THE MOON HIDES MY HEART

Chapter 11: The Red Eyes

I didn't sleep that night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the wolf. Those red eyes. That smile. The way it had looked at me like I was already dead. I sat with my back against the headboard, the necklace clutched in my fist, watching the window. The frost had melted, but the claw marks remained. Five lines etched into the glass. A warning.

I know where you sleep.

I can reach you anytime I want.

Dawn came slowly. Gray light seeped through the curtains, and I finally allowed myself to breathe. I needed to find Kael.

He was in the library. Sitting at the same table where Nikolai had— I pushed the thought away. Focused on Kael's face. His dark eyes looked tired.

"You saw something," he said before I could speak.

"A wolf. At my window. Red eyes. Black fur. It smiled at me, Kael. Wolves don't smile."

He stood so fast his chair nearly tipped over. "Show me."

We went back to my room. The claw marks were still on the window. Kael studied them for a long time, his fingers tracing the lines without touching the glass.

"These aren't normal claw marks," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"The spacing is wrong. Too wide. Too deep." He pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and sketched the pattern. "This wasn't made by a wolf. It was made by something pretending to be a wolf."

"Then what was it?"

He didn't answer. He just kept sketching, his brow furrowed, his lips moving silently like he was reciting something.

"Kael. What was it?"

"I don't know yet." He closed the notebook. "But I know someone who might."

We were halfway to the infirmary when the attack came. One moment, the hallway was empty. The next, a wall of black fur exploded from a side passage. Teeth. Claws. Rage. I didn't have time to scream.

The wolf slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. Its jaws closed around my throat—not biting, not yet. Just holding. Just letting me feel the pressure of teeth against my pulse. Red eyes burned into mine. The same wolf.

"Kael!" I tried to scream, but the wolf's grip tightened. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. Couldn't think. The wolf's lips pulled back. That smile again.

And then it spoke. "Balancer blood," it growled. The voice was deep. Ancient. Wrong. "I've waited centuries for this taste."

Its tongue slid across my throat. I screamed.

The wolf flew off me. Kael had tackled it from the side, his body slamming into the massive creature with enough force to crack the stone floor. They rolled across the hallway, a blur of black fur and dark skin and violence.

"Run!" Kael shouted.

I couldn't run. My legs wouldn't move. I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, feeling the wolf's saliva drying on my skin. The wolf threw Kael off. He crashed into the wall and slumped to the ground, unconscious. Then the wolf turned back to me.

"Alone now," it said. "Just you and me, little Balancer."

It lunged.

Something inside me snapped. Not the fire. Something deeper. Something older. The same thing that had screamed in the forest during the Hunt. My hand shot up. My palm connected with the wolf's chest. And I pushed.

The wolf flew backward. Not like it had been hit. Like it had been rejected. Like the universe itself had decided it didn't belong here. It crashed through a wooden door and landed in a classroom, shattering desks and chairs.

I stood up. My whole body was shaking. My palm was glowing. The necklace was burning hot against my throat. The wolf got to its feet. Its red eyes were wider now. Not mocking. Afraid.

"What are you?" it whispered.

"Your death," I said.

I raised my hand again. But before I could push, Kael appeared behind the wolf. He was bleeding from a cut on his forehead, but his eyes were clear. Focused. In his hand, a blade. Obsidian. Carved with symbols I didn't recognize. He drove it into the wolf's back.

The wolf screamed. Not a wolf scream. A human scream. A thousand human screams, all layered on top of each other, all wrong. The creature thrashed. Twisted. Tried to claw at the blade, but its limbs were already slowing. The red eyes flickered. Dimmed. And then the wolf collapsed.

Its body began to change. The fur receded. The snout shortened. The massive frame shrank and twisted until— A man lay on the floor. Naked. Pale. Dead. His chest was covered in tattoos. Wolves. Moons. And on his shoulder, a brand. A symbol.

Kael knelt beside the body. His face was grim. "Elif. Come here."

I walked toward him on legs that didn't feel like my own. Looked down at the dead man's shoulder. The symbol was a wolf's head inside a circle. Germanic runes surrounded it.

"Do you recognize this?" Kael asked.

Before I could answer, another voice spoke from the doorway. "That's my uncle's mark."

Lukas stood in the shattered doorway. His face was white. His green eyes were fixed on the dead man's shoulder.

"Lukas," I said. "You know him?"

"That's the Brandauer family sigil." He walked into the room. His steps were slow. Heavy. "Only the inner circle bears it. My father. My uncle. My—" He stopped. Swallowed. "My brother, before he died."

"This man is your uncle?"

"He was." Lukas knelt beside the body. He touched the dead man's face, gently closing his eyes. "His name was Reinhard Brandauer. He was supposed to be in Germany. He was supposed to be dead. My father told me he died five years ago."

"Your father lied."

Lukas looked up at me. His eyes were wet. "Elif, I swear to you— I didn't know. I didn't know he was here. I didn't know he was the one attacking you."

"Your family's symbol is on his body. Your family tried to kill me."

"It's not—" He stood. Reached for me. "Please. Let me explain."

"Explain what? That your uncle is a murderer? That your family wants me dead?"

"My family is complicated."

"Your family tried to burn me alive."

The words hung in the air. Lukas's hand dropped. "You think I had something to do with the fire?"

"I think you've been watching me since the day I arrived. I think you've been protecting me. I think you've been lying to me." My voice was shaking. "You told me your family was traditional. You didn't tell me they wanted me dead."

"I didn't know!"

"You knew enough." I stepped back. "You knew they wouldn't accept a Balancer. You knew they'd see me as a threat. And you still got close to me."

"Because I wanted to protect you from them!"

"By lying?"

"By trying." His voice cracked. "My uncle is dead, Elif. I killed him. Not you. Not Kael. Me. Because I chose you over my family the moment I pulled that boy off you in the training yard."

"You didn't kill him. Kael did."

"Kael used my blade. My obsidian. My family's blade." Lukas pulled a knife from his belt. It was identical to the one in the wolf's back. "I gave it to Kael this morning. After you told me about the wolf. I told him to use it if he had to."

"You armed him to kill your own uncle?"

"I armed him to protect you."

I stared at him. The fire inside me was churning. His emotions were bleeding through the bond—guilt, fear, desperation. But beneath all of that, something else. Love. He loved me. Not because I was a Balancer. Not because I could calm his wolf. Not because I was useful. He loved me because I was me. And I didn't know what to do with that.

"Lukas," I said. "I need you to tell me everything. Now. No more secrets."

He nodded. Swallowed. "My family is part of an old German order. The Eisenwolf. They believe Balancers are abominations. They've been hunting them for centuries." He looked at his uncle's body. "They thought your mother was the last. When they found out about you, they sent Reinhard to eliminate you."

"And you?"

"I was supposed to help him." His voice was barely a whisper. "I was supposed to get close to you. Earn your trust. And then—"

"Then what?"

He closed his eyes. "Then deliver you to him."

The fire exploded. Not outside. Inside. I felt it surge through my veins, hot and furious and betrayed.

"You were using me?"

"No." He opened his eyes. They were full of tears. "At first, yes. That was the plan. But then I met you. I saw you stand up to Nikolai. I saw you scream in the forest. I saw you bleed and cry and fight. And I couldn't do it. I couldn't hurt you."

"So you just… what? Changed sides?"

"I chose you." He stepped toward me. "I chose you over my family. Over my pack. Over everything I've ever known."

"You should have told me."

"I know." He reached for my hand. I let him take it. His fingers were trembling. "I was going to. After the fire, I was going to tell you everything. But then your room burned and your letter was gone and you were so broken—"

"Don't." I pulled my hand away. "Don't use my pain as an excuse for your lies."

"You're right." He nodded. "You're right. I should have told you. I should have trusted you." He looked at me. "But I was afraid. Afraid you'd hate me. Afraid you'd send me away. Afraid I'd lose the only good thing in my life."

"Your uncle tried to kill me."

"And I helped kill him." His voice broke. "I killed my own blood to save you, Elif. Doesn't that mean anything?"

It meant everything. And that was the problem. I could feel him through the bond. His pain. His fear. His desperate, aching need for me to understand. But I could also feel the truth beneath it. He had lied. He had hidden things. He had come to Nordlicht with a mission to destroy me, and somewhere along the way, he had fallen in love with his target. That wasn't romantic. That was dangerous.

"Lukas," I said. "I need time."

"Take all the time you need."

"I need space."

"I'll give you space."

"I need you to stay away from me."

His face crumbled. But he nodded. "Whatever you need," he said. "I'll wait. I'll always wait."

"That's not what I'm asking."

"I know." He stepped back. "But it's what I'm offering."

Kael had been silent through the whole conversation. Now he spoke. "The body needs to be disposed of. If the Eisenwolf finds out Reinhard is dead, they'll send more."

"Then we burn him," Lukas said. "No evidence. No trail."

"No," I said. "We keep him."

Both of them stared at me. "Your family wants me dead," I said to Lukas. "They sent an assassin. That assassin is now a corpse. We're going to send him back to them."

"How?"

"By leaving him where they'll find him." I looked at the dead man's face. "And by carving a message into his chest."

"What message?"

I touched my necklace. The stone was still warm. "İhanet." Betrayal. "Tell them," I said, "that the Balancer knows."

Lukas and Kael carried the body away. I stood in the destroyed classroom, staring at the blood on the floor. My blood. The wolf's blood. Kael's blood. So much blood. The door creaked. I looked up, expecting Lukas. Or Kael. Or even Nikolai. But the hallway was empty. And then I felt it. A presence. Watching. Waiting. The same presence I had felt in my room. In the library. In the cave. Whoever—whatever—had sent the wolf was still here. And they weren't done with me yet.

Lukas found me an hour later. I was sitting on the steps of the main hall, staring at the sky. The sun was setting. The Northern Lights were already beginning to dance.

"Elif."

"Lukas."

"I meant what I said. I'll protect you from my family. From anyone. I'll die before I let them hurt you."

I looked at him. His green eyes were red-rimmed. His hands were stained with his uncle's blood. His whole body was shaking. "Please," he whispered. "Don't hate me."

I stood up. Walked toward him. Stopped inches from his chest. "I already hate you," I said.

His face crumbled. "You lied to me. You manipulated me. You made me trust you when you were planning to destroy me." My voice was cold. Flat. "I hate you for that."

"Elif—"

"I hate you," I repeated. "And I hate that I don't hate you enough."

I turned and walked away. Behind me, I heard him sink to his knees. I didn't look back. I couldn't. Because if I looked back, I would see him crying. And I would want to hold him. And I couldn't hold someone who had almost gotten me killed.