CHAPTER 3: The Pull
1208 Words
By morning, Ayla felt weak like she didn't sleep at all last night. Her dreams had been wild—flashes of green eyes, howling winds, and something deeper, something inside her that stirred and refused to quiet.
She stood barefoot in the old kitchen, staring at the cracked tiles and sipping lukewarm tea. Rain tapped against the window, soft and steady. The house still smelled faintly of her aunt’s lavender soap, a scent clinging to the worn wood like a memory.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she held the mug. She hated how unsettled she felt. Ronan’s face had haunted her dreams—those eyes, that voice, low and smooth, warning her without really explaining anything.
She set the mug down a little too hard.
“Get it together,” she muttered to herself.
After throwing on a thick hoodie and worn jeans, she stepped out into the damp morning. She didn’t know where she was going—she just knew she couldn’t sit still. Her legs carried her toward the woods again, despite every warning still echoing in her mind.
The trees were darker today. Not just because of the rain. They felt… heavier.
As she walked the path, Ayla glanced behind her. Nothing. But still, she felt eyes. Watching. Waiting. Not just threatening—curious.
She was halfway to the creek when she saw him.
Ronan.
Leaning against a tree like he’d been waiting all morning. His arms were crossed, black jacket soaked through but clinging to him like it didn’t bother him. His expression didn’t change, but his gaze locked with hers immediately.
Ayla’s breath caught.
“You don’t listen well,” he said.
She forced herself to keep walking. “Maybe you’re not as scary as you think.”
His lips twitched. Just barely.
“I told you not to come back.”
“And yet,” she said, glancing around, “I don’t see a fence. Or a sign. Last I checked, this forest isn’t private property.”
He stepped forward, closing the space between them with slow, measured strides.
“You don’t belong here,” he said quietly.
Ayla tilted her head. “Why? Because I’m human?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, his gaze dropped to her hands—shaking again, even though she tried to hide them.
“You’ve been dreaming,” he said.
She flinched. “How do you—?”
“Because the bond doesn’t care about time. Or logic. Or rules.”
She swallowed hard. “Bond?”
He looked away then. Up at the trees. “You need to leave, Ayla. The more time you spend here, the harder it’ll be.”
“For you, or for me?” she asked.
His silence was answer enough.
Ayla took a breath, heart pounding. “I found something. In my aunt’s room. Letters. From someone watching me. Since I was a kid.”
His jaw clenched. She didn’t miss it.
“Do you know anything about that?”
Again, no answer. Just that same heavy silence.
“I think I’m connected to this place. To something old. And you—” she paused, stepping closer, “—you know more than you’re telling me.”
Suddenly, he looked at her. Really looked at her.
“I swore an oath to protect my pack,” he said. “And you… you’re the threat I didn’t see coming.”
“I’m not a threat,” she whispered.
“You don’t know what you are,” he said, voice hoarse.
Something in her chest cracked. She didn’t know why, but her eyes burned.
Then he turned, fast, like he couldn’t bear to stand there anymore.
“I shouldn’t have come,” he said. And he was gone, just like that.
Left in the silence, Ayla stood there, heart racing. She didn’t chase him. Not yet.
---
Back at the house, she couldn’t sit still. She tore through her aunt’s closet, every drawer, every creaky floorboard. And she found more.
Old journals. Notes in a shaky hand. Maps of the forest with strange symbols. One entry stopped her cold:
> “The Alpha watches her. He doesn't know what she is yet. But he will.”
Her throat tightened. It was dated fifteen years ago.
She flipped more pages.
> "The bloodline runs deep. If she shifts, the war begins."
Shift?
She dropped the journal like it burned.
---
That night, sleep didn’t come. When it finally did, it dragged her into something deep and wild.
Wolves running.
The moon above, full and white.
A voice whispering her name.
Then fire. And screams.
And Ronan—bloodied, broken—reaching for her.
Ayla jolted awake, soaked in sweat. Her heart thundered like a drum.
She couldn’t stay. She couldn’t leave.
---
At dawn, she went back to the woods.
Again.
Ronan found her before she even made it to the creek.
“You don’t give up, do you?”
She looked at him. “No. I don’t.”
He hesitated, then nodded. Just once.
“This way,” he said.
She blinked. “What?”
“If you’re going to keep coming, then you should see what you’re dealing with.”
They walked in silence. The forest grew denser. Darker. The path narrowed.
And then… a clearing.
A circle of stone. Old. Ancient.
Ronan stood beside it.
“This is where it began,” he said.
She stepped closer, brushing her fingers against the stones. They were warm.
“My ancestors called it the Circle of Howl. The place where bonds were first marked. Where wolves became more than beasts.”
“And humans?” she asked softly.
He looked at her. “Some were chosen. Once.”
“Chosen for what?”
His eyes met hers. “To be more.”
A sound cracked through the woods.
Ronan moved fast, grabbing her arm, pulling her behind him. His eyes flashed—gold for a second.
A figure stepped from the shadows.
Deacon.
“Brother,” he said, voice mocking. “Bringing your girl to sacred ground? That’s bold.”
“She’s not—” Ronan began.
“She is,” Deacon interrupted. “We all feel it. The bond. You can’t lie about that.”
Ayla stepped out from behind Ronan. “Why does everyone talk like I’m not standing right here?”
Deacon grinned. “Because you’re not just standing. You’re standing in the middle of a prophecy.”
She stared at him.
“What prophecy?”
Ronan’s voice was low. “The one that says if a human bears the mark of the wild moon, and mates with an alpha… everything changes.”
Her head spun.
“You think that’s me?”
Deacon shrugged. “Don’t you?”
Ronan looked like he wanted to punch his brother.
“We’re done here,” he said, grabbing Ayla’s hand.
But she didn’t move.
Instead, she looked down.
At the center of the stone circle… glowing faintly… was a mark.
The same shape she’d seen in her dreams.
She reached for it.
Ronan shouted, “Don’t—”
Her fingers touched the stone.
And the ground shook.
Light exploded from the circle, throwing them all back.
Ayla screamed.
Then everything went black.
- Writer
