Episode 2: The Alphas trap
1039 Words
The bell above the bookstore door chimed gently as Elena locked up for the night, the fading gold of twilight casting long shadows across the cobbled streets of Raven Hollow. The town was unusually quiet—eerily so—and it left a strange itch at the base of her neck. She pulled her cardigan tighter around herself, dismissing the feeling with a sigh.
She hadn’t stopped thinking about him—Gabriel.
The man with the brooding eyes and a presence like a storm held just beneath the surface. Something about him had unsettled her, but not in a way that pushed her away. It was the kind of intrigue that tugged at the strings of her curiosity, and if she were being honest with herself, her heart too.
She turned the corner toward Hazel & Bean. It was her routine: a cup of chamomile tea or a late espresso before heading home. But she paused at the sight of a figure sitting alone under the café’s awning—broad shoulders, dark coat, a cigarette loosely held between his fingers. Her heart gave a small jump.
Gabriel.
As if sensing her presence, he turned his head and caught her gaze. No smile, not exactly, but something flickered across his face. A recognition. An invitation.
“Didn’t expect to see you again so soon,” Elena said as she approached, her voice softer than she intended.
“Neither did I,” Gabriel replied, his voice calm but tinged with something heavier—like regret wrapped in silk.
She sat across from him, trying not to make it obvious how closely she was watching him. “Raven Hollow isn’t that big. We’re bound to bump into each other.”
He took a slow drag from the cigarette, then crushed it out in the ashtray. “Small towns are like cages, sometimes.”
“Only if you’ve got something to hide,” she said, teasing—but it came out sharper than she meant.
He looked up at her then, eyes flashing with something unreadable. She immediately regretted it. “That’s not what I meant. Sorry.”
But instead of walking away, Gabriel leaned back, watching her carefully. “You’re not wrong,” he said after a moment. “Some people come here to hide. Others... to disappear.”
“And you?” she asked, lowering her voice. “Which one are you?”
He didn’t answer at first. His eyes drifted past her, toward the horizon, where the last edge of sunlight bled out into a violet sky. “I came here to stop running,” he said finally.
It wasn’t the answer she expected, but somehow it felt more honest than anything else he could’ve said.
Before she could ask more, a loud bark echoed from behind the building.
Elena flinched slightly. “Probably just a stray,” she said with a forced smile, but Gabriel was already on his feet.
“No,” he said sharply. “Stay here.”
“What? Why—?”
“Just for a second.”
She blinked, but he was gone before she could argue, disappearing down the alley beside the café like a ghost swallowed by shadow.
Elena stared after him, her heart thudding. She wasn’t sure why her pulse had started racing or why the air felt heavier now, like the calm before a storm.
Then she heard it—a low, guttural growl that didn’t sound like a dog. It was deeper. Hungrier. Something that sent a primal shiver up her spine.
She stood up, hesitating. Logic told her to stay put. Curiosity said otherwise.
She edged toward the alley, just enough to peek around the corner. But there was nothing there. No dog. No sound. Just wind curling through overturned crates and a flickering streetlamp.
Then Gabriel emerged from the shadows.
His coat was dusted with dirt, and something dark stained the sleeve. His knuckles were scraped raw, and there was a tear near the collar of his jacket. He looked... different. Less polished. More dangerous.
“Are you okay?” Elena asked, stepping toward him instinctively.
He paused, his eyes scanning hers, as if trying to determine how much she’d seen—how much she knew. “You should go home.”
“Gabriel—”
He reached out and touched her arm, gently. His hand was warm despite the chill in the air. “Please. Just for tonight.”
There was something in the way he said it that made her chest tighten. The words weren’t a command, but a quiet plea. She nodded, even though every nerve in her body told her to stay. To ask. To dig deeper.
“Will you be okay?” she asked softly.
“I’ve handled worse.”
She took a step back, glancing once more at the alley. “You’re not what you seem, are you?”
He didn’t answer. Just gave her that same unreadable look—the one filled with things unsaid—and turned away.
“Goodnight, Elena,” he said without looking back.
“Goodnight, Gabriel.”
And then he vanished into the fog creeping in from the forest, swallowed by the dark like he belonged to it.
—
Later that night, Elena sat in her small kitchen, a cup of tea cooling in her hands. She couldn’t stop thinking about him. The blood. The growl. The way he’d touched her—not just physically, but in the way he made her feel something she couldn’t name.
There was danger in Gabriel Stone. But it didn’t scare her.
It intrigued her.
Meanwhile, deep in the woods beyond Raven Hollow, Gabriel stood under the cover of trees, his shirt discarded, and his body still shaking from the transformation he’d barely suppressed. His wolf had nearly broken free when he heard the growl—another wolf, too close, too bold.
They were following him again.
He stared out into the dark, his breath steadying, his blood slowing.
They were watching. They were waiting.
And now… they knew about her.
Elena.
Gabriel clenched his fists, the scent of vanilla and old paper still lingering in his mind.
They would not touch her.
Not while he was still breathing.
- Writer
