When Wolves Watch

Chapter Six – The Ball

The invitation came in design.

A thick card slid under our door, heavy like it carried secrets. I almost didn’t notice it until I stepped out for water. I bent, picked it up, and my stomach fell over at the words cut into the front:

The Bloodworth Gala. Tonight.

My hands shook. I had heard of it before — a ball where the richest of the city gathered. Men in suits that cost more than houses. Women in diamonds that flashed like lightning. A place for billionaires, not for people like me.

And yet my name was written there.

Not my father’s. Mine.

By evening, my body still trembled. My father insisted I go. He said this was a chance of a lifetime. He said people like them didn’t get noticed by the rich unless fate had plans.

But I wasn’t sure if fate was on my side.

I borrowed a black dress from my aunt, simple but smooth against my skin. I tied my hair up, slipped into my only pair of heels, and prayed I didn’t look like a lost child.

The car came right at sunset. Black. Long. Expensive. The driver didn’t speak as he opened the door for me.

My breath caught when I stepped inside. Leather seats. Gold trim. The faint smell of whiskey and smoke.hmmm.

By the time will reached the gates of the Bloodworth mansion, my palms were cold The house wasn’t a house at all — it was a palace. Tall pillars. Windows are shining like fire. Guards in black standing stiff at the door.

When I walked in, the air nearly knocked me back.

Chandeliers dripped diamonds from the ceiling. A hundred suits and gowns swirled around the room, laughter and whispers mixing like music. The air smelled of wine, roses, and money.

I moved unhurriedly, trying not to tumble on the marble floor. I had never been in a place like this, I must say. Every corner screamed wealth. Every smile looked sharp, like teeth.

Then I felt it.

That stare.

My heart stopped.

I turned.

And there he was.

Across the room, dressed in a black suit that fit him like it was built from his skin. The billionaire. The man from the shadows. The one who had stood at my door and told me not to trust smiles in the dark.

He didn’t smile now. He just watched me, golden eyes burning under the light of the chandeliers.

Every person in the room could have disappeared. Every sound could have died. All I saw was him.

And then — he moved.

He walked toward me, slow, steady, owning every step. People parted for him without a word. Men put into their heads. Women stared too long. He passed them all, eyes locked only on me.

When he reached me, he didn’t ask. He just offered his hand.

“Dance with me.”

My breath stopped. “I… I don’t know how to dance here.”

“You don’t need to,” he said, voice low, close to my ear. “Just follow me.”

The music changed direction, violins crying out like a storm. He pulled me into the center of the floor, his hand firm at my back, his other holding me in a grip that felt both dangerous and safe.

Every step he led, I followed gently. My body obeyed him, my heart tripped over itself. The crowd circled, watching, gossiping, but he didn’t care. His eyes never left my face.

“You shouldn’t have come,” he said, though he was the one who brought me here.

“Then why invite me?” she talked back.

He leaned in, breath brushing my neck. “Because the wolves already know your name. Better you stand by me than fall to them.”

My knees was pushed to the limit. “Wolves?”

“Not the kind you dream of,” he said. His jaw hold. His hand at my back pressed firmer, pulling me closer. “The kind that wear suits. The kind that hunts with smiles. The kind that would eat you alive if you stand alone.”

My head rang. The music swelled. Around them, the room clapped for the dance, but I only heard his words.

“Why me?” I asked.

His eyes burned brighter. “Because you don’t belong here… but you were chosen anyway.”

Chosen.

The word bounced on my skin like fire.

Before I could ask, before I could breathe, someone else stepped close. A man with silver hair, a sharp suit, and a smile that cut too wide. He bowed, eyes sparkling with something cruel.

“May I steal her for the next dance?”

The billionaire’s jaw gripped. His hand tightened around me.

“No,” he said.

The silver-haired man’s smile grew. “Still so possessive, old friend?”

My chest went cold. The air around them changed. The crowd leaned in. Something unspoken passed between the two men, something dangerous, something sharp as a blade.

Then I saw it.

For just a second.

In the reflection of the chandelier glass above — his eyes.

Not gold. Not human.

Wolf eyes.

Both of them.

And I knew this was no normal ball.

This was a hunt dressed in silk and champagne.