Chapter 5: The Beast In The Shadows

Hailey.

The press box feels colder and too quiet now. I heave a shaky breath and stare at the typewriter keys, but I can't force myself to type any word.

My father's voice keeps echoing in my head.

Some stories aren't meant to be dug up.

What did he mean by that? And why did it sound like he meant me?

The door opens slowly behind me. I freeze in my chair, every hair on my arm standing straight.

“Dad?” I call out, my voice barely above a whisper.

There's no response. Silence.

I whirl around so fast, but the press box is empty. My pulse thrashes in my ears, and suddenly, I'm hyperaware of the glass windows overlooking the rink.

Outside, the ice sparkles under the light from the arena, but the shadows around the arena feel wrong. Like something is moving.

I shake my head frantically. “Get it together, Hailey,” I whisper to myself.

Suddenly, I hear it. Footsteps. Heavy and deliberate, echoing below the press box.

I rush to the window, pressing my palms against the cold glass. The rink looks deserted with no players or coaches. There's practically no one in the rink.

And yet, a flash of movement. I see it by the far exit. I swear I do. A tall figure with eyes glowing faintly red in the shadows before it slips away.

I stumble back. My notebook slips from my hand and lands on the floor with a soft thud. My throat goes dry.

No, it can't be. I imagine that. I have to.

But as I kneel to pick up my notebook, a low growl rumbles through the press box. It's almost inaudible, but it rattles me to the bone.

I bolt upright, my eyes wide with fear. There's no one here, but I'm not alone.

As if under a spell, my legs move on their own accord. But I'm not going to my dorm. I don't know where I'm heading, but my legs keep moving.

My thoughts spiral back to every strange thing happening since last night. The more I think of it, I can't shake off the feeling that it's related to Rhys.

There's something strange about him and I want to find out what it is.

The cold air slaps against my skin when I step out of the press box. Everywhere is dark and silent, which is unusual.

Is there a curfew I'm not aware of?

Every shadow feels alive, every sound and scent increases. It is as if my sense of hearing and smell has suddenly changed. My mind keeps whispering werewolves and with each step, the word feels less ridiculous.

“Hailey.”

I jump at the sound of his voice. My heart nearly falls out of my chest.

Rhys steps out from the darkness, a stick in his hand. His brown hair falls into his eyes, but his expression is unreadable. His presence fills the silence like he's been waiting.

“What the hell are you doing here?” My voice cracks, betraying the panic I'm trying to swallow.

He narrows his eyes on me for a brief moment, his gaze moving to my trembling hands.

“I could ask you the same thing. This isn't the way to your dorm and you shouldn't be out here alone this late,” he says it like he's been watching me all along and that only fuels the rage burning in my chest.

“Don't you dare act like you care,” I snap at him, my voice louder than I intend. “You've been following me, showing up everywhere, and I'm supposed to believe it's just a coincidence?”

His jaw tightens. That smug grin on his face earlier this morning is nowhere to be seen now.

“Maybe I'm not the one you should be afraid of, Hailey,” the way he says it with something raw makes me tremble.

For a split second, I catch a flicker of something in his eyes, brown shifting, deepening, like the red glow I swore I saw last night.

My stomach twists.

“You are hiding something,” the words slip out of my lips before I can stop them. “And don't think I've not noticed. You aren't… normal.”

A silence stretches between us. His gaze burns into me as he takes one step closer. My brain screams at me to move, but my legs do not. It feels like they are rooted to the spot.

“Careful, Hailey,” he murmurs, his voice dropping so low that it feels like a warning and a confession at once. “If you keep digging, you won't like what you find.”

My chest rises and falls as anger mixed with fear crashes into me. “Then stop giving me reasons to dig, Rhys.”

The words hang in the air. He flinches, not physically, but I see a crack in his well-built walls. His lips part like he wants to say something else, but he doesn't. He just exhales sharply, clenching his jaw.

Then, just as he shows up, he turns his back and disappears, leaving me with my heart pounding and thoughts spiraling.

And the worst part? I'm chasing him.

He's running into the woods and I'm silently following behind him.

Suddenly, he stops moving.

My eyes narrow and I hide behind a huge tree. I watch him strip off his shirt, his body tense. I don't even know how I'm managing to see in the darkness, but I am. In fact, my eyes are sharper now.

The sound of a growl ripples through the woods. A cold shudder runs down my spine in an instant.

A wolf leaps at him and I swear the world stops. My heart pounds so hard it begins to hurt.

A werewolf. They are real.

Every part of my body screams at me to run, but I can't.

Right before my eyes, Rhys shifts into something scarier. A massive wolf, eyes glowing as he fights the other wolf with brutal force.

My heart drops to the pit of my stomach. And terror widens my eyes.

Rhys is not human. He’s a werewolf. A monster. A beast.