HIS MARK, MY RUIN

Chapter Two — We Have to Leave

My mother's hand was still wrapped around mine.

Too tightly.

I could feel her fingers trembling against my skin as she pulled me toward my bedroom.

"Mom, slow down."

She didn't.

The moment we stepped inside, she shut the door and locked it.

Then she checked the balcony.

The bathroom.

The closet.

Even beneath the bed.

I stood in the middle of the room, watching her.

"What are you doing?"

She didn't answer.

She went to the curtains and pulled them completely shut before returning to me.

Her face looked different now.

Not nervous.

Terrified.

I had never seen my mother look at me like that before.

"Mom."

She finally looked at me.

"We're leaving."

"You already said that."

"Get dressed."

I stared at her.

"It's two in the morning."

"I know."

"And we're supposed to just leave?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Her eyes flickered toward the door.

"Because staying here isn't safe."

I folded my arms.

"Safe from what?"

She opened her mouth.

Nothing came out.

That silence told me more than an answer would have.

"You know something," I said.

She looked away.

"You've known something this entire time."

"Rose—"

"No."

My voice came out sharper than I intended.

"You've been acting strange since we left home. You were scared before we even got here. You didn't want to tell me where we were going. You told me not to go into the forest. And now some man walks into the house in the middle of the night, looks at me like he knows me, calls me something I don't understand, and suddenly you want to run."

She closed her eyes.

I could see her trying to steady herself.

"You're asking questions I can't answer right now."

"Then when?"

She didn't respond.

"Mom."

She walked to my wardrobe and opened it.

"Pack only what you need."

I stared at her.

"You can't be serious."

"Rose."

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe."

"Where?"

"I don't know yet."

That frightened me more than anything else.

My mother always had a plan.

Even when things went wrong, she had always known what to do.

Now she looked completely lost.

I slowly reached for the mark on my neck.

The skin beneath my fingers was still warm.

"What is this?"

She froze.

Her eyes followed my hand.

"I don't know."

I gave her a disbelieving look.

"You know."

She swallowed.

"I know enough to be afraid of it."

Before I could respond, a sound came from downstairs.

A door closing.

My mother went completely still.

We both listened.

Footsteps.

Slow.

Heavy.

Someone was walking through the entrance hall.

My mother immediately turned off the bedroom light.

"Stay here."

"What?"

She moved toward the door.

"Mom, where are you going?"

"Lock this door behind me."

"No."

She stopped.

"I am not staying in here while you walk downstairs alone."

Her expression tightened.

"Rose, listen to me."

The footsteps stopped.

Silence filled the house.

Then came another sound.

A low voice.

Too muffled for me to understand the words.

My mother looked toward the door.

"Who is that?"

She whispered.

I shook my head.

"I don't know."

She hesitated.

Then she stepped closer to me.

"If I tell you to run, you run."

My heart began pounding.

"Why?"

"Don't ask questions. Just do it."

She opened the door slightly.

Before she could step outside, a voice came from the hallway.

"Elena."

My mother stopped.

I had never heard anyone say her name like that.

Not with anger.

Not exactly.

It sounded like a warning.

Her fingers tightened around the door.

She slowly stepped into the hallway.

I followed before she could stop me.

A figure stood at the end of the corridor.

Kael.

He was no longer wearing the expression I'd seen downstairs.

His face was calm.

Almost emotionless.

But his eyes immediately found mine.

Something shifted in them.

Then his gaze moved to my mother.

"You shouldn't be here."

My mother stepped in front of me.

"Neither should you."

His jaw tightened.

"I came because I felt it."

My mother said nothing.

Kael looked at me again.

His eyes dropped briefly to my neck.

The mark.

I instinctively covered it with my hand.

He noticed.

Of course he noticed.

His expression changed.

Only slightly.

But enough.

"What did you do?" my mother asked.

His eyes snapped back to her.

"I didn't touch her."

"I wasn't talking about tonight."

Silence.

I looked between them.

"What are you two talking about?"

Neither answered.

I stepped forward.

"Who are you?"

Kael looked at me.

"I already told you."

"Kael isn't an answer."

He studied me for a moment.

"I'm the reason your mother wants you gone."

My stomach twisted.

"What?"

My mother immediately grabbed my arm.

"That's enough."

Kael's attention shifted to her.

"You should have told her years ago."

"I was protecting her."

"By lying to her?"

Her face tightened.

"You don't know what I've done for my daughter."

"I know exactly what you've done."

The words were quiet.

But something about them made the hallway feel colder.

I looked at my mother.

"What is he talking about?"

She wouldn't look at me.

Kael stepped closer.

My mother's body immediately tensed.

"Don't."

He stopped.

His eyes returned to me.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then that strange feeling returned.

The same sensation I'd felt downstairs.

Something inside me pulled toward him.

Not physically.

Something deeper.

Something I didn't understand.

My heartbeat became uneven.

Kael seemed to feel it too.

His breathing changed.

He looked away first.

"Take her and leave."

My mother frowned.

"You came here to tell me that?"

"No."

He looked toward the windows.

"You're already too late."

A distant howl echoed through the forest.

My blood ran cold.

My mother grabbed my hand.

"Now."

This time, I didn't argue.

We hurried into the bedroom.

I threw a few clothes into a bag without folding them. My hands were shaking so badly that I dropped my phone twice.

My mother moved quickly around the room, searching through drawers.

"What are you looking for?"

"Something I should have taken with us years ago."

She pulled open the bottom drawer of the wardrobe.

For a moment, she simply stared inside.

Then she reached beneath a pile of clothes and removed a small wooden box.

It was old.

Dark brown.

The edges were worn.

She held it against her chest.

"What is that?"

"Nothing you need to worry about."

I almost laughed.

"Everything tonight is something I apparently don't need to worry about."

She ignored me.

She slipped the box into her bag.

Then she looked at me.

"Ready?"

I nodded.

We left the room.

The hallway was empty.

Kael was gone.

I glanced toward the staircase.

"Where did he go?"

My mother didn't answer.

We hurried downstairs.

The mansion felt completely different now.

The beautiful house I had admired earlier seemed cold and unfamiliar.

Every shadow looked deeper.

Every sound made me turn.

When we reached the entrance, my mother stopped.

The front doors were open.

The cold night air rushed inside.

Our driver wasn't there.

Neither was the SUV.

My mother slowly stepped forward.

"Where's the car?"

I looked outside.

The driveway was empty.

Then I heard something.

A low growl.

Not human.

My mother's fingers closed around mine.

"Don't move."

The sound came again.

Closer this time.

I stared toward the trees.

Nothing moved.

Then, between two trees, I saw a pair of eyes.

Golden.

Watching us.

I stopped breathing.

Another pair appeared behind them.

Then another.

My mother pulled me backward.

"Rose."

Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Whatever happens, don't run into the forest."

The eyes moved.

Something stepped out of the darkness.

For the first time since arriving at the estate, I understood why my mother had been afraid.

Because whatever was standing among those trees...

wasn't an ordinary animal.

And it was looking directly at me.