PROLOGUE
The smell of blood consumed Black Hollow Forest.
A pale crimson moon hung above the endless pine trees while two packs, Ashenmoor and Ravenclaw, slaughtered each other beneath the heavy midnight fog. Growls, howls, and the sickening sound of snapping bones echoed endlessly through the forest. The wet ground had turned into black mud mixed with blood.
At the center of the war stood Alpha Cain, his hands stained red as he faced the Ravenclaw Alpha kneeling weakly before him. His golden eyes glowed beneath the moonlight, the mark of an Alpha standing at the peak of his power.
One more step, and the three-month war would finally end.
But before Cain’s claws could reach the other Alpha’s throat, something fell from the sky above the forest.
CRACK!!!
The ground shook violently. Pine trees swayed around them. Every werewolf froze instantly.
The fog slowly parted.
And within it stood a massive black figure with two burning red eyes glowing from the darkness.
Not a werewolf.
Its movements were too wild. Its aura felt too ancient. And its scent...
Unfamiliar...
There was no pack scent. No territorial mark. No trace of an Alpha.
Only the smell of cold rain, blood, and something so unnatural that no instinct could recognize it.
The creature breathed heavily, almost painfully. As if its own body was destroying itself from the inside.
Then it slowly lifted its muzzle toward the moon.
And when it roared, the world shook around them.
It was not an ordinary howl. Not the cry of a wolf calling its pack. The sound exploded from its chest like something buried for thousands of years had finally broken free. A violent wave of pressure burst in every direction, slamming into the chest of every werewolf who heard it.
Pine leaves scattered from the branches.
The ground beneath the Lycan cracked apart in a perfect circle.
The warriors still standing instinctively lowered themselves. Some collapsed to their knees, not because of injuries, but because the pressure of that roar crushed against their bones like gravity multiplying around them.
The closest Gamma of Ashenmoor suddenly felt blood pouring from his nose.
An Omega in the back lines fainted instantly.
That was not a warning roar. Not a challenge.
It was the roar of a creature biologically born to stand at the top of the food chain while everything else, even Alphas, existed merely as slower prey.
Cain felt it deep in his bones. His Alpha instincts screamed at him to kneel. To submit.
He refused. But his legs trembled anyway.
And then the creature attacked. The first Ravenclaw werewolf it touched was launched into a pine tree with the horrifying sound of crushing bones. Screams immediately filled the forest.
The creature did not choose sides. It attacked everything that moved.
Ashenmoor.
Ravenclaw.
Everyone.
"WHAT IS THAT?!" an Ashenmoor Gamma shouted.
No one answered. Because no one knew.
The creature moved too fast. One second it was on the ground, the next it was tearing through a Beta’s shoulder. Blood sprayed into the fog. Several werewolves tried to surround it.
Fatal mistake. One body was thrown across the battlefield with its neck twisted backward. A massive claw slammed into another warrior’s chest until bones collapsed beneath the impact.
There was no technique. No strategy. Only raw brutality.
Like an ancient predator that had suddenly awakened and panicked at the sight of the world around it.
The Ravenclaw Alpha lunged forward furiously, his blue eyes glowing brightly. "YOU DAMN MONSTER!" His aura exploded outward.
But the creature did not retreat. It charged directly at him. Claws. Blood. The sound of flesh tearing open.
The Ravenclaw Alpha’s eyes widened as a crimson claw pierced straight through his chest. His massive body collapsed. Dead in a single strike.
Silence instantly fell across the battlefield.
Now they understood. The thing standing before them was not a rogue. It was something far worse.
"Lycan..." Cain’s Beta whispered pale-faced.
The word spread through the battlefield like poison.
Lycan. A legendary creature. A monster even Alphas feared.
And now the monster slowly turned toward Cain. Its red eyes looked wild. Unstable. Terrified. Its breathing was uneven. Its body trembled violently.
Afraid.
Cain realized it immediately.
The creature did not understand what was happening to itself.
But before he could think further, the Lycan attacked him.
The impact shattered the ground beneath them. Cain’s arm instantly went numb as he blocked the Lycan’s brutal strike. His golden eyes flickered, nearly dimming.
Strong. Far too strong.
The other werewolves could not even approach them. The monster’s aura alone was overwhelming.
Cain attacked back, attempting to force it down, but the Lycan moved like a beast incapable of feeling pain. Every strike was returned twice as violently.
Its claws nearly tore across Cain’s face before he finally caught its wrist.
And that was when Cain froze.
The scent... Closer now.
Beneath the blood and wildness, there was something softer. Sweet. Warm. Female.
Cain’s golden eyes widened.
Female?
The Lycan froze for the briefest second as Cain gripped its wrist.
And this time, Cain saw its eyes clearly.
Not monster’s eyes. The eyes of a creature terrified out of its mind.
Then another scent slammed into Cain so violently it tightened his chest.
Mate...
The Alpha instincts inside him immediately whispered the word.
His golden eyes brightened, not from power, but from shock.
Impossible!
There was no way the Moon Goddess could be cruel enough to give him a Lycan as a mate.
The female Lycan seemed to feel something too. She suddenly stumbled backward, clutching her chest as her massive body trembled violently, as though something inside her had just awakened.
Cain slowly stepped forward.
"Wait..."
Mistake, because the next second, the Lycan released another savage roar, not a roar of dominance this time, but one filled with fear, before disappearing into the darkness of the forest.
Gone. Leaving behind dozens of injured werewolves, one dead Alpha, a destroyed battlefield, and Alpha Cain standing motionless amidst blood and fog.
Cain ignored his Beta when he asked carefully, "Alpha... should we hunt it down?"
His eyes remained fixed on the darkness where the Lycan had vanished.
Female.
Lycan.
Mate.
Three words he had never imagined belonging in the same sentence.
His hand clenched into a fist. Then loosened.
Then clenched again. "Clean the battlefield," Cain finally said. "I... need to be alone."
He walked in the opposite direction of his pack. Not because he didn’t care. But because if he returned with them tonight, questions would follow him home. Questions he had no answers for.
