Chapter 2 A Stranger's Mercy

Kieran had seen many things during his night shifts at the emergency clinic drug overdoses, street fights, even near death traumas. But never had he found a half conscious woman wrapped in forest leaves, barefoot, blood streaked, and looking like she belonged to another world. She didn't speak more than a word, her eyes wild with pain and exhaustion. Still, something in her gaze silenced every question he wanted to ask. He offered her a coat, led her to his car, and drove without knowing where she came from or why she trembled as if the night itself was chasing her.

At his small, dimly lit apartment, he wrapped her hand in gauze and set out a bowl of soup, pretending not to notice the way her nose twitched before she ate like she was sniffing for poison or danger. She barely spoke, only murmuring her name: "Selara." He found it beautiful, yet strangely ancient. She thanked him without words, only nods and lingering stares. And when she slept on his couch that night, curled like a hunted animal, Kieran stayed awake, wondering what kind of war she had escaped from... and why he already felt the urge to protect her.

Meanwhile, across the city, Jules Moreno paced the halls of The Order of Black Fire, her boots echoing against stone tiles. She had heard rumors of activity in the Erevelyn border signs that something crossed over from the cursed woods. Something powerful. She didn't believe in fairy tales or "creatures of the moon" as the old texts described them. But her instincts, sharp and deadly from years of hunting the supernatural, screamed otherwise. A local man had reported a strange woman found near the forest's edge. That was enough for Jules to start digging and once she started, she never stopped.

Back at Kieran's apartment, Selara awoke with a jolt the sound of howling in her dream still fresh in her ears. She sat up, heart racing, the memory of Alpha Kael's cold stare tightening her chest. The human world was quieter, but it was no safer. Her presence here could disrupt the fragile balance between realms. She was a Luna without a pack, a warrior without magic, and now... a woman caught between two lives. But something about Kieran his gentle hands, his quiet warmth stirred something inside her she hadn't felt in years. Safety. Or maybe, something far more dangerous: hope.