My wolf snarls, every protective instinct screaming at me to stop this, to grab her and bring her back to her bed. But I force myself to stay calm, to observe and not interfere.
She slips between the trees, and I follow her into the darkness. My senses sharpen, every snap of a twig, every rustle of leaves setting my teeth on edge. I’m ready for an ambush, ready for whatever’s waiting.
But nothing comes.
Selene just keeps walking, deeper and deeper into the forest, following some invisible path only she can see. Her movements never waver, never hesitate.
She knows exactly where she’s going. And that terrifies me more than anything else.
She reaches the clearing where she found Zane. I’m not surprised; she came here that other time, as well. The same trees, the same disturbed earth where his blood once stained the ground. My wolf bristles with unease as Selene continues forward without pausing, heading straight for the lake beyond.
The water gleams silver under the moonlight, perfectly still, reflecting the stars like a mirror. Selene walks right to the edge, her bare feet sinking into the soft mud at the shore.
And she keeps going.
Water splashes around her ankles, then her calves, then her knees. The shirt I gave her floats up around her thighs as she wades deeper.
“Selene,” I call out, my voice low but urgent.
She doesn’t respond. Just keeps walking, the water rising to her waist now.
I follow her in, the cold shocking against my skin. My muscles tense, ready to grab her the moment she goes too deep. The lake bottom slopes gradually—I can still feel the mud beneath my feet, but it won’t last much longer.
The water reaches her chest.
My hand hovers near her shoulder, ready to yank her back.
Then, she stops. Just…stops. Standing perfectly still in the middle of the lake, water lapping at her collarbones, her face tilted slightly upward like she’s listening to something Ican’t hear.
I stop, too, a few feet behind her, my senses on high alert. My wolf paces anxiously beneath my skin, scanning the darkness, the trees, the water around us.
Nothing.
Minutes pass. The forest is silent except for the gentle lap of water against our bodies, the distant call of night birds. The moon hangs above us in the sky.
Still nothing.
Suddenly, my wolf goes rigid.
Magic.
The sensation crawls across my skin like spider legs, making every hair on my body stand on end. It’s wrong—twisted, unnatural, making my wolf snarl with instinctive revulsion.
And then, I see it.
A red mist, barely visible at first, seeping between the trees like blood diffusing through water. It moves with purpose, flowing down toward the lake, toward us, growing thicker with each passing second.
My wolf recognizes it immediately as dangerous. Deadly.
“Selene!” I grab her shoulders, spinning her to face me. “Wake up! Now!”
Her eyes remain glazed, unfocused, staring through me as if I don’t exist.
I shake her harder. “Selene, snap out of it!”
Nothing. Not even a flicker of recognition.
The red mist creeps closer, rolling down the slope toward the water’s edge. My wolf howls with urgency, desperate for me to get her out of here.
