Chapter 3 : The Howl in the Dark
882 Words
The howl echoed through the forest like a warning.
Zara froze where she stood.
The sound was deep. Powerful. It rolled through the trees and seemed to vibrate through the walls of the small wooden cabin.
Every instinct inside her screamed that something was terribly wrong.
Slowly, she turned her head toward the window.
“What… was that?” she asked quietly.
Kael didn’t answer immediately.
He was staring toward the forest, his golden eyes sharp and alert now. The exhaustion that had weighed down his body moments ago seemed to vanish completely.
“They found me,” he said again, more quietly this time.
Zara felt a chill run down her spine.
“Who found you?” she asked.
Kael’s jaw tightened.
“The pack that tried to kill me.”
The words hung heavily in the air.
For a moment, Zara wondered if she had misunderstood everything he had said earlier. Maybe the blood loss had made him delirious. Maybe she had imagined the whole conversation about wolves and packs and Alphas.
But then—
Another howl sounded.
Closer.
This time it was joined by another.
And another.
Zara’s stomach twisted.
“Those are wolves?” she whispered.
Kael stepped toward the window and carefully pulled the curtain aside.
Moonlight spilled across his face.
Zara watched as his expression hardened.
“Not just wolves,” he murmured.
“What does that mean?”
He let the curtain fall back into place before turning toward her.
“It means they can think,” he said.
“They can hunt.”
“And right now… they’re hunting me.”
Zara’s heart began to pound faster.
“You mean like… werewolves?” she asked before she could stop herself.
Kael didn’t laugh.
He didn’t look surprised.
He just watched her quietly.
“You said it yourself,” he replied.
A strange silence filled the cabin.
Zara shook her head slowly.
“This is insane,” she muttered.
“I pulled an injured man out of the forest two hours ago, stitched his wound, and now he’s telling me supernatural wolves are outside trying to kill him.”
Kael crossed his arms slightly.
“You could pretend it’s insane,” he said calmly.
“But that won’t stop them from breaking through that door.”
As if the forest itself wanted to prove his point—
A branch snapped outside.
Loud.
Close.
Zara jumped.
Her eyes shot toward the door.
“Did you hear that?” she whispered.
Kael’s expression didn’t change.
“Yes.”
Another rustle followed.
Then heavy footsteps.
Zara blinked.
“Wait…” she said slowly.
Her eyes widened.
“Those aren’t wolves.”
Kael went completely still.
The two of them listened.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Boots against leaves.
Human footsteps.
A cold feeling spread through Zara’s chest.
“There are people out there,” she said.
Kael’s golden eyes darkened.
“Yes,” he replied quietly.
“They sent hunters.”
Zara felt a wave of confusion crash over her.
“Hunters?” she asked. “For you?”
Kael didn’t answer.
Instead, he moved toward the small table and grabbed the knife Zara had used earlier while treating his wound.
Zara’s eyebrows shot up.
“You can barely stand,” she said. “What exactly are you planning to do with that?”
Kael tested his balance carefully.
Pain flickered across his face for a split second.
But he stayed upright.
“That depends,” he said.
“On how badly they want me dead.”
Outside, a voice suddenly echoed through the trees.
“Alpha Kael!”
Zara’s blood ran cold.
The voice was male.
Loud.
Mocking.
“We know you’re in there.”
Zara’s eyes snapped to Kael.
His expression had turned dangerously calm.
“How do they know?” she whispered.
“They tracked my blood,” Kael said quietly.
Another voice laughed outside.
“Come out, Alpha,” the man called again.
“You’re wounded.”
“You’re alone.”
“And you’re very far from your pack.”
Zara’s heart raced.
Her peaceful little cabin suddenly felt like the center of a battlefield she didn’t understand.
Kael moved slowly toward the door.
“What are you doing?” Zara asked urgently.
“If they think you’re alone, don’t open it!”
Kael stopped.
For a moment he seemed to consider something.
Then he looked back at her.
“Stay behind me,” he said.
Zara frowned.
“That’s not an answer.”
But before Kael could reply—
A third voice shouted from outside.
“Set the fire!”
Zara’s breath caught.
“What?”
Through the window she suddenly saw a flicker of orange light dancing against the trees.
Her stomach dropped.
“They’re not serious,” she whispered.
But Kael’s expression said otherwise.
“They are.”
Smoke began creeping under the door.
Zara’s hands started shaking.
“My cabin,” she whispered.
Years of saving.
Years of work.
Everything she owned was inside this small wooden building.
And now strangers in the forest were about to burn it down.
Kael clenched the knife in his hand.
His golden eyes burned with anger.
“They shouldn’t have come here,” he said softly.
Outside, the hunters laughed.
And the flames began to spread.
- Writer
