Chapter Eight — Shadows at the Edge
875 Words
Liora didn’t sleep much.
She sat by the fire long after the cabin grew quiet, her fingers brushing over the mark on her neck. The more she thought about it, the more real everything became — the bond, the Alpha, the danger.
She had wanted peace when she ran into the forest. Instead, she’d found a world that whispered secrets and carried teeth in the dark.
By morning, the sky was a dull gray again. Fog clung to the trees, thick and heavy like it didn’t want to leave. The forest felt smaller, tighter, like it was holding its breath.
Maera noticed it too. “Something’s wrong,” she said as she stirred a pot of tea. “The birds aren’t singing.”
Kael was already outside. He hadn’t slept at all. Liora stepped onto the porch and saw him standing at the edge of the clearing, still and alert. His eyes were scanning the trees.
“What is it?” she asked.
He didn’t answer right away.
Then: “We’re being watched.”
Liora’s stomach dropped. “By who?”
Kael turned to her, jaw tight. “Rogues. Wolves with no pack. They follow the scent of a new bond like blood in the water.”
“Because of me?”
Kael nodded. “Because of us.”
She stepped down beside him, her heart pounding.
“Do they want to kill me?” she asked, voice barely above a whisper.
“No,” Kael said, his tone low and dangerous. “They want to use you. A human mate to an Alpha is rare. To them, that’s either power… or a curse worth breaking.”
Liora swallowed hard. “What do we do?”
Kael stepped closer to her, his hand brushing her shoulder. “We stay alert. And we don’t let them near you.”
His words were protective, but something about the way he said we made her feel less alone.
Just then, a loud snap echoed from the trees. Liora flinched. Kael spun around, crouched low, ready to shift if needed.
Maera appeared at the doorway, holding her staff. “They’re testing us,” she said. “Trying to see how close they can get.”
Kael’s eyes glowed faintly. “They’re too close already.”
The wolf who’d stayed by Liora’s side since the beginning growled from behind the cabin and took off into the woods. Seconds later, a howl pierced the air — not loud, but full of warning.
“They’re circling,” Kael muttered. “Looking for a weakness.”
Liora grabbed his arm. “What if I’m the weakness?”
Kael turned to her, his voice firm. “You’re the reason I’m stronger.”
Before she could answer, a figure stepped into view from the trees.
It was a man — tall, dirty, with a cruel smile. His clothes were torn and his eyes gleamed yellow like a wolf half-shifted.
“Well, well,” he said with a smirk. “The Alpha’s little pet.”
Kael stepped in front of Liora, growling. “Leave. Now.”
The rogue laughed. “Relax, Alpha. I just wanted a look at the girl. Hard to believe the moon wasted its mark on a human.”
“She’s mine,” Kael warned. “You know what that means.”
“Oh, I do,” the rogue sneered. “It means if I kill her, I break your bond.”
Kael lunged.
The fight was fast and brutal.
Kael shifted mid-air, massive and black-furred, slamming the rogue into the ground. Liora couldn’t breathe. She watched, frozen, as claws met claws and teeth snapped. Blood sprayed across the leaves.
The rogue yelped and tried to run, but Kael didn’t let him. With one last growl, he knocked the enemy out cold and stood over him, chest heaving.
Liora had never seen anything like it.
She stepped forward as Kael shifted back into human form, blood on his chest, his breathing rough.
“Are you okay?” she whispered.
He looked at her, sweat dripping from his brow. “You need to be inside. You’re not safe out here.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
Kael stared at her like he didn’t expect those words. His shoulders softened.
Maera walked up beside them. “There will be more,” she said. “This was only a warning.”
Kael nodded. “Then we move.”
Liora blinked. “Move where?”
“To my pack,” Kael said. “You’ll be safer there. Surrounded. Guarded.”
“But I—”
He stepped close. “You’re not a prisoner, Liora. But I can’t protect you alone anymore. And they need to see you. The pack needs to know who you are.”
She hesitated. “What if they don’t accept me?”
Kael smiled faintly. “Then they’ll answer to me.”
Liora stared at him, heart full of fear and something else she couldn’t name. Trust, maybe. Or the beginning of it.
She looked once more at the trees, the shadows still moving out there.
The old Liora would have stayed behind.
But the new one — the one marked by the moon — stepped forward.
“Then let’s go.”
- Writer
