Foreword: The night she escaped
The forest was suffocating in its silence. Not a single branch cracked beneath her feet. Not a single breath of wind stirred the trees. The moon, high and bright, bathed the woods in a ghostly glow, but Selene Ravenwood didn’t stop to admire it.
She ran.
Her lungs burned, her legs ached, but she didn’t slow. The night air whipped against her skin, tangling in the torn remains of her cloak. Blood—her own—slicked her fingers as she clutched her side, a cruel reminder of how close she had come to being caught.
You have to keep moving.
Branches clawed at her arms as she darted through the trees. Every snap of a twig sent her heart racing. Every rustling leaf made her muscles tense. She could still hear them—wolves howling in the distance, their voices carrying through the night like a death knell.
They were closing in.
She could feel it in her bones, in the way the air thickened with their presence. They were toying with her, drawing out the hunt, letting fear settle deep in her veins before they struck.
And she knew exactly who led them.
Alpha Kieran Stormrider.
Her mate. Her tormentor. The man she had sworn to escape, no matter the cost.
A sob threatened to claw its way out of her throat, but she swallowed it down. She couldn’t afford to break now. Not when she had come so far. Not when freedom was so close.
The river.
If she could just reach the river, she had a chance. The current would mask her scent, throw them off long enough for her to slip away. She had planned this for months, memorized every step, every possible escape route.
But planning was one thing. Surviving was another.
A growl rumbled behind her, deep and menacing. It was close—too close.
Selene’s heart slammed against her ribs. She pushed harder, forcing her aching legs to move faster. The river was just beyond the ridge. A few more steps and she’d be there.
She could make it.
She had to.
Her wolf stirred deep within her, a silent plea clawing at the edges of her mind. A voice she had buried long ago.
Let me out.
Selene squeezed her eyes shut. No. Not now. Not ever.
She had silenced her wolf years ago, forced her into dormancy, locking away the very part of herself that made her strong. Because strength wasn’t an option when it meant being found.
And she wouldn’t—couldn’t—let Kieran find her.
The moment her feet hit the rocky ledge, she leaped.
For a breathless second, she was weightless, suspended between earth and sky. Then the water rose up to meet her, swallowing her whole.
The cold was a brutal shock. It stole the air from her lungs, sent ice through her veins, but she didn’t stop moving. The current was strong, pulling her downstream, and she let it, surrendering herself to its force.
Above, she heard them—wolves pacing along the riverbank, their growls echoing in the night.
Then she heard him.
“Selene.”
The voice sent a violent shudder through her. Even over the rush of the water, she could hear the rage laced in that single word.
Kieran.
Her mate. Her captor.
For a fleeting second, her heart clenched. Not in fear—but in something more dangerous. Something she had buried long ago.
She didn’t look back.
With one final gasp of air, she let the river take her.
She disappeared beneath the surface—gone.
Free.
Or so she thought.
Five Years Later
The village was quiet at this hour, the streets bathed in soft golden light from the lanterns swaying in the cool breeze. Selene tugged her cloak tighter around her shoulders, keeping her head down as she moved through the narrow alleyways.
She had built a life here. A quiet, simple life.
No pack. No Alpha. No mate.
No past.
And for five years, it had worked. No one had found her. No one had come looking.
Or so she thought.
Because somewhere in the distance, carried by the wind, came a sound she hadn’t heard in years.
A howl.
Deep. Commanding. Familiar.
Her blood turned to ice.
He had found her.
