Chapter 4: The Shadow Fangs

Zander's POV

The rain’s still clinging to the streets like it’s got unfinished business, but I’m not paying attention to the weather anymore.

Not when the storm in my chest is ten times louder than the one outside.

I press harder on the gas, my knuckles white on the steering wheel. The rest of the drive after I dropped her off was a blur. Aurora. Of all people.

I’ve been on edge ever since I caught her scent today. And now, it’s like it’s burned into my memory—sweet, like vanilla and something floral, like jasmine maybe. It didn’t just catch me off guard. It nearly brought me to my knees.

But why? I’m the Alpha of the Eclipse pack. I don’t freeze. I don’t flinch. I don’t stutter. I command.

And yet somehow, Aurora Hayes—awkward, quiet, human Aurora—just by sitting next to me in the passenger seat of my car, made me forget how to breathe.

“What the hell is happening to me?”

The words are out before I realize I’m talking to myself. I should be at the pack house by now, but I detour into the woods instead, needing the quiet. Needing to think.

I haven’t told anyone yet. Not even Xavier. He’d pick up on it instantly if I let my guard down for even a second, and once the rest of the guys know.. it’s game over.

There’s no hiding something like this from a pack—especially when you’re the Alpha is howling about possibly claiming someone who isn’t even part of the pack.

I shift the car into park and stare out at the trees, thick and wet and shadowed. The pack is probably waiting, but they’ll manage. I’ve trained them too.

Xavier, my Beta. Calculated, ruthless when he has to be, and always five steps ahead. He’s been my second since we were kids.

Ben, my Gamma—steadier than stone, the kind of guy who can throw a punch and quote Shakespeare in the same breath.

Derek and Trent—our frontline warriors. Loud, loyal, and lethal.

And then there’s me Zander Blake. The bad boy of Ridgewood High. Alpha of the Eclipse pack.

The guy with a reputation for breaking noses, rules, and hearts—not for giving rides home to girls he’s spent years terrorizing.

There’s a lot more of us in the pack but they are mated wolves and warriors mostly. Then you have your omegas and there’s even a few pups running around.

Then I hear my wolf Zee yapping in my head. “ I can’t wait to mark mate, taste mate, and place a pup inside of her.”

“Slow your roll Zee we are not even sure if she’s our mate or not and we are not going to scare her for one. For two, if she is our mate we can’t just jump on her.

She won’t understand it because she’s human and we are not. Plus she isn’t even sixteen yet. She won’t be till next weekend.”

I just hear him grunt in response and I’m thankful for that because I don’t have the energy to argue with him today.

But that’s the thing no one knows why I ever started targeting Aurora in the first place.

It wasn’t because she was weak. It wasn’t because she was annoying or pathetic or anything like that.

It was because the moment I noticed her, my wolf stirred.

Even back in middle school, when my shift was still years away, I could feel it. That pull. That flicker in my chest when she walked by. And it terrified me.

Because Aurora wasn’t a shifter. She wasn’t part of the pack. She wasn’t even supposed to matter.

So I did what every scared, angry, half-grown Alpha-in-training does when the world throws him a curveball: I lashed out.

I shoved. I mocked. I turned her into a target before she could ever get close enough to figure out what I was hiding.

And it worked—at least for a while. Until today.

Today, when I saw her alone in the rain.

Today, when I caught her scent and my wolf nearly broke through the surface to reach her it startled me when he said Mate.

That word. That damn word. My wolf has been chanting it in my head since I walked her to my car. I didn’t even realize what I was doing until she was in the passenger seat, looking at me with those wide, confused eyes.

And when she asked me if it was a prank? Something in me cracked.

“No,” I’d said. “Just… I don't want you getting hurt.”

Which is the truth. Maybe the first real thing I’ve ever said to her.

Because if she is what I think she is, if the Moon Goddess really did bind me to a human girl who barely knows what I am then everything changes. The pack. The Shadow Fangs. Me.

“Zander.”

I jerk at the voice behind me and turn. Xavier’s standing a few yards back, arms crossed, rain still dripping from his jacket.

“You weren’t answering your phone,” he says simply. “The others are at the pack house.”

I nod but say nothing. Xavier, being Xavier, takes two steps closer and squints at me.

“You okay?”

“Peachy.”

“Don’t lie. Your scent’s all over the place.”

I exhale, irritated. Of course he noticed.

“What’s going on?” he asks, tone quiet but firm. “Is this about Aurora?”

I whip around to face him. “Why would it be about her?”

Xavier lifts a brow. “You’ve been acting weird all day. The second you caught her in your eyesight, you were different, not as mean as you usually are to her.”

It’s not a question. It’s a statement. The kind that leaves no room for bullshit. But I’m not 100% sure if it’s even right so I keep it to myself.

I sigh and rub a hand over my face. “That’s bullshit and you know it. I don’t care about the nerd girl. You of all people should know that Xavier.”

Xavier is silent for a long moment. Then, slowly, he says, “I was just messing with you Alpha. I know you don’t like the nerd.”

“You got that right. She isn’t even my type man. You see all the other she wolves at my feet why would I be interested in her?”

“Not gonna lie, that’s probably 100% true.”

“Thanks for the headache,” I mutter.

I glare at him. He just smirks.

Back at the pack house, the rest of the crew is waiting.

Ben nods at me from where he’s leaning against the back wall, arms crossed. Derek and Trent are sparring shirtless on the mat in the center of the room, grunting with each blow.

Lilly’s perched on a stool in the corner beside Xavier’s desk, her gaze sharp as always. As Xavier’s mate, she knows more than she lets on—but she stays quiet for now.

The second I walk in, Trent pauses mid-swing and calls out, “Hey, boss! Heard you played chauffeur today.”

Derek snickers. “Did you offer her a rose too, or just a ride?”

I shoot them both a glare that makes Trent immediately shut up. Ben just watches me, unreadable.

I’m used to leading with force. With control. But right now, I feel like everything is slipping just out of my grip.

“I need you all to keep your mouths shut about what happened today,” I say finally.

Derek raises an eyebrow. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Ben asks.

Because she might be mine.

Because if word gets out, she’s not safe.

Because if anyone tries to hurt her, I’ll burn everything down.

But all I say is, “Because I said so. That’s enough.”

And for now, it is.

But I know tomorrow’s coming fast.

And Aurora.. She has no idea what kind of world she’s about to be pulled into.