Jenna’s POV

“Ryker!” I screamed in agony, my voice cutting through the forest like a blade.

He froze.

His body stiffened as he turned around, eyes wide in shock. Katharine followed his gaze, and the second she saw me, her expression dropped. Guilt crashed over her like a wave. They both scrambled apart in panic. Ryker pulled on his pants, his fingers fumbling with the buttons, while Katharine bent down, grabbing her clothes with shaking hands.

I stood there in silence, my mouth slightly open, my heart shattered in my chest. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I could only stare at the two people I loved most as they rushed to cover their betrayal. Tears ran down my cheeks, falling faster than I could wipe them away. I shook my head, taking a step back, then another, like distance could somehow protect me from what I had just seen.

“Jenna, wait, please!” Ryker called out, stepping toward me, his voice pleading. “It’s not what it looks like!”

Katharine’s eyes were wide. “Jenna, I didn’t mean for this to happen. It was a mistake. I swear it was a mistake. Please, just listen to me!”

But I didn’t want to listen.

I had seen enough.

I kept backing away, my chest rising and falling as if I couldn’t get air. My heart screamed louder than my voice ever could.

Suddenly, in that very moment, the atmosphere changed.

The air shifted. It got colder without warning, and that was a sign. We had all felt that way before. The trees stopped moving. The forest became still and quiet, like everything was frozen in place.

Ryker stiffened, his nose lifting to the air. “Something’s wrong,” he muttered.

But before he could finish his sentence, I saw them.

Shadows moved behind me, silent and fast, sliding between the trees like smoke. The feeling hit me first, more intensely. The cold crawled up my spine. My wolf, Lila, stirred in the back of my mind, growling low.

Ryker’s voice turned into a roar. “Vampires!”

My breath caught. Katharine gasped behind him, and all three of us turned in different directions, searching through the darkness.

Then a figure shot out from the trees. A tall man with pale skin, dark eyes, and a strong jaw rushed toward Ryker with blinding speed. Ryker barely managed to turn before the vampire slammed into him. They hit the ground hard, rolling and snarling. Ryker shifted partially, his claws tearing at the vampire’s side. Blood splattered the grass as Ryker kicked him back and scrambled to his feet.

More shadows moved around us. In that moment, it became clear. It wasn’t just one vampire. It was an attack. They had taken the forest by siege.

Ryker turned toward me. “We need to run. Now!”

He reached out, trying to grab my arm, but I pulled back from him like his touch would burn me.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I said sharply, my voice broken.

“This isn’t the time for your pride,” he snapped. “Do you want to die?”

Another vampire lunged. Ryker turned and slashed, and the creature shrieked as it was thrown back. Katharine tried to run to me, but Ryker grabbed her wrist.

“We have to go,” he said. “Now.”

“She’s my sister!” Katharine shouted. “We can’t just leave her!”

“She made her choice. And I am the Alpha. I forbid you from saying another word to her,” Ryker growled. “If she dies, it’s on her.”

He dragged Katharine away as she screamed my name, struggling in his grip. I saw her look back one last time, but Ryker didn’t stop.

They vanished into the trees.

I was alone.

The tears hadn’t stopped, but now they mixed with fear. The shadows were closing in. I could hear movement all around me, whispers I couldn’t understand, and the thud of silent footsteps on damp leaves.

I turned and ran.

My legs carried me faster than I thought they could. Branches slapped my skin. My lungs burned. I didn’t know where I was going. I just knew I had to keep moving.

I broke through a patch of trees and stumbled into a clearing.

Then I froze.

They were waiting for me.

Six of them,Vampires.

They stood in a half-circle, surrounding me, their eyes glowing like red embers. I stepped back, but I was already surrounded. One of them stepped forward.

“Your blood. I would want to have a taste…”

In that very moment, I freaked out.

My brain knew I couldn’t outrun them. Vampires were faster, stronger, and I was just an omega. But my legs moved anyway. I didn’t even think. I just ran. I ran from the pain, the betrayal, and the cold, creeping fear that I’d die out here alone.

Everything I saw back there was still burning in my head. Ryker. Katharine. Their bodies tangled under the moonlight. My mate. My sister. How could they? How could they leave me?

They didn’t even try to come back for me.

My throat ached like I’d been screaming, even though I hadn’t made a sound. My heart felt like it was cracking inside my chest with every beat. My wolf, Lila, was silent. That scared me more than anything.

The forest thickened as I ran deeper. Trees rose tall around me, old and massive, their branches twisting above and blocking out the moonlight. Everything turned darker. I couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead, but I didn’t stop.

That’s when I heard them.

I heard footsteps. They were fast, light, and didn’t sound human.

Then again, I heard voices.

“She’s close,” one hissed. “I can smell the heartbreak on her.” I heard him clearly, and I had no idea how he knew the state of my mind, but that was the least of my worries.

“She’s slowing down,” another said. “She’s tired. Good. Let her run herself dry.”

My stomach turned. I pushed harder, crashing through low-hanging branches. The cold in the air deepened. Not like normal cold. This was different. Heavier. Like the life around me was being sucked out one breath at a time.

I kept going. My chest burned, my legs screamed. But I couldn’t stop, and their voices kept reaching me from a distance.

“She’s scared,” one of them growled. “You hear that heartbeat? She knows she’s done.”

“She’s an omega,” another responded.

My foot caught on something. Maybe a root, maybe a stone. It didn’t matter. I hit the ground hard, face-first, knocking the wind out of my lungs. I gasped, coughing on dirt, trying to push myself up.

But I saw them.

They were coming. Glowing red eyes moved through the dark, closing in like a pack of wolves. My whole body locked up. My muscles stopped working.

This was it.

This was how I was going to die.

All of a sudden, something grabbed me.

A strong hand from nowhere yanked me backward, just as one of the vampires darted out between the trees. I was pulled toward the base of a rocky cliff. I tried to scream, but a second hand clamped over my mouth.

My body fought out of instinct, but the grip held tight. In seconds, I was pulled down beneath a wide, flat rock that jutted out from the cliff’s base. The figure—whoever it was—lay down beneath it, dragging me with him and shielding us both under its shadow.

His arm wrapped around my waist. His chest was cold against my back.

I struggled, terrified, heart racing. I tried to turn my head, tried to ask, “Who are you?” but my words were muffled against his hand. I barely got the sound out before he leaned in close and whispered against my ear.

“Don’t move. Don’t make a sound.”

Something about his voice made my body go still. Not out of fear, but because I believed him.

Footsteps crashed around us. Branches snapped above our heads.

“She was here!” one shouted.

“I saw her fall!” another snapped. “She should’ve been right here!”

“Where the hell did she go?” a third growled, sounding less sure now.

They were right above us. One of them stomped on the flat rock we were under. Dust rained down on my cheek.

“Bloodless trail,” one muttered. “She didn’t bleed. Maybe she jumped.”

“She wouldn’t survive the drop.”

“She’s dead,” one decided. “Let’s go.”

Then finally, I heard one of them say, “She’s not worth the effort. Let’s report back.”

Their voices faded slowly, their footsteps growing softer as they turned and slipped back into the woods. The cold air went with them.

We didn’t move. Not for a long time.

When I finally dared to lift my head, he was already watching me.

That’s when I saw his eyes.

They weren’t red. They didn’t glow like the others, the ones who chased me, who looked at me like I was nothing more than food.

No. His were different.

His eyes glowed faint white. Not bright or blinding, but soft like the light of a candle in the dark. Cold and calm. They didn’t scare me, but they didn’t feel human either. They felt… distant. As if they belonged to someone who had seen too much, lived too long.

But the strangest thing was, they weren’t full of hunger or rage. They were quiet, steady, and focused entirely on me. Like he was trying to read me. Like he was trying to find something hidden inside me.

I couldn’t look away.

He didn’t blink. He didn’t move. He just stared, and it felt like time had stopped around us. Like the wind, the noise, the fear, everything, had paused to let this moment happen.

And then I realized something: he wasn’t like the others.

His face was sharp, every part of it carved like stone. High cheekbones, strong jaw, and eyes that seemed to hold secrets. There was nothing soft about him, no warmth in his expression. And yet, there was something about his face that made it impossible to turn away.

He wasn’t handsome like the boys in love stories or fairy tales. He didn’t look like a prince or a hero. He looked like someone you were supposed to fear but somehow, I didn’t.

He was beautiful in a way I couldn’t explain. A kind of wild, dangerous beauty that didn’t ask for attention, it demanded it.

He slowly moved his hand away from my mouth.

I could’ve screamed. I could’ve run. But I didn’t.

I stayed frozen, standing still as the trees whispered around us. My heart was racing, but not because I was scared. It was because I didn’t understand.

Why hadn’t he hurt me?

Why was he looking at me like I was important? Like I mattered?

Everyone else had tried to break me. But not him. He had every chance to do something terrible, but he didn’t. He just stood there… waiting.

Then, without breaking eye contact, he leaned in a little closer—not too much, just enough that I could feel the chill of his breath on my skin. His voice came so quietly, it almost didn’t feel real.

But I heard it.

And I’ll never forget it.

“You found me,” he whispered.

Just three words. But they changed everything.

Because in that moment, I realized something else—something that sent a different kind of shiver through me.

He had been waiting for me.