Chapter 1
The first time I saw the wolf, I thought I was dreaming.
The second time, I knew I wasn't.
And the third time, it came to my window.
I woke to the sound of something scratching against the glass.
Three slow scratches.
Then silence.
I lay perfectly still beneath my blankets, staring into the darkness of my bedroom.
My heart hammered.
Another scratch.
This one louder.
I reached for my phone on the nightstand.
2:13 a.m.
Outside, rain battered the windows of the old house I'd inherited from my grandmother. The storm had been raging for hours, turning the surrounding forest into a wall of black shadows.
I told myself it was a branch.
It had to be.
The house was surrounded by trees.
Branches scratched windows all the time.
I turned onto my side.
Then I heard breathing.
Not mine.
Something was breathing on the other side of the glass.
Slow.
Deep.
Human enough to terrify me.
I grabbed the flashlight beside my bed.
"Who's there?"
Nothing.
I swallowed.
"Hello?"
A shape moved outside.
I froze.
The flashlight slipped from my hand.
Two enormous eyes appeared beyond the window.
Silver.
Glowing silver.
The creature stepped forward.
Moonlight spilled across its face.
It was a wolf.
But no wolf I'd ever seen was that large.
Its shoulders were nearly level with my windowsill, its black fur soaked by rain. Its muzzle was streaked with something dark.
Blood.
I stumbled backward.
The wolf stared directly at me.
It didn't snarl.
It didn't attack.
It simply watched me.
Then it lowered its head.
Something hung from its mouth.
A silver chain.
My grandmother's necklace.
The one I'd buried with her six months ago.
"No."
I shook my head.
"That's impossible."
The wolf dropped the chain.
It landed against the glass.
I stared at it.
A tiny crescent-moon pendant swung from the chain.
My grandmother had worn that necklace every day of her life.
I remembered placing it around her neck before the funeral.
I remembered the coffin being sealed.
The wolf raised one enormous paw.
It touched the glass.
A strange warmth spread through the window.
Then something happened that made my blood turn cold.
The wolf spoke.
Not with its mouth.
Inside my head.
**Run, Elena.**
I screamed.
The wolf vanished.
I bolted upright.
The room was empty.
The window was closed.
The rain continued falling.
For several seconds I couldn't move.
Then I noticed something on the floor.
The silver necklace.
I slowly stepped toward it.
My hands trembled as I picked it up.
The pendant was warm.
And carved into the back were words I'd never seen before.
**The Moon remembers its blood.**
A sound came from downstairs.
A door closing.
My breath stopped.
Someone was inside the house.
I grabbed my phone and crept toward the bedroom door.
Another sound.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Coming up the stairs.
I locked the door.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
The footsteps stopped outside.
Then came three knocks.
My grandmother's voice whispered from the other side.
"Elena."
I nearly collapsed.
My grandmother had been dead for six months.
"Open the door."
I backed away.
"You're not my grandmother."
Silence.
Then the voice changed.
It became deeper.
Male.
Dangerous.
"Good."
I stared at the door.
"You finally learned not to trust what you hear."
The handle began to turn.
I ran.
I threw open the window and climbed onto the narrow roof outside.
Cold rain struck my face.
I didn't care.
Anything was better than whatever was inside.
I climbed down onto the porch roof and jumped into the garden.
Pain shot through my ankle.
I limped toward the forest.
Behind me, the bedroom window shattered.
Glass rained onto the ground.
I looked back.
A man stood inside my bedroom.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Completely dressed in black.
His eyes glowed gold.
He stared at me through the broken window.
And then he smiled.
Not kindly.
Not cruelly.
Like he'd finally found something he'd spent years searching for.
"Run, little Moonborn."
I stopped breathing.
I had never heard that word before.
Moonborn.
Th
e man stepped through the broken window.
And somewhere deep inside the forest, something answered him with a howl.
Not one wolf.
Hundreds.
I ran.
But as I disappeared beneath the trees, one terrible thought followed me.
He knew my name.
And somehow...
I knew his.
**Damien.**
