Chapter 2: The Dawn Before the Fall

She woke to sunlight.

It streamed through the trees, golden and warm, and a bird was singing somewhere nearby—some foolish, happy creature that had no idea what monsters lurked in the shadows of the world.

Seraphina opened her eyes and immediately vomited.

The poison was still in her system, or the memory of it was, and she heaved up nothing but bile, her body convulsing on the soft bed of moss where she lay. Her head pounded. Every joint ached. And in her chest, her wolf howled—a confused, terrified sound that echoed through their bond.

Where are we? her wolf asked. What happened? We were dying. We were—

And then the memories came.

The truth flooded through Seraphina like a tide, and she screamed.

She screamed until her voice went raw, until the birds fell silent and the forest held its breath. She screamed out all the grief and rage and pain of the life she had lived, the death she had died, the betrayal that had shattered her soul.

When she finally stopped, she was panting, her body shaking, tears streaming down her face.

And then she saw the date.

Not a calendar—there were no calendars in the wilderness—but she knew. The position of the sun through the trees, the scent of the wildflowers blooming nearby, the sound of the river in the distance. She had walked this path a thousand times. She had lived this dawn a thousand times in her memories.

It was the day after the hunt.

The hunt where she had killed the rogue wolf that had been terrorizing the border villages. The hunt where she had proven herself the finest tracker in the pack, where she had shown her worth and her power. The hunt where she had first caught his eye.

His eye. Kaelen. The handsome son of the Shadow Creek beta, who had followed her through the forest, who had watched her take down the rogue with a single, clean strike, who had looked at her with such admiration in his golden eyes that her heart had skipped a beat.

He would come for her today.

He would approach her with a smile and a compliment, and she would fall for him. She would fall so hard and so fast that she would never see the truth of him until it was far too late.

"Not this time," she said, her voice a hoarse whisper. "Never again."

She pushed herself to her feet, testing her balance. Her body was young again—eighteen, full of strength and vitality, all her scars gone, her calluses smooth. Her wolf was wild and strong, unburdened by pregnancy, untainted by silver poison.

She remembered her child. Her little wolf, who had been so perfect, so beautiful, and so cruelly taken from her. She remembered the cold silence that had followed his death, how Kaelen had held her and wept with her and comforted her, all while knowing he had caused it. Knowing he had ended his own son's life because it had proven his secret.

I will find a way to save him, she promised herself. I will go back. I will stop this before it begins. I will—

"Seraphina?"

The voice made her freeze.

She knew it. Oh, how she knew it. She had heard it in her dreams for ten years. She had heard it whispering sweet promises in the dark. She had heard it laughing with her, crying with her, loving her.

And she had heard it cold and flat as he explained how he had killed their son.

She turned slowly, every muscle in her body tensed for attack.

He was standing thirty feet away, his dark hair wind-tousled, his golden eyes warm with admiration. He was still wearing his hunting leathers, and there was a fresh scratch on his cheek—a reminder of the hunt, of the battle that had brought them together.

He looks so young, she thought. He looks innocent. He looks exactly like the man I fell in love with.

"Are you alright?" He took a step toward her, his expression shifting to concern. "I heard you screaming. I was tracking nearby and—"

"You were tracking me," she said flatly. "You followed me."

His eyes widened, just slightly. A flicker of something—panic? Guilt?—crossed his face before the easy smile returned. "I was worried about you. After the hunt, you just... disappeared. And I wanted to thank you. For saving my life."

"You saved your own life," she said. "I was just the one who finished him off."

Don't smile at him. Don't let him see anything. Don't fall for it again.

"Still." He moved closer, and her wolf stirred with a confusing mix of emotions. Attraction. Wariness. The deep, primal recognition of a potential mate. Her body remembered him. Her soul remembered him. And every cell in her being screamed at her to run. "I've never seen anyone fight like that. You were magnificent."

Magnificent. The word he had used that very first day. The word that had made her heart flutter, that had made her think, Maybe. Maybe he's the one.

She forced herself to meet his gaze. His golden eyes were warm, soft, full of admiration. They were the eyes of a man who was about to fall in love with her.

They were the eyes of a monster who had already killed her.

"I need to go," she said abruptly. "I have to get back to my pack."

"Your pack?" He looked confused. "But your pack is the Shadow Creek. You are Shadow Creek. You—"

"I'm not yours, Kaelen Draven. And I never will be."

She saw it then—the crack in his mask. Just a split second of cold fury, of barely contained rage, before the warmth flooded back in. But she had seen it. She had seen the monster behind the mask, and this time, she knew exactly what he was.

"I'm sorry," he said, and his voice was soft, wounded. "Have I done something to offend you? I just wanted to—"

"I know what you want." She stepped back, putting more distance between them. "And you're not going to get it. Not from me. Not ever."

He opened his mouth to respond, but she didn't wait. She turned and ran, her wolf surging beneath her skin, propelling her through the forest at speeds that should have been impossible. She ran until the trees blurred past her. She ran until her lungs burned and her legs screamed for mercy. She ran until she was miles away from him, miles away from the place where her life had ended and begun again.

And then she collapsed against a tree, gasping for breath, and let the tears come.

They weren't tears of sadness, not exactly. They were tears of rage. Rage at herself, for being so blind. Rage at Kaelen, for being so cruel. Rage at the world, for allowing such evil to exist in a form so beautiful.

I was so young, she thought. I was so stupid. I gave him everything, and he took it all. He took my heart, my future, my pack, my child. He took everything.

Not this time.

She pushed herself upright, wiping her face with the back of her hand. She had to think. She had to plan. She couldn't just run away from him forever. He would find her. He would charm her. He would worm his way into her heart all over again.

Unless she stopped him.

The Moon Goddess said I had to choose differently. But how? How do you stop a man who has already killed you once?

She didn't have an answer. Not yet.

But she knew one thing for certain. She was not going to let Kaelen Draven destroy her again. She was not going to let him take her pack. She was not going to let him kill her child.

She was going to fight, this time.