Chapter 11: Claire
1194 Words
“No,” I whisper instantly. I don't know who I was talking to, but I had no intentions of opening that door. “No, we’re not opening that door.”
Carter’s little face scrunches in distress. “Momma—woof sad—”
“I said no!,” I take a deep breathe while trying to keep my voice steady as I hold him tighter. “We don’t open the door for wolves.”
LJ is already storming toward the entryway like she’s about to fight him with a broom or pure spite. “He better not knock,” she mutters. “I swear on every hex I’ve ever memorized—if he knocks—”
KNOCK.
LJ screams into the void. “OH COME ON!”
I flinch so hard I nearly drop Carter. “LJ,” I hiss, “please don’t antagonize him—”
“You’re joking, right?” she snaps, whipping around to glare at me. “After the day we’ve had? Claire, I WILL antagonize him. I will antagonize his ancestors.”
I rub Carter’s back, rocking him gently as his body glows faintly again. Not dangerous this time—just… anxious.
"Momma,” he whispers shakily, “woof say name.”
I freeze and before I can respond, LJ presses her ear hard against the door. Her eyes widen.
“Oh my gods,” she breathes. “He’s—he’s not growling. He’s not yelling. He’s not threatening.” She looks utterly horrified.
“He’s… asking.”
“What?” I whisper.
She mouths the words silently first. Then says them out loud."‘Claire… please.’”
It feels like my heart is about to burst out of my chest. Then there's another knock. softer this time. Like he's trying to be careful.
“Claire.” His voice slips through the wood, low and rough. Not Alpha-command. Not demanding. Just…broken.
“I know you’re afraid.”
LJ rolls her eyes so hard she nearly concusses herself. “OH WOW, GREAT START, DOG BOY.”
“LJ,” I whisper sharply.
She throws her hands up. “What?! I’m right!”
Carter presses his face into my neck. “Momma scared…?”
I swallow. “No, baby. I’m protecting us. That’s all.”
Outside, Draven’s voice comes again — quieter than I’ve ever heard it. “I won’t come in. I’ll stay right here until you're ready.”
My chest hurts. I shouldn’t listen. I should ignore him. I should cling to Carter and LJ and lock the world out forever. But his voice…He sounds like someone who isn’t just calling my name. He sounds like someone trying not to fall apart. I forgot that wolves tend to hold more regard to what the goddess has to say in messages.
“Claire…” A pause — a long, aching one. “I felt you go silent.”
LJ’s mouth drops open. “OH. MY. GOD. HE HAS A MAGICAL HEARTBEAT TRACKER ON YOU—”
“LJ,” I snap through clenched teeth. LJ just looks at me shocked.
Draven continues, barely above a whisper.
“I thought—” He stops, breath stuttering. “I thought something happened to you.”
Carter lifts his head again. Then glow finally dimming.
“Woof scared,” he whispers. He’s right. I feel it — not magically, but instinctively — a sharp, raw echo coming through the door.
He’s afraid. Afraid for us. Afraid of losing us, and that terrifies me more than anything.
“Claire.” He says my name like it’s glass. Like he’s trying not to break it. “I won’t cross your wards. I won’t push. I won’t… take a step closer.” A heartbeat of silence. Then— “Just… say something. So I know you’re okay.”
LJ stares at me, eyes huge. “Oh hell,” she whispers. “Claire… I think the wolf is in love with you.”
“LJ!” I choke.Carter pats my cheek again.
"Momma,” he murmurs, “woof cry.”. No, he can’t be—He wouldn’t—He—Another soft knock.
“Please, Claire.” A quiet exhale. The sound of someone fighting their own instincts. “Just let me hear your voice.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. I can’t open the door. I can’t let him in. I refuse to drag him into whatever nightmare the goddess hinted at. If he comes in, it makes everything real. But I also can’t sit here holding my breath while this wolf — this Alpha — stands in the cold, terrified I’m dead.
LJ whispers at my side. “Claire… say something.”
My chest crumples. I open my mouth—and the wards crackle at my back, a warning. Not about Draven. Something darker. Something drawing closer. Draven goes very, very still outside the door. Like he feels it too. The wards crackle again. A brittle, electric sound — like ice fracturing underfoot. LJ hears it. I hear it. But Carter... Carter FEELS it. His little body jerks in my arms.
His glow — soft a moment ago — flashes bright, sharp, panicked.
“Momma…” He clutches my shirt with both hands, tiny fingers trembling. “Momma, bad thing.”
“Carter?” I whisper. “What bad thing? What do you feel?”
He doesn’t answer with words. He reacts. Magic erupts from his chest in a sudden, frantic burst — not violent this time, not explosive, but instinctive. Protective. The toys across the floor tremble. The lights flicker. The runes painted on the wall pulse, then burn brighter, trying desperately to reinforce themselves.
LJ stumbles backward, eyes wide.“Claire—oh gods—he’s reacting to something outside—what’s out there?!”
I shake my head, clutching Carter tight. “I don’t know. I don’t—”
Then Carter lifts his head.
Slowly.
His little eyes glow fully silver. f*****g Silver. Moon-silver. And in a deep, terriyfing voice, he whispers: “I've found you.”
My blood freezes.
LJ presses a hand to her mouth. “Claire, Why does he sound like that? Who the f**k is that? What is going on?”
“How the f**k should I know? Carter? Carter?!"
Carter’s small hand lifts and points straight upward. Through the ceiling. Through the roof. Into the sky. “Look up,” he whispers. “I found you”
There's a presence. Not touching the wards. Not approaching the door. Just watching from above.
LJ screams, “ARE WE BEING STARED AT BY A DEMON DRONE?!”
I pull Carter tighter, my heart thundering. “Baby, stay with me — LJ, get behind the counter—”
Carter shakes his head violently. “You can't hide from me.” I press his forehead to mine, as if that will bring him back to me, help me to understand. LJ freezes. I freeze.Then from outside, through the door, Draven’s voice cuts through the tension like a blade. Sharp and instinctual.
“Claire. Don’t move.”
My breath catches.Because he doesn’t sound afraid anymore. He sounds ready to kill.
- Writer
