Vengeance Under the Full MoonChapter 1
The darkened forest welcomed me as I made my way back home. Stormveil Hollow. My home pack. I had been away for so long that it almost felt like a dream—a distant memory of where I belonged. But it was no dream. The forest was as familiar to me as my own skin. Every step I took through the towering pines, every breath of the crisp, earthy air, pulled me closer to the life I had left behind.
And to Draven.
I thought of him constantly over the past two years. My mate, my love. We were promised to one another long before I left, bound by more than just the traditions of the pack. He had been my anchor, my partner, the one person who understood me completely. The night before I left for my training, we stood beneath this same moon, and he promised me that when I returned, our future would begin.
But now, as the trees opened up to reveal the village lights of Stormveil Hollow, I felt a weight settle in my chest. Something was different. Something I couldn’t quite name, but it gnawed at me from the moment I stepped foot back on this land.
Alpha Kaelen Ironshade walked beside me, his large frame moving silently through the forest. He had been the one to meet me at the border, insisting on accompanying me back to the heart of the pack. His loyalty had never wavered, even after I left. He was our Alpha, and his rule had been strong and just. But there was something about him tonight—something in the way he looked at me with those sharp blue eyes, as if he knew a secret I didn’t.
“You’re quiet,” Kaelen said, breaking the silence.
I glanced at him, his rugged features half-hidden in the shadows. “Just thinking.”
“About Draven?”
I didn’t answer right away. The truth was, I had been thinking of Draven since the moment I began my journey home. But it wasn’t just thoughts of him that weighed on me—it was the feeling that something was wrong. That the reunion I had dreamed of wouldn’t be as I had imagined.
“I’ve been gone a long time,” I finally said, my voice quiet. “Things change.”
Kaelen gave a noncommittal grunt. “Not everything changes. Not the important things.”
I wanted to believe him, but I could feel the tension in the air, the unspoken words hanging between us. Kaelen had never been one for small talk, and though we had always shared a close bond, I could sense that he was holding something back. He knew something I didn’t.