Chapter 1 1

Moonlight spilled over the dense canopy of Blackwood Forest, bathing the treetops in silver. The night air carried the scent of damp earth and pine, but beneath it was something sharper-something primal. A presence lurked in the darkness, watching, waiting.

Serena Evermore stood at the edge of a narrow dirt road, her breath curling into the cool night air. The wind whispered through the trees, stirring strands of her dark hair as she pulled her jacket tighter around herself. She shouldn't have come here. Every instinct in her body screamed at her to turn back, but the dream-the vision-had been too vivid to ignore.

The same dream had haunted her for weeks. A pair of glowing golden eyes, locked on hers with an intensity that sent heat licking through her veins. A deep voice, raw and commanding, whispering her name like a vow. And then-darkness. A void so cold and endless it left her gasping for air.

She didn't know why, but she had felt compelled to follow it. Something was drawing her here, to this desolate stretch of forest, miles away from the city lights she had always known.

A sharp rustle in the underbrush snapped her attention back to the present. Her heart leaped into her throat as she turned sharply.

"Who's there?"

Silence. Then-another rustle.

Serena swallowed hard. She wasn't foolish enough to think she was alone.

The feeling of being watched intensified. A shiver crawled up her spine, but she refused to let fear take hold. She had seen things-visions, glimpses of futures yet to unfold. This moment, this exact moment, had been one of them.

Her fingers curled into fists as she took a slow step forward.

"Come out," she said, her voice steady despite the rapid thudding of her heart.

The forest exhaled a breath of silence. Then, from the shadows, a figure emerged.

He stepped into the pale glow of the moon, his movements fluid and controlled, like a predator stalking its prey.

Serena's breath hitched.

The man was tall-towering over her by at least a foot. His frame was all hard muscle, wrapped in a black shirt that clung to his body, the sleeves pushed up to reveal forearms dusted with dark hair. But it was his face that stole her breath. Sharp, chiseled features, a strong jawline, and full lips that were pressed into a thin, unreadable line. His hair was dark, tousled by the wind, but it was his eyes that pinned her in place.

Golden. Burning. Otherworldly.

The same eyes from her visions.

Serena felt her stomach twist. This wasn't possible. It had been a dream-a fragment of her subconscious playing tricks on her. And yet, here he was. Flesh and blood.

His gaze flicked over her, sharp and assessing.

"You shouldn't be here," he said, his voice low, edged with something dark.

Serena's fingers twitched. There was something dangerous about him, something that sent warning bells ringing in her mind. But there was also something else. A pull. A strange, magnetic force that made it impossible for her to look away.

"I-" she swallowed. "I had a dream. About you."

A muscle in his jaw ticked.

His expression remained unreadable, but his stance shifted-just slightly, as if her words had unsettled him.

"You dreamt about me."

It wasn't a question.

Serena nodded. "For weeks now. Your eyes. Your voice." She hesitated before adding, "Your name."

For a long moment, he said nothing. Then, almost reluctantly, he spoke.

"What did you see?"

Serena hesitated. The truth felt too heavy, too intimate to spill to a complete stranger.

"A darkness," she admitted. "Something cold. Dangerous. And you were there."

His lips pressed into a hard line. "You need to leave."

Serena blinked. "What?"

"You don't belong here."

She frowned, a spark of irritation flaring to life beneath her confusion. "I didn't come here by accident. I was meant to be here."

His gaze darkened. "You don't understand."

"Then make me understand."

Silence stretched between them, thick and charged. His golden eyes burned into hers, as if he were trying to decide whether she was a threat-or something worse.

Then, with a low growl, he stepped closer.

The air between them tightened, crackling with something she didn't have a name for.

"I don't know what you think you saw, but this place is dangerous," he said, his voice dipping into something almost gentle, though it was lined with steel. "And so am I."

Serena swallowed, her pulse hammering. She should have been afraid. Every instinct in her screamed that this man-whoever he was-was not safe.

But she wasn't afraid.

She was intrigued.

And that scared her more than anything else.