Chapter 12

The night erupted in chaos. Kael, now in his wolf form, collided with the two attackers with a force that shook the ground beneath me. Their growls reverberated through the forest, a bone-chilling symphony of primal rage.

I stumbled backward, my breath caught in my throat as I watched Kael fight. He was a blur of black fur and deadly precision, his claws tearing through the air as he fended off the other wolves with terrifying ease. The larger of the two lunged at him, its jaws snapping viciously, but Kael sidestepped the attack with a fluid motion, countering with a brutal slash that sent the wolf sprawling.

The second wolf, smaller but faster, darted in from the side, aiming for Kael’s flank. I gasped, instinctively reaching out as if I could do something to help, but I was frozen in place, my body paralyzed with fear. Kael whipped around just in time, his massive jaws clamping down on the wolf’s neck with a sickening crunch. A yelp of pain echoed through the forest as the smaller wolf went limp in his grip.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away. I had never seen anything like this before—this raw, animalistic power on display. And yet, despite the violence of the scene unfolding in front of me, there was something almost graceful about the way Kael moved, as if he were born to fight like this.

The larger wolf, now bleeding from a deep gash across its chest, staggered to its feet, its yellow eyes glowing with hatred. It bared its fangs at Kael, but the fight had already been decided. With a final, thunderous growl, Kael lunged, his body colliding with the wolf in a deadly embrace. Their bodies rolled across the forest floor, a blur of fur and teeth, until finally, Kael emerged victorious, standing tall over his defeated foe.

The silence that followed was deafening. I stood there, shaking, trying to process what I had just witnessed. The two wolves lay motionless on the ground, their bodies still and lifeless, while Kael—still in his wolf form—stood over them, his chest heaving with exertion.

For a moment, I thought he might turn on me. After all, I was just a human—helpless, insignificant in comparison to the power he wielded. But as Kael’s glowing eyes found mine, there was no malice in them. Slowly, the tension in his body began to dissipate, and before my eyes, he started to shift back into his human form.

The transformation was quick, fluid, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him. In seconds, the massive wolf was gone, replaced by the man I had first met—Kael, the stranger who had saved my life. He stood there, breathing heavily, his dark hair matted with sweat, his bare skin covered in scrapes and bruises. But his eyes—they still glowed with that eerie, unnatural light.

"Are you alright?" His voice was rough, strained from the fight.

I couldn’t find my words. My heart was still racing, my body trembling uncontrollably. But I nodded, somehow managing to pull myself together enough to respond. "I... I think so."

Kael exhaled, a low, relieved sigh, before glancing down at the fallen wolves. His expression hardened. "We need to keep moving. These two won’t be the last. Primo will send more when he realizes they’ve failed."

I swallowed hard, the weight of his words sinking in. "What... what were they?"

"Wolves," Kael said simply, his gaze still on the bodies. "Members of Primo’s pack. He sent them to hunt you down, to bring you back to him. But he underestimated me."

I stared at him, trying to wrap my head around what he was saying. "But... you’re a wolf too."

Kael’s eyes flicked back to mine, and for the first time, I saw a flicker of something close to guilt in his expression. "Not by choice," he said quietly. "I was born into this life, but that doesn’t mean I serve him. My loyalty is to you, Luna. To protect you and your child."

There was that word again. Luna. It made my skin crawl, like it was something foreign, something that didn’t belong to me. "Stop calling me that," I said, my voice shaking. "I’m not... I’m not a Luna. I don’t even know what that means."

Kael stepped closer, his expression softening. "You are," he said gently. "You don’t understand it yet, but you will. There’s a reason Alpha Primo is hunting you. You’re not just any woman. You’re a Luna, and that means you’re powerful. More powerful than you realize."

I shook my head, backing away from him. "No, I’m not. I’m just... I’m just me. I don’t have any power."

"You will," Kael said, his voice full of certainty. "When the time comes, you’ll understand. But for now, we need to keep moving. I’ll explain everything once we’re safe."

Safe. The word felt meaningless in a world where wolves could transform into humans and hunt people down in the dead of night. But what choice did I have? Kael was the only one who seemed to know what was happening, the only one who could protect me. And despite the fear that gnawed at my insides, there was something about him—something that made me want to trust him.

"Okay," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "But promise me... promise me you’ll help me find Emily."

Kael’s expression softened again, and for a moment, I saw the man behind the wolf. "I promise," he said quietly. "But first, we need to get you out of here. Alpha Primo is still out there, and he won’t stop until he has you."

With that, Kael turned, motioning for me to follow him deeper into the forest. I hesitated for only a moment before I started after him, my heart still racing, my mind spinning with questions I didn’t have the answers to.

But as we moved through the darkness, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was just the beginning.

The beginning of something far more dangerous than I could ever imagine.