Chapter 1: Moonbound Recklessness
The wind howled through the trees, threading ghost-like whispers between towering pines. Cold bit into Kade’s skin, but he didn’t flinch. He stood at the cliff’s edge, his eyes glowing faintly gold, fixed on the valley cloaked in darkness.
Beyond the tangled tree line, nestled beneath winding roads and glittering city lights, lay everything he loathed most—humans.
Once, his kind ruled the forests. Warriors. Predators. Shadows of the wild. Now? They were hunted. Driven into hiding. Reduced to whispers in the dark.
And the worst part?
They were losing.
A twig snapped behind him. Kade didn’t move. The scent hit him first—wolf. Familiar.
"You should come inside," Talon murmured, his voice low.
Kade remained still. "We used to own this land."
"We still do," Talon replied, though his tone lacked conviction.
Kade’s chuckle was bitter, hollow. "Do we? When was the last time we ran these woods freely? The last time we weren’t ghosts hiding from cowards with guns?"
Silence. Even the forest held its breath.
Years ago, the Vallen pack had been kings of this land. Now, they were remnants. Ghosts clinging to bones.
Kade’s fists clenched. His wolf stirred beneath his skin—starved for vengeance, for blood. For justice.
"They killed my brother," he said. "They think we’ll fade quietly. I won’t let them."
Talon hesitated. "What are you planning?"
Kade finally turned, golden eyes fierce. "We stop hiding. We make them afraid again."
Talon’s jaw tightened. "That’s a declaration of war."
"It’s survival."
Then, just as he moved to pass Talon, his nostrils flared. He stopped cold.
The scent again.
Not Talon. Not the wind.
Something... off.
Something laced in gun oil and old blood.
It was faint, nearly masked—but not completely.
Kade turned his head slowly, eyes narrowing. His voice dropped to a growl.
"Did you catch that scent?"
Talon was about to reply when Zara emerged from the woods, her gaze unreadable. "The others are waiting."
Kade nodded. "Let’s not keep them."
The cabin’s warmth did nothing to cut the tension inside. The room was heavy with smoke and dread. Wolves filled the space—some seated, others pacing, their eyes darting toward Kade with barely concealed uncertainty.
This wasn’t a pack. It was a funeral gathering of the dying.
"We need to leave the city," said Malek, the elder. "Start fresh somewhere else."
"Somewhere safe," another echoed.
Safe.
Kade almost laughed.
"You think running will keep us alive?" he asked, voice cold.
Malek met his gaze. "Survival over pride."
"This isn’t about pride," Kade snapped. "This is about legacy. We let them erase us, and we lose more than lives. We lose who we are."
"But we are losing, Kade," another growled. "Every fight ends the same—blood on the ground. Less of us. More of them."
Kade saw it now. The doubt. The fear. But worst of all—resignation.
They didn’t want to fight anymore.
"You want to run? Then go," he said. "But I won’t kneel. I won’t let my brother’s death be in vain."
He stormed toward the door.
"What if you’re wrong, Kade?" Talon called. "What if this fight isn’t one we can win?"
Kade didn’t turn. His voice was low. "Then I’ll die on my feet."
Later, under the moon’s watchful gaze, Kade sat beneath an ancient tree. The wind rustled the leaves like whispers from the dead.
He could still hear his brother’s voice. Still feel the warm spray of blood. The scream that tore through the night.
"Run, Kade!"
"I won’t leave you!"
"You have to—!"
The last time he ran, it cost him everything.
Never again.
His wolf growled, restless, hungry. Not yet, Kade thought. But soon.
From the distance came a sound—too soft to be natural, too deliberate to be chance.
A new scent drifted on the wind.
Not human. Not wolf.
Something else.
Kade’s eyes snapped open.
Destiny was stirring.
The last sound was the rustle of wind and leaves around the old tree.
Then silence—until Kade’s nose twitched.
He turned his head slightly, brow furrowed. The scent rode the breeze like an afterthought, faint and fading—yet wrong.
Pine. Damp moss. Char.
And beneath it… adrenaline.
His eyes narrowed.
He rose in a single smooth motion and stepped out from under the branches, boots crunching lightly over roots and frozen soil. Another breath confirmed it: the scent wasn’t random. It was Ryker.
Too fresh.
Too far from the cabins.
Kade moved faster now, threading between trees, shadow to shadow. His form blurred with practiced stealth, even in human skin. The forest knew him, moved with him. But something inside his chest tightened as he followed the trail.
Ryker was only seventeen. Barely past his first turn. Cocky, curious, reckless—like his brother used to be.
And tonight was a full moon.
The scent veered southeast. Not toward the hunting range. Not toward the river. But down. Down the slope. Toward the city lights that flickered like a trap on the horizon.
Kade muttered low under his breath, “Idiot.”
A rustle to his left—Talon appeared beside him, eyes catching silver-blue in the moonlight. “You smell it too?”
“Ryker,” Kade said grimly.
Talon grimaced. “He was in the cabin two hours ago.”
Kade didn’t respond. His jaw was locked tight. The boy had slipped past them. And not by accident. Not on a dare.
On purpose.
The trail quickened, sharper now. Ryker had been running—not shifted yet, but close. His scent was erratic, filled with panic and heat and the sharp spice of approaching change.
“He’s near the old highway,” Talon said, sniffing again. “He’s heading toward the edge.”
The city.
Kade broke into a run.
Trees blurred past. Branches clawed at his jacket. Every instinct in him screamed. The moon hung fat and merciless in the sky, dripping light like blood through the treetops.
Young wolves couldn’t fight the shift on full moons. Not for long.
And Ryker—naïve, emotional Ryker—was going straight into the one place where even a whisper of fur could get them all killed.
Kade’s feet slammed to a halt at the ridge above the highway ruins.
He froze.
The scent had changed.
It was no longer just Ryker.
Another trail had crossed it. New. Fragile. Human.
And it was headed straight toward him.