EMILY'S POV
Grandma insists I rest, but there's no way I can.
The dream clings to me like a shadow — his voice calling me mate, the way it echoed in my chest like a whisper I wasn't meant to hear.
After breakfast, I head out for a walk around the village. The air is crisp, pine-scented, and quiet. The kind of quiet that feels like it's holding its breath. The village is beautiful, yes — but in the way old secrets are beautiful: soft, haunting, waiting.
Everyone I pass nods politely, but there aren't many people outside. It feels like the place is half-asleep.
Then, near the edge of the forest…
I feel it.
A pull.
Sharp. Sudden. Invisible.
My breath hitches. My heart starts racing.
The wind shifts —
And the scent hits me.
Warm. Wild. Familiar.
The same one from the dream.
I stop abruptly. "What's happening to me?" I whisper.
A rustle comes from the trees. I turn instantly — but see nothing. Just leaves swaying softly. Yet the feeling that I'm being watched grows stronger, crawling up my spine.
My phone buzzes, snapping me out of it.
Dad:
> Hope you're okay, sweetheart. Don't wander too far, okay?
I smile faintly and text back: I'm fine, Dad.
I turn to head home — but just before I walk away, something moves between the trees.
A shadow.
A shape.
Eyes.
Yellow. Watching me.
Not blinking. Not hiding.
I freeze. "Who's there?"
Silence.
But my body hums with awareness — sharp, electric, impossible to ignore.
---
TYLER'S POV
I shouldn't be here.
I've repeated that to myself a hundred times — yet here I am, hidden behind a pine tree, watching her like I'm starving and she's the only thing keeping me alive.
She's even more breathtaking under the sun. Her hair glows, her eyes curious and soft. My wolf paces wildly beneath my skin, claws scratching at the surface.
"She's perfect," he growls.
"Yeah," I breathe. "She is."
Mason's voice cracks into my head through the mind link.
Bro, what are you doing?
Watching her.
Stalking her, you mean.
Shut up, Mason.
I press my forehead against the bark, trying to steady myself. She turns suddenly — straight toward me. And for a heartbeat, our eyes lock.
Not with me.
With the wolf.
The glow slips through before I can stop it.
She sees it.
She freezes.
Fear flashes in her eyes. My stomach twists.
I step back fast, sinking deeper into the forest.
"She saw us," my wolf snarls.
"I know," I whisper. "But she doesn't understand what she saw."
Still, the bond between us thrums violently — hot, magnetic, alive.
---
EMILY'S POV
That night, sleep refuses to come.
I toss, turn, stare at the ceiling, replaying those eyes over and over. Maybe it was an animal. Maybe stress. Maybe nothing.
But a part of me knows better.
Needing water, I head downstairs. The floorboards creak softly, the fire has burned low, glowing faintly in the hearth.
Then I hear it.
Three knocks.
Soft. Precise.
At the front door.
I freeze.
It's past midnight — who could possibly be outside?
"Hello?" I call quietly.
No answer.
I open the door a crack, heart hammering — and see no one. The porch is empty. But on the ground, something glints.
A silver chain.
With a small wolf pendant.
My fingers tremble as I pick it up. The metal is warm — strangely warm — like someone was holding it just seconds ago.
The moment my skin touches it, a rush of heat floods through me, racing up my arm and exploding in my chest. I gasp, shaky and breathless.
Then I hear it.
A voice.
Deep. Familiar.
Inside my mind.
"You're mine, Emily."
The glass slips from my hand and shatters.
---
TYLER'S POV
I shouldn't have done it.
Leaving the chain… it was reckless. Stupid. But I needed to feel close to her — even for a moment.
I lean against a tree, gripping my chest as the bond snaps tighter, pulsing like a heartbeat inside me. She felt it. I know she did.
"She's starting to remember," my wolf murmurs.
My blood runs cold. "Remember what?"
"Who we are. What we are. And what she is to us."
I shake my head. "She's human."
My wolf laughs — low, dark, certain.
"Is she?"