The forest was too quiet.
Not peaceful—quiet.
The kind of silence that made twenty-four-year-old Elena Vale slow her steps and glance over her shoulder for the third time.
Moonlight spilled between the ancient trees, turning the narrow path silver. Somewhere far behind her, an owl called once and then went silent.
Elena tightened her coat around herself.
She should have stayed home.
Everyone in Blackwood knew the old warnings.
Never enter the forest after midnight.
Never follow a wolf.
And most importantly—
If you hear a howl answering your own heartbeat, run.
Elena had always thought those stories were nonsense.
Until tonight.
A low growl rolled through the trees.
She stopped.
Her breath caught.
Another growl followed, closer this time.
“Elena…”
The voice was so faint that she almost thought the wind had spoken her name.
She turned.
Nothing.
Only trees.
Only darkness.
Then two golden eyes appeared between the branches.
Elena froze.
A massive black wolf stepped into the moonlight.
It was unlike any wolf she had ever seen. Its shoulders were nearly level with her chest, its black fur shining beneath the full moon. A thin silver mark curved along its forehead like a crescent.
Fear told her to run.
Something deeper told her to stay.
The wolf stared directly into her eyes.
And suddenly, Elena felt a strange warmth spread through her chest.
Her heartbeat became painfully fast.
“What are you?” she whispered.
The wolf moved closer.
One step.
Then another.
Elena backed away until her shoulders touched a tree.
The wolf stopped only a few feet from her.
Its golden eyes softened.
Then something impossible happened.
A voice echoed inside her mind.
Mate.
Elena's eyes widened.
“No…”
The wolf lowered its head.
Mine.
The word wasn't spoken aloud, yet she heard it perfectly.
Before Elena could move, the wolf suddenly turned toward the deeper forest.
A distant howl shattered the silence.
The black wolf's entire body stiffened.
Its ears lifted.
Another howl answered from somewhere beyond the hills.
This one sounded angry.
The wolf looked back at Elena.
For the first time, she saw something almost human in its eyes.
Fear.
Not fear for itself.
Fear for her.
The wolf stepped forward and nudged her hand with its enormous head.
Elena's fingers trembled as they touched its fur.
Warm.
Real.
And strangely familiar.
A sharp pain suddenly struck her wrist.
She gasped and pulled her hand away.
A glowing crescent-shaped mark appeared beneath her skin.
The wolf growled.
Elena stared at the mark in disbelief.
“What is happening to me?”
The forest answered with another howl.
Much closer.
The black wolf moved instantly.
It stepped between Elena and the darkness.
Three shadows emerged between the trees.
Wolves.
Their eyes were red.
Elena's blood ran cold.
The black wolf snarled.
The three creatures stopped.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then the largest red-eyed wolf spoke.
“She's human.”
Its voice sounded almost like a man's.
The black wolf's lips curled back.
A terrifying growl shook the forest.
The red-eyed wolf laughed.
“So it's true.”
Elena stared at them, unable to breathe.
“What is true?”
No one answered.
The black wolf suddenly turned toward her.
Its golden eyes locked onto hers.
And then, before her very eyes, its body began to change.
Bones shifted.
Fur disappeared.
The enormous wolf rose onto two legs.
Elena stumbled backward.
The creature standing before her was no longer a wolf.
He was a man.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Dark-haired.
His skin was marked with faint silver scars, and his golden eyes were exactly the same as the wolf's.
He took one step toward her.
Elena's breath caught.
“Who are you?”
The man's expression was cold, but something fierce burned beneath it.
“Alexander Blackwood.”
The name struck her strangely.
Everyone in town knew the Blackwood family.
The richest family in the region.
The family nobody ever spoke about after dark.
Alexander looked at the glowing mark on Elena's wrist.
Then he looked back into her eyes.
His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper.
“And you…”
He stepped closer.
“…are the mate I've spent ten years trying to find.”
Elena shook her head.
“This isn't possible.”
Alexander's jaw tightened.
“I wish it wasn't.”
Behind him, the red-eyed wolves began moving again.
Alexander's expression changed instantly.
“Run.”
Elena stared at him.
“What?”
“Run, Elena.”
The way he said her name made her heart stop.
She had never told him her name.
Alexander turned toward the approaching wolves.
His eyes flashed gold.
“Because if they reach you…”
His voice became a growl.
“…there won't be anything left for me to protect.”
Elena took one terrified step backward.
Then another.
A howl exploded through the forest.
And the mark on her wrist began to burn.
Alexander looked back at her.
“Too late.”
The first wolf lunged.
And the night erupted into chaos.
