The Pack’s Warning
518 Words
Ronan didn’t let me walk back alone.
He stayed close, not touching me, but near enough that I could feel the heat of him through the cool night air. Every step deeper into the woods made my nerves tighten.
“You’re taking me to your pack, aren’t you?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said. “They need to see you.”
“That doesn’t sound comforting.”
“It’s not meant to be.”
The trees opened into a wide clearing, bathed in moonlight. Torches burned along the edges, their flames flickering as shadows moved between them.
Wolves.
Dozens of them.
Some stood in human form, others half-shifted, muscles tense, eyes glowing in shades of gold, amber, and silver. Conversations died the moment Ronan stepped forward.
And then every gaze turned to me.
I swallowed hard.
“She’s human,” someone muttered.
“And marked,” another voice growled.
Ronan’s posture changed instantly. He straightened, power radiating from him like an invisible force. “Careful,” he warned. “Every word you speak about her, you speak to me.”
A tall woman with sharp silver eyes stepped forward. Her dark hair was braided tightly down her back. “You brought a human into sacred territory, Alpha.”
Her eyes flicked to my chest. The faint mark pulsed beneath my skin.
“And you marked her.”
“I didn’t complete the bond,” Ronan said. “She still has a choice.”
The woman’s lips pressed into a thin line. “For now.”
She turned to me. “Human. Do you know what that mark means?”
“Yes,” I said, though my voice shook. “It means my life just got very complicated.”
A few low chuckles rippled through the crowd.
The woman didn’t smile. “It means every enemy of this pack will hunt you. Rogues. Rival packs. Creatures you don’t even have names for.”
My heart pounded. “Then why let me live?”
“Because killing you would destroy him,” she replied coldly, nodding at Ronan.
Silence fell.
Ronan stepped in front of me, his voice deadly calm. “No one touches her. Not now. Not ever.”
“Your feelings make you weak,” another male growled.
Ronan’s eyes flashed. The ground beneath us trembled. “My feelings make me dangerous.”
That shut them up.
The woman studied us both for a long moment. “You have three choices, human,” she finally said. “Leave and forget this world. Stay under our protection. Or accept the bond when the time comes.”
My throat tightened. “And if I choose none of them?”
Her gaze hardened. “Then this world will choose for you.”
Ronan looked back at me, his expression unreadable. “Whatever you decide,” he said softly, “I’ll stand with you.”
I met his eyes, my heart racing.
Because the truth was becoming impossible to ignore—
I wasn’t just afraid of this world.
I was afraid of how badly I wanted to belong in it.
- Writer
