She ran. Her breath came in shallow gasps, feet pounding against the earth as if distance could save her. The forest felt alive—thick with shadows, thick with him. He didn’t chase. He didn’t have to. She felt him. Behind her. Around her. Like the darkness bent to his will. She slowed near a clearing, chest heaving, heart in chaos. When she turned, he was there—standing still, just beyond the treeline. Lucian. Alpha of Silvercliff. A feared lycan. Her mate. And the man fate had cursed her with. His eyes met hers—ancient, stormy, too wild to belong to any mortal creature. She knew what he was. What he wanted. And worse… what she was. The last descendant of a fallen angel. Born with blood powerful enough to stir even Lucifer’s broken heart. She was light wrapped in shadow, sacred and forbidden. And to him—she was everything. “Why are you following me?” she whispered. “Because I can’t stay away from you,” he said, voice low, raw. “Not when the bond’s this loud.” She stepped back. “Let me go.” His gaze darkened. “If I let you go, I’ll lose my mind. You’re the only thing I ever want to run to.” “I’m afraid of you,” she said. “You should be,” he replied softly. “Because I don’t know how to love gently. Not when it’s you.” He didn’t move. Didn’t touch her. But her soul already felt claimed. In a world where the divine and damned wage a silent war, she is the last spark of fallen grace—fated to tip the scales. Hunted by prophecy, bound to the fiercest lycan alive, she must decide: Run from the darkness that desires her—or embrace the bond that was always meant to find her.