Chapter three

EMILIE

I don't know how long I ran through those woods. Could have been an hour, could have been five minutes. Time felt broken, like my brain couldn't process anything except run and don't stop and don't look back.

My lungs burned, My legs screamed.. Branches tore at my clothes and skin. But I kept going because the alternative was dying, and Mrs. Hawthorne hadn't sacrificed herself just so I could give up in the forest.

The rain had stopped at some point, but I was soaked through. My too-big boots kept trying to come off. My pajama pants were shredded. I was pretty sure I was bleeding from a dozen different cuts.

I finally stopped when I physically couldn't run anymore, collapsing against a tree and gasping for air.

That's when I heard it.

Someone groaning in pain nearby.

Every instinct I had screamed at me to stay hidden, stay quiet, keep moving. But something else something stronger pulled me toward that sound.

I crept through the underbrush and froze.

A guy about my age was leaning against a tree, one hand pressed to his side. Even in the dim pre-dawn light, I could see the blood. So much blood, soaking through his shirt, dripping onto the ground.

"Oh my god," I breathed.

His head snapped up, and I found myself staring into brown eyes that flickered gold for just a second. "Who's there?"

"You're hurt." I moved closer without thinking. "You're bleeding everywhere."

"Stay back." He raised a knife with a shaking hand.."This is pack territory. You're trespassing."

"I don't care about territory! You're going to bleed to death!" I took another step closer. "Please, let me help."

"You're human." He said it like an accusation. "Humans can't see" He swayed, face going pale. "How did you get past the wards?"

"I don't know what wards are I just ran." The words tumbled out. "Shadows killed my guardian and chased me through the forest and she told me to find Silvercrest territory, to find the marked son, and.."

"The marked son?" He lowered the knife slightly. "What did she say exactly?"

"That he'd have a crescent moon birthmark on his arm. That he could help me. That" I gestured helplessly. "Look, can we have this conversation after we stop you from dying?"

"I'm not going to" He stumbled, and I caught him before he could fall.

The second my skin touched his, everything changed.

Heat flooded through me,not painful the opposite. It felt like sunlight and safety and home all rolled into one sensation. and I felt it that power that had exploded out of me earlier, but controlled now, flowing from me into him.

He gasped.. I felt the wound under my hand knitting itself back together, flesh and muscle repairing in seconds.

When I pulled away, we both stared at each other in shock.

"What did you just do?" he whispered.

"I don't know.." I looked at my hands like they belonged to someone else. "I didn't mean to

It just happened."

He lifted his blood soaked shirt, smooth skin. No wound, Not even a scar.

"That's impossible…that wound was fatal. Dark magic that should have killed me." He grabbed my wrist, studying me. "What are you?"

"I don't know!" Tears were threatening again. "I don't know what I am or what's happening or why shadows killed the only person who ever loved me. I just know I'm supposed to find someone called the marked son and"

"I'm Kai." He pulled up his sleeve, showing me his left forearm.

There, clear as day, was a crescent moon birthmark.

Relief hit me so hard I almost collapsed. "Thank God.. thank god. She said you could help. She said" My voice broke.."She died telling me to find you."

His expression softened. "Who died?"

"Mrs. Hawthorne, my guardian. These shadow creatures came to our house and killed her right in front of me and I couldn't save her and.."

"Shadow creatures are hunting you?" His whole demeanor changed, became more alert. "And you healed a dark magic wound with a touch." He studied me like he was solving a puzzle. "You need to come with me to the pack palace. My father needs to meet you."

"Your father?"

"The Alpha, he rules Silvercrest." Kai steadied me when I swayed. "You'll be safe there. And maybe we can figure out what you are and why shadows want you."

I didn't have any other options; Didn't have anywhere else to go.

"Okay," I whispered. "Okay."

As he led me deeper into the forest, his hand steady on my back, I felt it. That same warmth from when I'd healed him. Like recognition, like coming home.

I didn't know it then, but finding Kai was about to change everything.