CHAPTER 3: The Man With The Black Eyes

The morning light hurt my eyes. I stood by Miller's Creek, shaking like a leaf. Those silver eyes wouldn't leave me alone. They were burned into my brain like a brand.

I couldn't stop thinking about him. Regarding that smile which was not to be on any human face. Nor a Wolves face, for that matter

My clothes were soaked with dew. My whole body ached from running through the woods all night. But none of that compared to the pain in my chest. The fear. The question is eating me alive.

Who was he?

What am I?

A bird screamed overhead. I jumped, nearly falling into the creek. My hands shook as I stepped back from the water. Everything felt wrong. Heavy. As though I was choking from air.

My head spun with that voice I'd heard. The unrealistic change. The person that I would turn into. My wolf was in this case awake. Not awake only, but alive. I could feel it moving under my skin.

And I wasn't alone.

"You are not the only one," he'd said. "But you may be the last."

I stumbled back toward the trees, trying to find my way home. But the forest looked different in daylight. The trees weren't whispering anymore. They were just watching. Cold. Silent.

A stick cracked to my left.

I spun around, crouching low. Every muscle in my body screamed danger.

Then he stepped out from behind the trees.

Not the silver eyed man. This one was different.

His eyes were black. Not brown…black. As gazing in empty space. His jaw was sharp and tight. He wore a long black coat and muddy boots. A silver ring gleamed on his left hand. He looked like death walking.

And somehow, I knew he wasn't surprised to see me.

I backed away, my heart hammering against my ribs.

"I don't want any trouble," I said.

"Good." His voice was deep and calm. "Because you're already in it."

I frowned. "Who are you?"

He took a step closer. "That depends on who you are."

"You first."

He paused. "Kieran."

I didn't relax. "Are you one of them?"

"Define 'them.'"

"The people who sent that thing after me."

"No." His black eyes sharpened. "But I know what it was."

He moved closer. I was ready to run, but my legs were jelly-like. There was a voice in me crying-fight or flight. But I couldn't do either.

"Your shift," Kieran said, studying me. "It happened last night, didn't it?"

I kept mute.

"I saw the burn marks on the trees. Felt the energy pulse. You left a trace. That kind of power doesn't go unnoticed."

My throat felt dry. "Why are you following me?"

"I've been looking for you for a long time."

My heart dropped into my stomach.

"For what?" I whispered.

"To protect you."

I stared at him. Then I laughed, but it came out bitter and broken. "That's a new one. Everyone else wants to hunt me, kill me, or stick me in a lab."

"I'm not everyone else."

Something in his voice made me stop laughing. He wasn't lying. I could feel it. And that scared me more than if he had been.

"Why me?" I asked.

He didn't answer.

"Kieran." I stepped closer. "Why me?"

He let out a long breath. The tension in his eyes got deeper. "Because you're not like the others."

"That's the second time I've heard that," I muttered.

"You were never supposed to shift. By no means, without the moon, without activation. You weren't built for spontaneity. You were built for control."

"I'm not a machine."

"No." His voice got quieter. "You're worse. You're proof that the system failed."

I felt like he'd slapped me. "You talk like you know what I am."

"I do."

There was a silence between us like a rope that was going to break.

"Then tell me," I whispered.

Kieran studied my face for a long moment. As though he was determining whether I could take the truth or not, and whether he had a right to give it to me.

"You were part of something old," he said finally. "An experiment the Council buried. They wanted wolves they could command, not lead. Subjects who responded to systems, not instincts. You were their best attempt."

"No." I shook my head. "I'm not a…"

"I don't mean you're fake," he interrupted. "You're real. But you were designed. Your shift was suppressed for your own safety.

“The man I met last night–he called me little wolf. He said he was waiting for me."

Kieran's jaw clenched. "Then it's starting. Faster than we thought."

"What is it?"

He shook his head. "Not here. Not outside here. You're not safe, and neither is anyone near you."

"Liam." I turned toward home, panic flooding my chest. "He's still at the house!"

"If they know you shifted, he's already in danger."

"I have to go back."

"You can't."

"I can't leave him!"

Kieran grabbed my arm. Not rough, but firm. "You'll kill him by going back. You're being tracked, Kaia. Watched. Even now."

I stared at his hand on my skin. His touch sent electricity through me. Not rough, but firm and warm. Steady.

"I don't know you," I whispered.

"No," he agreed, his eyes burning into mine. "But I know you better than you think."

I pulled back, confused and breathless.

"Why do I feel like I've met you before?"

He didn't answer. His face was a mask.

"Were you part of the labs?" I asked.

Kieran looked away.

"I don't remember my past," I said. "But sometimes I hear screams. I see lights. Faces. Are they real?"

"Yes. They're real. And you'll remember more soon."

I felt dizzy. "This is too much."

"I know."

"And I don't know if I can trust you."

Kieran looked back at me. This time, his voice was softer.

"Then don't trust me," he said. "But come with me. I'll help you remember what they took from you. And I'll help you survive."

I hesitated. My lungs felt too tight. My wolf stirred beneath the surface, curious, watchful.

And for the first time, something in me leaned toward him.

Not away.

"Fine," I said. "But if you lie to me and I find out you're one of them…."

"I won't," he said, his voice solemn. "I swear it."

He nodded toward the woods. "Come on. We have to move before nightfall."

I followed, but I kept my guard up.

As we disappeared into the dark trees, I looked back toward my old life. The house. The sleepy eyed boy, Liam and hot chocolate.

I had never heard the word subject. All of it felt like a dream fading at dawn.

Now, I was walking beside a man with black eyes and secrets in his blood.

And I had a feeling he was just the beginning.