THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US

The first time I saw the wolf, I thought I was going to die. The second time, I realized I wanted to. It was the kind of night people in Blackwood warned children about. The moon hung low behind a veil of clouds, the forest was unnaturally silent, and every few seconds the wind carried the distant howl of something that sounded far too large to be an ordinary wolf. I should have turned around. I should have listened to every warning my grandmother had given me since I was old enough to understand the word danger. Never go into the northern forest after dark. Never cross the old stone markers. And, most importantly— If you hear a wolf howl three times, run. I had heard it twice. The third howl came from directly behind me. I froze. My fingers tightened around the flashlight. “Okay,” I whispered to myself. “This is fine.” It was not fine. My breath came out white in the cold. Slowly, I turned. Nothing is there. Only big tall trees and the scary dark night. Black trunks. Dead branches. Fog crawling across the forest floor. I let out a shaky breath. Then something moved between the trees. I raised my flashlight. Two golden eyes stared back at me. My heart feels like is stopped at that time. The wolf stepped into the moonlight. It was enormous. Not large. Enormous. Its shoulders reached almost to my chest, its black fur swallowed the moonlight, and its claws dug into the earth as it moved toward me. I stumbled backward. “No…” The wolf stopped. It stared at me. Not like an animal. Like a person. Like it knew me. The beam of my flashlight shook violently in my hand. “Stay back.” The wolf tilted its head. Then it growled. Low. Deep. A vibration I felt more than heard. Every instinct screamed at me to run. So I did. I turned and sprinted through the trees. Branches slapped my face. My boots slipped over wet leaves. I didn't even know where I was going anymore. I only knew one thing. The wolf was behind me. I could hear it. Not chasing. Following. That somehow made it worse. “Go away!” I glanced over my shoulder. A mistake. The wolf was gone. I stopped. My chest heaved. “Where—” A hand closed around my wrist. I screamed. A man stepped out from behind the tree. Tall. Dark-haired. Barefoot. And completely naked except for a pair of black trousers that looked as though they'd been pulled on in a hurry. For one insane second, my brain couldn't decide whether I should scream because of the wolf or because of the half-naked stranger standing in front of me. Then I saw his eyes. Gold. The exact same gold as the wolf's. My blood turned cold. “You shouldn't be here,” he said. His voice was deep and dangerously calm. I yanked my wrist free. “Who are you?” He didn't answer. He was staring at me. Not my face. My neck. My hands. My lips. Like he was trying to understand something that shouldn't exist. Then his expression changed. The color drained from his face. “No.” He took one step backward. I frowned. “What?” He shook his head. “No.” This time, it sounded almost like a prayer. I backed away from him. “I'm leaving.” I turned. “Don't.” Something in his voice stopped me. Not authority. Fear. I looked back. The man's jaw was clenched so tightly I could see the muscle twitching. “Don't move.” “Why?” He didn't answer. Instead, he inhaled. Once. Slowly. His eyes darkened. Then his entire body went rigid. “What the hell are you doing?” His gaze snapped to mine. And for the first time, I saw something terrifying in his face. Recognition. “No,” he whispered again. Then he said a word I didn't understand. “Mate.” I stared at him. “What?” He looked almost horrified by what he'd just said. “You need to leave.” “Gladly.” I turned again. “Not that way.” I stopped. “Then which way?” His eyes flicked toward the forest behind me. “You came through the northern boundary.” “So?” His expression hardened. “That means you're standing inside Blackthorn territory.” I laughed nervously. “Blackthorn?” He didn't smile. “You don't know where you are.” “No.” “You don't know what I am.” “No.” He stepped closer. I stepped back. He stopped immediately. Good. At least he understood boundaries. “What are you?” I asked. He looked at me for a long moment. Then— “I'm the Alpha.” The forest seemed to go silent. I had heard the word before. Everyone had. Usually in old stories. The Alpha. The leader of the wolves. The creature people claimed lived beyond the mountains. The monster my grandmother refused to talk about. I stared at him. Then laughed. It came out more hysterical than I intended. “That's not funny.” “I wasn't joking.” “Right.” His eyes narrowed. “You should be afraid.” “I am.” “Then why are you still standing there?” Because, strangely, I wasn't afraid of him. Not anymore. There was something else. Something I couldn't explain. A strange pull beneath my skin. My heartbeat felt wrong. Too fast. Too loud. And when he stepped closer, it became worse. His eyes dropped to my lips. My breath caught. His jaw tightened. “Don't,” he said. I frowned. “Don't what?” “Come closer.” “I wasn't.” “You were thinking about it.” I stared at him. “What?” His eyes closed for a second. When they opened again, they were darker. “My wolf can feel you.” A chill ran down my spine. “What does that mean?” He didn't answer. Instead, he reached for my hand. I flinched. He stopped. For a moment, neither of us moved. Then he whispered, “Please.” The word was so unexpected that I forgot to be afraid. Slowly, I held out my hand. His fingers closed around mine. Everything changed. The pain behind my eyes disappeared. The cold vanished. The forest became quiet. And the man in front of me inhaled sharply. His shoulders dropped as if he'd been carrying the weight of the world and someone had finally taken it away. He stared at our joined hands. Then at me. His expression was no longer cold. It was something much more dangerous. Wonder. His thumb moved once across the back of my hand. A tiny touch. Barely anything. Yet my entire body reacted. My heart stumbled. His eyes widened. He immediately let go. We both stepped back. “What just happened?” I whispered. He didn't answer. “Tell me.” His face closed again. “You need to forget this night.” “That's not an answer.” “It is the only answer you're getting.” He turned away. I stared at his back. “Wait.” He stopped. “What?” I hesitated. “What's your name?” Silence. Then— “Kael.” Just one word. But the moment he said it, something inside me twisted. Like I'd heard that name before. Like my body recognized it before my mind did. Kael looked over his shoulder. “Lena.” I froze. I had never told him my name. “How do you know—” He was already walking away. “Kael!” He stopped again. But he didn't turn around. “Don't come back here.” Then he disappeared into the trees. I stood there alone. For several minutes, I couldn't move. Then I looked down at my hand. It was still warm where he'd touched me. I told myself it was nothing. A strange man. A strange night. A very large wolf. Nothing more. I went home before sunrise. And I didn't tell anyone what happened. Not even my grandmother. But at exactly 3:17 the next morning, I woke up gasping. My heart was pounding. My skin was burning. And somewhere far beyond my bedroom window, a wolf howled. Once. Twice. Then a third time. I sat up. The pain suddenly disappeared. I didn't understand why. Not until I looked at my hand. There, just beneath my wrist, was a mark that hadn't been there yesterday. A thin black crescent. And beneath it— a single word. BLACKTHORN.