Arena Master's POV
It had been a long time since I last came to this forest.
I was gripping my silver whip so tightly that the cold of the metal seeped into my bones. The chaos that had exploded in the arena was still embedded in my muscles, as if my body had never truly left that place. I had followed the scent that burned my throat in that maddened crowd—amber and wild orchid, etched into my mind—straight here.
I stopped at the edge of the swamp.
The forest was silent.
No birds stirred.
No leaves rustled.
Then the water moved.
First, a faint tremor… then perfect ripples spread across the black, oily surface. The swamp swelled, as if nature itself were giving birth to its greatest secret.
I didn't step back.
But my breath caught in my throat.
Something rose from the water.
It carried a body.
It resembled a human form.
But it was not human.
My gaze locked onto its eyes.
Those eyes did not belong to a wolf.
Nor to a witch.
There was no age in them.
No youth.
No gender.
Only depth.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. This was not a threat response. It was the sensation the oldest alphas felt when facing something far greater than themselves—the instinct to bow before an overwhelming force. My body wanted to kneel. My mind cursed the weakness.
This… is impossible.
When the body fully emerged, it sank to its knees. Its chest rose.
It took a real breath.
For a single heartbeat, our eyes met.
But it wasn't looking at me.
It wasn't measuring me.
It didn't even register me as a threat.
To it, I was nothing more than a shadow in the forest.
The swamp stirred again. Mist rose. The image wavered for the span of a heartbeat.
And then—
The shore was empty.
The water was still.
The forest began to breathe again.
When I realized my knees were trembling, anger surged through me. I clenched my silver whip—not for strength this time, but to assure myself that what I had seen was real.
⸻
Evander's POV
"This forest is strange," I muttered.
My voice was swallowed by the darkness between the trees. The entire forest felt heavy with silence and the weight of suffering spirits.
I lived for the hunt.
Yet for the first time, I wasn't sure what I was meant to kill.
Queen Mortia was at war with both wolves and witches.
"Maybe we take a wolf's soul for the first time," I murmured to Eclipse. "What do you say?"
At that moment, my sword began to shake as if it were about to shatter. The vibration was so violent my arm ached.
"What now?" I hissed.
This wasn't a warning.
It was a summons.
Eclipse pulled me deeper into the forest, in one unwavering direction. I tore through the undergrowth until I reached the center—beneath a massive willow tree whose branches dragged along the ground.
And there—
A silhouette.
A woman.
She lay naked in the mud, curled into herself in a fetal position.
A dark smile curved my lips.
"For this?" I murmured. "You dragged me here for a lost lamb, Eclipse?"
I stepped closer. Dry leaves crunched beneath my boots. She looked asleep. Her hair was gray-white, like moonlight trapped in mist. Her body was slender, but not weak—there was the quiet strength of a predator in her lines. Still, lying there in the mud, she looked as fragile as a porcelain doll.
The closer I got, the more Eclipse went mad.
The hilt burned in my palm, glowing with a purple light I had never seen before. When I nudged her gently with my boot—
The air grew heavy.
The mud on her skin shimmered with a soft, silvery glow.
I knelt beside her. My shadow fell across her face. I reached for her hair—
And before my fingers could touch—
Her amber eyes snapped open.
They met mine.
Deep.
Sharp.
Wild.
"Who are you?" she demanded, shoving me back.
Then she realized she was naked and instinctively tried to cover herself.
"Don't be afraid," I said, forcing my voice to stay calm. I removed my cloak and draped it over her shoulders. I shoved Eclipse back into its sheath—by force. The sword wasn't the only thing that was difficult to restrain.
It had been a long time since I'd stood this close to a woman. Between blood and war, women were a luxury. But I hadn't fallen low enough to take advantage of a girl like this, lying helpless in the heart of the forest.
Still…
Before my instincts could flare any further, I needed to leave this girl—who smelled like the wild beauty of the forest itself.
"Who are you?" she called after me.
Her voice was both timid…
and commanding.
I didn't turn back.
I only whispered over my shoulder:
"Next time, my beatiful .
Next time… I promise."