A filthy-looking wolf suddenly lunged at Eleanor from the shadows. It had to be a rogue-huge, wild-eyed, and radiating an aura of pure violence.
"Ah!" she screamed, face going pale.
Gritting her teeth, Eleanor shifted into her wolf form. Her small frame darted forward with agility, but she just wasn't fast enough. He was gaining on her fast, snapping his teeth with bloodthirsty growls.
She barely had time to react before he tackled her to the ground. She kicked and squirmed frantically, panting hard.
Panic overwhelmed Eleanor. She clenched her eyes shut, bracing for the end.
But instead of pain, she heard the rogue shriek in agony.
The pressure on her chest vanished. She scrambled up with a gasp and opened her eyes-only to see a much larger wolf standing between her and the rogue.
He was covered in sleek, jet-black fur, muscles rippling under his coat. Regal and terrifying all at once, he stood tall in the icy wind, savagely tearing the rogue away from her with brutal precision.
Eleanor froze, staring. She took a shaky step back, nose twitching as a faint, oddly familiar scent drifted over from the black wolf.
'Martin?' she gasped inwardly. 'It's really him.'
Ethan took the rogue down without breaking a sweat. He growled low, his presence so intense even Eleanor, standing a bit away, couldn't help but be drawn in.
His sharp claws tore right through the rogue's fur, blood splattering everywhere.
"Martin!" Eleanor yelled, panic lacing her voice.
Ethan didn't seem like a rogue at all. Sure, he couldn't remember who he was, but he fought on instinct alone. Even with all his strength, he'd taken a few nasty bites. Seeing his wounds made Eleanor's heart ache.
"Run, now!" Ethan called out to her, glancing over even as he kept fighting. He was clearly more worried about her than himself.
But Eleanor gritted her teeth and charged forward, slamming into the rogue. "I've got your back!"
The rogue let out a pained howl and broke free. Ethan didn't miss a beat-he struck hard, sending the rogue tumbling. The beast, beaten and bloodied, tucked its tail and scrambled off into the night.
Eleanor was catching her breath when she suddenly felt Ethan licking her. He sniffed around her anxiously before finally calming down. Her face heated up-yeah, she was probably blushing.
"You, uh..." she stammered, quickly stepping back from him.
Eleanor's heart was racing. She opened her mouth to say something, but before a word could come out, Ethan collapsed on the ground, his eyes sliding shut.
Panic hit her hard. She scrambled forward and nudged him gently. "Martin, hey-are you okay? You need a hospital."
To her surprise, Ethan suddenly pushed himself up and brushed her off, slowly heading in the opposite direction.
"Martin, you're bleeding," Eleanor called out, clearly freaking out. "We've got to get you to a healer, now."
She stepped in front of him, refusing to let him take another step.
Ethan lowered his head, his voice barely audible. "But... you don't want me anymore."
"That's not true!" Eleanor blurted, stunned by what he'd said.
He squinted at her, looking annoyed. "Someone came for me today. I ran."
Eleanor stared at him, first in shock, then fury. "Who was it?"
But the answer hit her before he could respond-someone must've tried to drive him out, thinking he was just another rogue.
"Don't worry," she said firmly, taking charge. "First, we get you treated."
She didn't care what Ethan really was. Rogue or not-powerful or dangerous-it didn't matter anymore. If he hadn't shown up and scared off that rogue wolf, she'd probably be dead right now.
He saved her life. He was her hero.
Ethan just stood there, unmoving, clearly not wanting to follow her.
Eleanor was getting anxious. She shifted back into her human form and threw her arms around the massive, furry wolf. "Babe, you're hurt. Let me take you to a hospital, okay? They can help you."
Her warmth and scent seemed to calm him down.
Those green eyes stared at her with curiosity. A moment later, he changed back too, wrapping her in a tight hug.
He was tall-like, really tall-and the way he tilted his head down to look at her felt oddly innocent.
Their eyes met for a second, and her heart did a little cartwheel.
He was gorgeous, the type of look that belonged in a painting. Honestly, better-looking than any alpha she'd ever seen.
No matter how many times she looked, he still made her whole body burn up. It was kinda embarrassing how drawn she felt to him.
Eleanor slapped a hand over her face, blushing hard.
'Carl already made a mess of my life,' she thought, bitterly. 'And now I'm crushing on another werewolf?'
She felt a little panicked. Ethan had no clue what was going on in her head; he just followed her quietly.
She reached out to hold his hand, and suddenly, a crazy thought rushed in. What if Ethan was her family? What if she finally had someone to lean on?
She just wanted someone she could count on-someone to lean on when things got rough. Not someone to move mountains for her, just someone who'd hold her when she broke down and remind her she could get through it.
Like right now. She was getting iced out by Carl and the Stormfang Pack, but then Ethan showed up out of nowhere.
It all felt surreal, like some kind of personal miracle.
Eleanor took him to the hospital, got his injuries dealt with. When they stepped out, the wind was sharp and biting.
But she didn't feel cold. Ethan was right beside her, and that made all the difference.
Back at the apartment, she unlocked the door.
Ethan lingered on the threshold, hesitant. "You're not gonna hand me over again, are you?"
"No," she said softly, tightening her grip on his hand to reassure him. "Not while you're still healing. I swear on the Moon Goddess, I'll take care of you as long as it takes."
All the messy stuff in her head-she let it go for now. The stress, the pain, she shoved it aside.
Things had already hit rock bottom: getting accused of plagiarism, dreams crushed, love lost, and soon she'd be out of the pack for good.
Honestly, it couldn't get much worse than this.
Ethan looked at her, clearly puzzled, but she couldn't help laughing a little.
"Come on," she said, holding her hand out again.
They walked into the modest little apartment. There were barely any decorations-just the basics Eleanor needed to live. The curtains were wide open, letting the moonlight quietly stream in, casting a silver glow on them. It made her feel strangely light, like a burden had slipped off her shoulders.
It wasn't anything fancy, but for once, her heart finally felt calm.
*****
Ashclaw Pack.
Ever since Ethan disappeared, the whole pack had been cast into a gloom.
Camila was falling apart, both mentally and physically. She cried every single day, obsessively chasing news about Ethan, only to come back with nothing every time.
For now, Thomas had stepped up again as the acting alpha, doing his best to keep the pack running steady.
Zane walked in looking like he'd barely slept, his face dark with worry. "Thomas, I've got something on Alpha Ethan..."
When Ethan first vanished, Zane had rushed out with a few deltas to search, keeping Ethan's plans secret from Thomas at the time.
But after days of digging and no good news, he'd finally decided to come clean-nervously.
He hadn't even gotten a proper rest since last night. As soon as he got word about Ethan's possible whereabouts, he dropped everything and rushed there.
He managed to track down the last known location, but the result... wasn't good.
Thomas kept silent, but his eyes locked onto Zane, tight with unease, waiting to hear the rest.
"But that place is a cliff. We still don't really know how Alpha got there," Zane said carefully. "I read the report. They think he might've fallen off the edge. No werewolf has ever made it back from down there... even if everyone in the pack joins the search, it'll take forever just to recover Alpha's body..."
His voice trailed off. Zane lowered his head, overwhelmed with grief.
Thomas collapsed onto the couch, pale as a ghost. He clutched his face with both hands, trying to hold it together.
He'd been Alpha for years, faced all kinds of threats-even brutal rogue attacks. But this... this felt like too much.
"Are we sure there's no other explanation?" Thomas asked, sounding like he barely had the strength to speak.
"There isn't," Zane answered, voice low. "Surviving a fall from there is damn near impossible. No one really knows what's down there."
Thomas shut his eyes, wounded. He let out a slow, heavy breath.
"What about the memorial and funeral Alpha planned?" Zane asked, hesitating.
Ethan had everything figured out ahead of time. Every detail. The whole fake-death setup was supposed to be flawless. He'd made Zane arrange the gravesite and headstone in advance-even mapped out the funeral.
Ethan believed the only way to draw his enemies out was to make the act feel 100% real.
"Let's go ahead with the funeral as planned," Thomas murmured under his breath. "Even if Ethan really is gone, we follow through with what he intended. I won't let my son die without answers. Someone's going to pay for this."
Zane gave a firm nod. "Got it. I'll make the preparations."
The thought that scared him most was that this funeral might not just be symbolic.
Maybe Ethan really wasn't coming back.
The funeral was set to happen three days later.
