9. Manners.

Sage.

Seth had already signalled Ronald to take them all away.

The command had been clear, sharp, and final. The surviving humans had begun to move almost immediately, their bodies stiff with exhaustion and fear as they followed Ronald away from the blood-stained field.

Everything should have ended there.

It usually did.

But something felt… wrong.

An unfamiliar uneasiness settled deep in my chest, crawling beneath my skin like a restless shadow that refused to leave. My eyes followed the departing line of humans, yet my thoughts remained fixed on one particular face.

Her.

The human girl that laughed.

Even now, the memory of it lingered in my mind with disturbing clarity.

That laugh had not been loud or dramatic. It had been brief, almost careless, but it had stood out in a place where terror had swallowed every other human voice.

Humans didn’t laugh in front of us, they trembled, they begged, they cried but that girl…She had laughed.

My jaw tightened slightly as the thought replayed again in my head.

There had been something about her that I couldn’t quite explain. Something strange and unsettling that refused to leave my thoughts alone.

Something that felt…forbidden, yet strangely alluring.

I couldn’t understand why.

It made no sense.

She was nothing more than a weak human, a creature far beneath our kind. And yet the brief moment our eyes had met earlier had left behind a strange sensation in my chest.

One that my wolf refused to ignore.The feeling unsettled me more than I was willing to admit.

My gaze narrowed slightly as the humans continued to move farther away.

That girl was walking among them.

Head lowered, silent but even from a distance, something about her presence seemed different.

And the more I observed her, the more certain I became of one thing.

She would become a threat.

My wolf stirred restlessly within me.

The instinct was sharp and persistent, pushing against my thoughts like a warning that refused to be ignored.

And my wolf had never been wrong before.

Weapons like that…dangerous ones…Were never meant to be left wandering freely.

They had to be controlled, tamed and kept where they could be watched. My thoughts settled instantly on the only logical solution.

She needed to stay close.

Very close.

I turned toward Scott immediately.

“My wolf keeps signalling me that there is something about that girl.” My voice was calm, but the seriousness behind the words was unmistakable.

Both of my brothers reacted instantly.

My wolf possessed several abilities that few others had, and one of the strongest among them was perception. It could sense danger long before it appeared.

That ability had protected our clan countless times.

And everyone knew it.

Seth’s expression darkened the moment I mentioned the girl.

“What exactly?” he asked sharply.

Irritation filled his voice, his patience clearly thinning at the mere mention of the human.

His hatred for weakness had always been stronger than ours but this had nothing to do with weakness.

I kept my gaze steady as I answered. “I feel she is a threat to the wolf clan.”

The words left my mouth without hesitation.

Scott turned toward me instantly.

The lazy confidence that had been resting on his face vanished, replaced by something far more serious.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he studied me. “What do you mean?” he asked.

I could feel the weight of his attention pressing down on me, but my mind remained firm.

My wolf had already made the decision.

And I trusted it.

“We need to keep her close,” I said firmly.

The words hung between us for a moment, but there was no argument, no questioning.

Scott knew my wolf’s abilities too well to dismiss them. If it sensed danger, then the threat was real.

That alone was enough, the decision was made in silence, yhere was no need for further discussion.

My gaze shifted toward the departing humans. Without wasting another second, I stepped forward and raised my voice.

“Wait!”

The command rang across the field immediately, every movement stopped.

Ronald halted.

The humans froze.

And just like that…

Everything changed.

We headed back to our various rooms after the entire ordeal in the training ground.

The walk back to the mansion was quiet, almost eerily so. None of us spoke. The bloodshed we had just overseen was nothing unusual in our territory, yet something about the day lingered strangely in my mind.

Perhaps it was the human girl.

Or perhaps it was the way my wolf refused to calm down.

Either way, I was exhausted.

The moment I entered my chamber, I loosened the collar of my shirt and walked straight toward the bed. My body sank heavily onto the mattress as I stretched out flat on my back, staring at the ceiling above me.

The room was silent except for the faint rustle of the curtains swaying with the evening breeze. Normally, after a long day, sleep would claim me within seconds.

But today my mind was restless.

That girl’s face kept flashing through my thoughts.

The fire in her eyes, the defiance in the way she had stood among the other humans, and that laugh, it was unsettling.

I shut my eyes, trying to force the thoughts away.

But I had barely rested when the door to my room was pushed open instantly. The loud creak cut sharply through the quiet room.

My eyes snapped open.

I jerked upright on the bed, irritation already boiling through my veins as my gaze shot toward the door.

Who dared enter my room without knocking?

My temper was already rising as I prepared to lash out but the words died halfway in my throat the moment I saw who stood there.

Her.

The human girl.

She stepped into the room slowly, closing the door behind her as if she belonged there.

My eyes narrowed instantly.

Of all the bold and foolish things a human could do, barging into an Alpha’s room unannounced ranked among the worst.

“Weren’t you taught about manners in your human clan?” I asked coldly, my voice dripping with irritation.

She didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, she stepped forward.

Boldly.

Confidently.

And for the first time since earlier, I truly looked at her.

Up close.

And damn.

From this distance, I could see her clearly.

She was… beautiful.

Her brown eyes locked onto mine without hesitation. There was no fear in them, only something darker, something burning beneath the surface.

Her hair fell loosely to her shoulders, soft strands framing her face in a way that made her look both delicate and dangerous at the same time.

She had been cleaned up since the earlier chaos, and now that the dirt and blood were gone, her features were far more striking.

Her curves were visible beneath the simple clothes she wore, her posture straight despite the obvious exhaustion in her body.

She looked… different.

Not broken like the others.

Not submissive.

And that alone irritated me even more.

“Sorry, Alpha Sage,” she said calmly, her voice was low and controlled but beneath it, I could hear something sharp. “I wasn’t taught. I didn’t have the privilege to grow with my parents.”

The words were spoken politely, but the venom behind them was unmistakable.

For a brief moment, the room fell silent.

Then I scoffed. “Oh really?” I said slowly, my lips curling slightly. “How about I teach you how?”

The moment the words left my mouth, my wolf surged forward.

In the blink of an eye, I moved. One second I was standing near the bed, the next, I was right in front of her.

My speed was far beyond what a human could follow.

Before she could react, my hand shot forward and gripped her chin roughly, forcing her face upward.

She flinched.

The reaction was small, but I felt it, her skin was warm beneath my fingers, soft. My jaw tightened as the unfamiliar sensation brushed through my senses.

Without giving her time to recover, I shoved her backward, her body collided with the wall behind her with a dull thud.

But I didn’t care.

Not even slightly.

I stepped closer, trapping her between my body and the wall, my hand still gripping her chin firmly.

She was smaller than me.

Much smaller.

But those brown eyes still refused to lower themselves.

That stubborn defiance only fed the irritation building inside me.

“But the issue is,” I continued, my voice dropping lower, darker. “My mode of teaching is unbearable.”

My wolf stirred violently within me, feeding the anger that was quickly spreading through my chest.

“And as little human as you are,” I finished coldly, leaning closer so my voice brushed against her ear,

“I’m not sure you can handle it.”

My grip on her chin tightened slightly as my wolf continued pushing forward, eager, restless, and dangerously close to taking control.