I shouldn’t have been here.

If my father found out I’d snuck out again, he would lose his mind. Tomorrow was the Mating Ball the most important night of the year—and instead of preparing for it, instead of trying to find something decent to wear to Alpha Fabio’s castle, I was hiding inside an abandoned hut at the edge of the forest like a reckless girl chasing a dream too fragile to survive daylight.

The old wooden walls groaned each time the wind brushed against them. Dust clung to the air. Moonlight spilled through the cracks between the planks, painting silver streaks across the floor.

My heart pounded so hard it hurt.

Enzo should have been here already.

Two weeks.

Two painfully long weeks since I’d last seen him. Since I’d felt his touch. Heard his voice. And no matter how many times I told myself to be careful, to stop risking everything for stolen moments with the Alpha’s son, I still came running whenever he called.

Because Enzo was the only thing in my life that still felt beautiful.

I stared at the door, twisting my fingers together nervously.

Sometimes I imagined what it would be like if things were different. If we could walk openly through the streets of Mayvile together instead of hiding in forgotten places like criminals. If Alpha Fabio didn’t look at me like I was dirt beneath his boots.

But fate had never been kind to me.

My wolf had never awakened properly.

I could feel her inside me sometimes faint and distant, like a ghost trapped beneath my skin but I couldn’t shift. Couldn’t fully connect. To the pack, that made me defective. Weak. Worthless.

And being the illegitimate daughter of a fallen warrior only made it worse.

Once upon a time, my father had been respected.

Giovanni Greco the Black Blade Pack’s greatest warrior.

People used to speak his name with admiration. Fear. Pride.

My older sister inherited his strength effortlessly. Everyone believed I would too.

Then Healer Guido destroyed that illusion with a single sentence.

*Shrouded wolf.*

A wolf whose spirit would likely never awaken fully.

After that, everything changed.

The whispers.

The pity.

The disgust.

The way people looked through me instead of at me.

Our family fell apart piece by piece after that. My father drank more. My sister grew colder. And I learned quickly that weak wolves didn’t deserve kindness in Black Blade Pack.

Except from Enzo.

The door suddenly creaked open.

My breath caught instantly.

Enzo stepped inside, his broad frame filling the doorway before he locked it behind him. A crooked grin spread across his face as he pushed his ash-blond hair away from his forehead.

“Miss me?” he asked lazily.

My chest tightened at the sight of him.

Gods, I had missed him.

His gray shirt stretched across his muscular chest, sleeves rolled up to reveal strong forearms dusted with veins. Everything about him radiated confidence. Power.

The future Alpha.

And somehow… mine.

“You know I did,” I whispered.

His expression softened as he crossed the room toward me.

“I missed this,” he murmured, brushing his thumb across my lower lip.

My breath trembled.

“And this.”

His hand slid slowly down my throat, fingertips grazing the exposed skin above my dress.

Heat flooded my cheeks.

Then suddenly his mouth crashed against mine.

The kiss stole the air from my lungs.

Hungry. Possessive. Desperate.

I tangled my fingers into his soft hair as his tongue swept into my mouth, devouring every shaky sound I made. His hands gripped my waist hard enough to leave bruises before lifting me effortlessly against him.

I gasped as my legs wrapped around his hips automatically.

The table behind me creaked loudly when he set me down on it.

“Lie back,” he ordered roughly.

A shiver ran through me.

His gray eyes had darkened completely now, burning with something intense enough to make my pulse race. He stared at me like he wanted to consume me whole.

Slowly, I leaned back against the rough wood.

The splintered surface dug painfully into my skin, but I barely noticed with the way he was looking at me.

Enzo’s gaze dragged over my old dress with clear irritation before his fingers suddenly hooked into the fabric.

Riiip.

I gasped.

“Enzo!”

The front of my dress split straight down the middle.

He only smirked, eyes roaming over the thin undergarments beneath. “I’ll buy you another one.”

Anger flared instantly.

“This is the only decent dress I own,” I snapped, clutching the torn fabric together. “How am I supposed to walk home now?”

“You can wear my shirt.”

He pulled his own shirt off carelessly and tossed it aside.

My mouth went dry.

Moonlight traced every hard line of muscle across his chest and abdomen. He looked unfairly beautiful standing there like one of the powerful wolves from the old legends.

His hands slid up my thighs slowly.

“You think too much,” he murmured.

Panic suddenly curled inside my stomach.

I grabbed his wrists gently. “Enzo… not here.”

His expression shifted instantly.

“What?”

“I just…” My voice shook. “I don’t want my first time to happen in some dirty abandoned hut.”

For a moment, silence stretched between us.

Then he laughed.

Coldly.

“You want a palace instead, princess?”

The mockery in his voice stung.

I quickly sat up, trying to tie the ruined fabric together. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

I swallowed hard.

“Tomorrow is the Mating Ball,” I said quietly. “What if we’re mates? Everything could change after that. Your father couldn’t stop it if the Moon Goddess chose us for each other.”

The moment the words left my mouth, I realized how foolish they sounded.

Enzo’s eyes hardened.

“You really believe that?”

I looked away.

“I just thought maybe—”

“This place is still better than the pathetic shack you call home.”

The words hit like a slap.

Pain sliced through my chest instantly.

“You’re cruel sometimes,” I whispered.

Something flashed across his face, annoyance, maybe guilt but it disappeared quickly.

“Gianna,” he sighed, stepping closer again. His fingers tilted my chin upward. “Stop making this difficult.”

His voice dropped lower.

“Be a good girl for your future Alpha.”

My body betrayed me immediately, heat curling deep inside me at the sound of his voice.

But something inside me resisted.

I stepped back.

“Don’t do this,” I said softly. “Don’t take my dignity like this.”

A growl vibrated in his chest.

“I risk everything to see you,” he snapped. “And this is the thanks I get?”

I reached for him instinctively. “Enzo, I didn’t mean"

“Don’t touch me.”

The roar shook the tiny hut.

Before I could speak again, he grabbed his shirt and stormed out into the darkness.

“Enzo!”

The trees swallowed him whole.

Silence rushed in afterward, thick and painful.

I stood there shaking, humiliation burning through me.

Was I truly asking for too much?

I didn’t want luxury. I didn’t want jewels or castles.

I just wanted him to care enough to make my first time feel meaningful.

Enzo could have any girl in the pack.

So why did loving him always make me feel small?

I closed my eyes tightly.

“Tomorrow will fix everything,” I whispered to myself.

It had to.

But deep down, unease twisted quietly inside my chest.

I pulled my torn dress together with trembling fingers before stepping outside into the cold night air.

The forest was quiet.

Too quiet.

Instead of heading home, my feet carried me deeper between the trees without thinking. Past the pack borders. Past the familiar trails.

Until the lake appeared before me.

Moonlight shimmered across the water like liquid silver.

A cool breeze brushed against my skin, calming me slightly.

Tomorrow would change everything.

It had to.

Then

Snap.

A twig broke somewhere behind me.

I froze.

The entire forest suddenly fell still.

No insects.

No wind.

No sound.

And then I felt it.

Power.

Massive.

Ancient.

My pulse thundered as energy rolled through the trees like a living thing.

I wasn’t alone.

And whatever was out there…

was watching me.