CHAPTER 1 IT HAS COME

ELLA'S POV:

I gazed up at the moon

"something feels off today "

i stood alone in the forest , the moonlight casting eerie shadows around me . the silence was palpable, broken only by the sound of my own breath and the occasional rustle of leaves in the wind 

And then, a sound pierced the stillness: laughter . Dark and chilling it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once . My heart echoed as i realized the source- Julian. 

His laugh echoed through the trees, the cruel and taunting sound of the danger that lurked in the darkness 

I whirled around searching for the owner of the vice . But i saw no one . Just the trees, swaying in the breeze, the moonlight dancing between the branches.

"You can't run from me, darling, not like you ran from them"

The voice was so close , I could feel it Julian, his voice caressing the shadows, his words like poison.

" I will always find you, Ella. No matter how far you run, no matter how well you hide . You are mine"

The laughter faded, the darkness retreating like a tide. For a moment, the forest was silent again, the breeze rustling the leaves and the moon shining down like a silver spotlight. But I knew it wasn't over.

I broke into a run, my feet pounding the soft earth as I raced deeper into the woods. I didn't know where I was going, but I couldn't stay here, not with Julian lurking in the shadows.

Finally, I came to a clearing. But it wasn't the peaceful respite I had hoped for.

 The clearing was a massacre. Bodies, torn and twisted, littered the ground. Their silver fur and feral snarls were a testament to their true nature: werewolves, slaughtered in the night.

I stopped, my hand flying to my mouth to stifle the scream that threatened to escape. What happened here? And then it hit me: Julian. This was his work, his doing. His revenge for my refusal to give in to his demands.

A shiver ran through me, a chill that had nothing to do with the night air. I spun around, my heart pounding in my chest.

As Ella turned, her gaze met a pair of piercing eyes. Not the cold, calculating stare of Julian, but a gaze that seemed to burn with a fierce intensity. They were the eyes of a predator, a hunter who had stalked his prey for far too long.

His beauty was undeniable, like a raging storm on the horizon. His features were chiseled, his jawline sharp and defined. But it was his eyes that drew her in, those eyes that held her captive.

Anger flared in the stranger's eyes, his jaw clenched so tightly that she could almost hear the bones grinding together. She could feel the rage rolling off him in waves, a tempestuous fury that seemed to whisper of a past full of pain and loss.

Guilt tugged at her heartstrings, her own past threatening to surface like a ghostly specter. But she kept her expression neutral, meeting his gaze with a blank stare.

The hunger for blood, palpable in the air between them, crackled like static electricity. Ella wondered if he would strike first, or if she should make the move.