The Lycan Runes

Aqua Sasaki used to be the girl who had it all. Beauty, brains, a buzzing social life, loving and wealthy parents — the whole glossy package. But lately… maybe she had too much. Or rather, too much of one particular thing. And that thing’s name was Aries Reginald, alpha of the Elderwood pack. He was the houseguest that kept on giving. Or, in her case, kept on taking. If Aqua hadn’t agreed to host Aries as a favor to her best friend, Kieran Castle, her life would be a lot quieter. But she could never say no to Kieran. He was an omega wolf — bottom of the pack hierarchy — yet somehow the warmest, most generous person she’d ever met. He’d been raised outside Elderwood for most of his life, which probably explained why he didn’t act like the other werewolves. He didn’t have that sharp edge. He didn’t have that arrogance. He didn’t have that… Aries‑ness. Aqua and Kieran’s friendship was unconventional by anyone’s standards. They met when she was sixteen and he was seventeen, and they clicked instantly — the kind of instant that felt like fate or magic or something equally dramatic. She’d never connected with anyone that fast before, and she hadn’t since. Whenever Aries drove her up the wall, she reminded herself of that first meeting. It helped her survive him. It had happened over ten years ago, when she was testing a new invention and ended up at Kieran’s desolate cabin in the Scarlet Glades. She’d gone searching for special stones her father collected — strange moonstone‑like shards with embedded grey metal and runic markings. Her dad believed they brought good luck, and Aqua, who was having a spectacularly unlucky week, was desperate enough to believe him. She’d scraped metal from the stones, built a rudimentary “lucky stone radar,” and followed its signal deep into the Glades. That’s how she found Kieran. And she remembered it like it was yesterday.