(Adrian POV)

The forest breathed differently when she was near.

I stood at the edge of the firelight, watching Lily huddle beneath the rough wool blanket I'd given her. The camp pulsed around us - leaves rustling, wind carrying whispers, the ground itself seeming to hum with a language only wolves understood.

But none of that mattered as much as the way she pulled that blanket tighter, her knuckles white against the fabric.

She was afraid. Of course she was. She'd watched me kill three men without breaking a sweat. She'd seen my eyes flash gold, seen the beast peek through the cracks in my control.

And yet, she hadn't run.

I should have sent her away. Should have pointed her toward the nearest settlement and told her to forget she'd ever seen me. But something in my chest - something that had nothing to do with the curse- tightened at the thought of her walking into the dark alone.

The fire crackled, spitting embers into the night. Lily flinched at the sound, and I felt it in my bones like an echo.

"You should rest," I said, my voice coming out rougher than I intended.

She looked up, and those brown eyes found mine across the distance. Big, dark, full of questions, I didn't know how to answer.

"I can't," she whispered. "It's too quiet."

I understood that. Silence had teeth when you'd survived the kind of night she had.

"Quiet is survival," I said, stepping closer. The wolf in me stretched beneath my skin, curious, wanting to know why this human didn't smell like fear the way she should. "You were almost raped. You watched men die. Quiet means you're still breathing."

"Quiet is when the bad things happen," she said, and her voice cracked just enough to make my jaw tighten.

I stopped walking.

For a moment, I just looked at her, really looked. Soft curves hidden beneath torn, oversized clothing. Long brown hair clinging to her face with sweat and dirt. A split lip, a bruised eye, but beneath all that damage, something else: resilience. Strength that didn't know how to quit.

She was beautiful in the way broken things are beautiful when they refuse to stay broken.

"Your name," I asked again, to be sure, sitting down beside her. Not close enough to touch, but close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from her body. Or maybe that was just the fire. I couldn't tell anymore.

"Lilian," she said. Then, softer. "Lily."

"Lily." I let the name settle on my tongue, tasting it. It felt fragile, like something I could crush if I held it too tightly. "I'm Adrian."

She nodded, her eyes searching my face as if trying to decide whether I was real or just another nightmare dressed in skin.

"I should be afraid of you," she said quietly.

"You should." I didn't soften it. Didn't lie to make her feel better. She deserved the truth.

"You tore those men apart like they were made of paper."

"They were," I said.

Her breath hitched. "And what are you made of?"

The question hung between us like smoke.

I wanted to tell her I was made of the same thing as other men - bone, blood, hope. But that would be a lie. I'd stopped being fully human the day I bit into that apple. The day Morgana pressed her hand to my chest and rewrote everything I was supposed to be.

"Bone. Blood. Curse," I said finally.

Lily's eyes widened, but she didn't look away. If anything, she leaned closer, as if my honesty had given her permission to stop pretending she wasn't terrified.

"You... saved me," she whispered. "And I don't think you even wanted to."

"I didn't," I admitted.

The words should have hurt her. I could see the flicker of pain cross her face. But then something else replaced it - understanding. She knew what it was like to be forced into choices you didn't ask for.

Silence settled between us again. But this time, it wasn't empty. It was full of all the things we weren't saying.

Then I stood. "Come. I want to show you something."

***

We walked through the forest in silence.

I moved the way I always did - silent, sure-footed, every sense on high alert. Lily struggled behind me, barefoot and bruised, but she didn't complain. Didn't ask where we were going. She just followed, and something about that trust - unearned, unasked for, made my chest ache.

I should have sent her away. Should have pointed her toward safety and watched her walk out of my life.

But I kept walking deeper into the trees, and she kept following.

When we broke through the clearing, I heard her breath catch.

The pool stretched out before us, fed by a soft waterfall that poured over mossy rocks. Moonlight turned the water silver-blue, and all around the edges, white flowers bloomed - night blossoms that only opened when the world went dark.

"It's beautiful," she breathed.

I stood back, letting her look. "This is where I come when the wolf tries to rise."

She turned to face me slowly, her big brown eyes searching mine. "You mean... when the curse takes over?"

I nodded.

"I don't always win," I said.

She stepped closer, and I felt every inch of distance between us like a physical thing. Moonlight painted her face in shades of silver and shadow, highlighting the bruise on her cheek, the determination in her jaw.

"You're always in control," she said. "Aren't you?"

I looked down at her.

My voice dropped, rough as gravel scraping stone. "No. Control is an illusion. One I bleed for every single day."

Our eyes met. Her breath shook, but she didn't step back.

I could smell her fear, yes, but something else underneath. Something that made the wolf in me pause and tilt its head, curious.

"You're holding something back... now," she whispered.

My eyes flared, silver lighting the space between us.

"You smell like fear," I said, my voice tight. "Like grief. And something else."

I stepped closer.

"Adrian-"

"Do you know what it's like?" I asked, low and dangerous. "To want to touch something and know that the moment you do, you might destroy it?"

Her heart hammered against her ribs - I could hear it, feel it in the air between us.

"I do," she said, and her honesty hit me like a fist.

She stepped forward, and her foot slipped on the wet stones at the edge of the pool.

I caught her wrist - hard, rough, hot and pulled her back from the water's edge.

For a moment, we just stood there. My hand wrapped around her wrist. Her pulse thundered beneath my fingers. The night holding its breath.

And then she did something I didn't expect.

She put her other hand over mine, gently. Like she was taming something wild.

"You don't frighten me," she whispered.

My eyes searched hers - furious, desperate, fragile in a way I'd never let anyone see.

"Don't say that." I snarled, yanking my hand free and stepping back. "Don't lie to yourself."

"I'm not lying."

I turned away, disappearing into the shadows at the edge of the clearing.

"You don't know what I've done," I said, my voice raw. "What I've become."

"I saw it," she said, and I heard her footsteps coming closer.

"You saw a glimpse. One night. One moment." I faced her fully, letting her see the wildness in my eyes. "One day, the wolf won't stop at the enemy. It'll turn on anyone. Everyone."

Even you.

I didn't say it, but the words hung between us anyway.

Lily stepped toward me despite the warning in my voice, despite every instinct that should have told her to run.

"You saved me," she said again. "And I think you keep saving people while refusing to believe you're capable of it."

"I kill people, too."

"You kill monsters," she corrected.

I turned to face her fully, and my eyes were burning with something I couldn't name.

"I am the monster, Lily."

But there was something in my tone. Not pride. Not even pity.

A confession.

Her mouth parted. "You don't want to be."

The silence after that was so deep, I could hear my own heartbeat.

She stepped closer and put her hand on my arm. I felt my breath catch, felt every muscle in my body go rigid.

"I don't know what this is between us," she whispered. "But I'm not afraid."

My eyes dropped to her lips. My jaw locked. I leaned forward - just an inch, just a breath until we were close enough that I could feel the warmth of her skin.

And then I stopped.

I stepped back.

"No," I said, my voice rough. "I won't touch you. Not tonight."

Lily didn't argue. She just stood there, watching me fight whatever war was raging inside my chest.

She didn't need me to kiss her. Not yet. But I knew without a doubt that the wolf inside me wasn't her enemy.

And that Adrian Vukan was already hers, whether I wanted to admit it or not.

***

Later, back at camp, I watched her from the shadows.

She sat by the fire Ina had built for her, wrapped in that same rough blanket. Her eyes were heavy with exhaustion, but she didn't sleep. Couldn't, probably. Not after everything she'd seen.

Marek appeared beside me, silent as smoke.

"You're staring," he said.

"I'm watching," I corrected.

"Same thing when you look at her like that."

I didn't answer.

"She's trouble," Marek continued, but his voice held no judgment. Just observation. "The pack will smell it on you."

"They already do."

He was quiet for a moment, then continued, "You sure about this?"

I looked at him. "About what?"

"Keeping her. Bringing her into this world."

I turned my gaze back to Lily. She was staring into the flames, her profile soft in the firelight. Something in my chest loosened just watching her breathe.

"I'm not sure about anything," I said quietly. "But sending her away feels like the wrong choice."

Marek grunted. "Your curse-"

"I know."

"The prophecy-"

"I know."

He sighed. "Then at least make sure she knows what she's walking into."

I nodded.

But as I watched Lily pull that blanket tighter around her shoulders, as I felt the wolf inside me settle into something that almost felt like peace, I realized the truth:

She already knew.

And she'd chosen to stay anyway.