Chapter 9
1489 Words
CHAPTER 9 — SOMETHING IN THE DARK
Kael didn’t slow down once.
His hand stayed wrapped around Selene’s wrist as he led her through the twisted path between the trees. Not dragging her. Not guiding her.
Claiming her.
The forest pressed in on them, thick with shadows that moved even when the wind didn’t. Every few steps Kael’s ears twitched, his shoulders tensed, and his grip on her tightened like he expected something to leap from the darkness at any moment.
“Kael,” she whispered, breathless, “what’s following us?”
He didn’t look back.
“It doesn’t have a name.”
“That’s not helpful.”
“It’s not supposed to be.”
His voice was a low growl, vibrating with something that didn’t feel entirely human.
Selene stumbled over a root, but Kael caught her instantly—one hand on her hip, the other steady on her waist, pulling her against him to stop her fall.
Too close.
Too fast.
“You’re shaking,” he said, his breath brushing her cheek.
“No,” she lied.
He tilted his head slightly, eyes dropping to her lips.
“You’re terrible at lying.”
And she hated that her heart reacted to him every time he said something like that—so calm, so certain, so aware of her.
The forest behind them snapped with movement.
A branch cracked.
A low rumble rolled through the trees like a warning made of bones.
Selene stiffened. “That’s not you.”
“No.” Kael’s voice sharpened. “It’s never me.”
Before she could speak again, he pushed her behind him and blocked her with his body, shoulders spreading wide, stance lowering into something animalistic. Something instinctive.
Something territorial.
Selene peeked around him—but Kael’s arm shot out, keeping her completely behind him.
“No,” he snapped softly. “You don’t look.”
“I need to see—”
“You need to listen.”
The forest had gone silent again.
Dead silent.
Kael inhaled slowly, deeply, through his nose.
His entire body stiffened.
“Damn,” he muttered under his breath.
“What?” Selene whispered.
“It’s closer than I thought.”
The growl came again—deep, guttural, ancient.
Nothing like Kael’s.
This one sounded wrong.
Broken.
Hungry.
Selene pressed closer to Kael without thinking.
His hand slid back to find hers.
He held it tightly.
“You’re not running,” he whispered. “Not unless I say so.”
“I wasn’t planning on leaving you,” she whispered back, voice trembling.
He paused.
Just for a moment.
Then—
“That’s the problem.”
Before she could question that, Kael moved—fast—pulling her deeper into the forest. They moved past fallen logs and moss-soaked stones, weaving through shadows that swallowed sound.
Selene kept up, though her breath stuttered.
“Why does it feel like the forest is… watching us?” she asked.
“It is.”
“That’s not comforting.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
He glanced over his shoulder at her. His eyes glowed slightly—amber in the darkness.
“Don’t let go of my hand.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
His jaw tightened, like her answer affected him more than it should.
They reached a small ridge, half-hidden by overgrown branches. Kael pushed aside the foliage and motioned her down.
“Stay low. And stay quiet.”
Selene crouched, her fingers gripping the cold soil. Kael stayed in front of her, scanning the forest with predator focus.
Minutes passed.
Then—
Leaves shifted violently a few meters away.
A shadow moved between the trees. Large. Wrong. Crawling across the ground in sharp, unnatural motions.
Selene’s breath froze.
Kael’s body went perfectly still.
It was close enough now that she could hear it breathing—raspy, starving, like lungs dragging through gravel.
“What is that thing?” Selene whispered.
“A mistake,” Kael answered quietly. “One the forest never corrected.”
The creature moved again, dragging itself forward with spindly limbs too long for its body.
Selene’s stomach churned. “Why does it look—”
“Don’t describe it,” Kael cut in.
“Why?”
“Because once you describe it, you remember it.”
His voice dropped.
“And if you remember it, it finds you easier.”
Her blood chilled.
The creature slowed. Its head turned slightly, sniffing the air.
Kael stiffened.
“Cover your mouth,” he whispered sharply.
Selene did.
The creature sniffed again—
Then let out a screech that ripped through the trees.
Selene flinched violently.
Kael’s hand flew to the back of her neck, steadying her, pulling her close enough that her forehead nearly brushed his shoulder.
“Don’t move,” he murmured.
The creature crawled past them—slowly, painfully—and disappeared deeper into the woods.
Only when the forest went quiet again did Kael release her.
Selene collapsed backward onto the dirt, heartbeat wild. “That wasn’t a wolf.”
“No.”
“It wasn’t a human either.”
“No.”
“Then what the hell was—”
Kael turned sharply to her.
“Stop asking questions that can get you killed.”
“I want answers.”
“And I want you alive.”
The words came out too fast.
Too raw.
Too honest.
Selene stared at him. “Why do you care so much?”
Kael’s gaze flickered with something unguarded.
Something he didn’t allow often.
“Because the forest reacts to you,” he said finally. “More than anyone I’ve seen.”
“That’s not a reason for you to—”
He interrupted her again.
“That thing tonight? It followed your scent. Not mine.”
Selene’s breath hitched.
“Why?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Kael confessed.
“And I don’t like how any of the answers feel.”
Selene pushed herself to her feet. “Kael… what’s happening to me?”
He looked at her—truly looked this time—eyes tracing the tension in her shoulders, the stubbornness in her jaw, the fire in her gaze.
Then he stepped closer.
Too close.
The kind of close that made thinking impossible.
“You want the truth?” he asked quietly.
“Yes.”
He exhaled, breath brushing her lips.
“Something old has noticed you.”
His eyes darkened.
“And that terrifies me more than anything else in these woods.”
Selene swallowed hard, but didn’t step back.
Instead—
“You’re scared?” she whispered.
Kael laughed once—a low, humorless sound.
“Not for myself.”
The air thickened.
Slow.
Hot.
Dangerous.
Selene’s heartbeat thundered. “Kael…”
He reached up—slowly—and brushed a leaf from her hair. His fingers lingered longer than necessary, grazing her temple.
“You don’t understand what you’re walking into,” he murmured.
“Then explain it to me.”
“I can’t. Not yet.”
“Why not?”
His hand dropped to her jaw, thumb lightly grazing her skin — a touch both gentle and warning.
“Because once I tell you, you can’t walk away.”
Selene’s pulse jumped.
“And if I don’t want to walk away?”
His breath caught.
Just barely.
“You shouldn’t say things like that.”
“Why? Does it make it harder for you to push me away?”
Kael’s eyes burned with something he tried—and failed—to hide.
“Everything about you makes it harder,” he admitted quietly.
Lightning cracked far in the distance.
The wind shifted.
Kael’s head snapped toward the noise, nostrils flaring.
“Stay behind me,” he said sharply.
“What now?”
Another growl rolled through the forest—not the creature from before. Something bigger. Closer. Stronger.
Kael stepped forward, shoulders broadening, stance widening, like he was preparing for a fight she couldn’t see.
Selene grabbed his arm.
“Kael, you can’t fight everything.”
He didn’t look back.
“I can fight this.”
“How do you know?”
“Because it’s not hunting us.”
“Then what is it doing?”
He finally glanced at her.
“It’s warning me.”
“About what?”
His jaw clenched.
“About you.”
Selene blinked. “Me?”
A beat passed.
Kael looked genuinely unsettled.
Not by danger.
Not by a creature.
By her.
“The forest doesn’t warn about humans,” he murmured.
“Then what does it warn about?” she whispered.
Kael stepped closer, lowering his head until his forehead nearly touched hers.
“Things that matter.”
Her breath caught.
Before she could speak—
Something crashed through the brush, shaking the ground beneath them.
Kael turned toward the darkness.
And Selene realized:
Whatever was coming…
wasn’t done with them.
- Writer
