Eike’s POV

She’s cold.

Too cold for someone alive.

Her body lies limp in my arms, her skin pale beneath the flickering moonlight. I can still feel the pulse — faint, and erratic, but it’s still there. 

That shouldn’t be possible. It can’t be.

I killed her.

The memory slices through me — my claws dripping red, her scream echoing in the burning ruins. I remember the order I gave, the lie that justified it. I told myself she was a threat, a mistake the Moon made.

But the truth? I was afraid of her.

Now here she is, breathing against me like the dead have learned to mock the living.

“Alpha,” Riven’s voice cuts through the silence, uncertain. “What do we do with her?”

My jaw tightens. “She’s not a rogue.”

“She attacked…”

“She defended herself,” I snap before I can stop myself. My wolves shift uneasily in the shadows, waiting for command. None of them dare approach. They can feel it too — that strange hum in the air, the same power that tore through the rogues. It still lingers around her, raw and ancient.

I glance down again. Her lashes twitch as if she’s dreaming. Her scent hits me — moonfire and rain, faint but unmistakable. The bond trembles under my skin, restless and unwilling to die.

It’s her.

“Bring the healer,”“Now.” I order, my voice low. 

Riven hesitates. “Eike…”

“Now.”

He runs, I stay. I don’t trust anyone else near her. The forest grows quieter around us, almost reverent. My wolf, Korr, presses against my mind, restless.

She’s ours.

“No,” I whisper to the voice inside me. “She was ours.”

The bond pulses again, defiant. I feel it burning beneath my palm as I touch her wrist. Her heartbeat stutters, matching mine for a second. My chest tightens painfully.

When the healer finally arrives, her eyes widen. “Alpha… her aura…”

“I see it,” I say flatly.

“She’s…”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

We carry her back to the stronghold under the moon’s watch. Every step feels like I’m walking backward through time — to the night everything broke, the night she died in my arms.

But this time, she breathes.

And somehow, I already know… this isn’t mercy. It’s punishment.

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Saige’s POV

The forest holds its breath.

I feel it — the silence before a storm, the air so tight it hums in my veins. Every sound, every heartbeat seems sharper, heavier. Eike’s hand brushes mine again, light and almost careless, but the fire it sends through me is anything but. It crawls beneath my skin, blazing through my bones, setting my pulse alight. Recognition floods me without memory — a claim I shouldn’t feel, a tether that death should have broken.

My wolf stirs, claws flexing inside me, snarling for air, for him. The sound escapes my throat in a low growl I barely choke back. I try to speak, but the words tremble before they even form. “I…” My voice cracks. I swallow, forcing the tremor down, fighting against the flashes clawing at the edge of my mind — fire, blood, a scream swallowed by darkness. 

“I… I don’t know who I am,” I whisper at last. It’s a lie, half-true at best, but I remember dying, I remember him.

Eike’s eyes narrow, his jaw tightening as if he senses the deceit buried beneath my words. For the first time, I see uncertainty flicker across his features. The Alpha who never hesitates now looks… almost human. His wolf growls low, a vibration that shivers through the ground beneath us. I feel it like a second heartbeat inside me — wild, ancient, familiar.

“You’re… different,” he murmurs, voice rough, uncertain. His golden eyes search me, reading something I can’t even understand about myself. I try to look away, but the weight of his stare holds me captive again. Suspicion and longing, caution and hunger — all tangled together.

My chest tightens until I can barely breathe. My wolf thrums against my ribs, claws scraping at the walls of my mind. One wrong move, one breath too deep, and she’ll burst free — and then the bond will finish what death couldn’t.

The pack doctor steps forward, voice trembling. “Her healing… it’s unlike anything I’ve seen,” she whispers to Eike. “There’s something divine about it. Definitely not normal.”

My pulse skips. Divine? That word feels foreign, too heavy, too close to the truth I can’t name.

Eike glances at her, his senses sharpening. I see the understanding flicker between them — this isn’t ordinary. I’m not ordinary. There’s something inside me humming with power, something neither of us can control.

“Stay close,” he orders, his tone sharper now, more Alpha than man. The rogues are gone, but I can still feel their eyes in the dark. The forest never sleeps.

I obey, stepping closer, close enough to feel his heat through the air. My body hums like a live wire. The world feels different — brighter, sharper. The rustle of the trees, the pulse of the earth, even the moonlight feels alive, touching me like a lover’s hand. Death didn’t just return me to life, It changed me.

A snap of branches tears through the quiet. Instinct takes over. Eike and I freeze, muscles coiled, senses locked on the darkness. My wolf rises instantly, claws unsheathing inside me, ready to protect what she shouldn’t want to protect. It is nothing.

“You’re not just a girl lost in the forest,” he says finally, his voice low, rough around the edges. “There’s… something about you. Something familiar.”

My throat tightens. I force a shaky laugh. “You mean… I’m strange?” My attempt at humor falls flat, cracking like thin glass.

His gaze doesn’t waver. “Strange?” he echoes softly. “No, more than that. Dangerous.” His voice lowers, and when the next word leaves his lips, it burns through me like a brand. “And… mine.”

The sound cuts straight through me and my breath falters. My wolf howls deep inside, clawing at my ribs in wild recognition. Mine. The word trembles in my bones. I shouldn’t feel this. I shouldn’t want this. But the universe doesn’t seem to care.

Then it happens, his hand touches mine once again. All it takes is one touch or breath of contact to cause the world to blow apart.

My breath is taken away from me as a pulse of raw energy rips through my chest between us. The bond vibrates between us like lightning as it screams to life, wild and unstoppable. I feel my pulse slam against my ribs and my knees become wobbly.

Golden and wild, Eike's eyes meet me, burning with a question he's too scared to ask. I can feel his conflict — that Alpha control slipping, his wolf prowling close to the surface. Every heartbeat between us feels like a pull, a magnetic force I can’t resist no matter how hard I try.

“You… you feel it too,” he murmurs. His voice trembles just slightly, a dangerous softness beneath the power.

My throat tightens. I want to deny it, to build walls before the truth devours me, but my body betrays me. My hands tremble and my pulse races. “I… I don’t know what’s happening,” I whisper, though part of me does. Deep down, beneath the fear and confusion, my wolf knows him, knows us.

The moon spills through the canopy, silver light touching his face — and something inside me aches. I shouldn’t feel this way. Not for him, not for the man whose claws once tore through my flesh.

But fate is cruel and fate has a twisted sense of humor.

Eike hesitates, jaw tight. “You’re not what you seem,” he says slowly, voice sharp but uncertain. “There’s something about you… something I should remember.”

The words cut through me. I step back, too quickly, heart hammering. I see flashes — fire, blood, his eyes burning with fury and pain. I smell smoke, hear my own scream swallowed by the flames. I shouldn’t be here, I shouldn’t be alive.

A crack splits the air — a branch snapping nearby. Instinct takes over. My wolf surges up, claws flexing inside me again. Eike shifts instantly, posture hardening, body angled between me and the sound. Every part of him radiates Alpha — danger, control, power.

“Stay behind me,” he orders again, voice sharp as steel.

But the forest doesn’t feel like it’s hunting him. It’s watching us. I can sense it — the way the trees seem to lean closer, the way the shadows vibrate with energy that’s far older than any pack.

The pack doctor moves quietly behind us, whispering to herself, “This connection… It's divine. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

For the second time, her words make my stomach twist. Divine. I can still feel that strange light under my skin, shimmering, humming — something more than wolf, more than mortal. I can’t explain it and I can’t really control it.

Eike turns to me, his eyes fierce and too honest. “You are mine,” he says, voice low, almost broken. “I don’t understand it. I can’t explain it but you are mine.”

The words steal my breath and my wolf roars in response, claws scraping, heart howling. The sound vibrates inside my chest, a truth my mind wants to deny but my soul already accepts.

Then the world shifts.

The air thickens again, the shadows deepen, and a low, deliberate howl echoes through the forest. It’s close — too close. My wolf growls deep in my chest, ready to fight one more time.

Eike’s shoulders tense, his scent changing — sharp, dominant, protective. He moves in front of me, muscles coiled, eyes glowing gold with fury. I can feel his energy wrapping around me like a shield.

But I’m not helpless anymore. The power that hums inside me rises to the surface, wild and bright. My hands tremble as light flickers along my fingers, glowing faintly like moonfire. I can feel my wolf clawing to be free, her voice whispering through my mind — Protect him. Claim him.

The shadow moves. Eyes gleam and claws flash.

Without thinking, I raise my hands. Power floods through me, a raw surge that tears through every nerve. The ground trembles, the trees seem to bow, and the moonlight sharpens into a blade.

Eike grabs my wrist — and everything explodes.

Light erupts between us, blinding and wild, pure energy snapping through the air. The bond flares so violently I can barely breathe. My heart slams against my ribs, his scent fills my lungs, and the world feels like it’s on fire.

We stand there, caught in the blast of something ancient and unstoppable.

I meet his eyes — and I know.

Nothing will ever be the same. Fate has found us again and this time, it’s not letting go.