The Road Back –
The scent of blood and fire still clung to Ronan's skin as they ran beneath the cover of darkness. The deep woods swallowed them whole, their shadows stretching beneath the pale moonlight.
Selene was silent.
Kael, for once, wasn't smirking.
And Ronan?
Ronan could still hear the Reaper Commander's voice echoing in his skull.
"You walked in here a wolf. Now you leave a predator without a pack."
He clenched his fists.
They were right to fear him.
He wasn't the same anymore.
The problem was—he didn't know what he was becoming.
...
They stopped at an abandoned stone outpost deep in the forest, just outside Silvercrest Academy territory.
Ronan stood near the edge of a broken pillar, staring into the darkness.
Selene watched him carefully, her posture tense. She had seen the shift in him. Felt it.
"You're quiet," she finally said.
Ronan didn't turn. "Should I be celebrating?"
Selene crossed her arms. "No. But I thought you'd have something to say."
He exhaled sharply. "What do you want me to say, Selene? That I feel fine? That I don't care that I just tore through half the Reapers and felt nothing?"
Selene's grip tightened.
"That's the problem," she murmured.
Ronan finally turned, silver light flickering in his eyes. "Then say it."
Selene met his gaze. "I'm afraid we're losing you."
Silence stretched between them.
Kael leaned against the wall, arms folded, watching the exchange with an unreadable expression.
Ronan's jaw clenched. "You think I don't feel it too?"
Selene hesitated, her throat bobbing slightly. "Then fight it."
Ronan's lips curled slightly—not in a smirk, but something colder.
"Why?" he asked. "Why should I fight the only thing keeping me alive?"
Selene took a sharp breath, but before she could respond—
A presence flickered at the edge of the outpost.
A soft footstep. A familiar scent.
And then—
A voice he never thought he'd hear again.
"Ronan?"
His entire body locked up.
Because standing at the tree line, golden hair catching the pale moonlight—
Was Astrid.
His fated mate.
The one who had abandoned him the night of his betrayal.
The one who had chosen Darius Graves over him.
The mate bond burned through his chest like fire, raw and undeniably real.
She was looking at him like she'd seen a ghost.
"Is it really you?" she whispered.
Ronan's throat tightened. Every instinct screamed at him to feel something—pain, anger, longing—anything.
But all he felt was cold.
...
Selene tensed beside him, one hand near her dagger.
Kael? Still smirking, but now his eyes gleamed with cruel amusement.
Astrid took a hesitant step forward, her voice softer now. "I thought—I thought you were dead."
Ronan's silver eyes flashed. "I was."
Astrid flinched.
The bond between them still thrummed like a caged beast, raw and unfinished.
"You didn't come back for me," he said, voice even. Too even.
Astrid swallowed. "Ronan, I—"
She stopped, words failing.
Because what could she say?
That she had loved him?
That she had mourned him?
That she had chosen his traitorous beta over him?
Ronan took a slow step forward, voice dangerously low.
"Tell me, Astrid."
She inhaled sharply.
"Does Darius Graves know you're here?"
Astrid's lips parted, but no words came out.
And in that silence, Ronan had his answer.
Lilith's Power – A Glimpse of Something Worse
Before Astrid could respond, a shift in the air sent a cold shiver down Ronan's spine.
Something ancient was approaching.
Selene's eyes snapped to the trees. "We're not alone."
The temperature dropped.
Kael sighed. "Ah. And here comes the fun part."
Then—
The shadows at the edge of the outpost thickened.
Like ink bleeding into reality.
And from those shadows, a girl emerged.
Lilith.
Her violet eyes gleamed with unnatural hunger, her silver-streaked hair flowing behind her like smoke.
Astrid visibly recoiled, her instincts recognizing something wrong.
Selene, however, stood her ground.
Ronan clenched his fists. "Who the hell are you?"
Lilith smiled.
And suddenly—the entire forest bent toward her.
The trees groaned under an unseen force.
The wind whispered her name.
Lilith stepped forward, tilting her head slightly. "I was expecting more."
Then she lifted her hand—
And Ronan's shadow moved on its own.
A shape rose from the darkness behind him, forming into a mirror image of himself.
A copy. A puppet.
Lilith snapped her fingers—
And the shadow lunged at him.
Ronan barely twisted in time, colliding with his own reflection.
It fought like him. Moved like him.
But it wasn't him.
Kael grinned. "Oh, now this is interesting."
Selene snarled, lunging toward Lilith, but the violet-eyed girl simply flicked her wrist—and Selene was yanked backward by her own shadow.
Lilith sighed. "You struggle against things you don't understand."
She looked at Ronan again, smiling.
"But I think you and I could change that."
...
Ronan broke free of the shadow's grip, breathing heavily.
Lilith didn't attack again.
She just stood there, watching.
Like she was waiting for something.
Kael exhaled. "And what exactly do you want, shadow queen?"
Lilith's gaze never left Ronan.
"There are others watching you, Blackwood. People who are very interested in what you're becoming."
Ronan narrowed his eyes. "Who?"
Lilith smiled.
"I'll tell you… when the time is right."
She stepped back into the shadows.
And just like that—
She was gone.
Leaving Ronan with more questions than answers.