CHAPTER 2
1018 Words
The door clicked shut behind her, and I realized—I was locked in.
I stood in the center of the room, staring at the heavy wooden door. Mistress Madra hadn’t even waited to see if I had questions. She gave me the rules and left like I was just a guest. She hoped she would leave soon.
I turned slowly, taking in the space that was now "my room."
A tall canopy bed sat against one wall, dressed in dark silver sheets and velvet pillows. The walls were lined with dark wooden panels, and a fire crackled in the corner hearth. There was a large wardrobe I hadn’t opened, and beside it, a tall mirror with an ornate gold frame.
Everything was perfect. Too perfect.
It didn’t feel like a bedroom. It felt like a display.
I walked over to the window and pushed aside the heavy curtains. Trees. Endless trees. Dark and thick and silent. There were no city lights, no cars passing, no sign of life beyond the mansion.
A prison in the middle of nowhere.
I sat on the bed, hugging my knees.
Mistress Madra’s voice echoed in my mind:
“You do not leave your room after eight. You do not enter the east wing. You do not speak to the Alpha unless spoken to.”
The Alpha.
Kael.
I didn’t know what that meant exactly, but the way she said it—the weight in her voice—told me it wasn’t just a nickname. It was a title. A warning.
That night, I couldn’t sleep.
Not just because the bed was too soft or the room too quiet. It was the way the walls seemed to breathe. The shadows flickered too slowly. The fireplace crackled with an uneasiness I couldn’t explain.
And then, just after midnight, I heard it.
A howl.
Low. Long. Far away but close enough to make the hair on my arms stand up.
I froze, heart pounding.
Another howl answered. Then another. Different tones—some deep, some high, all layered in a sound that felt like grief and rage wrapped into one.
Wolves?
But it didn’t sound natural. It sounded… bigger.
I rushed to the window, pressed my forehead to the cold glass.
Nothing.
Just the dark sea of trees, swaying softly in the wind. But I felt something. Watching me. Waiting.
I let the curtain fall and stepped back. My chest tightened.
What kind of place was this?
The morning came gray and silent.
Mistress Madra arrived at my door with no knock. She held a black dress. “Wear this. Come downstairs immediately.”
I did as she said, though every part of me wanted to ask why. Why black? Why now?
But I already knew the answer.
No questions.
Kael was already seated at the massive dining table when I arrived. He didn’t glance at me. Just sipped from a white mug, eyes fixed on nothing.
I sat at the far end, and a plate was set before me—eggs, toast, and a strange red fruit I didn’t recognize. I picked up my fork, but the question burning in my chest wouldn’t stay down.
“I heard howling last night.”
Kael looked up slowly.
“What of it?” he said.
“It didn’t sound like normal wolves.”
He didn’t blink. “You shouldn’t have been listening.”
“How could I not? It sounded like they were just outside the window.”
He put his cup down with a soft clink. “Stay in your room at night, and you won’t hear them.”
I leaned forward. “You’re not going to tell me what they are?”
“I’m not here to satisfy your curiosity, Mira.”
My name on his lips sent a cold shiver down my spine. Calm, controlled, emotionless. Like a judge delivering a sentence.
“I deserve answers,” I said quietly. You took me from my home. I don’t even know what I’m doing here.”
Kael stood.
Walked to me.
Paused just beside my chair.
“You’re here because your family put you in my hands,” he said, his voice low and final. “You’ll stay here, follow the rules, and keep your head down." The less you know, the safer you are.”
“Safe from what?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
He walked away, his coat brushing the floor behind him, and disappeared into the hall.
Later that afternoon, I wandered.
I wasn’t supposed to. But no one was watching. Or at least I thought no one was.
The mansion was bigger than I’d realized. Room after room of old books, dusty paintings, and cold statues that seemed far too lifelike.
Then I saw it.
A tall wooden door at the end of a long hallway.
The surrounding air was colder. Still.
The east wing.
I shouldn’t.
But something pulled me forward. My fingers curled around the handle.
Locked.
Of course.
I turned—and nearly screamed.
Kael stood there. No footsteps. No warning. Just him, staring, arms crossed.
“You don’t follow instructions well,” he said calmly.
“I was just—”
“Curious,” he finished. “That’s exactly what gets people hurt in this house.”
I swallowed. “What’s in there?”
He walked toward me. Slowly. Deliberately.
When he reached me, he leaned in just enough that I could feel the cold of his breath.
“Don’t open doors you can’t close.”
He turned and walked away.
Leaving me frozen.
That night, I sat by the fire, hugging my knees.
I didn’t even try to sleep.
At exactly midnight, I heard it again.
A low scratching sound.
At my door.
Then a soft, whispering voice—one I didn’t recognize. Not Kael. Not Madra.
Something else.
“Run.”
My blood turned to ice.
I didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. Just stared at the door.
I was no longer sure what kind of danger I’d been dragged into.
But one thing was clear:
Whatever this place was… it wasn’t human.
- Writer
