Dawn's Second Chance

Chapter 4

Dawn's POV

The days moved in a slow pace, filled with work and sometimes rest. The pack members continued to treat me kindly, something that made me feel more at ease. During my work hours, I helped in the kitchen most mornings, washed floors in the afternoons, and sometimes tended the gardens when the weather was clear, that was my favourite part of working.

Naomi kept me company most of the time as usual, and her gentle and friendly words helped me open up more than I thought I could. But still, there were parts of me that refused to rest. I carried too many memories, the trauma, the betrayal, the heartbreak. It was all too much. And even though this pack gave me shelter, I often felt like I was just a shadow moving through their home.

One evening, after the dinner had been cleared away, I felt restless, probably because I needed to move and to feel something outside the walls of the pack house. I slipped out the back door when no one was looking. The air was cool, and I let it fill my lungs as I walked across the grass toward the tree line.

I shifted into my wolf form. It was a painful process because I had not shifted for a long time. The seekers never let us shift. If you did, you would be killed. I welcomed the pain,and I welcomed my wolf. Our wolves were gifts from the goddess and we worshipped her for it.

My wolf was relatively small, nothing compared to the strong wolves of this pack, but she was still part of me. Running in her form was the only way I could release the unease I carried inside. I stretched my legs, following the path deeper into the woods, letting the sounds of the night surround me.

The further I ran, the more I noticed how quiet it became. I slowed down when I reached a clearing. At the far end stood a cabin, it was not large, but it stood out in the area, and something about it made me pause.

I took a cautious step forward, my paws brushing the earth. That was when the door opened. A man stepped out. He was taller than anyone I had seen in Silverstorm, his frame was big and very tall. His eyes found me instantly, and I froze where I stood. By the goddess, that man was the most handsome man I had ever seen. He was very tall, standing at about 6’4 feet tall, with dark hair and the sharpest set of green eyes I had ever seen.

For a moment, neither of us moved. The full weight of his stare made me stay fixed to the spot. My instincts screamed at me to run, and before I could stop myself, I turned and bolted through the trees. I did not stop until the lights of the pack house came into view. I shifted back into my human form, my chest rising and falling quickly, I took a quick look back into the forest to check if he followed me, but there wasn't any sign of him.

The next day I tried to keep myself busy and not get lost in my thoughts but Naomi knew something was up and just wouldn't let me be. She always noticed. It was good but during times like these, it wasn't all that nice. She came into the kitchen while I was washing the pans and leaned against the counter.

“What is troubling you?”

Gripping the side of the pan,I contemplated telling her or not, but my curiosity got the best of me. “I saw someone last night.”

Her eyebrows lifted slightly. “Who?”

“In the forest,” I explained. “There was a cabin. A man came out. He looked at me strangely, but I ran away.”

Naomi’s expression changed, though she tried to hide it. “You saw him?”

“Yes,” I said, wondering why her expression changed like that. “Who is he?”

“That’s my older brother.”

I blinked in surprise. “Older brother? I thought Alpha Levi was the eldest.”

“No,” she said. “Levi is not the oldest. Wayne is.”

Wayne? So that's his name, “Why is he out there and not here with the rest of the pack? Why is Alpha Levi Alpha if he is not the first born?”

Naomi rearranged her standing position, turning to look at me properly. “He has been in that cabin for a very long time.”

“That does not answer my question,” I pressed on “Why?”

Naomi looked unsure, I believe she was thinking of the pros and cons of telling me, but after a short while, she let out a long sigh, and answered me. “He is cursed and that's why he does not live among us. That is also why Levi became Alpha.”

I frowned. “Cursed? What does that mean?”

“I cannot tell you more,” she said shaking her head, indicating that she was done with that conversation. “It is not my story to share. If you are curious, you can ask him yourself, but do not expect him to answer… and be careful with him.”

She picked up a basket of vegetables and walked out before I could ask anything else.

I couldn't stop thinking about why Naomi told me. Every time I tried to push it aside, it came back. If he was truly cursed, why isn't he out there looking for a way to break it? Why had he looked at me the way he did, as if he already knew who I was? Did he know me?

Over the next few days, I stayed busy with my chores as usual, but the image of the cabin kept haunting me, I just couldn't stop thinking about the man in the cabin.

I cleaned, I cooked, I gardened, but the questions kept popping back. Who was Wayne, really?

I thought I could suppress it, but alas, my curiosity won.

So after finishing my work, I stood outside the pack house and stared at the forest. The urge to see him again grew stronger until I could no longer resist it. I took a slow step forward, then another, until I was on the path that led into the trees.

This time, I did not shift. I wanted to face him as myself. I wanted to show that I was not only a small wolf that ran in fear at any sign of danger. My steps were careful and quiet, each one bringing me closer to the clearing I remembered.

The forest was quiet except for the sound of my feet on the ground. My heart kept beating faster with each step I took.When the cabin came into sight, I stopped for a moment to steady myself. I took a breath, gave myself a pep talk and walked forward.

I had not even reached the porch when the door opened. He stepped out again, tall and very handsome. He even looked more handsome up close, I don't think I could ever get over his green eyes, and he looked older, probably in his thirties, I couldn't tell. I got caught off my rambling thoughts when I noticed how he was looking at me. His eyes were on me, and trust me, he didn't look pleased, he did not look pleased one bit.

I froze, and my legs just wouldn't move. For a long moment we simply looked at one another. The silence between us felt really suffocating, but I did not run this time. And he did not turn away either.