’s lips twitched. Almost a smile. Almost. "Good."

The first one stepped into the clearing without a sound. He was lean and tall, dressed in Silverclaw black, with a red stripe across his shoulder that marked him as one of Damon’s personal enforcers. His wolf hovered behind his eyes, barely leashed.

Another followed. Then a third. All of them with that same smirk—like they already knew how this would go.

"Selene." The lead wolf’s voice was smooth. Too smooth. "Didn’t expect to find you alive, much less still in one piece. You’ve always been stubborn, but running into the Hollowwilds? That’s not brave. That’s suicidal."

I stepped forward. Not too far. Just enough.

"I’m sorry, did you come out here to gloat, or did Damon finally send you to do what he didn’t have the balls to finish himself?"

The smirk faded just a little. His nostrils flared. "Watch your mouth, girl. You’re still bound by pack law."

"Am I?" I took another step, my voice low and even. "He rejected me. In front of the whole pack. Stripped me of title. Left me to die. You think I still answer to your rules?"

"You always will."

"No."

That single word cracked through the clearing like a thunderclap. My wolf surged beneath my skin, begging to be let loose.

Killian didn’t move. He didn’t need to. His presence alone was enough to make the air vibrate. But he was watching me—closely. Carefully. As if this was more than a fight. As if this was a test only I could pass.

And gods help me, I wanted to pass it.

"You gonna shift, sweetheart?" the second enforcer sneered. "Or are you gonna stand there playing pretend while we drag your ass back to Damon like a disobedient mutt?"

I smiled. Then I dropped to my knees and let the shift tear through me.

It wasn’t graceful. It wasn’t clean. It was raw. Brutal. My bones cracked. My skin stretched. And for a moment, I felt like I might lose myself in the wild pulse of it.

But then…

I rose.

And I was not the same wolf they remembered.

Gone was the sleek, submissive silver form they’d seen at the Blood Moon Ceremony. The one bred to stand beside an Alpha. The one groomed for show.

This wolf was taller. Sharper. Darker. My fur had taken on a streaked obsidian sheen, and my eyes—gods, I could feel the heat behind them—burned bright gold, just like Killian’s.

The enforcers stepped back. Not much. But enough.

And that was all I needed.

I lunged.

The first one didn’t even have time to scream before my teeth sank into his side. I didn’t aim to kill—not yet. But I made sure he’d remember me. Every inch of his flesh that tore beneath my claws would carry my scent. My rage.

The second tried to flank me. Killian moved then—fast and silent, like a shadow given form. His shift was almost lazy, like he didn’t even need to try. One swipe of his massive black paw and the second enforcer hit the dirt, wheezing blood.

The third one turned to run.

I chased him down.

When I finally pinned him beneath me, he looked up with wide, panicked eyes. "You’re—You’re not—"

I shifted back just enough to speak. My voice was hoarse. Wild. "Not the same girl you left behind?"

He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to.

"Good."

I knocked him unconscious. Not out of mercy. I wanted him alive—to carry a message back to Damon.

Let him know I’m not broken.

I’m not lost.

I’m reborn.

Killian came to stand beside me as I rose, blood steaming on both our bodies. For a long moment, we didn’t say anything.

Then he whispered, "You didn’t hesitate."

"I was tired of being afraid."

He nodded slowly. "And now?"

"Now I want more."

That made him grin—sharp and proud. "Then you’ll get it. But they won’t stop coming, Selene. Damon knows you're alive now. That you're changing. He won’t risk you turning others against him. He’ll come himself next time."

"Let him."

Killian stepped closer, brushed a knuckle down the side of my cheek. "You’re glowing."

"I just tore through three elite wolves. I feel like I could take on the world."

"You will."

He leaned in then, close enough that our skin almost touched, but he didn’t kiss me. Not yet. He was giving me space. Control.

But the heat between us buzzed like lightning.

I could still taste blood. Still feel the pulse of my wolf in my veins.

And all I could think was:

This is just the beginning.