Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Crimson Eyes

Rain lashed against Diana’s face as she stood frozen before the iron gates.

The crimson eyes remained fixed on her from the darkness beyond the forest, unblinking and impossibly bright. They were not the golden eyes of a Northern wolf, nor the silver eyes of a moon-blessed pack. They burned like embers buried beneath ash.

Ancient.

Predatory.

Watching.

Another growl rumbled through the storm, deeper this time, vibrating through the ground beneath her feet.

Diana’s wolf rose inside her with a violent snarl. For months it had been weak and silent, barely responding to the fading mate bond. Now it clawed against her ribs as if it recognized the creature hidden among the trees.

Danger.

Her instincts screamed at her to run.

Lightning flashed, illuminating the forest for a heartbeat.

A massive silhouette stood between the trees—far larger than any wolf she had ever seen. Black fur glistened beneath the rain, and jagged scars crossed its shoulders like old battle marks.

Then darkness swallowed it again.

Diana took an involuntary step backward.

The iron gates creaked behind her as the wind slammed against them. She glanced toward the manor. Warm light glowed faintly from the upper windows. Somewhere inside, Vanessa was sleeping peacefully, unaware that her mother stood on the edge of something terrifying.

Diana’s fingers curled against the cold metal of the gate.

Go back.

The thought came suddenly.

Forget the severance papers. Forget the humiliation. Forget Vaughn’s cold voice.

Go back before it is too late.

But another memory struck harder—Vaughn turning away from her, refusing to look at her after she signed.

Sign them and leave.

The ache in her chest sharpened.

“No,” she whispered to herself. “I’m done begging for a place where I’m no longer wanted.”

The crimson eyes disappeared.

For one dangerous second, silence fell across the forest.

Even the storm seemed to hold its breath.

Diana’s wolf whined.

Then a branch snapped behind her.

She spun around.

Nothing.

Only rain.

Only darkness.

A sudden gust carried the strange scent toward her again—wild pine, smoke, and something metallic beneath it. Blood.

Her pulse quickened.

Someone was close.

Very close.

A hand clamped over her mouth.

Diana gasped, but the sound was swallowed by thunder as she was dragged violently into the shadow beside the gatehouse. Instinct took over. She drove her elbow backward and felt it connect with a hard chest.

The stranger grunted.

“Quiet if you want to live.”

A male voice.

Low.

Rough.

Familiar.

Diana twisted free and pressed herself against the stone wall. A hooded figure stood before her, rain streaming from dark clothing. His face remained hidden beneath the shadow of the hood.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

Instead of answering, he looked toward the forest.

The crimson eyes had returned.

This time they were closer.

Diana’s breath caught.

The hooded man swore softly. “They found you faster than I expected.”

“They?” she repeated.

He turned to her sharply. “Did anyone see you leave the manor?”

“No.”

“Did Vaughn tell you to take a specific road?”

“No.”

The man cursed again, and something in his voice made her stomach tighten.

“You need to leave now.”

“Tell me what is happening.”

“You’re being hunted.”

Lightning exploded overhead.

For the first time, Diana noticed the silver crest pinned beneath his cloak—the mark of the Moon Council.

Her blood ran cold.

The Moon Council never involved itself in ordinary pack matters.

“Why would the Council send someone after me?” she whispered.

The hooded man hesitated.

Then he said the one sentence that shattered what remained of her certainty.

“Because the severance papers you signed tonight were never meant to free you.”

A howl tore through the forest.

Not a wolf howl.

Something darker.

The crimson eyes vanished, and the trees erupted.

A monstrous black wolf burst from the storm, smashing through the undergrowth with terrifying speed. Its fur was soaked with rain, its claws carved furrows into the earth, and its eyes burned crimson with unnatural light.

Diana’s wolf recoiled in horror.

“Run!” the hooded man shouted.

The creature lunged.

The Council agent stepped between them, drawing a curved silver blade. The wolf struck him with enough force to hurl him across the courtyard. He crashed against the stone fountain, blood spraying across the rain.

Diana stumbled backward.

The beast turned toward her.

Up close, she saw something impossible.

A silver brand burned into its throat—the same crescent symbol stamped onto the severance papers.

Her heart stopped.

The wolf growled, and in its distorted face she glimpsed not mindless savagery, but agony.

It had once been a pack wolf.

Someone had changed it.

The creature sprang again.

Before it could reach her, a thunderous roar split the night.

A second wolf exploded through the gates.

Massive.

Golden-eyed.

Fierce as a storm.

Vaughn.

He slammed into the black wolf midair, and the two beasts crashed across the courtyard in a tangle of claws and fangs. Stone shattered beneath their weight.

Diana stared, unable to breathe.

Vaughn had come after her.

The black wolf raked its claws across Vaughn’s shoulder, drawing blood, but Vaughn answered with a savage bite that sent the creature reeling. The Alpha’s golden eyes blazed with murderous fury.

Mine.

The word thundered through the mate bond before Diana could stop herself from hearing it.

Pain shot through her chest.

The bond was supposed to be severed.

Why could she still feel him?

The black wolf retreated toward the forest, crimson eyes fixed on Diana one last time.

Then it disappeared into the storm.

Silence followed.

Vaughn shifted back into human form, rain streaming down his bare skin. Blood ran from the wound on his shoulder, but he ignored it completely.

His gaze locked onto Diana.

For a heartbeat, all the anger between them vanished.

Only fear remained.

He strode toward her.

“Are you hurt?”

The concern in his voice struck her harder than any accusation.

Diana stepped back.

“You told me to leave.”

His expression darkened. “I didn’t know they would move tonight.”

Her breath caught.

“They?”

Vaughn looked toward the injured Council agent, who struggled to rise.

The Alpha’s jaw tightened.

“It’s already begun.”

Diana stared between them, rainwater dripping from her lashes.

“What has begun?”

Neither man answered immediately.

Then the Council agent wiped blood from his mouth and said quietly,

“The hunt for the Moonborn heir.”

Lightning flashed.

And for the first time that night, Diana understood that the end of her marriage had not been the tragedy.

It had been the signal.