The wind howled like a wounded beast through the hollow woods, thunder clapping, the trees dancing to the heavy stormy wind, the sound of rainfall beating the earth, the forest pitch dark with only the strike of lightening illuminating the grounds for seconds and disappearing. Eleanor should have turned back the moment her flashlight flickered out, but something in the air_ something primal and strange, frightening_ pulled her forward.
She was not supposed to be in Darklands forest. Nobody from town crossed its borders after sunset. The stories were too many. The tales of lost farmers, no return, darkness swallowing men from dusk till dawn. Too dark. Too real.
But tonight, she saw it_ the red moon. Crimson and full. Bleeding across the sky like a prophecy come to life. And then she heard it. The growl. Low, guttural, frightening, not quite human, not fully animal.
And she ran.
Not fast enough.
She fell, her breath caught in her throat as she turned slowly, lips quivering as she came face-to-face with silver eyes glowing in the dark. A man? No…a beast. Both.
Towering, furious, wounded. His skin shimmered under the moonlight as he staggered forward, blood dripping from his face and side, Eleanor took two steps backward until her back touched the bark of a tree.
He sniffed "Human, You're not supposed to see me!", he growled, voice gravel and thunder echoing slightly against the sound of rain.
"I…I… didn't mean to. I was just_" her lips trembling
"You've seen too much". His eyes darkened. "Now your life will never be the same.
And then with a snarl, he collapsed at her feet.
Eleanor stared at the blood on her hands.
Not hers…It was His.
The strange man creature was unconscious, his body sprawled awkwardly across the floor of the forest floor, half covered in shadows. His skin was clammy, warm with fever, and marked with deep slashes across his ribs. But it was his face that held her captive. Sharp, angled and too perfect to be real. The strands of wet hair on his face, Her eyes were staring at the most handsome man she had ever encountered in her life. He was brutally attractive. Strength was thrumming from his overall physique. His torso was splattered with mud, her eyes landed on his lean face again. Something about him was so feral and deadly accompanied by his raven black hair that fell against the marble skin of his neck. He looked barely twenty but something about him felt ancient. "Wild"
She stood trembling and scared, caught between running and… her heart, though, her heart did something strange_ it broke and awakened, urging her to move closer to this beast. Her feet moved, her heart leading to where he laid. She hesitated only for a second before pulling off her jacket and pressing it to his wounds. The bleeding slowed but it didn't stir.
"What are you?" she whispered. "What am I doing?"
As if in answer, the wind shifted_ and the moonlight bathed him fully.
For a split second, Eleanor saw it. Fur. Fangs. A shimmer of something, not human, and then it vanished, replaced by the man again, breathing shallowly.
This wasn't just a man. He was something else. Something out of the stories whispered by the fireplace.
A Lycan!!!
She should've run.
But instead, with a loud thumping heart, Eleanor did something else. Something reckless.
She touched his face.
It was warm. Burning, almost. And then_ his eyes snapped open.
Not brown, not blue.
Silver. Glowing.
She gasped, stumbling backward, but his hand shot out, gripping her wrist.
"Don't scream!", his voice rasped, warm and filled with warning.
"I…I wasn't going to", she lied still trembling slightly.
He studied her face, nostrils flaring. "You're…not afraid."
"I think I'm in shock and a bit frightened." she said, trying to sound braver than she felt.
His grip loosened, and he groaned painfully, turning his head, frowning slightly, "why did you stay?"
"I couldn't leave you bleeding" She replied.
He looked at her again now more curious than wary "what's your name?"
"Eleanor."
He seemed to flinch at the sound, as if it meant something more to him.
"Eleanor", he repeated, voice like velvet dipped in sorrow, "You shouldn't have found me, now, everything changes."
And just like that, the forest grew still_ unnaturally still with the raindrops receding slowly.
The red moon was still high above them, casting crimson bloodlight over the trees.
And in the stillness of the night, in a far distance, something howled.
Eleanor helped him to his feet, though, it felt like trying to move a statue. He was all muscle and heat, his skin burning against hers. His huge arm hung around her shoulders as they stumbled through the woods, branches clawing at her and the red moon like a curious eye.
"Where are we going?" she asked breathlessly.
"Somewhere safe," he muttered "Far from here."
They didn't get far before he collapsed again.
Eleanor knelt beside him heart hammering. "Hey, don't you dare die on me!"
He groaned but didn't respond.
Her eyes darted to his side. The bleeding had slowed, but a dark ink spread from his left breast_ almost like ink rather than blood. It shimmered in the moonlight, pulsing with veins of shadow.
"What is that?" she whispered; her voice shaky
He remained silent, his eyes staring at the blood red moon and back to Eleanor's face watching her eyes sparked with curiosity.
He answered lazily "It's… the curse," he gasped. "My time is running out."
"Curse?"
He gritted his teeth. "The Alpha king…. Kael…he branded me. Said I would never fully shift again unless I bring him the heart of my fated mate.
Eleanor froze. She had heard whispers of tales on fated mates of Lycans and Werewolves, tales of whispers of the Lycan kind and their sacred bond, how they are connected via soul and mind and how mates are sacredly bound for life with death not separating them_ even till afterlife.