The forest was too quiet.

Rose tightened her hold on her small lantern as she stepped deeper into the forbidden woods. Everyone in the village said these trees were cursed, that strange creatures roamed under the full moon. But she didn’t believe myths.

At least… not until tonight.

A sharp rustle came from behind her.

Rose froze.

Before she could turn, a voice—deep, rough, and dangerously calm—spoke from the shadows.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Her heartbeat slammed against her ribs.

A tall figure stepped forward. Moonlight spilled across his face—sharp jawline, messy dark hair, and eyes that glowed silver like liquid metal.

Not human silver.

Something else.

Rose stumbled back. “Who… who are you?”

He stared at her as if she was both a threat and a miracle.

“My name is Kael,” he said quietly. “And you need to leave.”

Rose swallowed, trying to steady her voice. “I’m just lost. I didn’t mean to—”

Kael moved closer.

Too close.

Her breath caught when she felt his warmth. His presence made her skin tingle, her chest tighten. She didn’t know him, yet something inside her reacted like it had always known him.

Kael suddenly inhaled sharply.

Like he smelled something impossible.

Then—

His eyes widened.

His body tensed.

His voice dropped to a whisper.

“…Mate.”

Rose blinked. “What?”

Kael stepped back as if fighting some invisible force inside him. “No. Not a human. The Moon Goddess wouldn’t—she couldn’t—”

“I don’t understand,” Rose said.

“You’re not supposed to.” His voice trembled with anger—or fear. “But fate clearly didn’t care.”

Before Rose could ask anything, a howl echoed through the forest.

Sharp. Furious.

Kael’s expression darkened instantly.

“They found me,” he muttered. Then he grabbed Rose’s wrist, pulling her behind a stone pillar. His hand was strong, warm, sending sparks up her arm.

She gasped.

“Stay here,” Kael ordered. “Don’t move, no matter what you hear.”

“But why are they after you? Who are ‘they’?”

Kael looked at her with eyes full of a sadness no one his age should have carried.

“My pack,” he said. “I’m the cursed Alpha. The one fated to betray them… or save them.”

Rose stared at him, unable to breathe.

Cursed Alpha?

Kael hesitated—then reached out, brushing his finger gently across her cheek. Electricity shot through her whole body.

“Rose…” he whispered her name like he’d known it forever. “I don’t want to lose control around you.”

“Kael, please—”

A massive shadow leaped from the trees.

Then another.

Huge wolves with red eyes, fangs bared.

Kael looked at her one last time. “Don’t come out. Don’t try to save me.”

Then he stepped away from her—and his body began to change.

Bones cracked.

Muscles shifted.

Fur spread across his skin.

In seconds, he was a massive black wolf with glowing silver eyes.

The cursed Alpha.

The enemy pack snarled and lunged at him.

Rose screamed his name as the forest exploded with violence.

And fate sealed their bond under the broken moon.

The forest turned into chaos.

Rose pressed herself against the cold stone pillar as Kael—now a massive black wolf—lunged at the red-eyed attackers. His growls shook the ground, deep and vicious, nothing like the gentle voice she’d heard moments ago.

He was fighting for her.

Three wolves circled him, their teeth flashing under the moonlight. They were bigger than any normal wolf—faster, crueler, almost human in the way they moved.

The largest one snarled words that made Rose’s blood freeze.

“Kael! You can’t run from your destiny!”

They could speak.

Kael launched himself at the wolf, knocking it back. The forest floor shook with the impact. Claws slashed, jaws snapped, and sparks of moonlit energy burst every time Kael made contact.

Rose’s breath trembled.

This wasn’t just a fight.

This was war.

Kael tore into one of them with terrifying speed. The wolf yelped and collapsed. But the other two didn’t stop—they attacked from behind, biting into Kael’s shoulder.

Rose covered her mouth to stop from screaming.

Blood dripped onto the dirt.

Kael roared—fur bristling, eyes glowing like molten silver. He threw one wolf off, sending it flying into a tree. But the last one—the biggest—lunged straight for Rose’s hiding spot.

She gasped.

The wolf’s claws scraped the pillar—its nose sniffing the air.

“Human,” it growled. “So the prophecy was true. The cursed Alpha found his mate.”

Rose’s heart dropped.

It knew.

The wolf’s jaws opened wider—

Only for Kael to slam into it with bone-breaking force.

Rose flinched as the two wolves tumbled across the grass, ripping at each other. Kael’s growls were louder now, desperate and wild. He bit the wolf’s neck and threw it into a tree so hard the trunk cracked.

The forest went silent.

The enemies fled, wounded and limping.

Kael stood there, chest heaving, blood dripping from his jaw and shoulder.

Rose stepped out before she even realized it. “Kael…”

His ears twitched.

Slowly—painfully—he shifted back, bones cracking as his human form returned. When the transformation finished, Kael dropped to one knee, breathing hard, his shirt torn, claw marks across his body.

Rose rushed to him.

“Don’t,” he warned in a rough whisper. “Don’t touch me. I’m still not fully in control.”

She ignored him and knelt beside him, her hands shaking as she touched his shoulder lightly.

He hissed—but not from pain.

From the bond.

“Rose…” His voice broke. “You’re making it worse.”

“I don’t care,” she whispered. “You saved me.”

He grabbed her wrist, but gently this time. “You shouldn’t be involved. My world will destroy you.”

Rose met his silver eyes. “Then why does it feel like your world chose me?”

Kael froze.

For the first time, he looked afraid.

He cupped her cheek with trembling fingers. “This bond… it’s dangerous. It will force us together even if we fight it.”

Her breath caught. “And do you want to fight it?”

Kael inhaled sharply, eyes darkening. “I’ve tried my whole life to fight destiny. And now—fate gives me you.”

Rose’s cheeks warmed.

Their faces were inches apart.

But suddenly—Kael’s expression changed. His eyes flicked to the trees behind her.

“It’s not over,” he whispered. “More are coming.”

Rose’s blood ran cold.

Kael stood, wincing in pain, but pulled her close protectively.

“We need to leave,” he said. “Now.”

He grabbed her hand—and this time, sparks shot through both of them, stronger than before.

Kael’s jaw tightened. “The bond is awakening.”

“What does that mean?” Rose whispered.

“It means,” he said as he pulled her into the shadows of the forest,

“you’re not just my mate anymore.”

He looked at her with a mixture of awe and fear.

“You’re the key to breaking the curse.”

---

The forest danger faded from Kael’s mind the moment he felt Rose trembling behind him.

Not from fear.

From him.

He turned slowly.

Rose was looking up at him with wide, breathless eyes… and something warm flickering inside them. Something that made the wolf in him push closer to the surface.

“Rose…” His voice dropped, rough and shaken. “You have no idea what you’re doing to me.”

She stepped toward him instead of away.

“I know what I’m feeling,” she whispered. “And I know it’s because of you.”

Kael swallowed, throat working as he tried to control the storm inside him.

But when Rose’s fingers brushed his chest—just lightly, just to steady herself—his breath hitched.

Her hand stayed there.

Right over his heartbeat.

“Kael…”

Her voice was soft, like she was afraid to break the moment.

He lifted his hand and placed it gently over hers, pressing her palm harder against his racing heart.

“This is what you do to me,” he said. “Every time you’re near.”

Rose’s cheeks flushed, but she didn’t pull away.

He leaned in, lowering his forehead to hers again, but this time his hand slid to her waist, pulling her just a little closer… close enough that she felt the powerful rise and fall of his breathing.

Her body melted into the warmth of him.

“Tell me to stop,” he murmured into her hair.

She curled her fingers into his shirt. “I won’t.”

Kael inhaled sharply, as if the words burned him beautifully.

His nose brushed her cheek, slow and soft, tracing down to the corner of her jaw.

Rose gasped, her legs weakening when he whispered against her skin:

“You’re driving me crazy.”

His hands moved—one resting at the small of her back, the other lifting her chin with unexpected gentleness.

She leaned into his touch like she’d been waiting for it her whole life.

“Kael,” she breathed.

He smirked slightly, voice low. “Say my name again.”

“Kael…”

That did it.

He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her flush against him.

Her heart hammered wildly, matching his.

Their lips hovered—so close she could feel his breath trembling with restraint.

“I shouldn’t,” he whispered.

“But you want to,” she whispered back.

His thumb stroked her cheek, his eyes burning into hers with raw, unguarded desire.

“Yes,” he admitted. “More than you know.”

Rose’s gaze fell to his lips for just a second.

He noticed.

His control snapped.

Kael tilted her head up—slow, deliberate—his lips brushing the corner of her mouth, feather-light, testing her, asking without words.

Rose exhaled a shaky, desperate sound that made him groan softly.

“Rose…”

He whispered it like a prayer.

Then his lips moved—slowly, dangerously—toward hers.

Their mouths almost met—

A breath apart.

A heartbeat apart.

One single moment from a kiss that would change everything.

He whispered against her lips:

“If I kiss you now… I won’t be able to stop.”

Rose’s fingers slid up his chest, curling around the back of his neck.

“Then don’t stop.”

His lips brushed hers—

And then—

A growl echoed through the trees.

Not his.

Someone was watching.

And wanted Rose dead.

Kael’s eyes snapped open, glowing silver.

He pulled her behind him, muscles rigid, protective and furious.

The moment shattered.

But the desire didn’t.

And neither did the bond.

---