Chapter One
1148 Words
The forest was not on any map Elara trusted.
She noticed that first—standing at the edge of the tree line, phone in hand, blue dot blinking uselessly against a blank screen. No trail markings. No ranger posts. No signs warning hikers to turn back.
Just tall pines packed so tightly together they swallowed the daylight.
She should have gone home.
Instead, she zipped her jacket higher and stepped inside.
Cold rushed at her face. The air smelled sharp—pine sap, damp earth, something metallic she couldn’t place. Her boots sank into soft needles as she followed the narrow path twisting deeper between the trunks.
“Rowan,” she called.
Only silence answered.
Her brother had sent one last message three days ago.
Found something strange in the mountains. Will explain when I’m back.
He hadn’t come back.
Police said he probably got lost. Maybe injured. Maybe hiding out somewhere without signal.
Elara didn’t believe in maybes.
Rowan was careful. Paranoid, even. He mapped routes before hikes. Carried backup batteries. Left notes.
And he would never vanish without a word.
Branches scraped her sleeves as she moved forward, scanning the ground for footprints. The dirt was churned in places, as if something heavy had passed through recently. Not a deer. Not a bear.
Too many marks.
Her stomach tightened.
The woods felt wrong.
Not scary in the obvious way—no eerie sounds, no creaking trees. It was the opposite. Too quiet. No birdsong. No insects.
Like the forest was holding its breath.
She stopped walking.
A sound drifted from somewhere to her left.
Crunch.
Slow. Deliberate.
She turned.
Nothing.
Probably just an animal, she told herself. Deer were everywhere in these mountains.
Still, she slid her hand into her pocket and wrapped her fingers around the small canister of pepper spray she’d brought along.
“Okay,” she muttered under her breath. “Find Rowan. Then yell at him for making you trespass into murder woods.”
She took another step.
And froze.
The smell hit her again—stronger now.
Blood.
Her gaze dropped to the ground.
Dark stains soaked into the dirt ahead, scattered between broken branches. Not old. Still glossy.
Her heart started to hammer.
Rowan.
She crouched, touching the edge of one mark with shaking fingers.
Wet.
“Oh no.”
A low sound rolled through the trees.
Not a growl.
Too deep for that.
It vibrated in her chest more than her ears.
Elara straightened slowly.
Across the clearing, something moved.
Gray fur slid between the shadows.
Then another shape.
Then a third.
Wolves.
Big ones.
Too big.
They stepped into the open like they owned the place, muscles rippling under thick coats, eyes reflecting pale gold through the gloom.
She had seen wolves before. In documentaries. At wildlife parks.
These were different.
Their shoulders came up to her waist. Their heads were massive. One limped slightly, blood streaking its hind leg.
Her brain screamed at her to run.
Her legs refused to listen.
Slow movements, she reminded herself. Don’t spook them.
She took one careful step back.
A twig snapped.
All three heads lifted.
Locked on her.
One of them bared its teeth.
She raised her hands slowly. “Hey. Hey there. I’m not— I’m not a threat.”
They didn’t blink.
Didn’t shift.
Didn’t back away.
The limping wolf moved first.
Straight toward her.
Her pulse roared in her ears.
“Nope,” she whispered.
She turned and ran.
Branches slapped her face as she tore through the trees, boots slipping over roots. Her lungs burned almost instantly. She didn’t dare look back.
Heavy pounding followed.
Too fast.
Too close.
Not paws.
Footsteps.
Her brain snagged on that thought even as panic clawed up her throat.
She burst through a patch of brush into another clearing—
—and crashed into something solid.
She staggered back, nearly falling.
A man stood in front of her.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Dressed in black from head to toe—boots, jacket, gloves. Dark hair brushed his collar, wind-tossed. His eyes were the strangest gray she’d ever seen.
Like storm clouds.
He stared at her as if she’d dropped from the sky.
Behind him, shadows moved.
More wolves.
Her chest hitched. “Help me.”
His jaw tightened.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.
Low voice. Calm. Too calm.
“They’re chasing me,” she gasped.
His gaze flicked past her.
The wolves slowed, forming a loose half-circle around the clearing.
None of them lunged.
None of them left.
The man swore quietly under his breath.
“Stay behind me.”
She didn’t argue.
She stepped close enough that her shoulder brushed his back.
“Are those yours?” she whispered.
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he lifted one hand slightly.
The wolves froze.
Actually froze.
Like statues.
Every hair on Elara’s arms stood up.
“What—” she started.
“Don’t move,” he murmured.
One of the wolves shifted its weight.
The man snapped something sharp and guttural under his breath.
The wolf stopped.
Her stomach twisted.
That wasn’t training.
That was… obedience.
She swallowed. “Who are you?”
He glanced at her over his shoulder.
Up close, his face was even more unsettling. Sharp cheekbones. Scar along his jawline. Eyes too bright.
“Someone trying to keep you alive.”
“Great,” she muttered weakly. “That makes one of us.”
His lips twitched despite himself.
Then his expression hardened.
“Where did you come from?”
“I’m looking for my brother.”
The wolves stirred.
His shoulders went rigid.
“What’s his name?”
“Rowan.”
Silence.
Too long.
Her chest tightened. “You’ve heard of him.”
“No,” he said quickly.
Lie.
She knew it the same way she knew when storms were coming—pressure in the air, something shifting beneath the surface.
“Take me to him,” she demanded.
His jaw clenched.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
He stared at her for a long moment.
Then he said quietly, “If you stay here, you’re not leaving.”
Her breath caught. “Excuse me?”
He turned fully toward her now.
Up close, he was intimidating in a way that had nothing to do with size. Something in his eyes felt… old. Sharp. Like he was always listening for danger.
“This forest isn’t safe for humans.”
“Humans?” she echoed.
He looked like he realized he’d said too much.
Behind them, a wolf let out a soft, rumbling sound.
The man exhaled slowly.
“My name is Kael,” he said.
“And you just walked into something you weren’t supposed to see.”
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
“What something?”
Kael’s gaze flicked to the wolves.
Then back to her.
“Us.”
- Writer
