Chapter 6: The Ones Who Watch
736 Words
The pain in my wrist faded as suddenly as it came.
The blood stopped flowing, the cut sealing itself before my eyes.
I stared.
Alex swore under his breath.
“That’s… not normal,” I whispered.
“No,” he agreed. “It’s not.”
The room felt colder now, like something unseen had slipped inside with us. The air pressed against my skin, heavy with awareness. Whatever had answered my blood wasn’t just instinct.
It was attention.
“I don’t like this,” Alex said quietly. He moved to the window, scanning the darkness outside. “Someone felt that.”
My stomach twisted. “Someone like the wolves?”
“Not wolves,” he said. “They’re loud. Reckless.”
I swallowed. “Then who?”
His jaw tightened. “Vampires.”
The word sent a chill through me that had nothing to do with temperature.
“But… wouldn’t they come for me?” I asked. “If I’m what you think I am?”
Alex turned back to me, eyes serious. “They don’t rush. They observe. Measure.”
“Like predators,” I muttered.
“Yes,” he said. “Like rulers.”
A soft knock echoed through the house.
I flinched.
My dad’s voice followed, strained. “Sophia? Alex? There’s… someone here.”
Alex went rigid. “Stay behind me.”
We stepped into the hallway together. My dad stood near the front door, his face pale, his hand trembling where it gripped the frame.
“She didn’t give a name,” he whispered. “She just said she wanted to see my daughter.”
The door creaked open.
She stood there like she belonged to the night itself.
Tall. Pale. Dark hair falling smoothly down her back. Her eyes, deep red, calm and assessing, locked onto mine instantly.
Not curious.
Recognizing.
“Sophia Carter,” she said smoothly. “You feel exactly like her.”
My throat closed. “Like who?”
“Your mother.”
The world tilted.
Alex growled low in his chest. The sound wasn’t loud, but it was a warning.
The woman’s lips curved slightly. “Alpha Montclaire. How predictable.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.
“And yet,” she replied, stepping inside without invitation, “here I am.”
My dad moved instinctively in front of me.
“She’s not going anywhere,” he said, voice shaking but firm.
The woman’s gaze softened, almost pitying. “You did well hiding her. Longer than most humans ever manage.”
Human.
I felt it again, that pressure, that pull. My spine straightened on its own.
“What do you want?” I asked.
Her attention snapped back to me, sharp and pleased.
“To confirm a rumor,” she said. “And to warn you.”
“Warn me about what?”
Her eyes flicked briefly to Alex. “The wolves aren’t the only ones who fear what you are.”
Fear.
The word echoed.
“You’re the Alpha Vampire,” she continued calmly. “Or you will be. Whether you like it or not.”
My chest tightened. “I don’t want a crown.”
She smiled faintly. “No one worthy ever does.”
Alex stepped closer to me, his presence solid and grounding. “She’s under my protection.”
The woman laughed softly. “You don’t own fate, Alpha.”
Her gaze returned to me. “Others will come, Sophia. Some to kneel. Some to kill.”
“And you?” I asked.
She bowed her head, just slightly.
“I’m here to watch,” she said. “And to tell you this: when the moon turns red, you will have to choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Who you rule with,” she replied.
Her eyes lingered on Alex.
Then she turned and vanished into the night, as if she’d never been there at all.
Silence swallowed the house.
My dad exhaled shakily. “Sophia…”
I felt strange. Steady. Grounded.
Power hummed beneath my skin, not wild anymore, but waiting.
Alex looked at me, something unreadable in his eyes.
“Looks like the world just claimed you,” he said quietly.
I met his gaze, my heart pounding.
“Then it better be ready,” I replied.
Because deep down, beneath the fear and confusion, another truth was settling in, I wasn’t running anymore.
And neither was he.
- Writer
