Four
798 Words
Cracks in the Veil
The morning began like any other, coffee too bitter, the hum of the old refrigerator, the faint thump of my baby rolling inside me. I told myself it would be a normal day. But the Alpha blood had other plans.
I was at the diner before the breakfast rush, tying my apron when the bell over the door rang. A man stepped inside, broad-shouldered, dark jacket dusted with travel. His eyes swept the room in one practiced glance. Not a local. Not friendly.
Something about him raised every hair on the back of my neck.
“Coffee,” he said gruffly, sliding into a booth. Sarah scribbled the order and leaned toward me with a grin. “Looks like we’ve got a stranger in town. Maybe a drifter. Be nice to him, huh?”
I forced a smile, but unease coiled tight in my belly. Not all strangers were harmless. Some hunted.
The morning picked up, clatter and chatter filling the diner. I focused on refilling mugs, wiping counters, anything to ignore the prickle of awareness crawling over my skin. But when a tray slipped from a busboy’s hand, instinct betrayed me.
Plates spun, a coffee pot tumbled, too fast for anyone else, but not for me. My hand shot out, catching everything in one impossible motion. Not a drop spilled.
The room went quiet.
“Damn, Aria!” Sarah exclaimed. “You should be in the circus with reflexes like that.”
Laughter rippled across the room, breaking the moment, but my pulse thundered. Too smooth. Too inhuman. And the stranger in the booth, he wasn’t laughing. His sharp gaze locked on me, unblinking. Watching. Measuring.
I turned away quickly, pretending to fuss with the dishes, but dread sank cold and deep into my bones.
By the time my shift ended, storm clouds had gathered over the town. I hurried out, coat pulled tight, praying the man wouldn’t follow. But his presence pressed against me like a weight. When I glanced back, his booth was empty.
The street felt too quiet, too hollow. My ears strained, catching footsteps behind me even as rain began to fall. I quickened my pace. The baby kicked, restless, feeding the strange energy that hummed under my skin.
A shadow detached from the alley. The same man.
“Hold up,” he called. His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried like a command.
I froze. The air tasted of iron and rain. My wolf blood whispered danger.
“You’ve got quick hands,” he said, stepping closer. His eyes, grey, sharp, predatory, searched my face. “Not the kind of quick you learn in a diner.”
My pulse spiked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He tilted his head, sniffing faintly. My stomach dropped. Wolves weren’t the only ones who hunted by scent, hunters did too. Men who knew what walked outside human sightlines.
“You smell… different,” he said softly. “Not human. Not normal.”
Fear clamped around my throat. The rain pounded harder, masking my ragged breathing. “Stay away from me,” I forced out.
He smiled thinly. “I knew there was something here. They’ll pay good money for you.”
The words detonated inside me. They.
He lunged. Instinct roared to life. I moved faster than I ever had, ducking under his arm and shoving hard. He hit the brick wall with a grunt, sliding down with shock etched across his face.
“What, what are you?” he gasped.
I didn’t wait to answer. I ran.
The streets blurred, rain slick on my cheeks, my child’s kicks echoing each thundering heartbeat. I sprinted blocks in seconds, strength coursing wild in my veins. Too wild. If anyone saw me, if cameras caught even a fraction of that speed, my life was over.
When I finally stumbled into my apartment, I slammed the door and braced against it, chest heaving. My reflection in the window glowed faintly, gold eyes burning through the storm outside.
The baby shifted again, strong and fierce. Not just a child anymore, but a power rewriting me. A legacy I couldn’t escape.
Hours later, when I finally calmed enough to breathe, I realized something worse than fear had taken root inside me.
It was certainty.
The veil was cracking. People had seen too much. And now, someone was sniffing at the edges of my secret, ready to drag me back into the world I’d fled.
I pressed both hands to my belly, whispering, “I’ll keep you safe. I’ll find a way.”
But even as I spoke, I knew the truth. The Alpha’s blood had already painted a target on our backs.
The first danger had found us. It wouldn’t be the last.
- Writer
