The Wolf's Eye

Chapter 7

As I stepped out of the car, Dara caught my arm.

“Don’t tell Mom and Dad anything, okay?”

“Seriously? That’s all you have to say to me right now?”

“Clara,” Victor interrupted, his tone firm, “I don’t think our parents need to know where we were tonight.”

“Relax,” I said. “I’m not saying a word. There’s nothing to tell anyway.” I turned to head inside. “Good night. Sleep well.”

I climbed the stairs to my room, mind spinning, body aching, but none of that compared to the chaos inside me. The last thing on my mind was Dorian Gray — or whatever drama Dara had gotten herself into.

No. All I could think about was the werewolf I had saved.

Who was he? Why had they tried to drown him? His eyes… that white-hot smile… they were burned into my memory like a fever.

I peeled off my soaked jeans with stiff, frozen fingers and realized just how cold I really was. I filled the bathtub and stepped into the steaming water, letting the heat soak into my bones.

I removed my amber pendant — the one I always wore — and held it in my palm.

Tonight, for the first time, I looked at it really looked at it. It was exactly the color of his eyes. Wolf’s Eye — that was the name. It suited it perfectly. I doubted I’d ever see him again, but the pendant… it would remind me of him.

After the bath, I collapsed into bed and passed out instantly.

I didn’t wake until noon.

Today was my eighteenth birthday.

I should’ve been excited. But I wasn’t. Because for the first time in my life, I’d had an erotic dream — vivid, hot, and impossibly real.

And he was in it.

I rolled over, half-hoping to fall back into the dream. If I had known what that man — that werewolf — would do to my life, how he would turn everything upside down, I might’ve gotten up, taken a cold shower, and forced myself to forget.

But I didn’t.

A knock on the door.

“Clara, are you awake? Can I come in?” Dara.

“My stomach hurts,” I called out. “Tell Mom I won’t be getting up today.”

I was still mad at her. Not that it would last. But now… now I understood why she had kept her mysterious ‘not-mine’ a secret.

I was no better.

I wasn’t planning to tell anyone about my “drowned wolf.”

An hour passed. Then Mom came in to check on me. My birthday dinner had been canceled — though she didn’t seem concerned about that.

“Clara, honey, tomorrow we’re meeting with Roxana. It may be a bit exhausting. Are you sure you’ll be up for it?”

“I’ll be fine, Mom. Just need some rest. Tomorrow I’ll be good as new.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive. Dara’s already feeling better, and I will too.”

Mom nodded, kissed my forehead, and left me alone again.

I drifted back into sleep. But it wasn’t peaceful.

“Cla-ra…” His voice dragged out my name like silk and smoke. “I love how you resist. My foolish little girl… You can’t run from me. You’re mine.”

I bolted upright, drenched in sweat.

“Clara! Clara!”

Dara stood beside my bed, panic on her face.

“You were screaming,” she whispered. “Are you okay?”

I blinked, confused, then nodded. “Just a nightmare.”

She sat on the edge of my bed, frowning. “You’re burning up.”

“I’m fine,” I muttered and tried to roll away.

But sleep wouldn’t come.

Dara remained there, quiet.

“You’re still awake?” she asked gently.

“Yes.”

“I wanted to thank you… for yesterday. If you and Vic hadn’t shown up when you did, things could’ve ended… badly.”

“Don’t mention it,” I said, a little coldly.

“Clara, please don’t be mad. I didn’t know how to tell you.”

I didn’t answer. But I was listening.

“I met him by accident a few weeks ago,” Dara whispered. “But I’ll never forget that moment. We couldn’t not see each other — it was fate, I think. He knew before I did that we were true mates.”

She paused, then went on, voice low and trembling.

“Boys feel it faster — their instincts are sharper, more primal. He asked me out, and I didn’t say no. We talked for hours. It felt like… we were made for each other. We are. That’s the whole point of a true bond.”

She swallowed hard. “I didn’t just feel it in my mind, Clara. My body… everything inside me wanted him. And the more I resisted, the worse I felt. One night… it happened.”

I turned to her.

“You mean… you’re not a virgin anymore?”

“Shh!” she said, glancing at the door. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. It just… did.”

“Did he force you?” I asked, suddenly alarmed.

“No! No, of course not. It was mutual. It was… beautiful.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“He’s not from our Pack.”

I blinked. “So?”

“He’s not even a Beta, Clara. He’s an Alpha’s son. From a rival Pack. And soon… he’ll be Alpha himself.”

My breath caught. “Oh.”

“He can’t come here and ask for me. Our Alpha would demand too much. He won’t risk his people for me. And I can’t run away — that would endanger all of you. So I broke it off. But it nearly broke me too.”

She took a shaky breath.

“He went crazy when I told him. Started showing up everywhere. Threatening to take me by force. Said he’d start a war if he had to.”

“Is that why you met him yesterday?”

“Yes. I wanted to explain, make him understand. But I never got the chance. Vic intercepted me. Turns out they’ve been friends for years. Small world, huh?”

I nodded slowly.

“What now?”

“I don’t know. I want to be with him. But going against the Pack means exile. The Pack owns everything — every contract, every name.”

“You keep fighting yourself, Dara. But if you do… you’ll be miserable.”

She stared at me, stunned. “You’re not angry?”

“This is your life. If you give up your true mate for us, you’ll hate us all eventually. That kind of regret… it’ll eat you alive.”

She blinked. “You’ve grown up, little sister.”

“I’m not sure. I don’t know what I’d do in your place. But I do know this — if I denied love out of fear or duty, I’d kill part of myself. And I wouldn’t survive that.”

I met her eyes, steady.

“Whatever you decide, I’ve got your back.”

“Thank you,” Dara whispered, tears streaming down her face.