Bathed in Moonlight

Chapter One

Beneath the Moonlight

Mia’s POV

Before I turned around, I could feel him staring at me. My pulse raced as if the air changed, a faint earthquake in the atmosphere. The hairs on the back of my neck caught my attention, and for a short second I wondered if I was dreaming. Then I heard it—his low, deliberate voice piercing over the evening.

"Stay away from Mia,."

My heart still missed a beat. Though I had not seen him or felt him approach, Caleb Hawke was there, just a few feet away, his eyes sparkling silver in the dim moonlight. Even in non-performance, he was always too close. My pulse accelerated, and like the air before a storm, I could taste the thick and heavy tension hanging between us.

I said, trying to keep my voice calm, "I didn't ask to be here, Caleb." I wasn't sure whether I was merely annoyed or enraged. No matter how hard I tried to resist, his presence always had a magnetic attraction sucking me into his circle.

Not really important. I advise you to keep clear.

His comments were like a dagger, sharp and slashing deeper than previous. His tone carried some weight and a finality that made me wonder whether he meant it this time. He was generally quite frigid and quite far-off. Every time we got near, he seemed to erect a wall separating us, and I found it incomprehensible. Not when the chemistry was so clear-cut, when the attraction between us felt like it might engulf us whole.

Unable to resist, I stepped closer, challenging him. "Why do you continue doing this? Why not simply tell me straightforwardly? Despite my best attempts, my voice shook; the irritation crept through the gaps in my will.

He gasped loudly, as though he were engaged in an internal struggle, and for a minute I sensed something softer, something more urgent flickering in his eyes. Then it disappeared, then the customary hardness took front stage.

You do not understand, Mia. You are not undercover. Not one of you is. Though I had no idea what he meant, his comments were a warning. What was he referring to? What wasn't safe?

Trying to understand his enigmatic message, I stepped back, then instead of responding he turned, his long strides moving him away from me.

"Caleb, wait—'" I phoned after him, my voice more sharply urgent than I had intended.

He halted but turned not around. The quiet between us seemed like a cord taut enough to break. His voice was harsh as he spoke once more, as though he were struggling to keep himself together. I am not able to perform this. I am unable to be with you. I'm attempting to shield you from something you won't know.

And the space separating us seemed like an impossible gulf just like that.

Wanting responses, I opened my mouth but before I could say anything, a rustling sound behind us broke the delicate moment. A twig snapped, then another, and then a rumbling growl caused my blood to stop in my veins.

Caleb's body stiffened right away. His eyes flared, and for the shortest of a moment I felt as though I could see something savage under the surface.

His voice low yet urgent, he screamed, "Get down." " Now."

He was there, clutching my arm and dragging me into the shadow of a nearby tree, before I could respond. His hand was tight around me, strong but his touch was electric. When he gripped me, my skin tingled and my heart raced for another altogether different reason.

"What's going on?" Too terrified to yell, I murmured.

He did not reply straight away. His body stiff and coiled, ready to leap, his gaze swept the woodland. The silence of the woodland broken by something—someone—out there made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge.

His mouth clenched as he said, "I told you it wasn't safe." "Stay here; never make a sound."

I nodded; my throat was too thick to talk. For the first time since meeting him, my eyes were fixed on him and saw him for what he truly was—dangerous, fierce, and hiding something even deeper behind the surface. Thick with suspense, I could sense it in the air as though the storm was just about to strike.

Abruptly a person sprang from the shadows, gliding with the grace of a predator, hardly audible as they came into view. Watching the stranger, a tall black man walk into the moonlight, my heart hammered. They were too quiet, too quick, and I had no idea if they were friends or enemies.

Caleb tightened his hold on me. Up until I felt his body radiating on mine, I hardly noticed how near he was. He was terrified, not merely shielding me. That idea chilled me to no end.

The stranger moved forward, and the air tension snapped like a whip.

The voice came—low, frightening, and oh-so-familiar—Caleb. My blood at the sound ran cold. Caleb could identify the voice; I could not. His whole body locked in a moment.

"Zara," he snarled, his eyes narrowing in the night.

I understood nothing. This individual was whom? And why did Caleb act in such a way?

Zara laughed, the sound harsh and full of contempt. Caleb, did you truly believe you could run indefinitely? You understand my motivation for being here. You should face your history now.

"What do you wish?," asked Though Caleb's voice was low, there was an underlying tension like a coiled spring almost ready to break.

Her eyes flicked to me, and I could almost feel the weight of her look. Oh, I am not here for you, Mia. But you... you're the key to everything, aren't you? She grinned as if she knew a secret I would not be able to even start to grasp. "You're only beginning here."

Though I had no understanding what was occurring, I felt a cold shudder run down my spine and naturally moved toward Caleb. The only thing separating me from whatever terrible destiny lay ahead was him.

Caleb hissed, his voice lethal serious, "Stay away from her."

But Zara only laughed. "I'm not coming to fetch her, Caleb. Still not yet. But you cannot keep sprinting from what is ahead. This is unavoidable.

The words stopped in my throat even though I wanted to talk to find out what the devil was going on. Though I knew one thing: I was trapped in the middle of something far more frightening than I had ever imagined—who this Zara person was or what they intended with Caleb.

And Caleb... Caleb was not going to be able to guard me always.

"Go back to your pack, Zara," Caleb whispered in a low, scary warning tone. "This is your last opportunity.

She grinned, her black eyes flickering. "We'll see about that.."

She disappeared into the night as softly as she had entered without another word, leaving just the residual tension in the air.

Caleb let out a short exhale, his hold on my arm slack. But I could see the storm in his eyes—that fear and rage coiled inside him like a tightly wound spring.

His voice stiff, he added, "We have to leave."

What had just transpired, or why I was so heavily interested in it now, eluded me. One thing was evident, though: Caleb was hiding something—something large—and whatever it was, it was coming for us both.

And I couldn't get rid of the sensation that I was being drawn further into a world I wasn't ready to face as he turned to go and pulled me with him. The danger had only started, and I had no idea how we may make it through.

Not when we were already so firmly linked in the shadow network of lies and secrets.

But a voice shrill and forceful emerged from the shadows before we could proceed further.

"I wouldn't wander too far, Mia. Our outstanding business is still pending.

I stopped cold. The voice didn't match Caleb's.

My heart beating, I turned swiftly and the voice hung in the calm of the night. Though it wasn't Caleb's and I could not identify the voice, there was something eerie about it that immediately sent me off in terror.

"Who's there?” Usually so sure, Caleb's voice now had a hint of doubt. His hand softly slid toward the concealed blade at his side, his posture tensed. Though this time the tension in the air seemed different, he was ready for a battle. It was something deeper, darker, not only a physical menace.

Once more, the voice emerged, this time nearer. Mia, you cannot walk away from this. Already, you have been marked.

I choked, my breath caught in my throat. "marked"? I asked, the word playing like a curse in my head. It was chilly and suffocating over me.

Caleb's eyes flicked about, his body stiffening even more, but he did not approach me. Rather, his gaze fixed on the void between the trees, his face became dark and unreadable. His energy changed; something dreadful was waiting just beyond the shadows, and I realized it had nothing to do with Caleb's background. It had all I needed.

Desperate for any kind of justification, I turned to look at him “What does that imply? Who—?"

The guy emerged from behind the trees before I could get done. Though I could see the glitter of something sharp in their hand—a knife, silver and cruelly shining—the feeble moonlight cast lengthy shadows across their face.

"Mia Summers," the person began, their voice low and silky, almost mocking. Their eyes narrowing as they examined me up and down, they moved slowly forward. "Everything starts with this. The final bit of the jigsaw.

Though I had no idea who they were or what they meant, their very confident speech caused my gut to turn upside down. Though Caleb's stress was growing next to me, he remained still. He seemed to be contemplating his choices, grappling with a dilemma I could not even begin to grasp.

Caleb advised, his voice hardly audible, "Stay back." "Your last warning comes from here."

The apparition simply laughed, a chilly, nasty sound, though. You believe a warning will stop me? You have no idea what is approaching either.

Then they flung the knife with terrible speed.

Time seemed to elongate in that second, my heart smashing into my ribcage. Caleb was already moving, his reflexes sharp as he shoved me out of the path and delivered the strike himself.

"Caleb!." I cried, terror washing over me.

A quiet groan from his lips as he dropped to the ground. Blood stained his clothing, the knife was lodged deep on his side.

"No!," I dropped to my knees next to him, my hands shaking as I worked to stem the blood.

But when I looked up, the person was already vanishing into the forest, their silhouette dissolving into the darkness, leaving me with the terrible words, "This isn't over, Mia."

I wasn't sure if I was more afraid of the promise that whatever it was—the dream that had just started—was far from done, or of what had just transpired.