CHAPTER 3 : " A Mysterious Stranger "

The night he appeared, the moon hid behind a shroud of clouds, as if even the heavens didn’t dare watch what came crawling out of the shadows.

Selene stood at the edge of the Eastern River, her fingers curled tight around a blade she’d strapped beneath her cloak. She had felt it again.That pull, like a thread in her chest tightening, an instinct beyond instinct. Something was coming.

Or someone.

Water lapped softly at the shore, but the forest was still. Too still.

Then, she heard it. A twig snapping. Purposeful. Heavy.

She spun on her heel just in time to see him step out from the trees.

He moved like a beast that knew how to be a man.

Tall. Broad. Soaked from the waist down. His shirt clung to his body, revealing a trail of battle-scarred muscle and a slow, predatory grace that sent her wolf snarling to the surface.

But what caught her attention, what truly froze her, were his eyes.

Silver. Pale and electric. Unlike any wolf she’d ever seen. Not feral, not wild. Controlled chaos. Beautiful ruin.

"You’re trespassing," Selene said, voice low and sharp, the Alpha tone bleeding through.

The man tilted his head, watching her like he could see straight through her skin. “So are you.”

Her grip on the dagger tightened. “You’re on Bloodfang land. You’ll have five seconds to explain yourself before I put a blade through your throat.”

He stepped forward, unafraid. “My name is Ryker. I came for you.”

Selene didn’t flinch, but her pulse kicked hard.

He stopped ten feet from her, close enough for his scent to hit her.

And stars, it hit like smoke and spice and something primal....wolf, but more. Older.

She narrowed her eyes. “You should’ve stayed on the other side of the river, Ryker.”

“I crossed it because you’re not safe,” he said quietly.

She blinked. “From what?”

“From yourself.”

....The Stranger's Warning

Ryker stood like a storm ready to break. Calm, but humming with violence.

Selene circled him slowly, blade drawn. “You’re not just a rogue. Who sent you?”

“No one,” he said. “I left the rogues three moons ago. And if I’m right, the power waking inside you? It’s not just Moonborn.”

Her breath hitched, but she kept her posture firm. “How do you know about the Moonborn?”

He finally smiled, and it wasn’t kind. “Because my mother was one. She died trying to contain the power. It tore her apart.”

That cut through her like cold steel.

“You’re lying,” she said, but her voice wavered.

“No,” Ryker replied. “You felt it, didn’t you? The surges. The way your blood sings under the moonlight. Your wolf’s getting stronger, faster, harder to control.”

He took a step closer.

Selene raised her blade to his chest. “Don’t.”

He looked down at it and said, “If you were going to kill me, you’d have done it already.”

Her jaw clenched.

He wasn’t wrong.

There was something about him, something familiar in a way that made her skin itch and her wolf stir. Not like the bond. No. This was older. Darker.

“I don’t trust you,” she said.

“I don’t need your trust,” he replied. “Just a chance to show you what’s coming.”

Back at the Estate

Selene kept Ryker bound in silver-dipped cuffs, led by two warriors through the gates of Bloodfang’s central estate. Eyes followed her, whispering, watching. Some with fear, others with curiosity.

Thorne met her at the entrance, expression tight.

“You bring rogues to the pack now?” he snapped. “Without the council’s approval?”

“He knew I was Moonborn, Thorne,” Selene hissed. “Before I told him anything.”

“That doesn’t mean he isn’t lying.”

“It also doesn’t mean he is.”

Thorne glanced at Ryker, who looked amused despite the shackles.

“We should question him,” Thorne muttered.

Selene turned her eyes on him, sharp as daggers. “I will question him.”

She didn’t miss the twitch in Thorne’s jaw. But he nodded.

Selene dragged Ryker down into the old stone cell beneath the Alpha Hall. He didn’t struggle. Didn’t flinch when the heavy iron door slammed shut.

She tossed him into a chair and crossed her arms.

“You said your mother was Moonborn.”

“Yes.”

“Prove it.”

He leaned forward, silver eyes locked on hers. “Moonborn wolves don’t just carry power. They remember things they were never taught. Feel things before they happen. Dreams that feel like memories. Sound familiar?”

Selene didn’t respond. But her silence was enough.

“Your ancestors were part of the First Circle,” Ryker said. “The original twelve that ruled when the Moon Goddess first touched our kind. But they were betrayed. Cursed. Their blood scattered through the centuries.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Because I’ve been chasing the truth for years. You’re the first true Moonborn to survive the Awakening in over a century.”

Selene stepped forward, her voice lower. “Why come to me?”

“Because if you don’t master what’s inside you, it’ll consume you. And when it does, it won’t just kill you, it’ll kill everyone around you.”

She hesitated. Her fingers trembled slightly.

“I don’t need you to save me,” she said.

“I’m not here to save you,” Ryker replied. “I’m here to stop you, I have to.”

The Unexpected Visit

That night, as Selene stood in her chamber overlooking the courtyard, someone knocked.

It wasn’t a servant. The knock was too soft.

She opened the door to find a woman in a deep indigo cloak. She smelled of herbs and earth.

“A witch?” Selene asked, surprised.

The woman bowed. “I am Lysaria. Your power called to me.”

“I didn’t summon anyone.”

“Moonborn magic doesn’t require summoning, Luna,” the witch said softly. “It simply is. Like the moonlight. Like breath.”

Selene stepped aside and let her in.

Lysaria placed a pouch of glowing dust on the table. “You are awakening, but not fully. There’s a block in your spirit. A scar that keeps your power dormant.”

Selene’s eyes narrowed. “What scar?”

“Rejection,” the witch said simply. “Your fated mate’s rejection severed the spiritual anchor that would’ve steadied your transformation.”

Selene’s breath caught. She had suspected it, but hearing it spoken aloud felt like a blade to the chest.

“I can help you unlock the rest,” Lysaria said. “But you must face what you fear most. Alone.”

“What’s the price?”

The witch’s eyes flashed. “There’s always a price. But I’ll take it later.”

Selene didn’t trust it. But she was tired of being in the dark.

“Fine,” she said. “Let’s begin.”

The Trial of Shadows

That night, Selene lay in a ritual circle as Lysaria chanted, flames flickering around her. She was pulled into her mind....into a vision.

She stood on the battlefield of her memories.

Cassian stood before her, the moment he rejected her echoing through the air. His cruel words. His cold stare. Her heart shattering.

“No one will ever want a Luna like you,” he had said.

Her knees had buckled. She had begged.

In the vision, she didn’t fall.

This time, she stood tall. She met his rejection with fire. She turned her back and walked away, her body glowing with silver light.

The rejection didn’t break her. It forged her.

When she opened her eyes, her veins shimmered. Power thrummed through her fingers like wildfire.

She could feel the world now.

Her power had fully awakened.

But something else had changed.

A mark burned into her back; circular, ancient, pulsing. The mark of the Moonborn Queen.

Selene returned to Ryker’s cell, her body buzzing with power.

He looked up and stilled.

“It’s done, isn’t it?” he whispered.

She nodded.

“You felt it too?” she asked.

“Yes. Like the moon’s heartbeat synced with yours.”

Silence stretched between them.

Then Ryker stood, stepping closer.

“Now that your power’s unlocked, they’ll come for you.”

“Who?”

He looked her dead in the eye.

“The Dark Council. They were the ones who cursed your bloodline. And they know the Moonborn has returned.”

Selene’s heart raced.

“How long do I have?”

Ryker’s jaw tensed. “Days. Maybe hours. They’ll send a harbinger first. One of their pets.”

“What kind of pet?”

A gust of wind slammed the iron doors above them.

Screams erupted from the courtyard.

Ryker’s eyes darkened. “That kind.”