Chapter 2 Two: The One Who Should Not Exist

Kalen's POV

The pains was the first thing he felt.

It pulled him from the darkness like a hook to the spine, dragging him upward, backward, into a body that felt like broken glass and fire.

His throat was raw. His limbs, dead weight. The curse inside him curled like smoke, stirring, hungry,

And then

A scent.

Soft and Wild.

Familiar in a way that made his gut twist her.

His eyes snapped open, vision swimming. The world was a blur of roots, stars, and silver-blue moonlight.

But the girl knelt before him was clear. Crystal-clear. Her hair is like dusk and firelight.

Eyes wide, earth-colored, afraid. She smelled like rain and wildflowers and something older, something his mate.

He didn't believe it, not truly. The Moon Godless had no love for cursed wolves.

And yet, the bond roar to life in his chest like a second heartbeat. It wasn't just instinct. It was true.

She touched him.

her power jolted through his skin.

Kalen's curse surged in his response.

No,

he rasped, choking on the heat clawing through his chest.

Don't

The girl recoiled, startled.

He didn't blame her.

He wasn't fit to be near her.

He wasn't fit to be near anyone.

He tried to move and nearly blacked out. Not yet. Not now. They had hunted him for days.

Ironfang wolves, those cursed bastards with their poisoned blades and blood-oath pacts. He should have died.

Maybe he still would.

But not before he understood what she was. "What's your name?" he managed to whisper.

E–Elara, " she said, voice trembling".

Elara!.

It echoed in his skull like prophecy. She had no idea what she'd done by touching him.

No idea what she was. He tried to rise again, and she caught his arm. Her touch was like moonfire. His curse hissed.

"You are burning," she said.

You need help.

He wanted to laugh. Help?

What could help a cursed alpha? Still... her voice did something strange to him.

It soothed the chaos. Like cold water over a forge.

"I can't stay here," he said.

They will come.

Who?

The Hunters.

Her eyes widened. She looked toward the trees like she suddenly understood just how far she'd stepped into the deep end.

I can get you to someone, she said quickly. "My guardian,Mira,

she's a healer."

Kalen winced.

The name twisted something in him.

An old memory.

Old magic.

He did not trust that name. But he didn't have a choice. He was bleeding too fast.

His body was losing the fight, and the curse was close to breaking free.

Elara slipped under his arm, trying to lift him.

Kalen's staggered, using his every last shred of strength to keep him from collapsing completely.

His mind spun. The forest tilted. Her scent wrapped around him like rope, soft and undeniable mate.

But she wasn't just a mate.

She was something more. Something ancient. Something dangerous.

He didn't know how he knew. He just did.

And if he'd found her... it meant others would too. They stumbled together through the forest.

The roots snagged his feet. His blood painted the leaves. The cursed mark on his chest pulsed with every step.

Elara did not flinch.

She kept going, kept carrying him, even as fear shadowed her face.

Her hands were shaking.

Her breath came fast.

But she did not run.

Mostly she would have left him dead, She didn't.

Suddenly the trees departed, reveal a clearing lift by flickering torchlight.

A small crooked cottage and stood at its heart, smoke rising from the chimney like a serpent.

His Herbs hung from the rafters. Bones strung over the doorway clinked in the wind.

A warded home.

He growled low.

This place is safe, she said quickly. "Please. Just... try to stay conscious."

The door creaked open before they reached it.

A woman stood there, older, sharp-eyed, wrapped in a cloak of ash-gray wool and suspicion.Her eyes locked on Kalen.

And her face changed.

You,

she hissed.

Kalen snarled weakly. "Mira." You should be dead. Not yet, he muttered.

Elara looked between them, confused. "You know him?" "Inside," Mira snapped, grabbing Elara's arm.

"Now.

Before it's too late." Kalen collapsed onto the nearest cot, his jaw clenched as Mira began to mutter and lay out supplies, runes, salves, crystals charged with moonlight.

Elara hovered at his side, worried, mira did not look at her, and did not speak to her.

She just glared at Kalen like he was the end of the world.

And maybe he faded in and out as the night wore on.

The pain came in waves. So did he curse. rising, falling, trying to rip free of its chains.

But Elara stayed. She held his hand once when he trembled too hard to breathe.

Her skin calmed the storm. Her presence grounded him. The mate bond, new and raw, wrapped around his soul like iron. Then, in the quiet, something suddenly shifted. He heard it.

Far away, but not far enough. A howl. Deep cold, Not wolves Hunters.

Kalen's eyes flew open, breath sharp. "They have found me," he growled. "And now... they have found her too."

The rogue shifted before his eyes, bones snapping, erupting from skin, his eyes glowing brighter than fire. She was beautiful in the most terrifying way, every inch of him lethal and wild.

I stumbled backward as the hunters emerged, snarling, surrounding us.

I should've run.

Instead, something inside me rose, a hum under my skin, ancient and sharp.

The mark on my wrist blazed.

The rogue, Kalen, lunged, meeting the first wolf mid-air. Claws clashed. Blood flew.

I couldn't look away.

One of the hunters turned to me, lips curling.

"She shouldn't be here," he hissed. "She carries the old blood."

Old blood?

Before I could ask what he meant, the ground cracked behind me. A surge of silver light burst from beneath the roots.

Everyone froze.

Kalen turned, eyes wide. "What did you just do?"

I looked down,

The forest had marked me back.

And from the glowing earth, something ancient began to rise.