CHAPTER ONE

Quil and Embry had been assigned to patrol the coastal area for the night, a routine they had both grown accustomed to over the past months. The quiet, the solitude, the occasional rustle of the trees as they moved through the dense forest—none of it ever felt strange to them. Yet, tonight, as they walked along the sandy beach with only the distant sound of waves crashing against the shore to keep them company, something felt different. Neither of them could shake the feeling that they were about to encounter something extraordinary.

They had been walking for some time, deep in thought, when they suddenly halted, their attention snapping to the figure that lay motionless on the sand ahead. Their eyes narrowed, and their senses went into high alert. At first, they couldn't quite make out the details—it was too dark, the moonlight casting long shadows across the beach—but as they drew closer, the form began to take shape.

A woman. Naked. Unconscious. Her skin glowed faintly under the moonlight, but everything about the situation felt wrong like something was out of place. The woman was completely still, her body sprawled in the sand, as though she had simply collapsed there without a care in the world. Quil and Embry exchanged a look, both frozen in shock, trying to make sense of what they were seeing.

Quil's mind raced as confusion clouded his thoughts. Who was this woman? How did she end up here, completely exposed on the beach? And why was she naked? He couldn't stop wondering if she had been abandoned or perhaps washed ashore, but none of it made sense. Should they approach her in their wolf forms, or shift back and find the clothes they had stashed in the woods on nearby trees? They were too far from their clothes, and in their current forms, they couldn't risk scaring her away—or worse, making the situation worse.

Before they could decide what to do, something even stranger happened. The woman, who had seemed unconscious just moments before, stirred. Her eyes fluttered open, and then, incredibly, she sat up with alarming speed. Both Quil and Embry froze, watching her, bewildered. It was like she could she hear their thoughts. They had not spoken aloud, yet her reaction was unmistakable. She had heard something or perhaps felt something that stirred her, but whatever it was, it had startled her.

Her hair was a tangled mess, a wild cascade of wet strands, knotted with seagrass, bits of coral, and sand. She seemed completely oblivious to the state of her appearance, her eyes wide and unfocused. Her attention was elsewhere, perhaps still disoriented from whatever had brought her here. She ran a hand through her hair with a frustrated grimace, trying to push aside the mess, but her fingers stopped suddenly as if something had caught her eye. Her face twisted in alarm.

Her voice suddenly pierced the night air with a high-pitched scream. "What in Poseidon's name are these?!!?"

Quil and Embry exchanged a bewildered glance, their confusion deepening. She had spoken aloud, but the words were so strange. What did she mean by "Poseidon's name"? Had she just invoked some ancient deity, or was this some kind of bizarre outburst? They couldn't decide, but their thoughts were too jumbled to make sense of the situation. Could she hear them, or was she just reacting to something else?

"Did she just say 'What in Poseidon's name?'" Quil murmured, his voice full of disbelief.

Embry scratched his head, a small grunt escaping him. "Beats me. Maybe she's drunk or something."

"Seems like it," Quil muttered, eyeing her naked form. "Probably why she's out here like this. Maybe she just wandered off somewhere."

The woman seemed oblivious to their exchange, still muttering to herself as she looked over her body. She appeared to be more focused on something else entirely—the strange, foreign things that seemed to be clinging to her skin. Her hand brushed against her arms, her face wrinkling in disgust as she tried to remove whatever it was that had attached itself to her. The two wolves couldn't make sense of what she was seeing, but it was clear that it bothered her.

Then, as if her thoughts shifted, she turned toward the water. Quil and Embry watched her closely, still unsure of what to do. But before either of them could react, she reached out toward the ocean, as though drawn to it instinctively. When her fingers touched the water, her body jerked violently. A sharp hiss of pain escaped her lips, and she quickly withdrew her hand, only to hesitate for a moment before trying again. This time, her entire body reacted in agony. The water seemed to scorch her skin, and she screamed in pain.

Quil's heart dropped into his stomach. Something was wrong—terribly wrong. The water wasn't supposed to burn anyone. That was impossible. The ocean was a part of the land, the natural world, and yet here she was, being harmed by it.

"She's burning," Quil said urgently, his voice filled with concern. Embry's brow furrowed in confusion. He had never heard of anything like this before. He knew the ocean, had spent his entire life in its presence, and it had never been capable of causing harm like this.

"She needs to get away from the water," Embry said, stepping forward as he motioned to Quil. Without another word, the two wolves swiftly shifted into their human forms. The change was quick, but it left them disoriented for a moment, the sharp pain of the transformation hitting them both. Yet, there was no time to lose. They had to help her.

They moved toward the woman, each of them grabbing an arm and pulling her away from the water's edge. The moment they did, the violent waves calmed. The ocean seemed to go still, as if in response to their action.

"Careful," Embry muttered, his hands tightening on her arms. Once they had pulled her far enough from the shoreline, they noticed that her eyes fluttered once more, her breath shallow and uneven. Her body sagged, her muscles going limp, and then, just as abruptly as it had begun, she fell unconscious in their arms.

Embry let out a low sigh, relief washing over him but still mixed with confusion. "I don't think she's drunk," he said, looking over at Quil. "Something's really wrong with her."

Quil nodded slowly, his gaze fixed on the woman as he continued to process what had just happened. "I don't think she's human," he said grimly, his voice low. "That water... it burned her. And nothing about this makes sense."

Embry's eyes narrowed as he considered Quil's words. There was something deeply strange about this whole encounter. This wasn't just some random drunk person washed ashore. No, this was something else entirely, something neither of them understood.

"We need to bring her to Sam," Embry said finally, his voice steady, though his mind was racing. "He might know what's going on."

Quil glanced down at the unconscious woman and nodded in agreement. But as his eyes travelled back to Embry, he suddenly realized something—the two of them were standing there, completely naked.

Embry followed Quil's gaze, his own expression blanking for a moment before the realization hit him. Both of them were still in their human forms, and neither of them had thought about their lack of clothing until now.

"Yeah..." Quil said dryly, breaking the silence. "We should probably get some clothes first."

Embry couldn't help but chuckle, the awkwardness of the situation finally hitting him. "Oh, right. Good idea."

With that, the two of them turned and headed into the woods, ready to deal with the strange, mysterious woman who had appeared on the beach and left them with more questions than answers.