“Selene!” My voice cuts through the night air, sharp and commanding. I reach out, but she’s already slipping between the trees. I follow her into the forest, branches catching at my uniform. “Selene, stop!”
She doesn’t. Her bare feet move over roots and rocks without hesitation, without any sign that she feels the cuts opening across her soles. Her blood leaves dark prints on the forest floor, and my stomach turns.
“Selene, you’re hurt!” The command in my voice hardens to steel. “Stop. Now.”
But she walks on like she doesn’t even hear me. Like I don’t exist. I finally manage to get ahead of her, positioning myself in her path so I can see her face.
My blood runs cold.
Her eyes are open but unfocused, staring straight ahead at something only she can see. Her face is slack, empty, like someone has carved out everything that makes her her and left just a shell walking through the darkness.
My heart is pounding so hard, it hurts. This isn’t natural. This isn’t right.
She walks right past me like I’m not there, and I realize with growing dread where she is heading: toward the clearing where she found Zane. Where this whole nightmare started.
“Selene.” My voice drops lower now, urgent but controlled. “Stop walking. Right now.”
Nothing. She doesn’t even pause.
The clearing appears ahead, bathed in silver moonlight. Selene walks straight to the center, to the exact spot where Zane’s blood once stained the earth. She stands there, perfectly still for one heartbeat. Two.
Then, she starts walking again.
Deeper into the forest. Away from the palace, away from safety, toward—
I’m struck with terror when I see it through the trees ahead. The lake.
“No.” The word comes out harsh, razor-sharp. “Selene, no!”
She reaches the water’s edge and doesn’t slow down. Her bare feet step into the shallows without hesitation, water splashing around her ankles.
“SELENE!”
I’m running now, my boots pounding the ground. She’s knee-deep, then waist-deep, the white nightdress floating around her like a shroud. The water reaches her chest, and she just keeps going.
I crash into the lake after her, the cold water stinging my skin. My hands close around her arm, and I yank her back, spinning her around to face me.
“What are you doing?” I shake her shoulders, my voice turning desperate now. “Selene, wake up!”
Her face is still blank and empty. Her eyes stare right through me. There’s no recognition there, no awareness. Just empty, blue pools reflecting the moonlight.
“Come on!” I pull her toward the shore, but she resists, trying to turn back toward the deeper water. Her movements are slow but persistent, like a puppet being pulled by invisible strings. “Selene, fight it! Whatever this is, fight it!”
She pushes against my chest with surprising strength, her lips moving soundlessly. No words come out, just air, like she’s trying to speak but the sound won’t form.
My wolf is going insane, tearing at my insides, howling with desperate fear. The fated mate bond burns in my chest like wildfire, screaming at me to do something, anything to save her.
I drag her backward another step, water sloshing around us. She struggles weakly, still trying to return to the lake, and I can see her sinking even deeper into whatever trance has her in its grip.
“Damn it, Selene!” Frustration and fear war in mychest. “Wake up!”
Her eyes remain glazed, unfocused. Lost.
My mind races through possibilities. Magic? A spell? Some kind of compulsion? How do I break it? How do I reach her?
And then, without thinking, without planning, I cup her face in my hands and put my lips to hers.
The moment our mouths connect, something shifts.
