The silver eyes didn’t blink.
They burned.
Dozens of them.
Beyond the academy walls.
Watching.
Waiting.
Charlotte stood frozen on the balcony, her fingers gripping the stone railing so tightly her knuckles turned white.
“They’re hunting me,” she whispered.
The wind shifted.
And the whisper inside her answered.
Yes.
A howl split the night again — closer this time.
Not a challenge.
A signal.
Charlotte stumbled back from the railing as alarms suddenly erupted across the academy grounds.
Deep. Resonant. Urgent.
The protective barrier around Moonshadow Academy flickered into visibility — a dome of faint golden light shimmering across the sky.
Below her, students poured out of dormitories in confusion.
Instructors shouted orders.
Wolves shifted mid-run.
The hunt had begun.
⸻
