✧ Chapter 5: “The Cold One” ✧
599 Words
Anne couldn’t sleep.
The forest outside her window was alive with sound. Not the usual rustling or animal calls—no, this was something deeper. A low, haunting howl that seemed to vibrate through the walls, calling to something hidden in her bones. It was the third night in a row she'd heard it, and every time, it felt closer.
She pulled her sweater tighter and stepped onto the porch behind the teacher's quarters, mug of tea in hand, trying to pretend it was just nature. Normal. Wild. Safe.
But Riverdale didn’t feel safe. Not exactly.
Not with the way the town watched her. Not with the way her skin prickled every time she passed the edge of the woods. And definitely not with the way Antony had looked at her yesterday—like he was trying to tell her something without saying it out loud.
She took a sip, shivering slightly. The air had dropped again, colder than it should be for autumn.
A branch cracked behind her.
She froze.
Another step. Slow. Deliberate.
She turned just as a shadow moved at the edge of the trees. Tall. Broad. Silent.
Her heart jumped. “Antony?”
The figure stepped forward—and she knew instantly it wasn’t him.
This man was colder, heavier. His presence hit her like a wave of frost. He had the same dark hair, but where Antony’s eyes were warm whiskey, his were stormed gray—sharp, unreadable, and fixed on her like she was prey.
“You’re not supposed to be out here alone.”
His voice was quiet, deep, and wrapped in steel.
She swallowed. “Who—?”
“I’m Matt.” He didn’t offer a smile. Or a hand. Just stood there, radiating distance.
Anne straightened. “You’re the Alpha.”
“Unfortunately.”
“I wasn’t trying to break the rules,” she said quickly. “I just couldn’t sleep.”
“You’ve already broken more than you realize,” he replied, his gaze flicking toward the woods. “This isn’t the kind of place you wander through with a mug and a soft cardigan.”
Anne bristled. “I wasn’t exactly briefed on how to survive a fairy tale.”
A ghost of something—maybe humor—passed over his face. But it was gone before it settled.
“Antony shouldn’t have brought you here,” he said after a beat.
Her throat tightened. He didn’t. I applied.
“And yet he keeps hovering. "That’s not like him.” He stepped closer. Not threatening, just… imposing. “You’re distracting him.”
“Maybe he likes me.”
“He doesn’t know you.”
“Do you?”
Matt’s jaw twitched, but he didn’t answer.
The silence between them stretched tight like a wire. The cold wind pulled at her hair, and somewhere far off, another howl echoed across the trees.
Matt turned his head slightly, listening. Anne felt it too—an energy humming low in the ground.
Then he said, softer this time, “Don’t trust what you think you know about this place.”
She met his eyes. “Then tell me what I should know.”
He held her gaze for a long, heavy moment. Then: “Nothing you’re ready to hear.”
With that, he turned and disappeared into the trees, swallowed by darkness like he’d never been there at all.
Anne stood frozen, tea forgotten in her hands, her pulse a drumbeat in her ears.
She had finally met the Alpha.
And now she understood why everyone else was afraid to.
- Writer
