Aria's POV

The night before your first shift isn’t supposed to feel like a funeral.

But as I stared into the cracked mirror above my dresser, all I could see was someone who didn’t belong—especially not in a body destined to become something… more.

Outside, the moon was already bleeding red. A full blood moon, rare even in our kind’s lifetime. The elders whispered about omens and ancestors and destiny. I just wanted to make it through the ceremony without embarrassing myself.

“Aria,” came Selene’s voice from the hallway. Clipped. Somewhat commanding. “You’re going to be late. You know how important tonight is.”

I sighed, pulling on the ceremonial leathers laid out on my bed. The dress was mattes black, laced, and slightly too tight, just like everything in this world seemed to be.

We were born twins, me and Selene. But no one ever confused us.

Selene was made of bone and fire. She had broad shoulders, a sharp jaw, her eyes were like cold steel. Hell, she walked like she knew the earth owed her something. She was our father’s pride, our pack’s future Alpha, and everything I wasn’t.

And then there was me—Aria Silverclaw. The “gentle twin.” Quiet. Observant. More interested in painting the forest than hunting in it... and I meant this literally.

I put on the dress and headed out to meet my fate.

“Your collar’s crooked,” Selene muttered as I stepped into the hallway.

I quietly adjusted it and then looked back at her. She smirked, then turned on her heel and led the way down the stairs of the Alpha’s den. This was our family home, perched on the ridge above Thorne Hollow. It was more like fortress than a farmhouse—stone walls, thick wooden beams, and windows reinforced against things humans had long forgotten to fear.

Below, the pack was gathering in the clearing. Bonfires flickered to life. The wind carrying the scents of ash, pine, and everyone's anticipation.

Everyone would be watching us tonight, I reckoned.

Alpha Dhiran's twin daughters. The last of the Silverclaw bloodline. Born under the Eclipse. The two girls fated to shift together.

My stomach twisted at the thought of this.

Me and my sister descended the path through the trees, torches lighting the way. The forest felt more alive tonight than ever, like it was holding its breath. Whispering.

The elders stood in a semi-circle around the sacred stone, a crescent-shaped altar etched with silver and obsidian. Father—Alpha Dhiran Silverclaw—stood tall beside it, flanked by our mother, Reema, and Beta Marek.

His eyes, dark and unreadable, fixed on us.

Selene stepped forward without hesitation, chin high, spine straight. I followed, trying not to trip over my boots.

“You stand here not as children,” Father said, voice deep as thunder, “but as blood of this pack. Daughters of the Duskwatch. It is your time to become.”

Selene bowed her head.

I blinked at him, my throat dry as desert sand.

The shifting ceremony wasn’t violent—not in our line. The transformation was guided by blood and will. The elders marked our skin with runes, chanted words older than the mountains. Then, the moon did the rest.

My sister Selene went first.

She didn’t even flinch as the markings lit up. Silver light cracked along her skin, spiraling from her throat to her fingertips. Her eyes flashed gold.

Then bones broke.

Her clothing tore and then, Selene was gone.

In her place stood a towering black wolf with silver stripes down her spine, snarling into the night and the entire crowd howled in approval.

Now, it was my turn.

The air grew colder. My pulse hammered. As the elder’s blade touched my skin, I expected pain.

Instead, it was warmth—like a memory. Or a song I didn’t know the lyrics to but somehow understood.

The markings lit up, slower than Selene’s. Pale blue instead of silver. Almost hesitant.

And then—

Nothing.

The chanting stopped. I was still standing there. Human. Unshifted.

A murmur spread through the crowd.

I felt my face burn. My heart thrashed like it wanted to claw free. I couldn’t look at Selene’s wolf form, nor my father’s hardening jaw.

“I—I don’t understand,” I whispered.

“She’s not ready,” someone said behind me.

“She’s too soft,” said someone else.

I couldn't take it. I just... turned and ran.

I continued running as fast as I could and didn’t stop until the woods swallowed the torches and my lungs burned. Tears stung my eyes as I collapsed against a tree, my fingers digging into the dirt. The blood moon stared down at me like it knew I had failed. That I wasn’t meant to be a member of this pack at all.

My head pounded so badly and for some reason, I felt dizzy. I could barely even stand properly.

And just then, there was a snap.

A twig cracked behind me and i froze up immediately.

Must be a wolf, I thought as I tried my best to steady my breathing.

I made use of my nose but it wasn’t a wolf I smelled. Rather it was a human.

Male to be precise.

He just stood there, watching me from the shadows.

Chapter 2

Aria's POV

I stared into the darkness, every instinct on edge.

He didn’t move.

Didn’t speak.

Just stood there part-shadow, part-moonlight watching me like I was some kind of puzzle.

“Who are you?” I managed, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, forcing my voice not to shake.

No response.

The wind shifted. His scent drifted towards me, earth, smoke… and something else I couldn’t name. But it didn’t scream human the way it should have. My wolf stirred faintly at the edge of my skin, confused.

“I said, who are you?”

Finally, he stepped forward.

The boy wasn’t much older than me. Tall, lean. He wore a gray hoodie and dark jeans, his hands shoved into his pockets like he didn’t just stumble upon a werewolf collapse in the middle of the woods.

His eyes were dark, maybe blue or green, it was hard to tell while it was locked onto mine. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Too late,” I said, standing quickly and brushing dirt off my dress.

He tilted his head, assessing me . “Are you okay?” he asked.

No.

I’d just failed my first shift in front of my entire pack. I was the disappointing daughter of a ruthless Alpha. And now I was being watched by a random human during the most vulnerable moment of my life.

But I nodded anyway. “I’m fine.”

He didn’t believe me. I could feel it.

The weird thing was I could feel it. Like the flicker of concern coming off him wasn’t just imagined. It moved through me like heat rising from the ground. My empathy senses were never this sharp, especially not with humans.

“You’re not from Thorne Hollow,” I said, narrowing my eyes.

“I moved here a few weeks ago,” he said simply. “Name’s Kai.”

Kai.

The name lodged somewhere in my chest.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” I muttered. “It’s… not safe.”

“I could say the same to you,” he replied, giving me a pointed look.

I frowned. “You don’t understand. There are things in these woods”

“Wolves?” he interrupted me.

The word hit too cleanly.

I almost choked on my breath as the words came out of his mouth. “Why would you say that?”

He shrugged,well it's a small town and with a huge forest words go round I guess.

But his voice was too calm. Too deliberate,like he wasn’t just guessing.

I took a step back, every inch of my body buzzing.

He noticed.

“Relax,” he said, raising both hands. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

But that’s exactly what someone who was going to hurt me would say.

I pressed my back to a tree, trying to channel whatever strength I had left. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll go back to town and forget you saw me.”

He looked at me for a long beat. Not scared. Not curious, exactly just... focused,eyes fixated on me.

Then his eyes dropped to the faint blue glow still lingering along my collarbone.

The remnants of the failed shift.

“Are you... hurt?” he asked.

I clutched the spot instinctively. “No, I'm good”

He hesitated, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll go.”

He turned, slowly, like he half-expected me to stop him. I didn’t.

But just before he disappeared into the trees, he said over his shoulder, “I didn’t see anything. And I won’t tell anyone.”

Then he was gone.

I didn’t breathe for a full minute.

By the time I made it back to the ridge, the ceremony had long ended. Bonfires smoldered low, and most of the pack had dispersed into whispers and sideways glances.

I kept my head down as I climbed the stairs back into the den, my legs still trembling.

Selene was waiting for me.

She stood by the hearth, already back in her skin, a long coat draped over her shoulders, her eyes like slits of silver flame.

“Where the hell have you been?” she questioned.

“I needed air.”

“That’s not the air you smell like.” Her nostrils flared, and I watched her expression change curious to sharp. “Who was he?”

My throat tightened. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t lie to me, Aria. I smell human all over you.”

Damn.

“I…I don’t know,” I stammered. “Just some guy. He didn’t see anything.”

Selene stepped forward. “He was in the woods? Tonight? Are you insane?”

“He didn’t know what was happening. I don’t think he even saw the ceremony”

“That’s not the point!” she snapped. “The point is, he was too close. And you... You talked to him?”

“He was just concerned.”

Selene narrowed her eyes like that made it worse.

“I’ll handle it,” she muttered, turning away.

“What does that mean?” I asked, panic rising in my voice.

“It means I’m going to find out who he is and make sure he doesn’t remember anything.”

“No.” My voice cracked, but I stood firm. “Selene, don’t.”

She paused.

And for a split second, I saw it in her,the confusion, the protectiveness,the fear.

“Aria,” she said quietly. “You can’t afford to trust anyone right now. Especially not strangers.”

But that’s the thing,Kai didn’t feel like a stranger.

And the deeper truth?

I wasn’t sure I trusted myself anymore either.

Kai's POV

I lied.

I actually did see something in those woods.

Something I couldn’t explain and decipher,something I couldn’t shake off.

And now, it was following me ghostlike through the Sanctum’s underground halls.

I kept my hood up as I passed through the iron-reinforced checkpoint. Facial scans buzzed faintly. Motion detectors tracked my every step. This place never slept. No one here trusted anyone,at least not fully.

Me most especially.

“Kai Ashbourne,” the security AI intoned. “Cleared for Level 2 access. Mission log update required.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, stepping into the elevator.

The walls were made of steel. My reflection stared back at me with tired eyes, sharper jawline than I remembered, a bruise forming near my temple from last week's training drill. I looked like one of them.

But I didn’t feel like one of them tonight.

The girl from the woods had burned herself into my head.

Aria.

She never said her name, but I knew it now all thanks to a stolen file I shouldn’t have accessed.

Aria Silverclaw.

Daughter of Alpha Dhiran.

One of the “twins of prophecy,” if the old reports were to be believed.

The daughter of the monster who killed my parents.

Except... she hadn’t looked like a monster.

She looked like someone who didn’t fit in her own skin.

Who’d rather paint the forest than prowl through it.

Someone who didn’t shift when she was supposed to.

And that terrified me more than anything.

The elevator dinged. Level 3.

I stepped out and headed down the hall to the Command Room. Every second tightened the knot in my stomach.

Commander Harlan Greaves was waiting for me.

He stood like a statue in front of the war table holograms of territories, heat maps, and intel flickering beneath his gloved hands. He didn’t look up when I entered.

“You’re late.”

“Got held up.”

“By?”

“A deer.”

He looked at me then. Hard. Cold.

“You had eyes on the ridge, didn’t you?”

I hesitated. “Yeah. But it was locked down tight. No activity I could see.”

Another lie.

Harlan narrowed his eyes. “Nothing? Not even a glimpse of the Alpha’s daughters?”

“No, sir.”

He stared at me, silent for too long. My pulse tapped nervously against my throat.

Then he nodded. “You’ll get another chance. The twins are the key, Kai. Especially the younger one.”

My hands clenched.

“Aria?” I said before I could stop myself.

His gaze flicked to me, sharp and assessing. “You’ve read the files.”

It wasn’t a question.

“She doesn’t seem like a threat,” I said slowly. “If anything, she’s… unstable.”

“She’s dangerous because of what she represents,” he snapped. “That entire bloodline is an infection. You know this.”

Do I?

“Understood,” I said.

“Good. Because you’re going back in. As of tomorrow, you’ll be enrolled at Thorne Hollow Prep. Your cover as a ‘transfer student’ still holds. We need proximity. Access. We need her.”

I stiffened. “What about Selene?”

“Selene is exactly what we expect. Trained. Brutal. Obvious. Aria? She’s an anomaly.”

He walked toward me, voice lowering. “You’ve been useful, Kai. A perfect weapon. But don’t let emotions get in the way.”

Something in his tone chilled me.

“She’s just a girl,” I said.

He smiled without warmth. “That’s exactly what makes her dangerous.”

Later that night, I lay on the cot in my quarters, staring at the cracked ceiling.

The moonlight slanted through the barred window. I didn’t sleep.

Instead, I kept seeing her curled against that tree, dirt on her knees, eyes wide and filled with something I couldn’t name. Something raw.

She hadn’t flinched when she saw me.

Hadn’t threatened me.

Hadn’t even asked the obvious questions.

She just stood there, trembling and wild, like the world had shifted under her feet and she didn’t know where to land.

And I felt that strange pull. Like we were standing on the edge of something ancient.

I remembered her scent. Wildflowers and rain. And something beneath that something that didn’t read as entirely wolf or entirely human.

And for the first time since I was a kid, I wasn’t sure whose side I was on.