Chapter Five : The Wolves Who Burn the Rules
1043 Words
Lena
Smoke swallowed the room in seconds.
Lena dropped behind the couch, heart slamming against her ribs. The force of the explosion rang in her ears, a high-pitched screech overlaying Damian’s barked command—“Stay down!”
She couldn’t see him.
Shadows cut through the haze, silent, fast. Not the wild pack from the forest—these were trained. Precise. Human-like in their movement, but darker. Too quiet to be natural.
The smoke stung her eyes as she scrambled across the floor, choking back a cough. She grabbed the water glass she’d set down and hurled it blindly into the fog.
A sharp curse followed.
One down.
Then someone grabbed her ankle.
She twisted, kicked hard, and caught something solid. Whoever it was staggered, loosening their grip, and Lena didn’t waste the second. She launched forward, reaching for the nearest weapon—
Damian’s discarded jacket. No good.
Then she saw it—his blade on the counter.
She dove. Fingers closed around cold steel. She spun to her feet, just in time to see one of the intruders leap toward her.
Lena thrust the blade forward.
The man screamed as it pierced his flesh.
He fell. She gasped, backing up.
What had she done?
She didn’t get the chance to process it. Another figure lunged from the side—but this time, Damian was there.
His wolf half was surfacing—eyes glowing gold, canines flashing. His movements were brutal, efficient. In seconds, the attacker was down.
“Behind you!” Lena shouted.
Damian turned, caught the punch, and countered. Blood splattered the floor.
The others hesitated.
“Get her out!” someone barked from the shadows. “Now!”
Lena turned toward the voice—just as a figure charged her.
This one didn’t carry a blade.
He carried a syringe.
No.
She slashed at him with the knife. He ducked. Moved fast. Too fast.
Then his hand closed around her wrist—and pain bloomed like fire through her veins.
She screamed.
Damian was there a second later. The man ripped off her and slammed her into the wall. Bones cracked.
Lena stumbled back, clutching her arm.
The syringe was empty.
“Lena,” Damian said, his voice like thunder, low and urgent. “What did they give you?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know—something’s… wrong.”
The room tilted.
Her knees gave out.
Damian caught her before she hit the floor.
“Stay with me,” he ordered. Lena. Eyes on me.”
She blinked hard, struggling to focus. Everything was too loud and too far away all at once. Her heart thudded out of rhythm.
“Don’t close your eyes,” he growled. “Don’t you dare.”
But she couldn’t help it. The dark was pulling her under.
What did they want with her?
The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was Damian’s eyes—wild, golden, and scared.
She woke to silence.
Her body ached. Her mouth was dry. But she was alive. Somehow.
Lena sat up slowly. She was in a different room—stone walls, soft bedding, firelight dancing across wood panels.
The air was cleaner here.
Her arm throbbed where the syringe had struck.
Damian sat near the window, phone in hand, voice low and furious.
“They knew our location. That was no accident. They were after her, not the prophecy.”
Pause.
“No. I said no. You don’t get to come near her. She’s mine.”
He ended the call and turned toward her. Their eyes met. Tension pulled tight in the space between them.
“You’re awake.”
“Barely.”
He crossed to her side. “You scared the hell out of me.”
“I scare myself sometimes.”
His hand hovered near hers, then fell to his side. “You fought them.”
“I stabbed a man.”
“You survived.”
She looked away. “What did they inject me with?”
“Some kind of suppressant,” he said. “It was meant to knock out your wolf side. Temporarily.”
Lena let out a shaky breath. “That’s a real thing?”
“In certain circles, yes. Expensive. Rare. Which means whoever sent them wasn’t just a rogue.”
“They knew what I was.”
He nodded.
“They want to stop me before I become whatever it is I’m supposed to be.”
Damian’s eyes darkened. “That’s exactly what they want.”
She shifted, the sheet falling off her shoulder. Damian glanced away quickly.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “Not like I’m going to jump you.”
His lips quirked. “You’d be surprised how often I hear that.”
She smiled faintly. “So… what now?”
“You stay hidden while I figure out who’s behind this.”
“No.”
His brows lifted. “No?”
“I’m not hiding anymore.”
“You were nearly taken.”
“And next time, I want to be ready.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “You’re serious.”
“I was raised thinking I was nothing special. I believed it. But I’m done pretending.”
“You want me to train you?”
“I want to know what I am. I want to know what they think I’m capable of. And I want to be strong enough to destroy anyone who tries to use me.”
For a moment, he said nothing. Then slowly, he nodded.
“Fine,” Damian said. “But it won’t be easy.”
“I don’t need it easy. I need something real.”
He exhaled, something unreadable crossing his face. “Then we start tonight.”
But before she could ask what that meant—
The phone rang again.
He answered, jaw tight. “What is it?”
Lena couldn’t hear the voice at the other end.
Damian went still.
Then his eyes met hers.
“Someone’s taken the bodies,” he said.
“What?”
“The attackers. They’re gone. Every trace of them. Someone’s covering this up.”
Lena’s heart dropped.
And then he added, voice grim:
“And your name just hit the hunter registry.”
- Writer
