Evelyn didn't remember leaving the packhouse.
One breath, she was on the floor with Ash gripping her shoulders—The next, she was standing outside, the night cold against her glowing skin.
Her bare feet touched the grass.
Her eyes were full of moonlight.
Ash skidded out behind her, panting.
"Evelyn—Evie—STOP!"
She didn't.
She couldn't.
The moon wasn't calling her anymore.
It was pulling her.
Her heartbeat synced with the sky, pulsing in a rhythm older than the pack, older than Bloodmoon, older than any prophecy carved into stone.
One step.Another.Another.
Her shadow stretched unnaturally long behind her, twisting like it wanted to run ahead of her.
Ash cursed and reached for her wrist, but his hand passed straight through her glow——as if she were half-light, half-girl.
"Evelyn—wait—please—Ron is going to kill me if I lose you!"
She finally blinked, turning toward him.
"Ash… I don't want to go."
"Then DON'T."
"I'm not in control."
Her voice wasn't fully hers.Soft, layered, echoing faintly.
Ash's eyes widened.
"Evie… what's doing this to you?"
She opened her mouth—But the wind answered instead.
A howl rolled through the forest, deep and unfamiliar.Not wolf.Not beast.Something older.
Evelyn flinched, clutching her chest.
"That sound…"Her voice dropped to a whisper."It knows me."
Ash grabbed her arm again—this time his touch held.
"Then we're not letting it get you. Not tonight."
Evelyn stared at him, trembling.
"It has Ronan."
Ash's face drained of color.
"Then we move."
****************************************************************************
Ronan was losing.
He'd never admit it—not even to himself—But the truth pulsed in every broken breath he took.
The creature stood over him, tall and robed in shifting darkness.Not a wolf.Not a man.Something between the two.
"You fight with devotion," it murmured. "Rare in alphas."
"Go to hell."
"I have. Many times."
Ronan lunged—His claws raked across the creature's arm.
Black smoke spilled out instead of blood.
The creature didn't flinch.
"You cannot protect her from awakening."
Ronan spat blood.
"I protect her from everything."
The creature tilted its head.
"She walks."
Ronan froze.
"What?"
"She comes to meet her destiny. Even now."
Ronan's chest tightened painfully.
"No," he breathed. "No, she's not—she's safe—she's—"
A warm glow broke through the trees.
Ronan turned.
And his heart stopped.
"Evelyn."
She stepped into the clearing like she was stepping into a dream—instinct, power, and moonlight wrapped around her like a second skin.
Her hair floated in a breeze that didn't exist.Her eyes glowed pale silver.Her shadow split behind her—one side normal, one side stretching into something curved and clawed.
Ronan tried to stand.
Failed.
"Evie—what are you doing here?"
Her lips parted.
"I didn't choose this. The moon chose me."
The creature stepped closer.
"Welcome, Child of Duality."
Ronan's snarl ripped through the clearing.
"Get away from her!"
Evelyn raised a hand—
And a circle of light burst outward, knocking Ronan and the creature back in opposite directions.
Her eyes widened.
"I—I didn't mean—"
Ronan swallowed hard.
"Evie… what did you do?"
"I don't know," she whispered.
The creature straightened.
"You unlocked what the mark only hinted at."
Ronan pushed himself up, shaking.
"Don't listen to it! Come to me—Evelyn—look at me—"
But she couldn't.
Her body didn't move.
Her power hummed like a living thing.
The creature's voice softened.
"You stand between moon and shadow. And now, the time has come to choose."
Ronan roared.
"She chooses NOTHING tonight!"
But Evelyn's breath hitched.
Because for the first time—
She felt it.
The paths.
Two of them.
One warm.One cold.Both calling.
"Ronan…" she whispered, voice cracking. "I don't know what's happening to me."
Ronan reached for her—barely able to stay upright.
"I know," he said, voice hoarse."But whatever you become—whatever you choose—just don't do it alone."
Her eyes burned.
Her power flared.
The ground shook beneath them.
And the moon above—
Turned blood-red.