Chapter 4: The wolf in the Forest
2070 Words
Mate.
The word echoed through my mind.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't move.
I simply stood at the window, staring into the darkness where those golden eyes had disappeared.
“No.”
My wolf stirred.
Yes.
“No.”
I shook my head.
“That isn't possible.”
A soft growl answered me.
He is.
I pressed my palms against the window.
“But Adrian was my mate.”
Silence.
Then my wolf spoke again.
No.
My heart pounded.
“What do you mean, no?”
He was never your true mate.
I stared into the darkness.
“What?”
The warmth inside my chest pulsed.
The bond you felt was false.
My stomach dropped.
False.
The word barely made sense.
“How?”
Before she could answer, footsteps sounded behind me.
I turned sharply.
My father stood in the doorway.
“Seraphina?”
I quickly stepped away from the window.
“Yes?”
“You've been standing there for nearly ten minutes.”
I forced a smile.
“I was thinking.”
“About the Blackwood proposal?”
“Yes.”
He walked into the room and closed the door.
“Then we need to talk.”
My smile disappeared.
He placed several documents on the desk.
“I had our lawyers examine the agreement.”
“And?”
His expression was grim.
“You were right.”
My heart skipped.
“They've hidden an acquisition clause inside the contract.”
I picked up the document.
“They want control of the mines.”
“Yes.”
“And if you signed?”
“We would have lost nearly forty percent of the mining rights within five years.”
Exactly.
The same trap.
Ten years earlier.
My warning had changed the future.
But someone was still trying to make the same move.
Which meant one of two things.
Either Adrian wasn't behind it.
Or someone else was moving pieces I hadn't known existed.
My father leaned against the desk.
“How did you know?”
I hesitated.
“I didn't.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“I just suspected it.”
“Why?”
Because I had watched you die.
Because I had lived ten years after this.
Because your murderer had used these exact words to destroy our family.
Instead, I said,
“Something about the agreement felt wrong.”
My father studied me.
Then he smiled.
“You've changed.”
I looked down.
“Is that bad?”
“No.”
He walked toward me.
“It's good.”
I looked up.
“I've spent years worrying that you were too trusting.”
A painful smile touched my lips.
“You were right.”
He shook his head.
“I wasn't.”
He placed a hand on my shoulder.
“You were kind.”
I almost laughed.
Kind.
That was what everyone had called me.
Kind.
Trusting.
Gentle.
And those qualities had nearly killed me.
I looked at him.
“Father?”
“Yes?”
“Do you think being kind is a weakness?”
He frowned.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because kindness is a choice.”
He squeezed my shoulder.
“Trusting the wrong person isn't kindness. It's a mistake.”
My eyes stung.
“You're right.”
He smiled.
“Your mother says the same thing.”
I laughed softly.
For the first time since waking up, the sound felt natural.
Then his expression became serious again.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“The council sent a second proposal.”
I stiffened.
“What kind?”
“Marriage.”
My smile vanished.
“To whom?”
He didn't answer immediately.
He didn't need to.
My stomach turned.
“Adrian.”
He nodded.
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
In my first life, Adrian hadn't proposed until months after we met.
But if I had changed the timeline, then perhaps he had decided to move faster.
“He wants to marry you.”
I laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because the absurdity of it was almost unbearable.
“He doesn't even know me.”
My father raised an eyebrow.
“He seems to think he knows enough.”
“I don't want him.”
“I know.”
I looked at him.
“You do?”
“I know you.”
He smiled.
“You're my daughter.”
My heart softened.
Then he added,
“And you looked like you wanted to murder him during the meeting.”
I laughed again.
“I was trying to be polite.”
“Your version of polite is terrifying.”
For a moment, everything felt normal.
Almost peaceful.
Then I remembered the eyes in the forest.
My smile disappeared.
“Father.”
“Yes?”
“Who lives beyond the eastern forest?”
He frowned.
“Beyond the Valerian boundary?”
“Yes.”
“Mostly unclaimed territory.”
“Mostly?”
“There are old packs in the mountains. Why?”
“I saw someone.”
His expression sharpened.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
He immediately reached for the door.
“I'll send the guards.”
“No.”
He stopped.
“I don't want anyone frightening him away.”
“Him?”
I realized my mistake.
“I mean... whoever it was.”
My father stared at me.
“Seraphina.”
“Yes?”
“Was it dangerous?”
I thought about those golden eyes.
No.
Somehow, I knew.
“No.”
My father didn't look convinced.
“Stay away from the forest.”
I nodded.
But I knew I wouldn't.
---
That night, I couldn't sleep.
I lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
The word kept repeating itself.
Mate.
My wolf had called another man my mate.
If Adrian wasn't my true mate, then what had happened in my first life?
Why had I felt the bond?
Why had my wolf remained silent?
Why had Adrian been able to convince me that she was damaged?
I closed my eyes.
“Tell me.”
She didn't answer.
“Please.”
Silence.
I sighed.
“You can't expect me to trust you if you won't tell me anything.”
A soft growl.
You trusted them.
“I was twenty.”
You trusted them with everything.
“I didn't know.”
You trusted Adrian.
The words hurt.
“Yes.”
I swallowed.
“I did.”
You loved him.
“I did.”
The silence stretched.
Then my wolf spoke again.
And he used that love to hide the truth.
My eyes opened.
“What truth?”
She didn't answer.
“What truth?”
Still nothing.
I sat up.
“Tell me!”
My wolf suddenly went silent.
Then a sound came from outside.
A branch snapping.
I froze.
My head turned toward the window.
Another sound.
Closer.
I got out of bed.
I knew what I should do.
Call the guards.
Wake my parents.
Stay inside.
Instead, I opened the window.
Cold night air rushed into the room.
I climbed onto the balcony.
The estate below was quiet.
Moonlight covered the gardens.
Then I saw him.
Standing at the edge of the forest.
The same golden eyes.
My heart began pounding.
I didn't know who he was.
I didn't know why he was here.
But my wolf did.
Mate.
I stepped closer to the edge.
The figure moved into the moonlight.
A man.
Tall.
Broad.
Dark hair.
His face was partially hidden by the shadows.
But his eyes—
Golden.
Brilliant.
Unnatural.
He looked directly at me.
And something inside my chest snapped.
Pain exploded through my body.
I gasped.
My knees buckled.
A bond.
I could feel it.
Not like the faint warmth I had once experienced with Adrian.
This was different.
Powerful.
Violent.
Ancient.
My wolf surged forward.
MINE.
The man in the forest suddenly stiffened.
He had felt it too.
His head lifted.
For one breath, we simply stared at each other.
Then he moved.
Not toward me.
Away.
He turned and disappeared between the trees.
“Wait!”
I leaned over the balcony.
“Wait!”
Nothing.
He was gone.
My heart hammered.
“Who are you?”
No answer.
My wolf was practically vibrating inside me.
Go after him.
I stared at the forest.
“You're insane.”
Go.
“No.”
Go.
“I don't even know him.”
You know enough.
“I know nothing!”
My wolf growled.
Then learn.
I almost smiled.
“You're very demanding for someone who ignored me for twenty years.”
Silence.
Then, very quietly—
I was protecting you.
My smile disappeared.
“From whom?”
She didn't answer.
“From Adrian?”
No.
“Then who?”
This time, there was no hesitation.
Your blood.
I went still.
“What does that mean?”
But my wolf had already retreated.
Leaving me alone with a question I wasn't sure I wanted answered.
---
The next morning, I woke to shouting.
I rushed downstairs.
My father was standing in the entrance hall with three guards.
“What happened?”
He turned.
“Someone breached the eastern boundary.”
My blood ran cold.
“The forest?”
He nodded.
“One of the guards found tracks.”
“Human?”
“Wolf.”
My heart began pounding.
“Did you find him?”
“No.”
I tried to hide my relief.
My father studied me.
“Why do you look disappointed?”
“I don't.”
“You do.”
“I was just curious.”
He sighed.
“Whoever it was crossed into our territory without permission.”
“Maybe he was lost.”
My father stared at me.
“Seraphina.”
“What?”
“You're defending an unknown wolf who trespassed on our land.”
I shrugged.
“Maybe he had a good reason.”
My father shook his head.
“You're strange.”
“I've been told.”
He walked away.
I waited until he disappeared.
Then I looked toward the eastern corridor.
Something was pulling me there.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
A faint tug beneath my ribs.
My wolf whispered.
He left something for you.
I frowned.
“What?”
Find it.
I followed the pull.
Past the gardens.
Past the old stone wall.
Toward the eastern boundary.
The guards had already left.
I walked slowly through the grass.
Then I saw it.
A small object lying beneath an oak tree.
I crouched.
It was a silver ring.
No.
Not silver.
White gold.
A black stone was set in the center.
And carved into the metal was a symbol I had never seen before.
A wolf.
Surrounded by a crown.
I touched it.
The moment my fingers made contact, a sharp pain shot through my palm.
I gasped.
Images flooded my mind.
Fire.
Blood.
A throne.
A battlefield.
A man standing alone beneath a black moon.
And then—
My mother.
She was much younger.
Standing in the same forest.
Speaking to someone I couldn't see.
“Never let her find out.”
The vision shattered.
I dropped the ring.
My breathing became ragged.
My mother.
Why had she been here?
What had she been hiding?
And who had she been speaking to?
I picked up the ring again.
This time, nothing happened.
Except for one thing.
My wolf whispered:
He's coming back.
I looked toward the forest.
“When?”
She didn't answer.
A low growl sounded behind me.
I turned.
No one.
But the wind had changed.
And carried with it a scent I recognized.
The same scent from the night before.
Pine.
Rain.
And something darker.
My wolf stirred.
My mate.
I stared into the trees.
Somewhere out there was the man who had somehow been hidden from me for twenty years.
The man my wolf recognized.
The man who had been absent from my first life.
And suddenly, I understood.
My second chance wasn't simply about avoiding Adrian.
There was an entire part of my life I had never been allowed to know.
A hidden mate.
A silent wolf.
A family secret.
And a man watching me from the shadows.
I closed my fingers around the ring.
This time, I wouldn't blindly trust anyone.
Not even my own family.
Because if my mother had known about him...
Then someone had been hiding the truth from me long before Adrian ever entered my life.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD