Raised to the rank of queen

Ava wakes up in the forest, covered in blood. Her clothes are torn, her body aches, and there's a deep, unsettling hunger in her chest.

The full moon hangs low, casting a crimson glow over everything. Something feels wrong.

She stumbles forward and finds a girl's dead body. Her throat is slashed open, her glassy eyes staring at nothing.

Panic hits Ava. She doesn't remember what happened. Did she do this?

Branches snap. Someone's coming.

Knox Rivera steps out of the shadows. His expression is unreadable, but there's something dangerous about the way he looks at her.

"You need to run."

Ava hears howls. More than one.

Knox grabs her wrist, dragging her away. He's fast, too fast.

Shadowy figures emerge from the trees. Wolves. But not normal ones. Their eyes glow amber, their bodies shifting unnaturally.

The wolves attack. Ava and Knox barely escape, but one gets close, too close.

Ava's body reacts instinctively. Her vision sharpens, her muscles coil, and before she realizes what's happening, she moves with unnatural speed slamming a wolf into a tree.

She doesn't feel human anymore.

They take shelter in an abandoned hunting cabin.

Ava is breathing hard. Her hands won't stop shaking. Knox watches her like she's something else entirely.

"What's happening to me?" Ava demands.

Knox hesitates, then speaks the words that will change everything:

"You're not human, Ava.

And they're coming back for you."

Before Ava can respond, a loud snarl shakes the walls.

The door bursts open and a monstrous, jet black wolf lunges at Ava.

The scent of iron and earth was the first thing Ava Hale noticed.

Her body ached as she lay on the damp forest floor, the chill of the night seeping into her bones. The trees above stretched like skeletal fingers toward the sky, their twisted branches swaying under the eerie glow of the Blood Moon.

Ava's fingers twitched against the dirt, and something warm and wet clung to her skin. Blood.

Her breath hitched. Not mine.

Her pulse pounded as she pushed herself up, her hoodie torn, her jeans soaked in red. The coppery scent burned her nose, thick and suffocating.

Then she saw it.

The body.

A girl lay sprawled a few feet away, her throat ripped open. Blood pooled around her, dark and glistening beneath the moonlight. Her lifeless eyes wide with terror locked onto Ava, even in death.

Ava's stomach lurched.

She stumbled back, her breaths sharp and ragged. No. No, no, no.

Her mind raced, clawing for answers. How did I get here? What happened? But nothing came. Just empty static and the crushing weight of the scene in front of her.

A snapping twig somewhere behind her made her freeze.

She wasn't alone.

Ava whirled around, her heart slamming against her ribs.

Between the trees, a figure moved.

Knox Rivera.

Tall. Broad shouldered. Dressed in all black. His dark eyes locked onto her, sharp and unreadable.

Ava's pulse spiked.

She'd seen him before, always in the shadows, always watching. He wasn't the kind of guy people approached, and he didn't seem to want anyone to.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded, her voice hoarse.

Knox didn't answer. His gaze flicked to the body behind her, then back to her. Calculating.

Ava took a shaky step back. Did he think I did this?

"I, I didn't..." Her words faltered. How could she be sure? She woke up drenched in blood next to a dead girl.

Knox's jaw tightened. Then he took a step closer.

"You need to run."

Ava blinked. "What?"

The sound of howls shattered the silence.

Low. Too close.

Knox moved fast, grabbing her wrist. His grip was strong, almost unnatural.

"Now."

The forest blurred as they ran.

Branches whipped against Ava's skin, but the sharp sting barely registered over the pounding in her chest.

Behind them, the howls grew louder. Not normal wolves. No, these sounded bigger. Wilder. Wrong.

Knox yanked her behind a thick tree. "Stay quiet."

Ava's lungs burned, but she nodded.

Then she saw them.

Four figures emerged from the darkness.

Not men. Not quite wolves, either.

They walked on two legs, their skin shifting like liquid shadow, bones cracking and reforming with every step. Their eyes glowed a sickly amber, locked onto the exact spot where Ava stood.

Her stomach twisted.

"What... the hell?" she whispered.

Knox's grip on her wrist tightened. "They're hunters."

The closest creature snarled, baring jagged teeth. Then, in an instant it lunged.

Knox shoved her aside, twisting just in time to dodge the attack. The creature slammed into a tree, splintering bark.

Ava staggered back, her body moving before her mind could catch up.

One of the monsters turned on her, claws glinting in the moonlight. It pounced

And something inside Ava snapped.

Her vision sharpened. Her instincts screamed.

Before she even thought, she moved faster than she ever had before, sidestepping at the last second and slamming her elbow into its skull.

The impact sent the creature flying.

Ava stood there, chest heaving, her hands trembling with energy she didn't understand.

The monster didn't get back up.

Knox stared at her, something dark flashing in his eyes.

"You have no idea what you are," he muttered.

Ava swallowed hard. "What the hell does that mean?"

Knox didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed her wrist again.