Chapter 3: The Man You Should Fear
1052 Words
I shouldn’t have followed him.
Every instinct warned me.
Every step deeper into the forest felt like a mistake I wouldn’t be able to undo.
And yet… I kept walking.
Behind him.
Into the unknown.
The silence between us stretched, heavy and suffocating. He didn’t look back, didn’t speak, didn’t slow down to match my pace.
Like he already knew I would follow.
Like he expected it.
My arms wrapped tighter around myself as the cold bit through my skin, but it wasn’t the night that unsettled me.
It was him.
There was something wrong.
Not in the obvious way he didn’t act like the rogues. He wasn’t wild or reckless.
He was controlled.
Too controlled.
And that made him far more dangerous.
“Where are we going?” I finally asked, my voice breaking through the silence.
He didn’t stop.
“Somewhere safe.”
Safe.
That word again.
“You keep saying that,” I muttered, quickening my steps to keep up. “But you haven’t told me who you are.”
This time, he slowed.
Not much.
Just enough to make me notice.
Then he stopped completely.
I almost walked into him.
My breath caught as he turned, his eyes locking onto mine.
Up close… it was worse.
There was no warmth in his gaze.
No softness.
Just power.
Raw. Heavy. Unforgiving.
“Names,” he said slowly, “have a way of making things complicated.”
I frowned. “That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting.”
Frustration flickered through me, but I swallowed it. Arguing with someone like him felt… unwise.
“Then why help me?” I pressed instead. “You don’t know me.”
A pause.
His gaze drifted again briefly, deliberately to my stomach.
My pulse spiked.
“You’re wrong,” he said.
My breath hitched. “What?”
“I know enough.”
A chill slid down my spine.
What did that mean?
Before I could ask, he turned again and resumed walking.
“Wait”
“If you keep questioning everything,” he cut in without looking back, “you won’t like the answers.”
Something about the way he said it made me stop.
Not physically.
But mentally.
Because deep down…
I believed him.
We didn’t walk much longer before the trees began to thin.
And then
I saw it.
A massive structure rose from the darkness ahead, partially hidden by shadows and mist.
Stone walls.
High gates.
Guards.
My steps faltered.
“This isn’t neutral territory,” I said quietly.
“No,” he replied.
My heart started pounding again. “Then where are we?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he approached the gates.
The guards straightened the moment they saw him.
And then
They bowed.
Not casually.
Not respectfully.
But deeply.
Like their lives depended on it.
My breath caught.
Fear prickled at the back of my neck.
“Welcome back, my lord,” one of them said.
My lord.
The words echoed in my head.
I turned to him slowly, my stomach tightening with something far more dangerous than fear.
Realization.
“You…” My voice came out barely above a whisper. “Who are you?”
This time
He answered.
“I’m the one your Alpha fears.”
The world tilted.
No.
That wasn’t possible.
There was no one Damian feared.
No one
Unless
My thoughts cut off abruptly as the gates opened.
And what lay beyond them?
Wasn’t just territory.
It was power.
We stepped inside.
The atmosphere shifted instantly thicker, heavier, filled with an authority that pressed down on me from all sides.
People moved quickly, efficiently, their heads lowered as we passed.
No one questioned him.
No one even dared to look directly at him.
My chest tightened.
“What place is this?” I asked, my voice quieter now.
His answer came without hesitation.
“My kingdom.”
Kingdom.
The word sent a jolt through me.
Before I could process it, he stopped suddenly.
I nearly collided with him again.
He turned fully this time.
Close enough that I could feel his presence wrap around me like something tangible.
“Listen carefully, Aria.”
My name on his lips made my pulse stutter.
Because he hadn’t asked for it.
He already knew.
“If you stay here,” he continued, his voice low and steady, “you follow my rules.”
I swallowed hard. “And if I don’t?”
A pause.
Then
“Then you leave.”
Simple.
Cold.
Final.
My fingers curled slightly over my stomach.
Leave?
Back out there?
To the rogues?
To nothing?
I had no choice.
“…Fine,” I said.
His gaze held mine for a second longer.
Like he was measuring something.
Deciding something.
Then
“Good.”
He stepped back slightly.
“Because from this moment on…”
His voice dropped quieter, darker.
“You belong to my protection.”
My heart skipped.
Belong?
“I don’t belong to anyone,” I said quickly, instinctively.
A dangerous flicker crossed his eyes.
Not anger.
Something else.
Something deeper.
“Everyone belongs to something,” he said.
Before I could respond
A voice cut through the air.
“My lord.”
A man approached quickly, stopping a few steps away before bowing.
“There’s a problem.”
The stranger’s expression didn’t change.
“What is it?”
The man hesitated briefly.
Then
“Our scouts have confirmed…”
He glanced at me.
Lowered his voice.
“…Alpha Damian’s forces are already searching the borders.”
My blood ran cold.
Searching?
For me?
No… that didn’t make sense.
He rejected me.
He threw me away.
So why
“Interesting,” the stranger murmured.
His gaze shifted back to me.
Sharp.
Intent.
Calculating.
“Seems your past isn’t done with you yet.”
My heart began to race.
Fast.
Unsteady.
Because something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
“Why would he look for me?” I whispered.
No one answered.
But the look in his eyes?
It wasn’t surprise.
It was expectation.
Like he had been waiting for this.
And that terrified me more than anything else.
Because in that moment
I realized something I hadn’t before.
Following him…
Wasn’t just a coincidence.
It was a trap.
And I had just walked right into it.
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