Chapter 5
396 Words
That night, Evelyn couldn’t shake his words.
Lock your doors.
She’d told herself she wasn’t going to let Damian Hale dictate how she lived her life. Yet as darkness fell and the woods outside grew quiet, she found herself checking the locks twice, then a third time, her heart beating far too fast.
Lily slept soundly in the small bedroom, her little wolf toy clutched tight. Evelyn lingered by the door, listening to her daughter’s steady breaths. For all her bravado, the thought of anything threatening Lily made her knees weak. She’d burn the world before she let it happen again.
A noise shattered the silence.
Evelyn froze. It wasn’t the creak of the cabin settling, nor the whisper of wind. It was heavier footsteps crunching softly against the leaves just outside.
Her breath hitched. She backed toward the window, careful not to make a sound. Pulling the curtain aside just an inch, she looked out into the night.
A shadow moved between the trees. Tall. Wrong. Not Damian.
Every nerve in her body screamed. She grabbed the nearest thing she could, a cast-iron pan from the counter her hands slick with sweat. She hated how her omega instincts pulled at her, whispering for her to call for help. For him.
The footsteps came closer.
Then, just as suddenly, the night split open with a snarl.
The sound was primal, feral so deep it rattled her bones. Something crashed against the ground outside, followed by another growl, sharper this time. Evelyn’s pulse hammered as the noise escalated into a violent scuffle, claws raking, teeth snapping.
And then, silence.
Her hand trembled around the pan. She wanted to believe it was over, but fear rooted her in place.
The door swung open without warning.
Evelyn gasped, ready to swing, but the weapon slipped from her grip as Damian stepped inside. His chest heaved, his shirt torn, blood streaking across his forearm. His eyes burned gold in the dim light, wild and untamed.
“You should have listened,” he growled, voice rougher than she’d ever heard it. “It wasn’t safe.”
Evelyn’s throat tightened as she stared at him this man, this Alpha, standing bloodied in her doorway like a storm she hadn’t seen coming.
And for the first time since arriving in Blackridge, she understood.
Her past wasn’t the only thing she had to fear.
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