The Blood They Buried

RUN

I couldn't move.

The man at the door was staring at me like he had been searching for me his entire life.

Grandma stepped in front of me.

“Don't look at her.”

The stranger smiled.

“You know that's impossible.”

His voice was calm.

Too calm.

Like he wasn't standing inside someone's home after breaking down the door.

“Who are you?” I asked.

He ignored me.

His eyes remained fixed on Grandma.

“You should have brought her to us years ago.”

Grandma's jaw tightened.

“I made a promise.”

“And now you've broken it.”

“I kept her alive.”

“For nineteen years.”

The stranger's smile disappeared.

“You were never supposed to have her this long.”

A chill crawled down my spine.

I looked at Grandma.

“What is he talking about?”

“Go upstairs.”

“No.”

“Elara.”

“I want answers.”

The stranger laughed quietly.

“You still haven't told her?”

Grandma's face hardened.

“Don't.”

“She deserves to know what she is.”

My heart stumbled.

“What I am?”

The stranger finally looked directly at me.

His eyes were strange.

Not red.

Not anymore.

They had darkened into something almost black.

“You really don't know.”

I took a step backward.

“Know what?”

Grandma grabbed my hand.

“Run.”

“What?”

“Run, Elara!”

The stranger moved.

I barely saw him.

One second he was standing by the door.

The next, he was halfway up the stairs.

Grandma shoved me backward.

Something slammed into her.

She hit the wall.

“Grandma!”

I screamed.

The stranger turned toward me.

His face changed.

For one terrifying second, I saw fangs.

Actual fangs.

My body reacted before my mind could.

A growl ripped from my throat.

The stranger stopped.

His eyes widened.

Then he smiled.

“There you are.”

I didn't understand what he meant.

But I understood one thing.

I needed to get away from him.

I ran.

I sprinted down the hallway and threw open the bedroom window.

“Elara!”

Grandma's voice came from behind me.

I looked back.

She was on her knees.

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

“Go!”

“I can't leave you!”

“You have to!”

The stranger appeared behind her.

Grandma looked at me.

And I saw tears in her eyes.

“Find the truth.”

Then the lights went out.

The house fell into darkness.

I climbed through the window.

Branches scratched my arms as I dropped onto the ground.

I landed badly and pain shot through my ankle.

I forced myself up.

Behind me, glass shattered.

Someone screamed.

I didn't stop.

I ran into the forest.

I didn't know where I was going.

I only knew I couldn't stay.

The trees blurred around me.

My lungs burned.

My legs ached.

But somehow I was moving faster than I ever had before.

Much faster.

I could hear everything.

The wind moving through the leaves.

A bird flying somewhere above me.

My own heartbeat.

And—

Footsteps.

Behind me.

I looked back.

Nothing.

I ran faster.

The footsteps followed.

Closer.

Closer.

Then I smelled something.

Blood.

My stomach twisted.

I stumbled.

The world suddenly became sharper.

I could see through the darkness.

I could hear the stranger behind me.

I could smell him.

He was coming.

I turned.

Nothing.

Then a voice whispered from the trees.

“You can't run forever.”

I froze.

The voice wasn't behind me.

It was everywhere.

I backed away.

My foot caught on a root.

I fell.

Pain shot through my shoulder.

I tried to get up.

A shadow moved between the trees.

Then another.

I couldn't tell how many there were.

My breathing became ragged.

“Please…”

The word escaped before I could stop it.

Something stepped into the moonlight.

Not the stranger from my house.

A different man.

Younger.

Taller.

His eyes were cold.

He looked at me for several seconds.

Then his gaze dropped to my hands.

His expression changed.

Recognition.

Fear.

And something else.

He whispered,

“What the hell are you?”

I didn't have an answer.

But then a howl tore through the forest.

Deep.

Powerful.

Close enough to shake the ground beneath me.

The stranger looked toward the sound.

For the first time, fear crossed his face.

“No.”

Another howl answered from the darkness.

Then I heard footsteps.

Not running toward me.

Running toward them.

The men around me suddenly scattered.

I pushed myself backward.

A figure emerged between the trees.

He was tall.

Broad-shouldered.

Dressed entirely in black.

Moonlight caught his face.

His eyes found mine.

For a moment, neither of us moved.

Then his gaze shifted to the blood on my hands.

Something inside him seemed to wake.

His jaw tightened.

His eyes darkened.

And somewhere deep inside my chest, something answered.

A growl.

Not mine.

His.

He took one slow step toward me.

“Who are you?”

I opened my mouth.

Nothing came out.

His gaze never left mine.

Then he whispered the words that would change my life forever.

“Why does my wolf know your scent?”