For several long seconds after the creature fled, the forest held its breath.
Snow drifted quietly through the moonlight. The trees stood frozen like silent witnesses.
Elara's heart thundered inside her chest.
Across from her stood the enormous black wolf.
Not an animal.
Not really.
Those glowing gold eyes were unmistakable. They were the same eyes that had been watching her moments ago from the face of the man named Kael.
Her mind tried desperately to reject the truth.
But she had seen it.
The bones shifting.
The fur erupting from skin.
The transformation.
Her voice came out in a whisper.
"You turned into a wolf."
The creature watched her carefully.
He did not move closer. He did not bare his teeth.
Instead, the massive wolf slowly lowered his head as if trying to appear less threatening.
That somehow made the moment even stranger.
Elara swallowed hard.
Her legs trembled but she forced herself to stay standing.
"Stay where you are," she said, lifting her hands slightly.
To her shock, the wolf obeyed.
His ears twitched.
His eyes studied her in a way that felt disturbingly intelligent.
Almost human.
Something warm pulsed in her chest again. The same strange sensation she had felt earlier when she first saw Kael.
It was not fear.
It was something deeper. Something magnetic.
The wolf turned and walked several steps toward the trees. Then he paused and looked back at her as if expecting her to follow.
Elara stared at him.
"You want me to come with you?"
The wolf waited.
That strange pull tugged at her again.
Before she could decide what to do, voices broke through the forest.
"Alpha!"
Several figures emerged from the trees at incredible speed.
Men.
Tall, broad shouldered men who moved with an unnatural grace through the snow.
Elara took another step back.
The wolf growled softly.
The men immediately stopped.
One of them stepped forward. Dark hair. Sharp features. Alert eyes that scanned Elara with cautious curiosity.
"Well," he said quietly, "this is new."
The wolf moved toward the trees again.
Then something impossible happened.
Right in front of Elara's eyes, the creature began to change.
The massive body twisted.
Fur disappeared.
Bones shifted with a sickening crack.
Within seconds the wolf was gone.
Kael stood in its place.
Elara gasped and stumbled backward.
"That is not possible."
One of the men tossed Kael a coat, which he pulled on quickly.
His glowing eyes softened slightly as he looked at her.
For a moment no one spoke.
Elara's shock turned into anger.
"You turned into a wolf."
Kael remained silent.
"You actually turned into a wolf," she repeated louder.
The dark haired man rubbed his forehead.
"Alpha, we should probably move this discussion somewhere less visible."
Elara snapped her attention toward him.
"Alpha?"
The man gave her a slightly awkward smile.
"Yeah. About that."
She folded her arms.
"No one is going anywhere until someone explains what is happening."
The group exchanged glances.
Kael finally spoke.
"Humans are not supposed to know about us."
Elara frowned.
"About what exactly?"
Kael looked directly into her eyes.
"Werewolves."
Silence fell over the clearing.
Elara waited for someone to laugh.
No one did.
Her mouth opened slightly.
"You are serious."
"Yes."
She let out a breath that sounded almost like a laugh.
"That is ridiculous."
Kael did not react.
Instead his eyes flashed gold again.
For a brief moment his teeth sharpened into unmistakable fangs.
Elara's laughter died instantly.
"Oh."
Reality crashed over her like icy water.
The creature that attacked.
Kael transforming.
The glowing eyes.
Her voice became quiet.
"You are telling me all of you are werewolves."
The dark haired man raised a finger.
"Technically wolf shifters."
Elara stared at him.
"That is the part you want to correct?"
He shrugged.
"It matters to us."
She looked back at Kael.
"If you are werewolves, then what was that thing that attacked us?"
Kael's expression darkened.
"A Lycan."
She sensed the tension in the group immediately.
"And that is worse, right?"
The man nodded.
"Much worse."
Kael stepped closer to her.
"That creature should not exist anymore."
Elara hugged her arms around herself.
"But it said my name."
The words changed everything.
The men exchanged uneasy glances.
"You are sure?" the dark haired man asked.
"I am sure. It looked right at me and said Elara."
Kael's wolf stirred inside him.
That detail changed the entire situation.
"How long have you lived in Snow Hollow?" he asked.
"Six months."
"And before that?"
Elara hesitated.
"I moved around a lot."
"Why?"
"My parents died when I was young."
Her voice softened.
"I grew up in foster care."
Kael studied her carefully.
"Do you know anything about your real family?"
"No."
She frowned.
"Why are you asking me that?"
Before he could answer, a distant howl echoed through the forest.
Kael's head snapped toward the sound.
Another howl followed.
Then another.
Rowan's expression hardened.
"That is not one of ours."
Kael's wolf growled deep in his chest.
The Lycan was not alone.
Something was gathering in the forest.
Kael turned back to Elara.
"You cannot stay in town tonight."
Her eyes widened.
"What do you mean I cannot stay in town? My house is there."
"The creature knew your name."
"And?"
"And it came here looking for you."
Elara's stomach tightened.
The idea settled slowly into her mind.
"You think that monster is hunting me."
"I know it is."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"But why?"
That was the question no one could answer.
Another strange feeling stirred in Kael's instincts.
The mate bond between them pulsed again.
But this time it felt different.
Older.
Stronger.
Almost… sacred.
Kael reached out his hand.
"You are coming with us."
Elara hesitated.
The logical part of her mind screamed that this was insane.
Werewolves.
Monsters.
None of it made sense.
But something inside her trusted him.
She slowly placed her hand in his.
The moment their skin touched, the world exploded with light.
Silver energy burst between them.
The ground trembled.
The wind howled through the trees.
Kael jerked back.
Elara stumbled away in shock.
Rowan stared at them both.
"What was that?"
Kael's heart pounded.
He had seen something like that only once before.
In ancient pack records.
In stories passed down from the first Alphas.
Rowan's voice lowered slowly.
"Alpha… that was not just a mate bond."
Elara looked between them, confused.
"What are you talking about?"
Rowan hesitated before answering.
"According to old legends, when the Moon Goddess marks two souls with that kind of light…"
He looked at Kael.
"…it means one of them carries royal blood."
Elara blinked.
"That is impossible."
Kael was not so sure.
Because in the moment the silver light touched his skin, he felt something inside Elara awaken.
Something ancient.
Something powerful.
Something that had been sleeping for a very long time.
And somewhere deep in the forest, a pair of glowing eyes opened in the darkness.
A voice whispered into the night.
"She has finally been found."
The real hunt for Elara had just begun.