The mansion was quiet, too quiet for a house filled with wolves.
I walked through the halls like a ghost, my bare feet barely making a sound against the polished floors. Every inch of this place felt like a contradiction—beautiful, grand, and yet... caged. No locked doors, but all the same, I was trapped.
After the incident in the clearing, no one had approached me. Not even him.
Lucian.
The name lingered in my mind like the taste of smoke—familiar and dangerous. The alpha who bit me. The man who said I wasn't human.
He hadn't come to explain. He hadn't even looked my way since I woke up in this sprawling prison of chandeliers, velvet drapes, and watchful eyes.
I pushed open the doors to the small library I'd found earlier. Shelves lined the walls, packed with old books. The kind that smelled like dust, ink, and secrets.
The fire crackled in the corner, and I settled onto the couch near it. I didn't come here to read—I came here to think. To breathe. To feel something other than the heat that pulsed under my skin since that night in the woods.
The bite mark was still there—angry, red, and warm. Sometimes it throbbed. Sometimes it burned. But always, it reminded me of him.
"Mind if I join you?"
The voice startled me. I turned, expecting Lucian, but it wasn't.
It was Rowan—the quiet one. The one who had hovered near the edges since I arrived, watching without watching.
"Sure," I said, though I didn't mean it.
He sat across from me, his dark hair falling into his eyes. "You've got questions."
"Understatement of the year."
He cracked a faint smile. "Then ask."
I hesitated. "What am I?"
Rowan tilted his head. "You're… changing."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one I can give without permission."
"Permission? From who—Lucian?"
His silence was confirmation.
I scoffed and stood up, pacing in front of the fire. "You people kidnapped me. He bit me. And now I'm just… what? Some science experiment?"
"No." His voice was calm. "You're something none of us expected. Not even him."
I froze. "Then why did he bite me?"
Rowan looked at me, really looked. "Because the moon chose you. And the alpha answered."
The room felt colder despite the fire.
I sat down again, slowly. "You're talking in riddles."
He leaned forward, his voice a whisper. "The bond isn't something we control. It's older than our laws. Stronger than our wills. Lucian didn't choose to bite you. He was… compelled."
My heart beat faster. "By what?"
"The moon. The bond. Fate. Call it what you want." Rowan shrugged. "But once an alpha marks someone—especially under a full moon—there's no going back."
I swallowed. "So I'm turning into a wolf?"
"Not exactly." He frowned. "That's what we're trying to figure out."
Before I could press further, the door opened.
And there he was.
Lucian.
The room shifted the moment he stepped in. The air grew heavy, charged. His silver eyes locked onto mine, and every nerve in my body responded like a storm had just rolled in.
"Rowan," he said, voice low. "Give us the room."
Rowan didn't argue. He stood, nodded at me once, and left, closing the door behind him.
Lucian didn't move. Neither did I.
Finally, he spoke. "You shouldn't be in here alone."
"I'm not a prisoner, right?"
His jaw tensed. "You're not safe."
"Because of you?"
He didn't answer.
I stood. "Why did you bite me?"
His eyes flared. "Because I had no choice."
"People always have a choice."
He walked toward me, slow, deliberate. "Not when the bond takes over. Not when you smelled like fire and moonlight."
I stared at him. "That's not a reason. That's poetry."
He stopped inches away. "You don't understand what you are. But you will. Soon."
I didn't step back. "Then tell me."
He reached out, brushed his fingers across the edge of the bite mark. It burned where he touched.
"You're not turning into a wolf," he said quietly. "Because you're already something else. Something older."
"What does that mean?"
Lucian met my gaze, and for a split second, I saw something there—fear. Not for himself. For me.
"It means your blood doesn't belong to them," he whispered. "And now they'll come for you."
A cold chill ran down my spine.
"Who?"
He stepped back, shadows falling across his face.
"The ones the moon forgot."