The dungeon was damp, and the cold seeped into Anya's bones like a cruel lover that refused to let go.

The iron cuffs around her wrists grazed against her raw skin, every twitch igniting a flare of pain in her shoulder. Blood had dried around the torn fabric of her tunic. She'd tried to stay awake, tried to stay alert. But fatigue tugged at her like heavy chains, and she hated how her head kept drooping forward only to jerk up again.

Her thoughts spun in circles.

Who were they? Why was she still alive?

She remembered the moment clearly—those golden eyes narrowing just before the world blacked out. She remembered the voice, too, calm and authoritative, telling her not to fight.

But the part that refused to leave her mind... was the hesitation.

He could've killed her.
He didn't.

The dungeon door groaned open.

She lifted her head, wincing as her vision struggled to focus in the flickering torchlight. Heavy footsteps echoed on the stone, each step measured and deliberate.

He entered.

Namjoon.

Alpha of the Moonveil Pack. Known among scattered villages as a ruthless tactician. A protector. A killer.

And yet... his eyes didn't burn with fury now. They shimmered with something much more dangerous—uncertainty.

He didn't say a word at first. He simply stood there, staring at her. Studying her. As if waiting for something.

"Here to finish the job?" she rasped, voice dry as gravel.

Namjoon blinked once, slowly. "You're awake."

"Disappointed?"

A faint shadow of a smirk tugged at his lips, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. He stepped closer, pulling a wooden chair from the corner and placing it directly in front of her. Then, with the quiet composure of a man used to war councils and executions, he sat.

His golden eyes locked onto hers, unwavering.

"You saw me," he said softly.

She flinched. Not from fear. From recognition. The way he said it wasn't a question—it was a truth.

"Back in the market," she whispered. "You were... watching me."

Namjoon's voice dropped even lower, barely audible. "I've seen you before that."

Silence stretched like a taut string between them.

Anya swallowed hard, her throat sore. "In your dreams," she said. "Just like mine."

He nodded once. "Three nights ago. Then again the night after that. Same place every time—an old throne room, crumbling stone, walls covered in ivy. And you... standing in the middle of the chaos, like a flame refusing to die."

Her heart lurched.

She had seen it too. That same room. The same cold wind. The sound of something ancient whispering behind the walls.

"Why me?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"I don't know," he said truthfully. "But I have orders to end you. Tonight."

Anya's breath hitched. She tried not to show fear—but it clung to her skin like sweat.

"Then why are you still sitting here?" she asked bitterly.

Namjoon leaned back in his chair, gaze distant. "Because something in me is screaming not to."

Meanwhile......

The council chamber buzzed with hushed voices and restrained fury. Yoongi stood at the long table, his fingers curled around the edge like he might break it in two.

"She's dangerous," he growled. "You should've ended her on the border."

Namjoon leaned against the stone archway, arms crossed. "Something stopped me."

Taeho, one of the younger scouts, scoffed. "You mean the voice in your head, or the pretty face?"

Minji shot him a glare. "Enough, Taeho. He's our Alpha."

"She's not normal," Yoongi said, ignoring the bickering. "Her blood doesn't smell right. Neither human nor rogue. And no wolf in the region claims her."

Riven, the Moonveil Pack's historian, cleared his throat. "There are ancient tales... of hybrids. Creatures born of unnatural unions—some between cursed bloodlines, others between realms."

"Fairy tales," Taeho muttered.

"Maybe," Riven replied, "but our ancestors didn't write fables in blood."

Namjoon's voice cut through the noise like thunder. "I don't need legends. I need facts. What I do know is this—she's been in my dreams. Before we found her."

Yoongi turned sharply. "What?"

Namjoon stepped forward, jaw clenched. "For four nights. The same dream. An ancient throne room. Ivy swallowing the walls. Her standing beneath a moonless sky. I thought I was losing my mind—until we found her."

A heavy silence settled.

Riven's eyes gleamed. "Prophecy."

Taeho snorted again, but this time with less confidence.

Yoongi shook his head. "Dreams don't make someone innocent. If anything, they make her more dangerous."

"We'll just have to wait and see" Namjoon muttered with an unusual tone.

As time passes by......

Namjoon returned just after dusk, his boots echoing heavily against the cold stone floor. The torchlight caught the sharp angles of his face—stone-cut, unreadable. His dark cloak swept behind him like a shadow given form, his presence overwhelming the air itself.

Anya hadn't moved.

But her eyes tracked him—wary, waiting.

"I overheard the others," she said, her voice low. "They think I'm cursed."

He didn't kneel this time.

He stood above her, arms crossed, towering like a judge preparing to pass a sentence. His golden eyes bore into her like wildfire under ice.

"They're not wrong to think it," he said. "Strange things began the moment you stepped onto Moonveil soil. Wolves missing. Blood on the wind. The shrines are desecrated. And the moon hasn't shone full since you arrived."

"You think I did that?" Her voice cracked.

"I think I don't like being played with," he growled. "You appeared out of nowhere. No scent trail. No past. And somehow, I see you in my dreams before I even know your name?"

He stepped closer. She instinctively shrank back—but he didn't miss the flicker of defiance in her eyes.

"You've dreamed of me?" she asked.

Namjoon tilted his head, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips—but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Four nights," he said. "Same image. You, in a ruined throne room. Moonless sky. Your hands stained with blood you claim not to recognize."

Her breath hitched.

"I've seen it too," she whispered. "Every night for a week. And there's always a voice—whispering from the shadows."

That made him freeze. His gaze sharpened, hawk-like.

"What voice?" he demanded, his tone dark enough to cut through bone.

She looked away, hesitant.

"What does it say?" he pressed, stepping even closer, lowering his voice to a dangerous whisper.

Anya swallowed, her chains rattling softly. "It tells me... that I don't belong here. And that I'm the reason everything is falling apart."

Namjoon exhaled slowly through his nose, jaw tightening.

"Then maybe I should end you now and save us the trouble," he murmured.

Her eyes widened, but she didn't flinch. "Then why haven't you?"

The room went still. Even the torches seemed to quiet in anticipation.

Namjoon's gaze lingered on her lips, her eyes, her bloodied wrists.

Because I can't.

Because I see you in every nightmare... and it terrifies me more than any enemy ever has.

He leaned down until their faces were a breath apart.

"I haven't decided," he said coldly. "But when I do... you'll know."

He turned sharply, his cloak slicing the air behind him as he vanished into the darkness.

And for the first time in days, Anya didn't feel like a prisoner.

She felt like prey.

Later that evening....

 the Elders sent their decree:
"Execute the girl before the moon's peak."

Yoongi delivered it himself, jaw tight. "They've spoken. She dies at midnight."

Namjoon took the scroll without speaking. His eyes didn't move from the firelight as he read it.

"She doesn't deserve this," he said, more to himself than to Yoongi.

Yoongi didn't flinch. "Namjoon. You are our Alpha. And if you won't protect the pack from her, someone else will." 

This put Namjoon is a very tight position being an Alpha of the Moonveil pack he held great responsibility and had to put his pack at top priority. 

That very same night .......

The dream seemed much more real this time.

Anya stood alone in the throne room, cold wind brushing her cheeks. Moonlight streamed through cracks in the ruined ceiling, casting her in silver. At the far end stood Namjoon—his eyes wild, mouth covered in blood. A massive beast—half-wolf, half-shadow—loomed behind him, whispering words she couldn't hear.

And then the mirror cracked again.

Her reflection looked back at her—but smiled without mirroring her expression.

"He will kill you," the reflection spoke.

"Unless you kill him first."

She awoke screaming, but there was no one there by her side to protect her, there was no one to comfort her to give the answers she deserved.

It was almost midnight .... Namjoon stood alone on the cliff above the Moonveil Forest, the scroll clutched in his hand. The moon glowed pale behind a veil of clouds.

Yoongi appeared behind him. "Are you going to do it?"

Namjoon didn't turn. "Would you, if it were you?"

Yoongi didn't answer.

Minutes passed. The forest below sighed with wind. Owls cried in the distance.

Finally, Namjoon whispered, "She might be our end, Yoongi... but I can't shake the feeling she's also our beginning."

Yoongi just stayed silent as if contemplating what to say. "I think we should head back and have a look at her" his words were void of any feeling. 

Now they stand outside the dungeon .

The chains clattered to the floor and the door opens...

Anya stared at Namjoon as he lowered his hood and unlocked the final cuff.

"What are you doing?" she asked, stunned.

He didn't meet her gaze. "I don't know. Maybe I'm making the biggest mistake of my life."

"No Namjoon you can't do this." Yoongi lashed out his eyes now turning purple in rage.

"I am your Alpha, and I know what I'm doing , you just got to trust me , Beta Yoongi"

She stood slowly, rubbing her sore wrists. "You're letting me go?"

"No," he said. "I'm giving you a chance."

"A chance for what?"

"To prove that fate isn't the only one writing this story."

Author's Note

Hey There !!!

My Fellow Readers,

Firstly, I apologize for posting in gaps as i get time will keep putting out chapters for you. Well, this is a double chapter combined in one so I hope you enjoy every moment of it.

Please do vote and share this story to show your support and love.

The Anime Writer