Alex’s hand trembled, the neckce pulsing violently in his palm.

  “I—okay, just calm down—” he muttered to himself, trying to steady his grip.

  But it was alive. The gem throbbed in response to her presence, to her voice, to her very being. And the girl — silver-haired, ten fluffy tails fanning behind her, fox ears twitching nervously — was staring at it like a predator watching prey.

  Her eyes flicked toward the chain. A flicker of determination passed over her face.

  Before Alex could react, a sudden tug ripped the neckce from his fingers.

  “Hey! Wait—!”

  She snatched it with a speed that made his jaw drop. Her tails flicked and swayed, bancing her like a dancer, while her fox ears fttened in a mix of concentration and fear.

  Alex lunged, but she darted backward, twisting gracefully through the glowing pnts, tails whipping behind her in fshes of silver.

  “Stop! That’s Ethan’s! You can’t—!” Alex shouted, stumbling over a root.

  She gnced over her shoulder, silver eyes glinting in the dim light. One tail flicked forward, brushing lightly against the glowing leaves as she ran. Another tail coiled in the air, catching faint light as if she were leaving streaks of silver behind her.

  Alex scrambled to follow, heart pounding. “Wait! Don’t just run with it!”

  She zig-zagged between trees, her tails fring and twisting like liquid silver, giving her both bance and speed that Alex couldn’t hope to match. Every step she took was precise, deliberate, yet natural — a combination of panic and instinct.

  The glow from the bioluminescent pnts cast shadows across her form, highlighting the delicate shape of her fox ears, the shimmer of her hair, the tails fanning behind her in perfect rhythm. She was like nothing he had ever seen before.

  Alex’s lungs burned as he chased her through the byrinthine paths. “Hey! Stop! Give it back!”

  The girl didn’t answer. Not with words, anyway. Her tails flicked and swayed, the tips brushing the undergrowth, leaving faint traces of shimmering silver in the air. Her movements were fluid, almost mesmerizing, but all Alex could think about was the neckce in her hand.

  Every second she held it, the pulsing warmth in the gem seemed to resonate in the very air around him, and Alex couldn’t help but feel a tug — not toward her, but like something inside him was connected to it.

  Then she disappeared behind a thick cluster of glowing ferns, the tips of her tails the st thing he saw before she was gone.

  Alex skidded to a halt, chest heaving. He bent over, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. The gem had vanished from sight.

  “She… she took it,” he muttered, voice shaking. “She ran off with it…”

  And even as he spoke, the lingering shimmer of her tails in the moonlight made him realize: this wasn’t just a girl. She was something else entirely.

  The garden was silent again.Too silent.

  Alex slowed to a stop, breath burning in his throat. The glow of the pnts around him shimmered faintly in the dark, their light barely enough to push back the shadows between the trees.

  “Ethan…” he murmured, his voice small and uncertain. “Where the hell are you?”

  But the name sounded wrong in the air — hollow, mismatched with what he’d just seen.

  Because the person he’d been chasing… that wasn’t Ethan. It couldn’t be.

  He turned in a slow circle, eyes darting from path to path, trying to catch even the faintest flicker of silver hair or the ghostly sweep of tails. But the world around him was still now — only the whisper of leaves and the hum of nocturnal insects filled the void.

  His heart thudded unevenly in his chest. “This isn’t real,” he muttered under his breath, trying to convince himself. “You didn’t see that. You’re tired, you’ve been worried about him—”

  He stopped.

  Something soft brushed his shoe.

  Alex froze, then crouched down. A faint tuft of white fur y against the glowing moss. It shimmered faintly in the garden light, silver threads catching the air.

  He picked it up instinctively the fur warm between his fingers before letting the fur drift in the wind out of his grip just like she was.

  Alex’s stomach twisted. “That… that actually just happened,” he whispered.

  He stood there for a long moment, staring at his empty hand, trying to make sense of the world again. But the garden around him seemed different now — too quiet, too bright, too aware.

  “Ethan…” he said again, quieter this time, eyes scanning the shadows. “What the hell have you gotten yourself into?”

  He took a hesitant step forward, following the faint shimmer of silver dust on the ground. It glowed faintly, forming a loose trail that wound deeper into the garden’s heart.

  Every step brought him closer to the truth he wasn’t sure he wanted to find.

  And even as his rational brain screamed to turn back, his curiosity wouldn’t let him. He had to know.He had to find Ethan.

  Because whoever that girl was — the one with fox ears, silver eyes, and tails that shimmered like moonlight — she wasn’t just some random stranger.

  She was connected to him.

  And that neckce she’d run off with…It was the only link between the two.