The hunt

They will not stop hunting me.

The thought burned through Raven’s mind as she sprinted through the dense forest, her bare feet bleeding against jagged roots and unforgiving stones. The night stretched endlessly around her, thick with mist and the scent of damp earth. The moon, her only companion, hung high in the sky—watching, waiting.

She didn’t dare look back.

Her lungs burned, her legs screamed for mercy, but she couldn’t stop,she kept running into the woods. The wolves behind her—her hunters—would not offer her mercy. Their snarls and heavy footfalls echoed in the darkness, growing louder, closer.

She had been running for months. Tonight, she would not escape.

A low growl rumbled through the trees, the sound sending a violent shiver down her spine. They were flanking her.

Trapping her.

She lunged over a fallen log, twisting midair to avoid colliding with a thorn-covered bush, but the moment her feet touched the ground again, she stumbled. Her ankle twisted painfully, and she barely caught herself before she hit the damp earth. A breath—too sharp, too loud—escaped her lips.

And that was all it took.

The pack pounced.

Shadows burst through the trees, figures too fast to count. Raven threw herself forward, but teeth snapped inches from her throat. She twisted, dodging the first attacker, only for another to barrel into her side.

Pain exploded through her ribs as she crashed into the ground.

No.

She struggled, clawing against the mud, but a heavy weight pinned her down. Hot breath seared against her cheek, the stench of blood and sweat curling in her nostrils.

“Finally caught you,” a voice sneered above her. The man—wolf—pressed harder against her back, his knee digging into her spine. “Did you really think you could keep running forever, Moonborn?”

The word sent ice through her veins.

Moonborn.

They knew what she was. What she carried in her blood.

Everyone still seemed shock

Raven gritted her teeth. “Let me go.”

The man laughed. “Now, why would we do that?”

She twisted her head, catching a glimpse of the others surrounding her—five, maybe six wolves in their human forms, all of them grinning like predators savoring a fresh kill.

She had fought before, had escaped worse odds, but this time… she was weak. Too weak.

Her body trembled beneath the weight pressing her down, but she refused to give in to the fear clawing at her chest.

“You should have died with the rest of your kind,” another voice muttered. A woman with cruel, amber eyes. “Your bloodline was wiped out for a reason, girl. No one wants your kind in this world.”

Raven went still.

Her bloodline.

Her mother’s face flashed in her mind. Her father’s voice— stern, yet kind. The scent of home, of safety, of a life that had been ripped away.

Dead.

They killed them.

A bitter, burning rage twisted through her.

And suddenly—something inside her snapped,something she never expected.

The air around her shifted. Thickened.

A strange, searing heat bloomed beneath her skin, spreading outward in pulsing waves. The wolves around her hesitated, sensing the change.

But it was too late.

The power erupted.

A raw, violent force exploded from within her, sending a shockwave through the clearing. The weight on her back disappeared as the wolf pinning her was hurled backward— bones snapping on impact as he crashed against a tree.

The others staggered, eyes wide, expressions shifting from amusement to terror.

Good. They should be afraid.

Raven rose slowly, unsteady, breath ragged. The power inside her crackled like lightning, untamed and furious. She didn’t know how to control it— but for now, she didn’t need to, she just knew she needed to escape from them .

“You,” the amber-eyed woman gasped, eyes flicking between Raven and the now-limp body of her packmate. “What the hell are you?”

Raven didn’t answer.

Because she didn’t know.

Her fingers curled into fists, the burning sensation still licking up her arms. The air around her shimmered, and for a brief second, the moon itself seemed to pulse in time with her heartbeat.

Then — pain.

A sharp, agonizing crack tore through her skull, cutting through her power like a blade. The world tilted, blurred.

No. Not now.

Her knees buckled.

The last thing she saw before everything went dark was a shadowed figure stepping through the trees.

Golden eyes — glowing like embers in the night.

Then, silence.

Luca watched the girl collapse, her body going completely limp against the dirt.

His pack stood frozen in place, as if unsure whether to run or charge. The scent of burnt ozone lingered in the air—a side effect of the power she had unleashed.

Power unlike anything he had ever seen.

Power that shouldn’t exist again.

Luca stepped forward, his boots crunching against the leaves. His wolves moved aside immediately, instinctively obeying his unspoken command. His golden eyes flicked toward the unconscious girl, her chest rising and falling in uneven breaths.

“Alpha,” one of his men murmured, hesitating. “She’s dangerous. We should kill her now.”

Luca ignored him,staring blankly.

This girl—whoever she was—had just taken out a fully grown wolf with nothing but her mind. And if she had stayed conscious a few seconds longer, he had no doubt she could’ve done worse.

But now?

Now, she was weak. Defenseless.

And he needed answers.

“Take her,” Luca ordered. His wolves hesitated, but they wouldn’t dare question him. “Chain her in the cells. I want to know what she is.”

The hesitation lasted only a second before they obeyed. Two wolves stepped forward, carefully lifting the unconscious girl between them.

Luca watched her face—very delicate, smeared with dirt and blood. She looked like nothing more than a broken thing.

But she wasn’t.

He had felt her power, he knew deep down there was still something .

And something deep inside him whispered—this girl will change everything.

He just knew.

Luca turned away, leading his pack back toward the stronghold.

And beneath the glow of the moon, the storm had only just begun.