when I woke amonst creatures
1340 Words
Selera’s POV
I woke to silence that felt too heavy to be real.
Not the gentle quiet of sleep or dawn but the kind that presses against your ears, thick and watchful, as if the world itself is holding its breath.
My first thought was pain.
It bloomed slowly, pulsing through my skull, settling behind my eyes, crawling down my spine. My limbs felt leaden, useless. When I tried to move, a soft gasp slipped from my throat instead.
I wasn’t in the forest anymore.
The scent hit me first pine, earth, smoke, and something darker beneath it. Something wild. Masculine. Powerful. It clung to the air, wrapped around my senses until my chest tightened.
I forced my eyes open.
Wooden beams arched above me, carved with strange symbols that glowed faintly in silver. Firelight flickered along the walls, casting long shadows that danced like living things. The bed beneath me was massive, layered with thick furs and dark sheets that smelled unmistakably like him.
My heart stuttered.
I sat up too fast, dizziness crashing over me in waves. The room spun, and I clutched the bedding to steady myself, breath coming sharp and shallow.
Where am I?
Memory rushed back in fragments—
The chase.
The monsters.
Silver eyes burning through the dark.
Claws. Blood. Power.
Him...
My fingers trembled as I touched my arms, my legs, my ribs whole. Unbroken. No wounds. Not even scratches.
I was alive.
The door creaked.
I froze.
Every instinct I didn’t know I possessed screamed at once. My pulse thundered in my ears as the door swung open, revealing a tall, broad silhouette framed by torchlight.
He stepped inside.
The air shifted.
He wasn’t the beast from the forest. He stood on two legs, clothed in dark leather and black fabric that clung to a body built for war. Scars traced his exposed skin like old stories written in pain. His hair was dark, falling loosely around a sharp, brutal face carved from shadows and restraint. Thank God I wasn't hallucinating... I breath a sign of relief.
But his eyes—
Still silver.
Still burning.
My breath caught painfully in my chest.
He closed the door behind him with deliberate calm, gaze locking onto mine as if nothing else in the world existed.
“You’re awake,” he said.
His voice was deep. Controlled. Dangerous in the way a drawn blade is dangerous quiet, but deadly.
I swallowed. “Where… where am I?”
“My territory.”
The word settled heavy between us.
Territory.
Not home. Not land.
Territory.
I drew my knees closer, suddenly aware of how small I felt in his presence. “You brought me here?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
For the first time, something flickered across his face conflict, sharp and fleeting.
“You collapsed,” he said. “You wouldn’t have survived the night out there.”
“So you kidnapped me?” My voice shook despite my attempt at bravery.
His jaw tightened.
“If I hadn’t,” he replied flatly, “you would be dead.”
The certainty in his voice sent a chill through me.
The truth of it echoed in my chest whether I liked it or not.
Silence stretched.
I studied him openly now, unable to stop myself. He moved like a predator even when still, power coiled tightly beneath his skin. Everything about him radiated control except the way his gaze lingered on me, as if I were something he hadn’t planned for.
“What are you?” I whispered.
Because I couldn't forget the silvery eyes I saw last night
Something dark crossed his eyes.
“Nothing you should be involved with.” he said
“That’s not an answer.” I refuted
His lips pressed into a thin line. He turned away, pacing a few steps like a caged storm. “You were attacked by rogues,” he said. “Creatures that don’t belong in your world...
The question is...
“How were you able to cross into Blackwood without being shattered?”
The air shifted the moment he said it.
I felt it like the room itself leaned closer to listen, like the walls were holding secrets they were ready to spit out. My breath hitched, my heart slamming violently against my ribs.
“What… what is that supposed to mean?” I asked.
His silver eyes narrowed, light dimming into something colder. Older. “Blackwood rejects outsiders,” he said slowly. “Humans don’t cross its boundary and walk away intact. Their minds break. Their bodies fail.”
My skin prickled. “why will they shatter?.”
But I'm here right? And I am okay?
“Exactly,” he snapped.
I swallowed hard.
“Why were you being chased by those rogues?” he demanded. “Why you?”
“I don’t know!” The words tore out of me, raw and unpolished.
His expression darkened instantly.
“Don’t lie to me.”
The tone... gods, the tone sent a tremor straight through my bones. It wasn’t loud. It didn’t need to be. It carried the weight of command, of authority that expected obedience and punished defiance.
“I am not lying,” I said, shaking now. “I swear.”
He took a step closer.
Then another.
The space between us shrank until I could feel his presence like heat against my skin. My pulse went wild, betraying me completely.
His head tilted slightly. “Why is your heartbeat so loud?”
That did it.
Fear surged hot and furious, burning through my veins. “Because I’m confused and scared!” I shouted, my voice cracking. “Because I woke up in a place I don’t understand with a man who keeps accusing me of things I didn't even know exist!" Not until today!
The words echoed.
Silence followed—thick, suffocating.
Then he stiffened, as if struck.
“You were not like this,” I went on, tears burning my eyes now. “When you saved me… you weren’t like this.”
His brows pulled together sharply. “What?”
“You were calm,” I whispered, pain seeping into every syllable. “You didn’t look at me like I was a threat. You didn’t sound like you hated that I was alive.”
For a split second, something cracked through his control.
Hurt.
Bare and unguarded.
“I don’t hate you,” he said quietly.
“Then why does it feel like you regret saving me?”
That landed harder than I expected.
He turned away abruptly, jaw clenched, hands curling into fists at his sides.
“I don’t regret it,” he said. “I don’t understand it.”
“I don’t either!” I cried. “I don’t know how I got here. I don’t know why they chased me. I was running... just running... to save myself. Who wouldn’t do that?”
My chest heaved as the truth spilled out of me, messy and aching. “I didn’t cross some boundary on purpose. I didn’t even know this place existed until tonight.”
He slowly turned back to me.
The silver in his eyes flickered uneasy now.
“You should have shattered,” he murmured, more to himself than to me. “Your body should have rejected this land.”
A chill slid down my spine. “But it didn’t.”
“No,” he said. “It didn’t.”
The way he stared at me then wasn’t accusing.
It was… wary.
As if he were looking at something that shouldn’t exist.
“What does that mean?” I whispered.
His gaze locked onto mine, intense enough to steal my breath. “ I am not sure"
My throat tightened painfully. “That doesn’t sound comforting.”
“It isn’t,” he replied.
His eyes darkened
“Whatever you are,” he said slowly, “the rogues weren’t chasing you by chance.”
My stomach dropped.
“Because Blackwood doesn’t open itself to anyone without a reason.”
- Writer
