Prologue

Seraphina ran. No—she sprinted, faster than she ever thought her legs could move.

The night throbbed with the rasp of her breath, the thunder of her feet hammering the forest floor. Her heart pounded like a war drum. Run. Don’t stop. Run.

Behind her, the predator closed in with terrifying ease.

The wolf. The hunter. The monster who had destroyed everything she loved.

His mask—the patience, the charm, the restraint—was gone. What remained was raw instinct and bloodlust.

Seraphina forced her body forward, lungs burning. Faster. I have to be faster.

She would not let him catch her. Not after what he had done—how he had slaughtered her family, reduced her world to ashes, left her nothing but prey.

Bones cracked behind her. He was shifting—wolf to man.

She dove behind a crumbling wall, chest heaving, pressing a trembling hand against her lips to hold her breath.

“Seraphina,” his voice curled through the darkness, taunting. “You can run, but you cannot hide, Butterfly.”

Butterfly. Once, she loved that name. Now it was a chain, a cage, a mockery. She would never be his fragile creature.

Her pulse roared in her ears. She wanted to scream, but instead she crouched lower, steeling herself.

“You are my mate,” he called, voice a cruel promise. “Come out with your wings—or—”

“Or what?” she spat, rising from her cover, fury igniting her. “You’ll burn them to ash?”

He stepped from the shadows, eyes gleaming. For a heartbeat, he looked captivated by her defiance.

Then his growl broke the silence. “Yes. And I’ll chain you to me, because you are mine.”

She spun to run, but his hand clamped around her, slamming her back against the wall.

“Got you, Butterfly,” he whispered, smirking.

And in that moment, Seraphina knew only one truth—

She hated him.