SELENE
The air was thick with the scent of wildflowers. I could taste the sweetness of the breeze and feel the soft brush of grass against my bare legs as I stood in the middle of a vast meadow.
It was strange, this placeâso serene, so still. Yet there was something about it that feltâ¦familiar. Like a memory that hadnât quite fully surfaced, a piece of something Iâd forgotten but was meant to remember.
I closed my eyes for a moment, inhaling the earthy scent of the flowers, the warmth of the sun on my skin. When I opened them again, I saw it.
A figure in the distance.
At first, it was just a shadowâfaint, barely discernible against the rolling hills of the meadow. But as I squinted, I could make it out. A wolf. Massive. Its brown and black fur shimmered under the sunlight, the muscles beneath it coiled like a storm waiting to break free.
Something stirred deep inside meâsomething that resonated, something that knew this creature. I couldnât place it, but it was as if my soul had known this wolf for millennia. A connection so ancient, so deeply rooted in the fabric of who I was, that I didnât have to question it. I just knew.
Without thinking, I started moving, my feet carrying me forward as if guided by instinct, my heart pounding with a need I couldnât explain. But the closer I got, the farther away it seemed. The wolf remained at the edge of the meadow, always just out of reach, walking away from me with an eerie calmness, as though it had no intention of letting me catch up.
I quickened my pace, my feet now pressing harder into the soft earth, my chest tightening with a strange sense of urgency. But no matter how fast I moved, no matter how much I pushed, it stayed just ahead.
A few more steps, and the wolf came to a stop, its back turned to me. It paused at the edge of a vast chasm, where the meadow ended and an abyss stretched out in front of it. The wolf lowered its head, looking down into the blackness.
I stopped a few feet away, breath catching in my throat as I peered into the dark void. All I could see was an endless, pitch-black nothingness. There was nothingâno light, no warmthâjust a suffocating emptiness. And yet, a pull, a quiet whisper, stirred within me. A voice, soft but insistent, telling me to look closer.
My eyes narrowed as I leaned forward, drawn inexplicably to the darkness. My heart beat faster, my pulse quickening as I stared down into the chasm.
And then, something flickeredâa tiny flame, faint and fragile, yet somehow alive.
I blinked, unsure if my eyes were playing tricks on me. But when I looked again, the flame was still there, flickering weakly in the void. It danced in the darkness like a delicate ember, struggling to survive against the vast nothingness around it.
I took a step forward, my breath shaky, my feet moving of their own accord, drawn by the flame as though it held the answers Iâd been seeking my entire life. It was small, so small it barely seemed to be there at all. But it called to meâbeckoned me to step closer, to reach for it.
I felt a strange compulsion, an urge that tightened my chest and pulled at my very soul. My hand moved without hesitation, reaching out toward the flame, my fingers brushing against the invisible barrier that separated me from it.
The moment my fingers brushed the air where the flame lingeredâthe ground beneath me trembled, a sudden gust of wind roaring to life, snuffing out the flame and plunging me into darkness.
LUXURY
The battle raged on, the scent of blood thick in the air. The metallic tang of it burned in my nose, my ears tuned to the sound of snapping jaws and snarling wolves. My body moved on instinct, cutting through enemies with the precision of a predator honed by years of war.
Iâd laid Selene down just beyond the fight, somewhere safe, or so I thought. But something wasnât right. My gut twisted, the unease gnawing at me like an itch I couldnât scratch.
Then, I heard it.
A strangled, choking gasp.
Selene.
My chest constricted as I turned sharply in her direction, my vision useless, but my senses sharper than any blade. Her breathing was wrongâragged, erratic. A seizure?
âSelene!â I called out, my voice edged with panic.
The momentary lapse cost me.
I felt them before they struck. Two wolves, their breath hot against my skin, their bodies slamming into me from both sides. I staggered, teeth bared as claws raked down my back, searing pain lancing through me.
I heard her scream, but it wasnât just her voice. No, it was her ~wolf~âa sound so primal, so deep, that I couldnât even begin to understand it. Seleneâs wolf had ~finally~ come through.
I braced for the killing blowâbut it never came.
A snarl tore through the air, then the sickening crunch of bones snapping. It was like my world exploded. The walls seemed to close in, and my other senses surged to compensate for the blindness that always defined me. I could smell everythingâthe blood, the salt of her sweat, the sharpness of the blood around us. I could hear every erratic breath Selene took, every tremor in her body.
And thenâ¦there was ~her wolfâs presence~âso strong, so overwhelming that it sent a ripple through me. I could feel her energy in my bones, coursing through me like fire through oil.
~This~ was no ordinary wolf, no soft, latent change. No. This was ~Seleneâs~ wolf, wild and untamed.
And suddenly, my attackers were gone.
I inhaled sharply, my senses reeling as something unfamiliar hit me.
Seleneâs scent.
But it wasnât the same.
Then came the sound of tearing flesh, guttural growls, the brutal sounds of a fight happening just feet away from me. I shifted without thought, my body exploding into fur and muscle, and lunged forward.
The last two enemies didnât stand a chance especially when I heard itâanother growl, but not Seleneâs.
Erik.
My beta had ~finally~ arrived.
He took down one of the fallen wolves still twitching, ensuring it wouldnât rise again. Relief and gratitude surged through me as I turned back toward Selene.
Her wolf form was staggering, her new instincts raw, but she was powerful. Fen was a tangle of emotions inside me, so frantic that I felt like I was being torn apart. The sensation was overwhelmingâlike I was drowning in fire, even though I wasnât the one burning.
The air around us crackled with energy, every breath she took like a spark in the dry forest, ready to ignite. The heat she exuded was almost tangible, like I could reach out and touch it.
Together, the three of us stood against the last threat.
Selene moved with untamed ferocity, a beast reborn in fire. And beside her, Erik and I finished what was left of our enemies.
The battle was over.
But something told me this was just the beginning.
The beginning of her true power. And the beginning of everything we would have to face together.
SELENE
The world tilted.
I could still feel the rawness of the shift in my bones, the ache settling deep into my limbs as my body tried to adjust to something it had never known before. My wolfâmy wolfâwas freed, and now everything feltâ¦different.
Stronger. Wilder. Right.
The air was thick with the scent of blood, fur, sweatâvictory. The battlefield was silent now, save for the ragged breathing of those still standing. Bodies littered the ground, motionless, lifeless, but none of them were mine.
I had fought.
I had fought beside ~him.~
Luxury Theron.
The alpha. ~My~ alpha.
And I had loved it.
I turned my head, still unsteady on my feet, my body throbbing from wounds I hadnât even processed yet. But I didnât care. Because I felt him.
Even before I heard his breath, even before my senses latched onto the sharp scent of himâblood, sweat, dominanceâI felt him. Luxury Theron stood at the center of the battlefield, his energy still crackling like a storm not yet spent.
I had fought beside him.
And I wanted to do it again.
The thought sent a shiver down my spine, my wolf stirring, ~howling~ with something deep, something primal. The bond between us was still new, raw, unspoken but undeniable. He had been at my side, and I had been at his. We had moved like two parts of the same beast, tearing through our enemies, killing without hesitation. ~Together.~
His presence tugged at me, the weight of it pulling me in like gravity itself. I inhaled deeply, chest heaving, the metallic taste of blood still fresh in my mouth.
I wanted more.
But thenâI saw him.
He was barely standing.
The alpha, the unshakable force of our pack, was swaying. His breathing was ragged, labored, his body trembling beneath the weight of too many wounds. The deep gashes on his back, the torn flesh across his chest, the way his fingers curled against his thigh as if trying to hold himself upâhe was hurt.
Too much blood.
Too much even for him.
âAlpha,â I rasped, my voice hoarse, raw.
His head lifted at the sound of my voice. Even weak, he was devastatingly composed, his expression unreadable. But I saw the truth in the way his breath hitched, the way his body ~stilled~ as if listening for me. As if needing to confirm that I was still there.
Then Erik was there.
He ~stormed~ toward us, his presence cutting through the carnage like a blade, sharp and commanding. His energy was fire and urgency, a storm brewing in real-time, and behind him, wolves followed. Their scents carried a mixture of relief, exhaustion, and something elseâ~uncertainty.~
They had seen me fight.
They had seen ~me~ shift.
And they had no idea what to do with it.
Erikâs sharp gaze swept over me, then flicked to ~him~. And thenâhis expression darkened.
âGet them both to the infirmary,â he ordered, his voice snapping through the heavy air like a whip.
Strong hands caught me before my body could collapse. I barely had the strength to fight it.
The alpha, though?
Of course, he resisted.
âI can walk,â he ground out, his voice rough but still carrying that unmistakable power.
âYeah? And you can bleed out, too,â Erik snapped. âEnough with the theatrics, alpha.â
Theron let out a low growl, but even he wasnât strong enough to fight against the truth of those words.
Erik turned to the wolves flanking him. âMove.â
I barely felt the moment my body was lifted. My mind swam somewhere between exhaustion and something more primalâsomething~ deep~ and humming beneath my skin. A part of meâmy wolfâwanted to stay. Wanted to turn, wanted to press against the body of the man who had fought beside me.
But my body was spent.
Still, I turned my head, desperate to catch one last look at him before my vision blurred.
Luxury Theron was still standing, but I saw the way his jaw clenched as they pulled me away from him. The way his body stiffened, as if he wanted to tear through everyone to get to me.
I let myself be carried.
I let my eyes close.
Because I ~knew~ this wasnât over.
Because I knewâI would fight by his side again.