Chapter Three: Into the Dark

Serena’s POV

"Stay inside. Lock your door." The guard's voice is sharp through the wood. His footsteps disappear down the hall before I can ask questions.

I stand frozen in the middle of my room. The howl still echoes in my ears. That sounds foreign, wrong, and nothing like the wolves I grew up around, sending a chill straight through me.

Another howl answers the first. Closer now.

My hands tremble as I move toward the window. I shouldn't look. I should do what the guard said. Stay inside. Stay safe. Stay invisible. But something pulls me forward. Something stronger than fear.

The forest beyond the mansion walls is alive with movement. Shadows slip between trees. Eyes flash yellow in the darkness. Too many to count. My stomach drops. This isn't a small threat. This is an invasion.

Voices rise from somewhere below. Shouting. Orders are being given. Wolves shifting. The sounds of a pack preparing for battle.

I should stay here. I know that. I'm untrained. I've never even shifted before. But something inside me won't be still. It pulls toward something I don't understand. No. Not something. Someone.

Kael. The bond tugs at my chest like a rope. I feel his energy somewhere out there. Sharp. Focused. Moving toward the forest. Toward danger.

My feet move before my brain catches up.

I'm out the door and down the hall before I realize what I'm doing. Servants rush past me. Guards bark orders. Nobody stops me. Nobody notices the new girl slipping through the chaos.

The back entrance is unguarded. Everyone is focused on the front. I push through the door, and cold air hits my face like a slap. The garden stretches before me. Beyond it, the tree line. Dark. Waiting. I should turn back. Every logical thought screams at me to go inside. But the bond pulls harder. And somewhere deep inside, something whispers that he needs me. Stupid. Dangerous. Completely insane.

I run toward the trees anyway.

The forest swallows me whole.

Branches scratch my arms. Roots catch my feet. The deeper I go, the darker it gets. My breath comes fast. Too fast. My lungs burn.

I don't know where I'm going. I just follow the pull in my chest. That invisible thread connecting me to a man I should be running from, not toward. A growl stops me dead. I spin around. Nothing but shadows. Another growl. Behind me now.

Something desperate claws at the inside of my ribs. I want to shift. Want to fight. But I don't know how. I've never learned. My body doesn't know the steps.

Yellow eyes appear between the trees. One pair. Then two. Then three. They're not Blackwood wolves. The scent is wrong. Sharp. Cold. Hostile. The largest one steps forward. Dark gray fur. Massive shoulders. Eyes fixed on me like I'm prey.

I take a step back. Then another.

"I don't want trouble," I whisper. The words sound pathetic even to me.

The wolf doesn't care. It moves closer, Run. The instinct explodes through me. I turn and sprint. Branches tear at my skin. My lungs scream for air. Behind me, paws pound the ground. Fast. Getting faster. A root catches my foot. The ground rushes up. Pain explodes through my palms and knees as I hit the dirt.

I flip onto my back just as the first wolf lunges.

Then a roar splits the night. Not a howl. A roar. So powerful it shakes the trees. The wolf freezes mid-leap. Its eyes widen with something I recognize.

Fear.

A massive black shape explodes from the darkness and slams into the gray wolf with brutal force. The impact is savage. Bone meets tree trunk with a crack that echoes through the forest like a gunshot.

I flinch at the sound. My stomach turns.

Kael. Even in wolf form, I know him instantly. The sheer size. The raw power radiating off every muscle. He stands between me and the enemy. Black fur bristling. Golden eyes burning. The two remaining wolves hesitate. Then they attack together.

Kael moves like he was built for this. He catches the first one by the throat and drives it into the ground. The second lunges for his side. He spins, takes the hit across his shoulder, and pins the wolf beneath him with a force that rattles the earth.

The smell hits me then. Sharp and metallic. Blood. Fresh and real and close enough to taste on the back of my tongue.

My fingers dig into the dirt beneath me. I can't move. Can't look away. My body has gone completely cold, like something in my chest just shut off.

This is real. These wolves came here to kill, And they came for me. The enemy wolves scramble to their feet and run. Their howls fade into the darkness as they retreat. Silence falls. My breath comes in ragged gasps. I'm still on the ground, hands pressed flat against the cold earth, unable to make my legs work.

Kael shifts.

The sound of it, bones resetting, the low grunt of pain he doesn't quite suppress, makes me squeeze my eyes shut for a second. Then he's standing there in human form, breathing hard, eyes still burning gold. Blood runs from a cut across his shoulder.

"What the hell were you doing out here?" Not a question. A statement. His voice is low. Quiet. More terrifying than a shout.

"I felt you." My voice comes out smaller than I want it to. "Through the bond. I thought—"

"You can't shift." He cuts me off. "Coming out here was reckless." I push myself off the ground. My knees sting. My palms are scraped raw.

"I know," I say quietly. "Then act like it." I swallow the response building in my throat. Because he's right. And we both know it.

Kael's jaw works for a moment. Like he's choosing his next words carefully. "They weren't here for the pack," he says. "Their trail led straight to the east wing. Your room."

The air leaves my lungs.

"Why would anyone?"

"I don't know yet." His eyes hold mine. "But someone sent them. And someone told them exactly where to find you." The words land slowly. Horribly. I just got here. I don't know anyone. Nobody knows me. Why me? The question surfaces before I can stop it. Then another one right behind it. What did I walk into?

I came here for a fresh start. A new life. I walked through those gates six hours ago, and already there are wolves in the forest with my room number.

Am I being hunted? Already? Before I even know the layout of this house?

The forest suddenly feels very small. Very close. "We need to go." Kael grabs my arm. "Now." He pulls me forward, and I stumble after him. My mind won't slow down. Someone inside this mansion knew which wing I was in. Knew which window faced the forest.

Someone told them.

We cross the garden and reach the back entrance. Kael pushes through the door and pulls me into the light of the hallway. Guards rush past. Voices overlap. The whole mansion is awake and moving.

I stop walking.

Kael turns. "What?" I stare down the hallway. At the wolves rushing past. At the faces I don't recognize. At the doors I haven't opened yet. One of these people knew my room number before I did.

I arrived tonight. My room was assigned when we pulled through the gates. Almost nobody knew where I'd been placed. Almost nobody. My eyes move slowly to the staircase at the end of the hall.

To the figure standing at the top of it. Still, watching. A small smile on his face that doesn't belong there. Not at this hour. Not with everything happening. Like he already knew how tonight would end. Like he planned it. And he's looking directly at me.