CHAPTER SIX

Pain doesn’t come gently.

It crashes.

Burns.

Consumes.

My hands clamp over my throat as warm blood spills through my fingers, thick and unstoppable. My knees hit the floor, vision shaking violently as the world tilts.

No… no, no, no

I try to scream, but nothing comes out. Just a broken, choking sound.

Footsteps echo.

Slow.

Unhurried.

Like he has all the time in the world.

“Miss me?” the voice repeats, deeper this time, laced with something twisted… something pleased.

My eyes struggle to focus.

A figure stands in the doorway.

Tall.

Broad.

Dressed in black.

A mask covers his face, hiding everything except his eyes.

Dark.

Empty.

Watching me like I’m something he owns.

Fear slams into me harder than the pain.

Him.

It’s him.

My body trembles violently as I try to crawl back, my heels dragging uselessly against the floor. My breath comes out in wet, broken gasps.

He steps inside.

Closes the door.

The sound echoes like a death sentence.

“You should have listened,” he murmurs, tilting his head slightly. “I warned you, Adriana.”

My name.

The way he says it…

Like he’s tasted it a thousand times.

Tears blur my vision as I shake my head weakly, trying to push myself further away.

He sighs.

Disappointed.

“I don’t like repeating myself,” he continues, crouching down in front of me. “It makes me feel… ignored.”

His gloved hand reaches out.

I flinch.

Too slow.

His fingers wrap around my wrist, pulling my blood covered hand away from my throat.

A sharp, pained sound escapes me.

He studies the wound.

Almost… gently.

Then his grip tightens.

“Look what they’ve turned you into,” he whispers. “Bleeding. Weak. Scared.” His head tilts again. “That’s not you.”

My vision flickers.

Darkness creeping in.

I’m losing too much blood.

He notices.

Of course he does.

A low chuckle slips past his lips. “Not yet,” he mutters. “You don’t get to die yet.”

His hand moves to my neck.

For a split second, panic explodes through me

But instead of hurting me…

Warmth spreads.

A strange, unnatural warmth that seeps into my skin.

The bleeding slows.

Stops.

My breath catches.

What…?

My eyes snap up to him, confusion cutting through the fear.

He chuckles again, softer this time.

“There you are,” he says. “Those eyes. That fire. I missed that.”

My heart stutters.

Who… are you?

The question forms in my mind, but my voice refuses to work.

He leans closer.

Too close.

His masked face inches from mine.

“You really don’t remember me?” he whispers.

A chill crawls down my spine.

No…

No, I don’t.

But something about him

Something feels wrong.

Familiar.

Like a shadow I’ve seen before but never turned to face.

His hand moves to my cheek, brushing away a tear with eerie tenderness.

“They don’t deserve you,” he murmurs. “Those Alphas… they’ll only ruin you.”

My chest tightens.

Tyler.

Ryler.

His grip suddenly hardens, fingers digging into my jaw as his voice darkens.

“And I won’t let that happen.”

A low growl rumbles in the distance.

Faint.

But there.

His head snaps toward the door.

Then back to me.

A slow smile creeps into his voice.

“They’re coming,” he says, almost amused.

Panic floods me again.

He stands, stepping back.

“No,” I try to say, but it comes out as a broken whisper.

I don’t know why I’m saying it.

Why I don’t want him to disappear like this.

But before I can even understand it

He moves.

Fast.

Too fast.

By the time the door bursts open

He’s gone.

Like he was never there.

“ADRIANA!”

Tyler’s voice tears through the room as he rushes in, Ryler right behind him.

Their eyes land on me.

On the blood.

On the floor.

And something inside them snaps.

Tyler is at my side in seconds, hands hovering over me, not knowing where to touch without hurting me.

“Who did this?” he growls, voice shaking with fury.

Ryler’s eyes glow violently red, scanning the room like a predator ready to tear it apart.

“The scent…” he mutters, jaw tightening. “It’s him.”

Tyler freezes.

Slowly, dangerously, his head turns toward Ryler.

“Him?” he repeats.

Ryler nods once.

Grim.

Certain.

My heart pounds wildly in my chest.

They know.

Or at least… they suspect.

Tyler looks back at me, his expression dark, deadly, and something else

Fear.

Real fear.

“Adriana,” he says, voice low, controlled. “What happened?”

My lips part.

My throat burns.

And for the first time since this nightmare began…

I realize something far worse than the attack itself.

This isn’t random.

This isn’t just a stalker.

This is someone who knows me.

Someone who’s been close.

Watching, waiting

And now…

He’s inside our world.

The realization strikes me more forcefully than the pain.

A cold, nauseating weight settles in my stomach.

Because strangers do not know things like that.

Strangers do not say your name as though it were a prayer they have memorized.

Strangers do not look at you as if they are recalling fragments of a life you cannot remember.

My hands begin to tremble.

Tyler notices at once.

"Adriana."

I blink, forcing myself back into the room.

Back into reality.

Back to Tyler kneeling beside me and Ryler standing guard near the door.

Their concern should make me feel safe.

Instead, my pulse only quickens.

Because the masked man was not afraid of them.

Not in the slightest.

He knew they were coming.

He heard them.

He smelled them.

And still he remained.

Still he stood over me and spoke as though he had all the time in the world.

As though he knew exactly how this would end.

"What did he say?" Tyler asks quietly.

The fury in his eyes is still there, burning beneath the surface, but he is trying to keep his voice calm.

For me.

I swallow hard.

The memory of the stranger's voice sends another chill through me.

"He..." My throat tightens. "He said you don't deserve me."

The temperature in the room seems to drop instantly.

Tyler's expression darkens.

Ryler goes completely still.

Dangerously still.

"What else?" Ryler asks.

I hesitate.

For some reason, repeating the words feels wrong.

As if speaking them aloud will somehow make them more real.

"He said he'd warned me."

Tyler and Ryler exchange another glance.

This one lasts longer.

Much longer.

And suddenly I know.

They know something.

Maybe not everything.

But enough.

"Tell me what's going on," I whisper.

Neither of them answers.

The silence stretches.

My frustration builds.

"Stop doing that."

Tyler's eyes return to mine.

"Doing what?"

"Looking at each other like I'm not in the room."

A flicker of guilt crosses his face.

For the first time since I've known him, he actually looks uncertain.

"We're trying to figure something out," he admits.

"What?"

Ryler's jaw tightens.

"The identity of the person who attacked you."

My laugh comes out weak and humorless.

"That doesn't sound like figuring something out. That sounds like guessing."

Neither of them denies it.

And that terrifies me more than any answer could.

Because Tyler always has answers.

Ryler always has answers.

They're Alphas.

Leaders.

Protectors.

Yet standing here now, they look like men chasing a ghost.

A sudden gust of wind rattles the window.

Everyone turns.

The curtains sway slightly.

Nothing else.

Just darkness beyond the glass.

Endless darkness.

Still...

I cannot shake the feeling that someone is watching.

The same feeling I've had for weeks.

Eyes following me through crowded hallways.

A presence lingering just beyond sight.

Waiting.

Observing.

Learning.

My heart pounds.

Because suddenly I remember something.

A memory.

Small.

Almost insignificant.

A glimpse of a dark figure standing at the edge of the forest three weeks ago.

I had dismissed it.

Told myself it was my imagination.

Then another sighting outside the library.

And another near the training grounds.

Always distant.

Always watching.

Never approaching.

Until tonight.

Until now.

"He was following me," I whisper.

Tyler stiffens.

"What?"

I look up at him.

Fear coils through my chest.

"I've seen him before."

The words hang in the air.

Heavy.

Dangerous.

Ryler takes a step forward.

"When?"

I close my eyes, trying to remember.

"The forest."

Another breath.

"The library."

Another.

"The training grounds."

Tyler's expression gradually hardens.

Not with anger.

With realization.

As though pieces of a puzzle are finally beginning to align.

And judging by the look on his face...

He does not like the picture they are forming.

Not one bit.

Outside, somewhere in the distance, a wolf howls.

Long.

Low.

Haunting.

The sound sends shivers racing down my spine.

Because for the first time since this nightmare began, one thought becomes impossible to ignore.

The masked man was not trying to kill me.

He was trying to remind me of something.

And whatever I have forgotten...

It may be far more dangerous than remembering.