Chapter 3: The Girl in the Firelight
The morning after Eli's revelation, Ethan felt like the walls of the world were closing in.
Mate to a vampire?
Impossible. Illegal.
Suicidal.
He didn't tell anyone what Eli had said—not yet. Not even his mother, who had been locked in her room for two days now. Her grief was a locked door Ethan didn't have the key to.
Instead, he walked.
Through the town.
Past the diner, the gas station, the barbershop that always smelled like burnt wood.
He needed to feel normal, even if the word felt like a lie now.
But normal didn't last long.
---
It started with a scream.
High. Sharp. Female.
Then another.
Then the unmistakable sound of breaking glass.
Ethan's body reacted before his brain did. He sprinted down the street toward the chaos, yanking off his jacket, bones cracking as his wolf form pushed just beneath the surface.
He turned the corner—
—and the world exploded into madness.
Fire. Smoke. Screams.
Downtown Blackridge was under attack.
A black van had crashed through the front of Carter's Hardware. People were running. And in the middle of the street stood two figures cloaked in long coats, eyes glowing the color of dying embers.
Vampires.
Out in daylight.
Ethan had no time to think. His bones snapped, fur tore through skin, and in seconds he was in his full Alpha wolf form—twice the size of a normal werewolf, silver-streaked and snarling with fury.
He launched forward.
The first vampire dodged him—fast. Too fast.
The second wasn't so lucky. Ethan slammed it into the side of a truck with enough force to dent steel. But as he lunged for the killing blow—
—a shadow moved between them.
Not vampire.
Not wolf.
Something else.
And then a voice—calm, feminine, and cool as moonlight:
"Stop."
Ethan froze mid-strike.
The girl stood in the center of the chaos, completely untouched by it. Dark hair spilled over her shoulders like ink, and her eyes—unnatural violet—glowed faintly in the firelight.
She was breathtaking. And completely out of place.
Ethan shifted partially back, claws still extended, blood in his mouth.
"Who the hell are you?" he growled.
The girl tilted her head, unfazed by his growl. Her voice was calm.
"You don't want to fight them. Not here. Not now."
He narrowed his eyes. "Why the hell not?"
She stepped closer, gaze steady.
"Because they were never here for you."
She tossed a small vial at his feet. It shattered—and white smoke exploded, thick and blinding. Ethan coughed, senses scrambled. When it cleared—
She was gone.
So were the vampires.
---
Later that night, Ethan stood outside his house, hands clenched at his sides.
Ava.
He didn't know her name yet. But she was all he could think about.
She'd stopped him from killing the vampire. She knew what was happening. She had power—calm, deadly power—and she was hiding something.
He could feel it.
He could also feel something else.
A tug in his chest.
A pull toward her.
It made no sense.
Until he looked down and saw the strange mark on his forearm—a single red symbol, like a rune, pulsing faintly beneath the skin.
It hadn't been there this morning.
And it felt… connected to her.
The girl in the firelight.