Chapter 1

Hi, I’m Madelyn, and I work for a madman.

Let’s back up a little and talk about how I ended up in this mess.

Once upon a time… on an ordinary, unbearably hot Tuesday, I was walking down the streets of Ravenhill after yet another failed attempt to find a job.

Another day with no source of income.

No roof over my head. And no fucking food.

My mind kept drifting to the last option I had left…. suicide.

Because for a packless omega orphan like me, surviving in Ravenhill was like searching for a ray of light at the end of a long, suffocatingly dark tunnel.

Did I mention everyone hated me in this town?

I found myself walking toward the old Hayon Forest. It used to be the liveliest place in town, but now it was the last place anyone would wander into… especially alone.

Unless your name was Madelyn Knox.

Which, unfortunately, was me.

At that moment, a haunted forest felt far more welcoming than the people of Ravenhill. It seemed like the perfect place to let go of this damn life and finally accept the reality that I was a failure.

I sighed, letting my fingers drift across the rough, scratchy bark of the trees as I wandered deeper into the forest.

If it weren’t for the stories surrounding it, Hayon Forest was actually beautiful.

Unfortunately, it was rumored to be the hiding place of the infamous Lunatic Alpha—a man I had never seen but had heard countless terrifying stories about. According to the rumors, he captured wolves of every kind, tortured them for fun, and drank their blood to stay young.

Personally, I thought the stories sounded ridiculous.

But right then, I had no business worrying about some mythical folklore when my own life was already falling apart.

Did I mention the people in this town called him He Who Must Not Be Named?

“What is he, Voldemort?” I scoffed, walking deeper into the trees with one hand shoved into the pocket of my yellow dress. “Perhaps he’d sound a lot less ridiculous if they gave him a better nickname.”

I barely finished the sentence before I stumbled over a wayward branch, jerking my hand out of my pocket to catch myself before I kissed the forest floor.

“Great,” I muttered under my breath, dusting off my palms. When I lifted my head, my eyes landed on the stream ahead.

Only… Something wasn’t right.

The water that used to be crystal clear now flowed in a deep crimson, the current carrying the strange color downstream as though the entire river had been stained with blood.

My heart lurched. “What the hell…” I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut.

Maybe I was finally losing it. Maybe hunger had finally fried what little sanity I had left. I took a slow breath and counted to three.

One… Two… Three… When I opened my eyes again, the stream was still red. Only now, there was a man standing in it.

The water curled around his boots as though it dared not touch him, and for a moment I simply stared, unable to move or even think.

Then he slowly lifted his head.

My breath caught in my throat.

His eyes… They glowed a terrifying shade of crimson, burning with an intensity that made every instinct inside me scream to run.

One second he was standing in front of me, and the next, his hand was wrapped around my waist while the other covered my mouth. His low voice brushed against my ear, sending shivers through my entire body. “Be quiet before you get us both killed.”

I struggled against his hold, but his other arm locked me firmly against him while he hooked a heavy leg over my ankles, effectively keeping me still.

“Let me go,” I mumbled against his palm.

“Relax,” he ordered again.

Right. Because apparently that was supposed to be easy when a strange man had suddenly grabbed me in the middle of a forbidden forest, especially when I was already certain he was going to bring nothing but bad news.

Suddenly, his hand was gone from my mouth, but before I could even turn around, his voice came in my ear once more.

“What the bloody hell are you doing in here?”

He spun me around, and I was stunned the moment I finally saw him properly. In my own defense, it was a lot to take in. My first thought of the monster everyone talked about had been an old grandpa with scars covering his face, a grey beard, and probably a terrible smell to match.

But standing in front of me was a ridiculously handsome man with thick dark hair, high cheekbones, and eyes that looked like they hadn’t known sleep in years. He was disastrously beautiful, the kind of beautiful that was almost unfair. His skin was tanned, his jaw sharp, and there was something about the way he carried himself that made it impossible to look away.

“How did you get into this side of the forest?” he asked, lifting one perfectly thick brow, his deep blue eyes staring straight into mine.

I pinched myself.

“How did you get into this side of the forest?” he asked again, and this time there was a warning beneath his voice.

“I walked in and you really shouldn’t look like that,” I blurted out.

His brow furrowed.

I should have been scared to my bones of this man.

Instead, I was standing there wondering why the terrifying monster everyone in Ravenhill had warned me about had to look like he belonged on the cover of a romance novel.

“You’re not allowed to wander into this forest, or this part of the forest. How stupid can you be?”

“Excuse me?” I asked, completely shocked.

“This forest is out of bounds for a reason. For a Lycan, you’re rather stupid to be in here.”

Wow.

He just called me stupid again.

“Look, you asshole, I don’t care what this town thinks you are or whatever bullshit you’ve got going on, but I will not stand here and be called stupid. I might be jobless, homeless, or many other things, but don’t you dare try to insult me.”

I yelled the words without thinking, and for a moment, the entire forest went completely silent.

He simply stared at me.

He stared for a minute longer than was comfortable, his expression unreadable as his crimson eyes slowly faded back into their deep blue.

Then, to my surprise, the corner of his lips twitched.

“Well, good for you,” he finally said. “Because you’re never leaving Hayon.”

“What?” I asked, confused.

“The blood you saw in the stream wasn’t just blood.”I stared at him. “It was a ritual performed by the old witch tribe of Saylan.”

My confusion only deepened.

“And now,” he continued, his gaze settling on me with an unsettling calmness, “you’re stuck here with me.”

I was quiet for a moment, staring at him as I tried to process what he’d just said. Then, before I could stop myself, I laughed.

“The witches of Saylan don’t exist anymore,” I said between my laughter. “They died centuries ago. Everyone knows that.”

He didn’t find what I said funny. He just stared at me with that same unreadable expression, and somehow, that made my laughter die down.

“So did I,” he said calmly. “But here I am.”

My mouth fell open. I stared at him, waiting for the for more. There wasn’t one.

“You’re dead?”

“No.”

“Then what exactly did you mean by that?”

He stepped closer, his gaze never leaving mine.

“I mean the things you think you know about this world are wrong, Madelyn.”

A cold shiver ran down my spine.

“How do you know my name?” I whispered.

“When you keep yelling your name and disturbing my fucking peace, it’s hard not to know,” he said coldly, already turning away from me as he started walking deeper into the forest.

I stood there frozen, staring after him.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t stand there unless you want your body shredded into pieces,” he called over his shoulder.

I immediately looked around. “Wait, what?”

He stopped and slowly turned back to look at me, his expression completely calm.

“Oh, I forgot.” His eyes swept over me. “You wanted to die.”

My mouth fell open.

What the hell? How did he know that?

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

He stopped walking and turned to look at me, his expression still unreadable. “Why?” he asked. “Because I’d kill you?”

I swallowed hard.

“If I wanted you dead, I would have done that months ago.” His gaze remained fixed on me, his voice calm despite the threat in his words. “If you want to stay there, be my guest. I don’t care.”

He turned away again, but his next words made me pause. “So you can either shut the fuck up and follow me, or die right where you’re standing.” He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes darkening.

“And trust me, darling, there are many things far worse than me lurking in the dark, and it’s about to get dark.”

I quickened my pace and followed after him, but the man was damn near impossible to catch up with. His legs were practically twice the length of mine, and every time I thought I was finally getting closer, he seemed to gain another few feet.

Suddenly, he stopped.

I almost walked straight into him.

He turned around and walked back toward me, his eyes dropping to my legs before looking back at my face.

“Your hands around my shoulders,” he said.

“What?”

“At your pace, it would be hard to get out of here before dark.” Before I could say another word, he swept me off my feet.

I let out a startled gasp, instinctively wrapping my arms around his shoulders as he settled me against him. “Put me down!”

“Stay put, Madelyn. It’s going to be a quick ride.”

And before I could argue, he was already moving, carrying me effortlessly through the forest as though I weighed absolutely nothing.

I stared at the side of his face, completely dumbfounded. This man was seriously carrying me like I was a fucking sack of potatoes.

“Where are you taking me to?” I asked.

He didn’t even look at me. “Somewhere Safe.. My home.”