THE SILENT STALKER

Elaris’s POV

I stepped back from the shattered pane, holding the razor-sharp metal poker of the fireplace in both hands.

Every muscle screamed in protest at the movement.

All my muscles were aching after the long trek in the rain, and my wolf was in no shape due to the ordeal that I was put through.

But fear made me summon the last vestiges of strength.

Neryss was standing next to me, holding tightly to the little knife that she had brought with her from the table.

“Don’t move any closer,” I hissed into the darkness.

Something moved near the cabin.

A branch was bending.

And another one.

It was too deliberate for any common beast.

Neryss looked at me.

“Elaris…”

“I know.”

There was someone watching us.

The baby sensed it, and a warmth emanated from my palm.

I lowered my eyes.

“Stay with me,” I whispered.

Then a growl sounded again.

Only much nearer.

A deep growl of warning emerged from behind the bushes next to the window of my bedroom.

I snarled in response.

I froze.

The growl did not belong to one of the regular pack wolves that frequented the edge of the forest.

This beast smelled off.

Feral.

Unclean.

Cloying with the smell of blood and of past fights.

Neryss walked towards the wall.

“Rogue.”

I nodded.

“Why is it so close to the village?”

“That is not the question.”

She stared at me.

“What then?”

“Who let it in?”

The growling grew louder.

My grip on the poker tightened.

Averic’s warning rang through my head.

When you hear three knocks after I leave, do not open the door.

Averic had known something was wrong.

Maybe he knew more than he had told me.

There was a screech under the window.

Then silence.

Too much silence.

An answer came to me.

Caedmon.

He had already made a threat about making me disappear.

And now I was beyond Averic’s domain, apart from the palace, vulnerable, and carrying a child who could be the difference between everything.

It was the perfect chance.

“He sent them,” I hissed.

Neryss frowned.

“Who?”

“Caedmon.”

She looked at me in disbelief.

“Aren’t you sure?”

“He wanted me to disappear before I cleared my name. Now he knows Averic has cast me out publicly.”

I looked over to the dense woods.

“I’m vulnerable.”

Her face grew hard.

“Then we will make sure they will have regrets about finding us.”

A sudden cracking sound distracted her.

The wooden frame of the window shook.

I grabbed the poker.

“Neryss, stand behind me.”

“You are carrying the child.”

“So do you have a knife.”

She almost smiled.

“That is quite fair.”

Another growl sounded.

And then the glass burst inside.

Shards of the glass flew across the room.

A huge gray rogue wolf jumped through the broken window frame.

Its jaw opened widely.

Its yellow teeth glinted in the firelight.

I could hardly react.

I tried to dodge but fell sideways.

The wolf hit the cot and broke off its wooden leg.

Neryss shrieked and slashed with her knife.

The rogue snapped at her.

“Run!”

She moved back.

I raised the poker.

The wolf faced me.

It fixed me with its gaze.

For an endless second, it seemed that time slowed.

The smell of its breath.

Blood.

Decay.

A certain bitterness.

The same bitterness I had smelled in Maevra’s potions.

Then it lunged.

I moved to avoid the beast’s snapping jaws and shoved the iron poker through its shoulder with all my might.

The metal pierced flesh.

The rogue roared.

It’s body flailed.

With such violence that it was about to pull the poker from my hand.

I stumbled backwards and leaned on the wall.

“Elaris!”

The beast regained its balance more quickly than I had expected.

It turned towards me.

I aimed the poker at it.

But my energy was waning.

My knees weakened.

The beast crouched.

Prepared to leap.

I knew I did not have the energy to withstand a direct hit again.

Then the beast jumped toward me.

Before I could move away from it fully, it clawed my sleeve.

Fabric shredded.

Pain shot through my forearm.

Three scratches appeared underneath the torn sleeve.

I screamed and fell against the edge of the table.

The beast landed with a thud.

Blood ran down my arm.

For an instant, I feared it might lunge for my stomach.

Both my hands reached out to protect my stomach.

"No."

The wolf snarled.

The wolf within me responded to its threat.

Weak.

Hungry.

Angry.

A faint glow of my silver blood pulsed beneath my skin.

The rogue paused.

Its ears went back flat against its head.

It looked at my stomach.

Not at my face.

Not at my wounded arm.

At my child.

Chills raced up my spine.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

The rogue snarled once more.

Then it charged.

A shadow leapt through the broken window frame with deadly speed.

Before the rogue could sink its teeth into me, it was thrown aside by the new arrival.

There was a clash of bodies on the floor.

The newcomer moved with precise technique.

It was not frenzied.

It was not frantic.

It was calculated.

It dodged the rogue's attacks and moved with ruthless efficiency.

The rogue crashed into the stone hearth.

I stumbled backwards.

Neryss hurried to my side.

"Who is that?"

I stared.

The stranger was all in black.

No pack symbol.

No weapon.

Just a mask covering half of its face.

But I knew the gesture.

Averic’s shadow guards.

One of them had trailed us here.

The shadow guard grabbed the rogue by the throat and smashed it into the stonework of the hearth.

The force of the impact cracked the old masonry.

The rogue struggled.

The guard wasted no time.

With one fluid motion.

A disturbing snap.

The rogue went still.

Silence filled the small cabin.

The guard dropped the body.

Then he approached me.

He was breathing evenly.

His gaze darted immediately to my wounded arm.

“Lady Elaris.”

I held the poker more tightly.

“Stay where you are.”

He halted.

“I am to protect you.”

“Under orders from Averic?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Before he arrived here at the cottage.”

That surprised me.

“So he knew an attack could happen?”

The guard paused.

“He only suspected as much.”

“Why didn’t he warn me?”

“I do not know.”

But his response seemed genuine.

For some reason that scared me even more.

“Lady Elaris, are you hurt?”

The shadow guard knelt down.

His focus was on my wounded arm.

“Just scratches.”

Neryss shot him a doubtful glance.

“Those claws were going to rip her arm open.”

“I am able to walk,” I said.

The guard glanced at my abdomen.

"Is the child safe?"

"Yes."

He let out a soft sigh.

"Then we have to go."

I looked at him.

"Where?"

"Anywhere but here."

Neryss looked toward the shattered window.

"How many are there?"

"I don't know."

The guard stood up.

His expression changed.

"That's the problem."

I frowned.

"What do you mean?"

He looked at the dead rogue.

"This beast wasn't alone."

My heart sank.

I felt for my bleeding arm and touched my abdomen again.

The warmth was still there.

My baby was safe.

That was all that mattered.

But there was one more thing I noticed.

The rogue stared straight at my stomach when he attacked me.

"It knew."

The guard turned toward me.

"What?"

"It wasn't attacking randomly."

I pointed to the body.

"It looked at my abdomen."

Neryss turned pale.

The shadow guard crouched down next to the dead beast.

He inspected the animal's collar, then he started feeling under the thick fur.

His expression darkened.

"There is something here."

He extracted a leather bag.

It was fastened with black cord.

He untied it.

Coins rolled into his hand.

Then he stopped.

I approached him.

"What is that?"

He shook the bag.

The leather was stamped with a crest.

A crest I instantly recognized.

Caedmon’s.

The guard showed the bag in the light of the fire.

"This is Caedmon's seal."

Neryss cursed softly.

I was staring at the symbol.

That accusation became even more serious now.

Caedmon didn’t only want to discredit me.

He wanted me dead.

Something wasn’t right about the bag.

"Hold on."

The guard looked at me.

"Why?"

I gestured at the sewing.

"That is not the usual crest of Caedmon."

The guard observed it.

I recalled the seal from Caedmon’s official letters.

Wolf’s head used to be enclosed with three thin lines.

There were only two.

The guard became doubtful.

"So what?"

"It could be fake."

Neryss came closer.

"If that was the case, someone wanted us to think Caedmon hired them."

Silence descended on the room.

I stared at the pouch.

Virelle.

Suddenly, the name sprang to mind.

She had access to Caedmon.

She certainly had plenty of motive for killing me.

But I couldn't prove that just yet.

Then the guard found something else.

Something that was hidden among the coins—a piece of parchment, folded.

He unfolded it.

His face grew hard.

"Lady Elaris..."

"What does it say?"

He pointed toward the broken window.

"Nothing."

"Read it to me!"

He handed it over to me.

It contained only one line.

"The mother must not see the next moon."

I barely finished reading when a piercing whistle broke the silence of the night.

The shadow guard raised his eyes.

"Down!"

An arrow of flame pierced the roof.

Cottage roof caught fire.

Another arrow followed.

Then another one.

Flames were spreading rapidly along the wooden beams of the roof.

Neryss grabbed my arm.

"We need to leave!"

Smoke started filling the room.

I covered my mouth and hugged my stomach.

The shadow guard kicked the door wide open.

"Hurry!"

We ran toward the door.

Another arrow attack followed soon after.

Roof burned over our heads.

Outside there were several shapes moving between the trees.

No rogues.

Men.

Armed men.

The shadow guard unsheathed his sword.

“Six, at least.”

Neryss stared into the forest.

“Can we outrun them?”

“No.”

I looked at the burning cottage.

Then I looked at the men standing by the pines.

My gaze settled on the dead rogue.

The false crest.

The message.

The attack.

Someone wanted me dead.

However, someone wanted us to believe that Caedmon ordered it.

Then it struck me what the most horrifying thing was.

The attackers did not come to kill me right away.

They came to take me somewhere.

To the forest.

To those men.

If they planned such an attack then they must have known what I carried inside.

Not only was my child a secret but he was the very target now.