Chapter 4 THE HUNT BEGINS

The blood moon rose like a wound in the sky-wide, pulsing, and wrong.

From the moment it appeared, the scent of war began to taint the wind.

Raven knew something had changed the moment she woke.

She could feel it in her chest-a sharp tug, as if something ancient had snapped loose inside her and was now rushing toward her across miles of wilderness.

Not something.

Someone.

---

Darius slammed into the clearing, his eyes already glowing with feral gold.

"They've found you."

"Who?" Raven asked, even though she already knew.

"The Alpha Council's Hunters."

Behind him, Tavi emerged from the trees, panting hard, blood smudged on clothes.

"They're fast," he said. "Too fast. They were already in the valley."

Raven's heartbeat thundered. "How many?"

"Three now. More coming."

Darius unsheathed the blade strapped across his back-silver-edged, ancient. "One is a Shadowmancer. They track through spirit scent. If you've named your Hollow, they can feel the echo."

Raven cursed under her breath. "They're not just hunting me. They're hunting Ashra."

---

The forest became a blur.

Raven, Darius, and Tavi ran beneath the blood-soaked moonlight, shadows shifting with every motion. Somewhere behind them, trees cracked. A howl rose that wasn't wolf, but something twisted by sorcery.

"They're splitting up," Darius growled. "Trying to herd us."

Raven skidded to a stop. "Then we stop running."

Darius turned sharply. "What?"

"They won't stop. We fight now or we die later."

He looked at her, then at the sky, the blood moon bright in his eyes.

"Then we make a stand."

---

The chosen battlefield was an old grove-a ring of withered trees where moonlight pooled in silvery streaks. Raven dug her claws into the dirt, heart pounding.

Her blood boiled as Ashra stirred in her veins.

"Let me out," the Hollow whispered.

Not yet.

She needed control.

She needed clarity.

But the first Hunter arrived before she could breathe.

A blur of black and steel, the man crashed into the grove like a falling star-long coat whipping around his legs, his scent laced with salt and ash. His name, Raven learned later, was Verek.

A Council-trained killer.

He didn't speak. Just threw out his hand-and shadows leapt like blades.

Raven ducked, rolled, claws out.

Ashra roared inside her.

She didn't resist this time.

---

Power flared.

Her eyes glowed white.

Not golden. White.

Verek stumbled.

"You're awakened," he spat.

Raven didn't answer.

She moved.

Fast.

Faster than she ever had before.

Claws met steel. Magic met blood.

Tavi flanked from the side, nipping at the Hunter's heels while Darius struck low with his blade. The three of them fought like instinct, like wolves born from the same howl.

Verek was good.

But Raven was better.

And when her claws slashed across his chest, drawing blood, her Hollow surged forward.

Ashra took shape behind her-an echo, a phantom of flame and bone.

Verek stared in horror.

"No..."

Raven whispered, "Yes."

And ended it.

---

The forest went silent again.

But only for a moment.

A second howl rose-high and musical. A different sound.

Darius froze.

"Wraithcaller," he muttered. "Run."

But Raven didn't move.

She turned, eyes white-hot, and said, "No. I'm done running."

---

The next Hunter arrived in a swirl of mist-a woman, cloaked in moon-threaded armor, her skin painted with runes.

"Raven Cross," she said. "The Council demands your surrender."

Raven shook her head. "Then they'll be disappointed."

"Your Hollow blood is not a right. It's a sentence."

Raven's lip curled. "Funny. I was about to say the same to you."

---

The second battle was harder.

The Wraithcaller didn't fight like a wolf.

She fought like death.

Each blow shattered trees. Every strike echoed with banshee wails. Her magic turned shadows into blades and light into spears.

But Raven wasn't alone.

Ashra was rising-still ghost-like, but growing stronger.

And with every heartbeat, Raven began to sync with her.

She no longer fought as a girl afraid of losing control.

She fought as a Hollow Alpha becoming whole.

---

It ended in a flash of moonfire.

Raven drove her claws into the earth, pulling power from beneath the grove.

The Wraithcaller staggered, blinded.

And Darius struck.

His blade pierced through her armor, a clean, deadly blow.

She dropped.

The grove fell still again.

Two Hunters dead.

But Raven didn't feel victorious.

She felt watched.

---

Somewhere, deep in the mountains, Maedra-the Council's Seer-watched through a scrying flame.

"She's stronger than we predicted," she murmured.

The Alpha Lord at her side frowned. "Then we send the Marked Twins."

Maedra shook her head.

"No. We let her grow. Let the Hollow swell. When she's ripe with power... we cut her down."

---

Back in the grove, Raven knelt beside the bodies of the fallen Hunters.

"They were powerful," she said. "Disciplined. Loyal."

Darius nodded. "And if two are here, more will follow."

Tavi stepped closer. "We need allies."

Raven looked toward the north, toward the jagged mountain range.

"There's only one pack crazy enough to take in a Hollow."

Darius tensed. "The Bloodfangs."

Raven smirked. "Then that's where we're going.