Chapter 6 - The Pull

When Tyson touched me, my breath hitches, my heart stutters. And then starts racing again, faster, louder, like it’s trying to break out of my chest.

Tyson’s eyes darken.

“Your pulse…” he murmurs.

“What about it?” I manage.

“It reacts to me.”

I swallow. “That’s because you’re insane and unpredictable.”

But my voice isn’t as steady as I want it to be.

His thumb shifts slightly against my skin, and I feel it, that same strange pull.

Stronger now, warmer.

It spreads through me like heat, curling low in my stomach, wrapping around my chest, my lungs, my thoughts.

What is this?

“What did you do to me?” I whisper.

His jaw tightens. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

Then he drops his hand. Just like that, the moment breaks. I suck in a breath like I’ve been underwater.

Tyson steps back, creating distance again, but I can see it now, he’s affected too. Not as obvious, but it’s there. In the tension of his shoulders. In the way his hands flex slightly, like he’s resisting something.

“This is unnatural,” he says, more to himself than to me. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” I mutter.

He shoots me a look, but it’s distracted, like his mind is somewhere else.

Then..

A howl cuts through the air, closer this time. Much closer.

My stomach drops.

“They’re here,” I say under my breath.

Tyson’s entire demeanor shifts instantly.

All that confusion? Gone. Replaced by something lethal. Focused and deadly. He walks to the door, then pauses, glancing back at me.

“You stay behind me,” he says.

I blink. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“I’m not hiding behind you..”

“You are if you want to live.”

That shuts me up, barely. Because I still don’t know who to trust. People outside who obviously want me dead for reason unknown to me, or Tyson and his people who seems not to be normal and delusional and mentally retarded.

He opens the door, and the noise outside hits immediately. footsteps, voices, movement. Controlled chaos.

This isn’t their first fight, not even close.

Tyson steps out, and I follow before I can stop myself. The air outside feels wrong, charged. Like a storm is about to break. Figures move in the distance, fast, coordinated.

And then, I see them.

Five of them. Standing just beyond what I assume is some kind of boundary, They don’t look normal. Not like Tyson and his people.

There’s something… off, something dark. One of them steps forward. Tall. Still. Watching. And then, his gaze locks onto me. Not Tyson, not anyone else.

Me.

A slow smile spreads across his face and my blood runs cold.

“There you are,” he says, his voice carrying too easily across the distance.

My chest tightens.

Tyson shifts slightly in front of me, blocking part of my view. Protecting me or containing me. I honestly don’t know which.

“You’ve caused quite a problem for us,” the man continues. “Running all this time. Was it worth it?”

I didn’t answer, because something deep inside me is screaming. And I don’t understand it.

Tyson’s voice comes out low and dangerous. “I am Tyson Black, Alpha of The MoonHaven and You’re trespassing.”

The man’s smile widens. “And you’re in possession of something that doesn’t belong to you.”

Something.

“I’m not an object,” I snap before I can stop myself.

The man’s eyes flick back to me, amused. “Not to you, perhaps.”

Tyson growls, real growl this time. Deep. Animalistic. And I feel it, that pressure again. Stronger than before. Wrapping around me like an invisible shield.

Mine.

The word doesn’t come from me, it echoes in my head anyway.

I stiffen.

What the hell was that?

Tyson steps forward, his body tense, ready for a fight.

“You leave,” he says, each word sharp as a blade, “or you don’t leave at all.”

And I can see why people around here refers to him as Alpha. The air crackles. The man tilts his head, studying him. Then, his gaze shifts back to me one last time. Something dark flickers in his eyes.

Everything holds on a knife’s edge.

I’m bracing for a fight, my muscles tight, my breath shallow, my fingers itching for the knife but it was taken from me when I was taken in.

Instead… the man smiles. It’s slow. Calculated, like he just made a decision.

“Well,” he says lightly, glancing past Tyson, over the line of wolves now gathering behind him, “this is disappointing.”

The wolves that I would have freak out over, but there was no time. But I sure do know Im going to freak out later. Human can’t turn into a wolf, it is not just done.

Later, freak out later Naya, but for now, focus on not being taken.

I don’t dare move, but I can feel it, the shift.

More of them. Tyson’s people. They’re everywhere now. Silent. Ready. Watching. We outnumber them and the man sees it too.

His gaze flicks back to Tyson, then to me, and something dark settles in his expression. Not defeat.

Promise.

“This isn’t over,” he says quietly.

Then he steps back, the others follow. No rush. No panic. Just a slow, deliberate retreat like they’re choosing to leave, not being forced.

And somehow that’s worse. Because it means they’ll be back. I don’t realize I’ve been holding my breath until they disappear completely into the trees.

I remain where I am, because how do I look at wolves knowing fully well that they’re human? If I mention this when i finally escape from here, psychiatric hospital will rush me.

As if they are reading my thoughts, I heard a wicked growl definitely from a wolf behind me.

My blood runs cold.