Chapter 1 Warmth in the Cold

(Eliana)

It was a gloomy evening, and I was just about ready to close up and go home before the rain caught me.

The sky outside was a dull gray, and the first drops of rain were starting to drop onto the street. I wrapped my woolen shawl around my shoulders and looked around my small shop. Everything was neat. The wooden shelves were lined with glass jars full of dried lavender, chamomile, sweet mint, and berry leaves. The air smelled soft and warm, like hot honey and crushed flowers.

I swept the last bit of dirt off the floorboards toward the front entrance. I was tired, but it was a good kind of tired.

For four years, I had been trapped in the Bloodmoon Pack, treated as nothing more than a tool. Their Alpha, Vance, kept me locked away because of my healing magic to fix his injuries, without giving me a second of peace. Escaping had been the scariest thing I had ever done. I ran in the middle of the night with nothing but a small bag of seeds, a kettle, and the clothes on my back.

Now, I was here in Frostfell..a quiet, neutral border town where no pack held power. To the locals, I was just Eliana, the quiet girl who ran the tea shop on the corner. I made my own money, cooked my own food, and slept in my own bed. I didn’t have to fear anyone anymore.

“Just a few more minutes,” I whispered to myself, looking at the tea kettle on the counter. “Then I can lock the door and go upstairs.”

I reached for the small bell to turn the sign from Open to Closed.

Then, the front door pushed open.

A sudden gust of cold wind swept into the room, causing the hanging dried flowers to swing back and forth. The sweet smell of my shop was instantly wiped away, replaced by the heavy scent of fresh blood and wet earth.

I turned around, expecting a late customer.

Instead, a huge black wolf stumbled through the doorway and collapsed with a heavy thud right onto the rug in front of my counter.

My breath caught in my throat, and I backed up until my spine hit the edge of the desk, knocking over a tin of dried mint.

The wolf was massive far bigger than any normal wolf. His coat was dark as midnight, soaked with rainwater and mud. Blood dripped from a long cut along his shoulder. But it wasn’t the blood that made my hands shake.

It was the black lines.

Spreading up from his chest and across his neck were dark, twisted veins that looked like black branches under his skin. They pulsed with an angry heat.

I knew those marks immediately. It was the mark of the Sleepless Curse a cruel dark magic that locked a wolf’s mind in a state of endless awake, driving them mad with pain until their heart gave out.

The big wolf let out a low, sad whine. He tried to lift his heavy head, but he didn’t have the strength. His pale silver eyes were wild with agony. He wasn’t looking at me like a predator. He was looking at me like a drowning man looking for a rope.

I froze. Every instinct told me to run out the back door. He was a rogue wolf, and I was just a healer alone in a shop at night.

“I should leave,” I murmured, staring at the door. “I should just go.”

But as I looked back at him, he let out another small, painful breath, shivering against the cold floorboards.

I couldn’t do it. I was a healer. I couldn’t just walk away and leave someone to suffer.

“Alright,” I said softly. “Just stay still. Don’t fight me.”

I turned quickly and grabbed my kettle. The water was still hot. I reached for my jar filled with dried moonflower petals, crushed chamomile, and silver leaf. Moonflower had gentle magic that could calm the hottest fire in a person’s blood.

I poured the hot water into a small clay cup, threw in the herbs, and added a big spoonful of sweet honey. I stirred it fast, watching the water turn pale gold.

Taking a deep breath to steady my hands, I knelt beside the giant beast. The heat coming off his body was intense, like standing next to an open oven.

“I’m going to help you, okay?” I whispered. “You just need to take a little sip.”

I carefully slid my hand under his heavy jaw, holding his head up. With my other hand, I brought the clay cup to his mouth and allowed a few warm drops to slide past his dark lips.

At first, he didn’t react. But as the taste of warm honey and moonflower hit his tongue, his throat moved, and he swallowed. I poured a little more, guiding the tea gently until the cup was empty.

“That’s it,” I murmured. “Just rest now. Let the magic work.”

For three long seconds, nothing happened. The room was silent except for the heavy rain falling outside.

Then, the dark veins on his neck began to fade, shrinking back down under his skin. The harsh heat radiating off his fur cooled down into a steady warmth. The wolf let out a long, shuddering sigh.

A soft shadow wrapped around his body. Slowly, the big black wolf began to shift. The fur receded, the paws reshaped, and within moments, a man was lying on my rug instead.

He was tall and broad-shouldered, wearing dark, wet clothes torn at the shoulder. His dark hair was messy from the rain, and he had sharp, strong features. But right now, his face was completely peaceful. His chest rose and fell in a slow, deep rhythm.

He was asleep. Truly asleep.

I sat back on my heels, wiping sweat from my forehead. My legs felt like jelly, and my heart was still beating fast.

I looked down at the stranger. I had heard rumors in town about a dark, terrifying Alpha who roamed the mountain borders, a man feared by every pack. Looking at his sharp face now, I realized this was him.

I took a deep breath and looked out the window at the heavy rain.

I had just wanted to close my shop and go home before the storm started. But now, I had a giant, sleeping Alpha resting right in the middle of my tea room.