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Chapter 1 — Shadows And Secrets
Dr. Seraphine Wolfe stood at the window of her spacious downtown apartment, the city lights reaching out below her like a glittering sea. Night air brushed her skin in crisp notes and shadows, mingled with the muted thrum of traffic and the wet sidewalk. Frequently, she retreated to this refuge above the ruckus, where the divide between two realms softened to a shaky coexistence.
On the surface, it was the perfect life for Seraphine. At Crestview General Hospital, she became an eminent cardiothoracic surgeon, her expertise and dedication saving countless lives with unparalleled precision. Both her patients and colleagues admired her for her brilliance and compassion. Little did they know the truth: the demon that lurked beneath this serene surface.
Seraphine was a werewolf.
She was cursed, one that had been borne of her bloodline for generations. Her parents were proud and secretive members of their hidden community—and had instructed her from a tender age on how to temper the primal instincts that were waiting to overtake her every full moon. Yet the knowledge she was gaining to control it only left fear of being discovered and guilt that scratched at her soul every time it happened.
Seraphine has had a very controlled life for years. Meticulous routines and relentless self-discipline and isolation had become her shields. She excelled at her career, devoting every piece of herself to work to silence the whispers of the beast. Love and intimacy were things she couldn’t afford, not when a single misstep could unravel all that she had worked for.
That determination had started to waver the day Ash Calder stepped into her life.
Ash was everything Seraphine had told herself she didn’t need: charming, fearless, and endlessly curious. An investigative journalist with a nose for finding secrets, he was here in Crestview chasing reports of a creature terrorizing the nearby woods. The town, nestled between thick woods and craggy cliffs, had long attracted strange stories. Most of them wrote them off as folklore tales conjured by overactive imaginations. But Ash had a nose for the truth, and he wasn’t prone to letting a lead slip away.
They had met at a hospital charity event by chance. Trapped under the weight of such would-be donors clamoring to heap praise at her latest surgical triumph, Seraphine’s face was a very tangible sight of relief when Ash, in a suit that was black, smooth, and fitted to the point it hid and revealed at once, appeared like a ray of sunshine beside her with a beaming smile.
“Can I borrow you for a second? ” he’d asked, his hazel eyes glinting with mischief.
Seraphine had thanked him with a nod, allowing him to guide her away from the throng of people, their words coming so easily and filled with light jabs that surprised with their depth at times. Ash had this way of looking at her, like really looking, like with his eyes, exhilarating and terrifying all in one.
Against her better judgment, Seraphine felt attracted to him. They met for coffee and talked about everything from philosophy to laughing together at ridiculous stories. For the first time in years, Seraphine could feel herself experiencing something more than survival, something so close to happiness that it was almost deadly.
But for someone like Seraphine, happiness was a fragile thing.
There was the growling wolf within her, and it was more and more aggressive because of the increasing bond, a constant reminder she was walking in danger. Then there was Vanguard Initiative, the shadow loomed on the horizon.
It was an organization that hoarded supernatural befriendment style and hunted (killed) everything it got its hands on. Their methods were ruthless, their abuse pervasive. Despite this, Seraphine has spent years staying under their radar, hiding her tracks, and living at the surface. But a recent spate of inexplicable occurrences around Crestview had caught their eye.
[Read: Rumors of missing persons, strange sightings, and mutilated wildlife swirled. There were rumors all over town, and Ash’s stories only kept the flames stoked. He had a talent for sniffing out secrets, and Seraphine knew it was only a matter of time before his inquiry brought him perilously close to her own.
Seraphine hated the thought of keeping him away from the fight, even though the danger was growing all around them. The Vanguard’s operatives were already on the ground. They’re a reasonable, dark reminder that her carefully constructed edifice of a life could be set to tumble at any moment.
All of that pressed down on her as she stood by the window, her mind a whirligig of chaos. Clenching her fists together, her nails digging into the palms of her hands, she had done her best to get a hold on her breathing. The full moon was still a few days away, but the wolf’s agitation gnawed at the edges of her control.
A knock at the door.
Seraphine inhaled deeply and walked across the room, swinging the door open an inch. It was Ash in all her wind-tousled hairy glory who showed up there. A certain spark of interest flickered across his face. “Hi, sorry to interrupt,” he said cheerily, as it was very late.
“Not at all,” Seraphine said smoothly, moving aside for him to step through. “What brings you? ”
Ash shrugged and smirked, smothering his amusement. "Just thought I'd check in. You’re a little hard to get a hold of lately.’”
“Busy schedule,” she deflected, waving him toward a chair. “Surgery doesn’t allow much room for everything else.”
"I can imagine." He fixed a journalist’s eye on her—the better to figure out the so-secret things that lived in her. “But there’s something about you tonight. Is everything okay?
Seraphine forced a smile. "Just tired."
Ash nodded, although a frown tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Well, I won't keep you long. I was wondering if maybe you could give me a heads-up.” More: Just wanted to say there’s been a bunch more chatter about the creature in the woods. They are living in fear, and officials are not saying too much.’ He paused, leaning forward and lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I have a sneaking suspicion that there’s more to this story than what they’re telling us.
Seraphine’s heart was racing, but she did not flinch. "Ash, watch out. Some stories just aren’t worth the trouble.”
He winked. "Sounds like a challenge."
And as much as Seraphine wanted to shield him from it, she knew Ash would never stop digging until he got to the bottom of it, nor would he allow her to discover that bottom without making her make an impossible choice that could leave her with nothing to lose.
For now, she would just relish in the ephemeral normalcy of it all, before they started closing in again.
And when they did, there would be no going back.
Chapter 2 — Crimson Dawn
The early morning light bled through the uneven lines of the trees, but there was no time for Seraphine to take in the paints splashed on the sky. The echo of engines pierced the wood closer now, relentless. Not until they had her and Ash, not until the end.
Ash gripped the wheel, knuckled, his body a taut bowstring as he steered the car along the twisty, rutted trail. The dirt track barely qualified as a road, with sharp rocks and downed branches that seemed to threaten to flip the car with every jolt.
“They’re catching up,” he said, glancing in the rearview mirror.
She didn’t need to look to know it was there. Seraphine could feel it. It felt much more intense now as the wolf that clawed at her skin on the inside wanted out.
“Drive,” she ordered, counting the rounds left in her gun. Just three bullets left. That's not enough.
Those men in black behind them were not mere armed thugs. They were professionals trained to neutralize supernatural threats. Seraphine had met their kind before. These agents would not hesitate to murder.
One of the black SUVs slammed into the rear bumper, jostling the car with an explosive hit. Swearing under his breath, Ash struggled for control.
"Hold on!" he yelled, wrenching the wheel sharply to the right.
The car skidded and fishtailed, then regained traction. Seraphine braced herself against the door, her mind racing for a plan. They couldn’t just keep running and hiding. They had to lose them.
“There’s a clearing ahead,” she said, her voice firm even in the midst of the mayhem. "We make our stand there."
Ash threw her a look. "You must be kidding me. We’re outnumbered and outgunned!”
“Trust me,” she replied, a fierce determination reflected in her eyes.
After a moment of a nodding kind of indecision, he decided and nodded again, as if he wasn’t quite so sure still:
The clearing came into sight—a broad field of grass, with tall trees thick around it. “We crashed,” Ash said, slamming on the brakes and skidding to a stop. Inevitably, dust and gravel billowed up around them.
The car was barely stopped before Seraphine was out, scanning and alert. The SUVs growled into the clearing, their engines growling like predators catching a whiff of blood.
“Stay behind me,” she said to Ash.
“No way,” he said, drawing a knife from his boot. “I’m not going to let you do that by yourself.”
Time was of the essence. The operatives spilled out of the vehicles, their black tactical gear melding into the dark. Guns drawn, laser beams sliced across the dawn’s mist.
Seraphine took a deep breath, surrendering herself to the beast. Her body shuddered as the transformation began: bones shifted, muscles twitched. Her vision sharpened, colors bleeding into a heightened spectrum. Her fingers extended into claws, and a guttural growl rumbled from her chest.
The lead operative paused, clearly surprised to have a full turn. "Engage!" he barked.
Gunfire erupted, the sharp cracks echoing through the clearing. Seraphine was quick, quicker than any human had a right to be, dodging bullets as she tackled the distance between them. Her claws tore through flesh and bone, blood in a scarlet arch.
Ash struck side by side with her, a whirlwind of deadly, exact motion. He sent one operative reeling with a twist of his knife, plunging the blade deep into the man’s throat. Blood frothed from the wound as the operative collapsed.
Seraphine didn’t have time to marvel at Ash’s fight skills. Another operative leapt for her, but she ripped through his chest in a single sweep; his body hit the ground with a sickening thunder.
The smell of blood and mineral gunpowder filled the air. Not all of them were morons, even though they were ferocious morons, operatives who could follow orders, who were disciplined and well-trained. They regroup and fan out around the Seraphine and Ash.
They’re trying to box us in,” Ash warned.
She snarled and let her wolf take over completely. She lunged at the nearest operative, biting through the flesh of his shoulder. He hollered, shooting bullets, then she shattered his windpipe.
More bullets. A bullet had grazed her ribs, and her side throbbed with pain. She stumbled but did not drop, adrenaline numbing the pain.
Ash was holding his own, but they were outnumbered. One operative wrestled him to the ground and pressed a gun to his temple.
"No!" Seraphine roared.
She moved so fast that it could only be assumed, body slamming into the operative, twisting his neck with a sickening snap. Ash struggled for breath, streaked with blood.
"Thanks," he panted.
“We must finish this,” she said, her voice hoarse with the beast’s power.
Only two true believers remained, grim but unmoved. One of them pulled a small detonator from his belt.
Seraphine’s eyes flew open in horror. "Ash, duck!"
The clearing trembled as if struck by an explosion of fire. They were each thrown through the air. Seraphine hit the ground; her ears rang. The air was filled with smoke and debris.
She coughed and pulled herself up. The operatives were dead, their bodies charred and splintered. But the price had been steep.
Ash was lying still a few feet from him, blood pooling beneath him.
“No,” Seraphine inhaled, her chest heaving in terror.
She collapsed beside him, her fingers trembling as she looked for a pulse. It was faint but there.
“Stay with me,” she begged, putting her hand over the worst of his injuries. "Don't you dare die on me."
His eyelids quivered open, a feeble grin pulling at his mouth. "You're bossy," he murmured.
A wave of relief washed over her, but it was ephemeral. She heard the distant wail of sirens. Reinforcements were coming.
They had to leave now.
“We’re bailing,” she said, ignoring the agony ripping through her, and heaved Ash onto her shoulder. He moaned but did not try to fight back.
Hang on,” she said, grit still in her voice. "We are not finished yet."
She and the blood trail behind them carried him into the wood, and one thought rang like a bell in her head.
The war was far from over, and she would do whatever she had to do to protect the man who had become the reason for her fight.
Chapter 3 — Shadows Of The Past
The sun was low and long, bony shadows spread across the forest. Seraphine was gasping, short, tortured breaths, for her body had been battered in the fight and then the forced sprint through the trees. Ash’s dead weight sprawled across her shoulder, but Seraphine wouldn’t slow. They could not afford to. And with every minute that passed, there had been another risk.
Ash stirred groggily and moaned as he tried to lift his head. His eyelids blinked open, all to be ever so hazy, blood loss invading his sights. “We have to … keep going,” he rasped, his voice scratchy. “They won’t stop… they won’t stop until they kill us both.”
She felt goosebumps run down her spine at his words. That relentless pursuit had turned into more than an annoyance. It was a promise. But every instinct in Seraphine urged her to continue. They had come too far, sacrificed too much. She couldn’t just leave it there.
“I know,” she said, whispering, her voice tight. "We’ll make it. Just hold on."
Each step more weighted than the last, the gravity of their situation, the weight of Ash’s life in her hands, carrying her down.
The trees around them became thicker. The branches reached out over their heads as if to try to block their path. Seraphine staggered, the wound in her side blazing, but she did not take the time to slow. The sounds of the outside world, birdsong, and the rustling of leaves had that quality of hollowing, as if the trees were holding their breath, waiting for what was to come.
One moment, Ash’s arms had tightened around her, and in the next, she felt him bolt. His voice came out as a strained whisper. "They're close. I can hear them. We aren’t progressing much.”
A knot formed in Seraphine’s stomach. She couldn’t lose him now—not when he was this close, not when she had finally begun to break ground toward the ideal of love after years alone.
All of a sudden she heard everything: trucks coming, the low hum of their engines in the distance. But it grew louder, a familiar, menacing rumble. She glanced back over her shoulder, but the trees had closed in behind them on the trail.
“Shit,” she said, hissing under her breath. They needed shelter. Somewhere they could regroup.
A clearing opened up in front of him, beyond a dense thicket of trees. The sun set like a golden sickle behind the trees, with pale fingers of evening and ghoulish shadows spreading on the ground. Which had been just the place to make a stand.
She forged on, her legs on fire, her mind whirling. She did not know what they might do next. She had been no tactician, no warrior. She was a healer, a woman who’d hidden her true self from the world for years. And now her world had been dusted, her secrets exposed in the most violent way possible.
Seraphine limped into the clearing and dropped to her knees. Ash suckled his agony into her; it was a battle to hover, but he was running out of strength.
“I’m sorry,” she told me, her eyes brimming with tears. “I didn’t want any of this to happen.”
“Seraphine…” Ash’s voice had dropped to a whisper as his hand reached for hers. His skin touched hers, warm yet fragile. "We… we’ll get through this."
Then the sound of rustling leaves behind her broke the moment. She turned, and her instincts kicked in. When extended, her claws were ready while her wolf jutted beneath her skin in preparation to strike.
Shapes began to form ahead through the dense trees. Men in black tactical gear are moving fast, guns drawn, searching the clearing. At least five others, and Seraphine knew they wouldn’t think twice to squeeze the trigger. Finally, she pulled herself away from the wall and turned to run, not knowing where. They were pros. And they didn’t know who they were dealing with.
Her heart pounded in her chest, her blood vessels filled to capacity with adrenaline. At that moment, Ash’s voice thundered out.
"Run!" he screamed. "Go!"
In that instant, Seraphine debated whether to fight back or defend him. The urgency in his voice jolted her out of her stupor, however.
Not here, stay here, she said, too low, dangerously low.
Ash’s eyes widened. "No. I’m not leaving you."
"You have to!" she growled. "Get to safety. I’ll hold them off."
Giving the ground behind herself one last look, Seraphine turned and took off toward the approaching operatives; her feet were flying faster than human feet, no human body, could ever hope to achieve. Skin stretched and filled with the bestial power of her bloodline as her teeth sharpened and filled her mouth, the beast within her roaring up and out.
She was not just Seraphine Wolfe, gifted surgeon, the healer, anymore. She was the predator, the beast.
Her claws unfurled to their full extent, and her senses grew keen, near agony. She could hear her enemies’ whispers before they spoke, could feel the rhythm of their hearts, could smell the fear in their blood.
The first man had raised his gun to point it at her, and before he could pull the trigger, Seraphine leaped, her claws sinking deep into the back of his throat, tearing through soft tissue and bone. He fell on his back screaming, his body thrashing as his blood poured out from around his neck.
The others did not wait. Gunfire roared every which way, bullets cracking through the air like thunder. Seraphine a blurring heartbeat, this way and that, avoid the onslaught, strike, then rend her foes as if they were gewks of paper.
She sliced one man across his chest, disarming him in one sweep. He managed to fall back, but she was on him again, her claws ripping across his ribs and spilling his blood to the ground.
A second man tried to brace, but Seraphine was already in his face, her fangs embedding into the collar of his neck, tearing into the soft meat of him with a gross crunch. He didn’t even have enough time to scream.
But in her wild abandon, she somehow managed to avoid the last operative. He snuck up behind her, pulling a silver knife out of his belt. There had been no time for her to react when the blade plunged once more deep into her left side, slicing through ribs.
The sound tore from her, jagged, agony-wracked. Blood poured from the wound, soaking the earth at her feet. When her vision failed her and the world spun around her.
But the wolf inside of her was vicious. The pain only fed her anger.
Seraphine growled and then whirled, claws ripping through the man’s chest in one motion. He fell to the ground, eyes darting with disbelief.
The glade was dead silent.
Seraphine crossed over the corpses of the men, her coat spattered with their blood, breathing ragged and exhausted. She was hurt and bleeding but alive.
She scanned the trees, eyes searching for any sign of Ash. Her pulse was beginning to race.
There. A faint heartbeat. Dim, but there, nonetheless.
With a growl and a deep breath, Seraphine stood, hand to her side. She staggered closer to the trees, to Ash, praying it was not too late.
She found him. His body grew limp, but when he felt her there, his eyes opened, aglow.
“Seraphine,” he said in barely a whisper. "You… you did it."
But as she knelt beside him, cradling his head in her lap, she knew it.
In the background, the faraway glitter of headlights.
The reinforcements had been there.
And this time they weren’t going to shoot themselves in the foot.
The hunt had only just begun.
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