The Wolves at the Door
653 Words
CHAPTER SIX
The wind grew louder that night.
It rattled the windows of the cabin and slipped through the cracks like a warning Lila couldn’t quite understand. She lay awake in the guest room, staring at the ceiling, Darian’s words echoing in her mind.
People who won’t like what I’m choosing.
She rolled onto her side, her chest tight. Since when did choosing love come with consequences she couldn’t see?
A sudden sound—soft, deliberate—pulled her upright.
Footsteps.
Not Darian’s.
Her heart pounded as she slipped out of bed and crept toward the door. The cabin lights were dim, but she could make out silhouettes moving beyond the living room windows. Shadows. Too many of them.
She froze.
Then she felt it again—that strange awareness, sharp and electric, humming beneath her skin. Fear, yes… but also something else. Instinct.
The front door opened.
“Enough,” Darian’s voice cut through the night, calm but edged with steel.
Lila peered around the corner just in time to see three figures step inside. They were human—at least on the surface—but something about the way they moved made her pulse race. Predatory. Controlled.
One of them, a tall woman with pale eyes, smiled coldly. “You’ve been hiding for too long, Alpha.”
Alpha.
The word sent a chill straight down Lila’s spine.
Darian didn’t flinch. “This is not pack territory.”
“It is when you bring a human into it,” another man replied, his gaze flicking toward the hallway—toward her.
Darian stepped forward instantly, placing himself between them and the corridor. “You will not look at her.”
The air thickened.
Lila swallowed hard. She knows. They all know.
“You’ve broken protocol,” the woman said smoothly. “The bond has already started. We can feel it.”
Bond.
There it was again—that word that made her heart race and her breath catch.
“I won’t give her up,” Darian said.
A beat of silence followed.
Then the woman’s smile faded. “Then you leave us no choice.”
Before Lila could react, Darian turned his head slightly. “Lila,” he said quietly. “Whatever happens next—do not be afraid.”
Her legs trembled as she stepped forward anyway. “I’m not going to hide.”
All eyes snapped to her.
For a moment, the room seemed to hold its breath.
“She has courage,” the man muttered. “That’s rare.”
Darian glanced back at her, something raw and protective flashing in his eyes. “You shouldn’t have come out.”
She lifted her chin. “I won’t let people decide my fate without me.”
The woman studied her carefully, her gaze sharp and unsettling. “You don’t understand what you’re standing in the middle of, girl.”
“Then explain it,” Lila said. Her voice shook—but she didn’t back down.
Darian exhaled slowly, as though surrendering to the inevitable. “They’re my pack,” he said. “And they think you’re a threat.”
Lila’s heart ached—but she didn’t look away. “And what do you think?”
He crossed the space between them, standing close enough that she could feel his warmth. “I think you’re my choice.”
The words settled deep in her chest.
The woman took a step back. “This isn’t over, Darian. The council will decide.”
With that, the three of them turned and disappeared into the night, the door slamming shut behind them.
Silence rushed back in.
Lila let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “So,” she said weakly, “I guess this is the part where my life officially stops being normal.”
Darian let out a quiet, humorless laugh. “I’m afraid so.”
She looked up at him,
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