Chapter one

Standing at the edge of the dense forest, Luna Reyne felt her breathing even as she took in the tree line. Crisp was the air-the kind that made skin tingle, heightening your senses. She had lived in this territory for years now, ever since running from the life she once knew. But today, something felt off. It was a still forest, with no sign of life, standing still-as if it were in a state of held breathing in a very uncanny manner.

Her hand instinctively clutched the dagger strapped to her thigh, a nervous habit years in the making. Always be ready-that was her new motto, at least. Luna wasn't the same woman who had left her old pack in tatters. She had been weak then, blinded by love, easily broken. But now? Now she was a warrior-her new pack well-respected, a bastion of strength and resilience.

"Luna heard a noise and tensed up. She listened closely and knew someone was coming. Her instincts took over, and she quickly hid behind a tree. She looked around the tree trunk, trying to see who it was.

Then she saw him

Damien.

Her heart sank, cold washing over her in a wave of shock. It had been years since she'd last seen him, hadn't even heard his name spoken in this territory. Yet here he was, not fifty feet away, the tall imposing figure impossible to mistake. He looked just as she had remembered: broad shoulders, dark hair, and those piercing blue eyes that once made her feel she was the only thing that mattered in the world.

But it was those very eyes that had shattered her heart.

As a thousand questions whirred in her brain, the dagger started to firm up its hold, and she forced them all away, making herself focus. This was no time for emotions. Damien was dangerous, and she could not afford to let her guard down.

Damien's eyes pursed across the landscape below him-searching, hunting. Luna held her breath and silently willed that he wouldn't find her, but then as if inevitable, he ended up locking onto her hiding spot. Luna's heart just sank. She stepped out from behind the tree, hardening in preparation for his gaze. There was no use in hiding now.

Luna," Damien's voice was low, deeper it seemed, carrying in its timbre much of the command it once had when it could summon entire wolf armies. It was a voice she once trusted. A voice that once made her feel safe. Now, it only reminded her of his betrayal.

"Luna," he spoke in that low rumbling voice that once had commanded legions of wolves, voices she used to believe in-voices that once made her feel safe. Now, memories of that voice only brought betrayal.

"Damein," she returned coolly, even as her stomach churned a storm inside her. "What brings you here?

He took another step closer, his movements languid, almost deliberate, as if he approached some sort of feral animal. In his manner, at least, he did. Luna wasn't the meek and submissive girl he once knew, and he seemed to sense that. There was a flicker of something in his eyes-heatedness, perhaps, or even regret-but it was gone the instant it came.

"I came to bring you back," he stated as a matter of fact, as if it was one of those statements right up there with saying the sky was blue.

Luna's mouth twisted in a wry curve. "Back? After all these years, you think you can just pop up and I'll come running back to you?"

Damien's jaw clenched. "You belong with the pack, Luna. You belong with me."

She shook her head. Her voice had gone tight and mingled with anger: "I stopped being yours on the day you decided power was more important than me. I am not the same girl you left behind, Damien, and I've built a new life-a better one it is-and it is one I am not going to let you screw up.

He moved closer, eyes shadowing further. "You don't understand, Luna. It's changed. There're consequences to what you pulled off-consequences you can't just run away from."

Luna bridled at the words. "I didn't run away. I escaped. There's a difference.

For one second, the stiffness in Damien's eyes flexed and allowed her a glint of the man she once loved to seep through. "You think I don't regret what happened? I made a mistake, Luna. I chose the pack because I thought it was right, but I have paid for it every day since you left.".

A pang of sorrow pierced Luna, but she quickly smothered it beneath layers of anger and self-preservation. "It's too late for regrets, Damien. You made your choice, and I made mine. There's nothing left to talk about.

Damien was far from done. He closed the space between them, a few feet now; Luna could feel it by the set of his frame, the plea within his eyes. "You're wrong. There's so much left to say. I didn't come all this way just to walk away empty-handed. I came to bring you back, and I'm not leaving without you.".

Fear and anger coiled through her, tangling inside of her as her heart thundered in her chest. "You don't get to decide my fate, Damien. Not any more."

Without warning, Damien reached out and grasped her arm in a hold that sent a jolt of electricity running right through her. Luna instinctively whipped out her dagger and pressed it against his throat. At the feel of cold steel connected with his skin, Damien froze, eyes wide in surprise.

"Let go," Luna hissed, deadly calm.

For one silent moment, neither gave an inch, the forest hushed and still, while they waited for the fallout of tension between them. Slowly then, Damien let her arm go, his hands rising in a gesture of surrender.

"Luna," he whispered thickly, "I don't want to hurt you. I just want to make things right."

She lowered the dagger but did not let her guard down. "It's too late for that," she said, firmness lacing her voice. "You need to leave, Damien. Whatever it is you came here for isn't going to happen. I am not that girl anymore, and I am not going anywhere with you.".

He stared at her then, his face a picture of frustration-something more, something closer to sorrow. But he didn't fight it. He nodded resignedly and took a step back, his eyes clinging to hers stubbornly.

"This isn't over, Luna," he whispered. "I'll give you time, but I'm not giving up. I'll be back.

She watched him disappear into the darkness of the woods with her heart racing, much like her mind. Luna did know one thing, though-Damien had not lied. This was far from over.

But standing in the quiet of the woods, one thing Luna did know for sure was that she was no longer that same girl he had left behind. Whatever came her way this time, well, she was ready.