8

Chapter 8

Ella

I woke up with a loud gasp, my heart pulsing in my ears, cold sweat covering my forehead.

Another nightmare.

My nails slowly dug into my bed as I breathed heavily.

My night had become violent. A huge wolf with golden eyes keeps chasing after me as I run through the woods.

I should be terrified… but I wasn't. My body ached instead for something I couldn't understand… My body betrayed me.

My mind strangely drifted to Kael. He hasn't shown up before me after I confronted him at the gym.

I should be happy that he has finally stopped stalking me, but a part of me wasn't. I hated to admit that I missed having him around.

Sighs. I must be losing my mind.

At work, I tried to focus, but couldn't. My thoughts kept spiraling, memories of everything haunting me.

“Ella… Ella…”

I flinched as a hand touched my shoulder.

I lifted my gaze. My colleague and office friend, Lydia, stared down at me with concern.

“Are you alright?”

I blinked, “huh?”

“You've been distracted lately…” he gestured toward my desktop screen, drawing my attention to it.

I had made several mistakes in my work.

I sighed silently before wearing a soft smile, “yeah, sure. I'm fine…”

“I'm just… stressed. But I'll be fine though,”

She gave me a long stare, one that definitely meant ‘are you sure?’, patted my shoulder with a smile before walking away.

I sighed.

By 4pm, I was on my way driving back home.

My eyes kept searching the street around for what wasn't lost. My heart longing for something that it wasn’t supposed to. Was it the wolf? Or Kael? I didn't know.

My feet suddenly pressed down on the pedal, bringing the car to a loud screeching halt in the middle of a deserted road.

It was snowing as usual, but I noticed the narrow road by my right hand side. The road led to god knows where.

An idea crossed my mind.

NO, ELLA! DON'T THINK OF IT!

I scolded myself, but fuck it! My mind already decided it before I could resist… I couldn't deny the force that kept pulling me from that particular direction… That strong pull that I couldn't resist no matter how hard I tried.

My fingers tightened on the steering wheel, my knuckles turning white as I started the car, and without a second thought, turned the car swiftly in the narrow road.

I tried to stop… I really tried to go back, but this invisible force was stronger than my will… That's if I had a will at that moment.

I drove for two hours nonstop through the scary woods. The farther I went, the scarier it became… but still, it didn't cross my mind to turn back.

As if something was controlling me, my feet suddenly matched the brake pedal, bringing the car to an abrupt halt.

A tall and massive black gate stood ahead of me, and behind the gate was a fortress-like building. Tall, dark, and intimidating.

My grip loosened on the steering wheel, and with my heart pounding with curiosity, I leaned towards the windshield to look around.

The house was the only building in the woods… surrounded by forests only.

The faint sounds of animals howling around, made my feet freeze.

My breath caught in my throat the moment my eyes settled on the inscription at the top of the gate.

Shadow Ridge Security.

I stiffened. This was the address on the card Kael gave me. Why the fuck am I here?

Then a powerful presence that sent chills all over my body, drew my attention. The next second, Kael stood in front of the gate, eyes on me, hands in his pockets.

The way he stared… not surprised. As if he knew I'd come, and had been waiting for me.

Did he bring me here?

I swallowed the lump in my throat, cold sweat running down underneath my cloth.

I couldn't bring myself to step out of the car.

A gasp tore through my throat as Kael appeared beside my car with just one step from where he stood… Something that was supposed to be impossible.

He pulled the car door open and leaned in… until our lips were half an inch apart. His breath warmed over my face, and his eyes burned into mine.

Then he spoke… his voice is low and rough… more like a silent growl, “You came... I've been waiting for you,”

Those words should have me screaming for help… It should scare me, but why did I find it hot? Why was heat pooling in my stomach instead?

My body leaned against him before I could hold back, my eyes dropping to his lips, and for a fleeting moment, a nasty thought crossed my mind.

But before I could decide to act on it, he straightened up, held out his hand to me, his eyes didn't leave mine, “let's go,”