Chapter 3 THE MARKED EDGE

Kiara's POV

The forest didn't forgive mistakes. I should have known that before stepping a single foot into its shadowed edge.

Even in daylight, the trees loomed like silent sentinels, their black branches twisting together, forming shapes my mind didn't want to acknowledge. The mist hung low, curling around my boots as though the ground itself wanted to pull me in.

I should have stayed on the main road. I should have gone straight to my aunt's house. But something had drawn me back-curiosity, stubbornness, maybe a foolish hope that if I stared long enough, the forest would give me answers.

It didn't.

I stopped mid-step when I felt it: that familiar pull. Like a thread tugging at my chest, winding itself around my heart and refusing to let go. I closed my eyes and tried to shake it off. It's just him. He's just... Rylan.

But my body betrayed me.

"You shouldn't be here."

The voice came from the shadows, low and cold, carrying the weight of authority and something darker I couldn't name. My eyes snapped open, and there he was-Rylan, leaning against a tree as if he had grown from the forest itself. Storm-gray eyes piercing me, sharp and unyielding.

I swallowed. "I can take care of myself," I said, voice sharper than I intended.

His gaze didn't soften. It never softened. "I know you can survive, Kiara. But surviving doesn't mean you're safe."

"Safe?" I laughed bitterly, though it came out hollow. "Since when do I get safety? I've spent my whole life running."

Rylan pushed off the tree and stepped closer, his presence overwhelming, magnetic. I wanted to step back, but my legs wouldn't listen. "You can run all you want," he said softly, "but some things don't let go. Some marks are permanent."

I stiffened. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You do," he murmured, and the intensity of his gaze made my stomach twist. "The forest marked you the moment you arrived. You feel it, don't you?"

I forced myself to look away, focusing on the fog curling between the trees. "I feel... nothing," I said, though my pulse betrayed me.

"You feel it," he said, stepping closer. "Whether you admit it or not. And denying it won't protect you."

I wanted to push him away. To scream that he didn't own me, didn't control me, didn't get to see inside me the way he did. But even as the words formed in my mind, my throat went dry.

And then I heard it.

A growl. Low, guttural, vibrating through the fog.

I froze, every muscle tensing. My eyes scanned the shadows, searching for the source. Amber eyes glowed faintly between the trees. I could feel the weight of them on me, predatory, patient, waiting.

I glanced at Rylan. His expression hardened, jaw tight, and in that moment I realized... he wasn't just watching me. He was guarding me. Or maybe warning me.

"Go," he said, urgency threading his tone. "Run now, Kiara."

I wanted to, but my legs felt rooted to the ground. My chest was pounding, the cold mist burning my lungs as fear clawed its way into me.

"You're marked," he continued, softer now, almost reluctant. "And that mark... it doesn't belong to you. Not yet."

"Not yet?" My voice cracked, disbelief layering over my fear. "What does that even mean?!"

He sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. "It means the forest knows your name, Kiara. The wolves know your name. And now... so do I."

I stepped back sharply, breaking the magnetic pull of his presence. "I don't want this. I don't want you. I don't want... any of it!"

Rylan's eyes flickered with something I couldn't read-pain? Frustration? Or maybe it was both. "You don't get a choice," he said softly. "Not here. Not now."

I turned and started running, zigzagging through the fog, the mist curling around my boots, the sound of my own breathing deafening in my ears. Every instinct screamed at me to keep going. But even as I ran, I felt it-the mark burning in my chest, a weight I couldn't lift, a pull I couldn't resist.

The growl followed me, closer now, resonating deep in the ground. I skidded to a stop, chest heaving, trying to pinpoint its source. But it was everywhere and nowhere at once.

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I spun around, expecting the worst, but it was him. Rylan. His eyes locked on mine, intense, unwavering.

"Stop," he said, his voice low and commanding.

I shook my head, backing away. "I told you-I don't want this! I don't want you!"

"You think you have a choice," he said, stepping closer again, "but you're already marked. And once the forest decides, the wrong wolf or not... it doesn't matter what you want."

My pulse spiked. My body screamed at me to run, but my mind... my mind was trapped. Trapped in the magnetic pull of his storm-gray eyes, trapped in the knowledge that the forest-and whatever lurked within it-had already claimed me.

A low growl echoed again, closer this time, and I realized I wasn't imagining it. The amber eyes in the shadows were real, and whatever they belonged to was moving.

I could feel Rylan stiffen, the tension radiating off him in waves. He didn't take his eyes off me, not for a second.

"Kiara..." His voice was almost a whisper now, dangerous, warning. "You need to run. Now."

I wanted to argue. I wanted to refuse. But my instincts screamed louder than my mind. I nodded, barely, and started to move-slowly at first, then breaking into a desperate run.

The forest seemed alive, closing in around me. The fog thickened, curling at my ankles like living fingers. My heart was hammering, my chest tight, and I could hear the low growl getting closer, following me, hunting me.

And then I felt it-a pressure, a weight, a presence at my back that wasn't human, wasn't entirely natural. My legs burned. I stumbled, almost falling into the mist.

Rylan's hand shot out and caught my arm, pulling me into the shadows of a tree. He pressed against me, strong and warm, and whispered, "Stay quiet. Don't move."

I nodded, holding my breath, feeling the forest around us pulse with life. The growl circled us, the amber eyes glowing, hunting, waiting.

Rylan's storm-gray eyes met mine again, and for a moment, something unspoken passed between us-fear, tension, and something else I wasn't ready to name.

Then the eyes lunged forward from the shadows, and my heart froze.