Chapter 1 The Scent of Secrets

The forest didn't welcome her.

It pressed in on all sides like a living thing, whispering warnings through rustling leaves and snapping twigs beneath her boots. The air was thick with fog and moonlight, and the silence wasn't silence at all-it was listening.

Aria Veyra tightened the cloak around her shoulders as she knelt near a patch of moonshade petals, their pale glow like spilled starlight on the forest floor. They only bloomed once a moon cycle, and always in forbidden places.

She cursed under her breath. Shadow Moon territory.

Her Alpha had warned her, "No one crosses the border, not even to die." But this wasn't about her. It was about saving Lyla, the Alpha's mate, who lay in their healing tent drowning in her own fever.

She worked fast, gloved fingers trembling as they clipped the stems carefully. The petals were delicate, and the roots soaked in ancient magic. A single mistake and they'd lose their potency.

Suddenly-

A branch snapped.

Then another.

Aria stilled.

Every nerve in her body tightened like a bowstring. She was being watched. She rose slowly, scanning the trees, heart hammering in her ears. She couldn't scent anyone. The damp air masked it.

Then... he stepped into the moonlight.

A tall figure, broad shoulders wrapped in shadow, his bare chest marked by an old scar slashing diagonally across his torso.

Alpha Kael Draven.

The most feared Alpha in the valley.

Every story Aria had ever heard about him raced through her mind-his brutality in war, the way he crushed rebellion with a single command, his rumored cold heart.

But none of it prepared her for the way he looked at her now.

Like she was something he'd lost.

Like he was fighting not to fall apart.

"You shouldn't be here," he said, voice deep, gravelly, raw.

Aria stepped back instinctively. "I didn't mean to trespass. I just needed-"

"You crossed my border," he cut in, walking toward her with quiet, terrifying control. "You picked my flowers. You risked my wrath."

She swallowed hard. "You'd kill a healer for gathering herbs?"

Kael's eyes glinted dangerously. "Depends. Are you only a healer?"

She didn't understand the question but her body reacted before her mind could.

A sudden, blinding heat radiated from her left wrist-her pack mark. It wasn't just warm.

It burned.

She gasped and clutched it, stumbling backward. The pain was sharp, electric-like something was being activated inside her. Her knees buckled slightly.

Kael stopped.

His gaze fell to her wrist-and his entire demeanor changed. His jaw tightened. His fists clenched. His breath hitched for just a moment.

"You..." he breathed. "That's not possible."

Aria stared at him, heart thudding so loudly it drowned out the forest. "What's happening to me?"

Kael took a step back, as if afraid to get closer. "You weren't supposed to survive."

"What?"

He turned away, running a hand through his hair, pacing like a caged animal. He was muttering to himself now-something about fate, the moon, a mistake.

Aria blinked at him. "What do you mean 'survive'? What are you talking about?"

Kael looked at her then-really looked at her-and there was no trace of the brutal Alpha left in his eyes. Only fear.

"You're my mate," he said.

The world tilted.

"No," she whispered. "That's not- That can't be. You're- You're Kael."

He nodded, slowly. "And you... are the one they told me was dead."

Before she could react, before her mind could wrap itself around the impossible, he stepped toward her-and for a moment, time slowed.

The air shifted.

Her skin buzzed.

Their eyes locked.

And in the silence between them, something ancient stirred.

Then he turned away.

"You need to leave. Now."

"What? No. You just told me-"

"If they find you here, they'll kill you. If they find out what you are, they'll kill me."

Aria hesitated. Her legs wanted to flee. Her heart wanted to stay.

But something in his voice-a strange blend of command and plea-made her move.

She took one last look at him. His back was turned. His fists were clenched. His shoulders rigid.

Then she vanished into the trees, moonshade petals clenched in her hand, blood pounding in her ears.

And Kael?

He didn't chase her.

He simply whispered to the trees, "She's alive. Moon help us all-she's alive."