The Border of No Return

"If you're going to kill me, just do it."

The girl stood with no shoes at the edge of the scary woods. Her arms were cut up and her lips shook—but not because she was scared. Something inside her was already broken.

Kael watched from the dark places between the trees. His eyes were gold like coins. She had crossed the line where no one was supposed to go. No one crossed that line and lived.

He smelled her blood first. It smelled like metal and moonlight. The smell made him want to hunt like a wolf.

She walked deeper into the woods.

"I said do it." Her voice cracked but she didn't back down. "I'm not scared."

She was lying. He could smell that too. Kael moved quietly through the fog. The wolf inside him wanted out. It scratched at his bones and howled for the girl's blood.

He stepped into the moonlight where she could see him. She gasped and took a step back. So she was scared. Good.

He moved like a shadow, tall and rough-looking. His shirt was open and old scars covered his chest like lightning marks. His gold eyes glowed and his hair was wet from rain. When he stopped just a few feet away, everything went quiet. Even the trees seemed to hold their breath.

"What's your name?" he growled.

She swallowed hard. "Lyra."

"Why are you here, Lyra?"

She didn't answer.

He could smell salt. She had been crying, but not today—maybe days ago. He stepped closer and she didn't move.

"Did you lose a bet?" he asked meanly. "Or are you just dumb?"

"I'm here because I want to die."

Everything went quiet. Even the wolf inside him stopped. Kael blinked slowly. In all his cursed years, he had never heard anyone say that. Lyra lifted her chin up. "I heard what you are. A monster. Cursed. I thought maybe you'd be the one to finally end it for me."

Her voice shook a little, but she meant it. She wasn't begging or scared. She had just given up.

He hated that.

"You think I'm here to put you out of your misery?"

"I think you're dangerous," she said. "And that's exactly what I need."

Kael stepped closer. She didn't run. He breathed in slowly. Her smell was weird. Not like a wolf. Not like a regular person either. The moon had touched her somehow, but she didn't have any special powers. Still, something very old ran through her blood.

"You shouldn't be here," he said quietly. "No one comes here unless they want to disappear forever."

"I know."

"No one leaves either."

"I don't want to leave."

The empty way she said it made something twist in his chest. Kael made fists with his hands. She still didn't move.

He hated this girl. He hated that she wasn't afraid of him. He hated that her voice sounded familiar in a way that made his bones hurt.

"I don't kill girls," he said, turning to walk away.

"I'm not a girl," she whispered. "I'm a curse."

He stopped dead. She didn't even seem to know what she had just said, but the words rang in his head like thunder.

The wind changed.

The moon came out from behind the clouds. The wolf inside him went crazy. Something was very wrong. Lyra's legs gave out. He caught her before she fell. Her skin was cold but burning hot at the same time. His hands hurt just from touching her.

Then he saw it. A mark on her neck—mostly hidden by dirt and bruises. A silver spiral burned into her skin. The moon's mark. The same one he had. Kael's heart pounded hard once.

No. It couldn't be.

"You're not supposed to have that," he said, his voice rough. "No one else has that."

Lyra looked up at him with tired eyes. "I'm not supposed to exist."

Then she fainted.

---

Kael carried her through the cursed forest without saying a word. The girl had come looking for death. But she had brought something else with her. An old story. A special bloodline. A curse that would change everything. When Kael put her in the old stone room under his castle, her skin glowed softly in the moonlight. The same glow that covered his chest when he turned into a wolf. And high above them, the moon seemed to weep.