Cont’d
1405 Words
Elara stared at him.
“Us?”
Kael didn’t answer right away.
The wolves behind him shifted, paws crunching softly against frost-hard ground. Their eyes stayed fixed on her—too intelligent, too alert. Like they were studying her.
Not hunting.
Assessing.
She hated that more.
“I didn’t come here for… whatever this is,” she said, gesturing weakly around them. “My brother’s missing. I followed his trail into this forest, and then I ran into—” she swallowed, “—that.”
Kael’s gaze dipped briefly to the blood stains near the edge of the clearing.
His expression tightened.
“You shouldn’t track people out here alone.”
“I didn’t plan to,” she snapped. “I planned to find him.”
One of the wolves took a step forward.
Kael’s hand moved again—small, sharp.
The wolf stopped instantly.
Her stomach dropped.
That wasn’t coincidence.
“That thing you just did,” she said slowly. “With your hand?”
Kael didn’t look at her.
“Instinct.”
“Funny. Mine says you’re lying.”
For a second, something almost like amusement flickered across his face.
Almost.
“You have good instincts,” he said. “That’s going to make this harder.”
“What is?”
“Convincing you not to keep asking questions.”
She crossed her arms, though her hands were shaking. “Try.”
Kael studied her, eyes scanning her face like he was cataloging details—the cut on her cheek from a branch, the mud on her jeans, the pepper spray clenched in her fist.
He noticed everything.
“Rowan,” he repeated quietly. “What does he look like?”
Her chest tightened. “Brown hair. Same height as me. Scar on his chin from when we were kids. He hikes for fun and makes terrible coffee.”
Kael’s jaw twitched.
She took a step closer. “You do know him.”
“No.”
“Then why do you look like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re about to tell me something I won’t like.”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he turned slightly toward the wolves and murmured something low and rough—another language, maybe. The nearest wolf dipped its head and padded backward into the trees.
One by one, the others followed.
Reluctantly.
They vanished between the trunks, silent as mist.
Elara blinked. “You just… sent them away.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because they were thinking about not listening.”
Her mouth went dry.
“That’s not comforting.”
“No,” he agreed. “It isn’t.”
When the forest was quiet again, Kael turned back to her.
“You said you tracked him.”
“Yes.”
“Show me.”
She hesitated. Every rational part of her brain screamed not to follow strange men deeper into unmarked forests. Especially strange men who commanded wolves with a flick of their wrist.
But Rowan.
She nodded.
Kael fell into step beside her as she led him back toward the bloodied ground. He moved differently than anyone she’d ever walked with—silent, surefooted, eyes always sweeping the trees.
Predatory.
She hated that her pulse sped up for reasons that weren’t just fear.
They reached the stains.
Kael crouched.
Elara watched his hands hover just above the dirt.
“Don’t touch it,” she blurted.
He glanced up. “Why?”
“It’s blood.”
“I know.”
“That’s—”
He brushed two fingers through it anyway, sniffed.
Her stomach lurched. “That is disgusting.”
“Fresh,” he said. “Few hours old.”
Her throat tightened. “Human?”
He hesitated.
That was enough.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Kael exhaled through his nose. “Most likely.”
“Most likely?”
“There were others here.”
“Others?”
He stood. “Wolves.”
Her stomach twisted. “They attacked him.”
“Not necessarily.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“It shouldn’t.”
She clenched her fists. “Take me to him.”
Kael stared at her for a long moment.
Then: “If I do, you listen to me.”
“I already don’t.”
His lips twitched again.
“Fair,” he said. “But try.”
They walked.
Deeper.
The forest thickened, light thinning until everything turned blue-gray and shadowed. Elara had to jog to keep up with his long stride.
“How far?” she asked.
“Depends how fast you walk.”
“Helpful.”
He glanced back at her. “You don’t scare easily.”
She scoffed. “I ran screaming ten minutes ago.”
“You came back.”
She didn’t have an answer for that.
After several minutes, Kael slowed.
He lifted a fist.
Elara stopped instantly.
“What?”
He sniffed the air.
Her stomach dropped. “What do you smell?”
“Trouble.”
“Fantastic.”
Kael stepped ahead of her, eyes fixed on something in the trees.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
He shot her a look.
She lifted her chin. “I’m done staying behind.”
Something in his gaze softened—just a fraction.
“Fine,” he muttered. “But don’t move unless I say so.”
“That was literally what you just said.”
He ignored her.
They pushed through brush—
—and into a small ravine.
Something lay at the bottom.
Elara’s heart slammed.
She slid down the slope before Kael could stop her.
“Rowan!”
The figure didn’t move.
She skidded to her knees beside him.
It wasn’t Rowan.
She sucked in a sharp breath.
The man on the ground was older, beard matted with blood, jacket torn open at the shoulder. Deep gouges ripped through the fabric.
Claw marks.
Her stomach churned.
“He’s alive,” Kael said behind her.
She spun. “How do you know?”
“Because I can hear his heart.”
That made her pause.
“What?”
Kael didn’t repeat it.
He crouched and pressed two fingers to the man’s neck anyway, like he remembered humans needed that.
Pulse.
Weak.
“But fading,” he added.
“Then help him!”
“I am.”
Kael tore open the man’s sleeve, revealing shredded skin.
Elara gagged.
“Oh my god.”
Kael grimaced. “He shouldn’t still be breathing.”
“That’s… not encouraging.”
“Actually, it is.”
She stared at him. “How?”
He looked at her, eyes sharp.
“Because normal people die from this.”
Her blood ran cold.
“Normal people?”
Kael’s gaze lifted to the trees.
Then back to her.
“He’s changing.”
Her stomach dropped.
“Changing into what?”
Kael hesitated.
Then said quietly—
“A wolf.”
Elara’s breath left her lungs.
“That’s not funny.”
“I’m not joking.”
She laughed once, sharp and hysterical. “That’s impossible.”
Kael met her eyes.
“So was me stopping three wolves with my hand.”
Silence crashed between them.
The wounded man groaned.
Elara flinched.
Kael swore under his breath.
“He can’t stay here.”
“Why?”
“Because when it starts, he won’t know who you are.”
“What starts?”
Kael slid an arm under the man’s shoulders.
“The part where he stops being human.”
Elara’s heart hammered.
“Rowan is out there,” she whispered.
Kael froze.
Slowly, he looked at her.
“Yes,” he said.
Her chest seized.
“You do know him.”
Kael’s jaw tightened.
“I know where he was taken.”
She surged to her feet. “Then take me to him.”
His gaze searched her face.
For fear.
For doubt.
He didn’t find enough.
“You really don’t understand what you’re asking.”
“Try me.”
Kael straightened.
“Your brother didn’t just wander into wolf territory.”
Her pulse thudded in her ears.
“He was brought here.”
“By who?”
Kael’s voice dropped.
“By one of us.”
Elara’s hands curled into fists.
“Then you’d better start walking.”
Kael studied her for a long beat.
Then he nodded.
“Stay close.”
She didn’t hesitate.
She stepped right beside him.
And followed him deeper into the forest.
- Writer
