Chapter 6 : Denial & Danger

My phone kept buzzing like it was trying to save me.

Cassie’s name glowed on the screen, the photo of us mid-laugh at some festival - me holding fries, her holding regret.

“Cass,” I said, flipping it open like the world wasn’t currently falling apart around me.

“Girl, where are you? Everyone’s posting pictures, and it looks like I partied alone with my mom!”

“Sorry,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “Got… sidetracked.”

“Sidetracked by what? Please tell me it’s a hot guy, because you promised me a rebound summer.”

“Something like that.” I swallowed. “Hey, can I call you back in ten minutes?”

There was a pause. “Uh, sure. Are you okay?”

“Totally,” I lied. “Just a tiny situation. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Okay. But if I don’t hear from you in ten minutes, I’m calling the cops. Or worse, my mom.”

“Terrifying,” I said with a shaky laugh and ended the call.

The street was quiet - too quiet. I adjusted my bag and walked fast. I could feel them behind me.

Kieran’s voice came low, measured. “Clara. We didn’t come to hurt you.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” I shot over my shoulder. “Most kidnappers say that right before the chloroform.”

No footsteps hurried. No raised voices. Just the soft pad of expensive shoes keeping distance - like predators shadowing a skittish doe.

“Why are you following me?”

“Because you’re not safe,” the blond - Damon - said. His tone was calm, but there was a strain in it, like holding back too much. “There are others who’ll come looking once they know you’re alive.”

I snorted. “Oh, sure. I’m real high value. Broke, uninsured, and living off caffeine and trauma.”

Kieran’s voice came again. “You don’t know what you are.”

“Correction,” I said, spinning around. “I don’t care what you think I am. You want a DNA test? Cool. Mail it in. Otherwise, back the hell off.”

The scarred one - Rowan - stepped forward. “You feel it, don’t you? That pull in your chest, the way your instincts are louder lately-”

“Stop talking like you’re narrating my mental breakdown.”

“Clara,” Kieran said, softer this time. “You can keep denying it, but you know the truth. You felt it when we said your name.”

That did it. I turned and walked fast - almost running. Their scents followed like ghosts. My heartbeat drummed too hard, my wolf pushing against my ribs like let me out, let me out.

Not now.

Not ever.

By the time my apartment building came into view, I was sprinting. I fumbled my keys, cursed, and shoved the door open, slamming it behind me.

For a second, I just stood there - chest heaving, palms sweaty, every instinct screaming that they were still out there.

I pressed my ear to the wood. Silence.

Then I heard soft footsteps.

I bit my lip. “I said fuck off!”

A pause. Then Kieran’s voice, quiet, too calm.

“All right. But we’ll be nearby. Whether you believe us or not, you’re not alone anymore.”

I let out a bitter laugh that cracked halfway. “Yeah? Tell that to the part of me that wants to crawl out of her own skin.”

Silence again. Then nothing.

I checked the peephole. Empty hallway.

They were gone. But it didn’t feel like victory. It felt like a trap I’d stepped into without realizing. And somewhere under my skin, my wolf whispered again :

"They didn’t let you go. They’re just waiting."

And me? I screamed into the nearest pillow. Loud. Twice. Maybe three times. Until my throat hurt and my brain stopped short-circuiting.

Then, naturally, I did what every emotionally stable woman does after being stalked by four über-hot strangers claiming to be her long-lost brothers - I called my best friend.

Cass picked up on the first ring. “Ten minutes, my ass. I was this close to calling the cops-”

“Cass,” I said, voice muffled by the pillow. “If I tell you what just happened, you’re gonna think I finally lost it.”

“Sweetheart,” she said, her tone instantly shifting. “Start from the top. And don’t you dare leave out the hot guy details.”

“Oh, there’s four of them,” I muttered. “And they all think I’m their baby sister.”

There was a pause. “Okay, so… either this is a fever dream, or you just stumbled into a very weird telenovela.”

“Yeah,” I groaned. “And apparently, I’m the season finale.”

Cass laughed softly, trying to lighten the mood. “Maybe you just need food and sleep, babe. You’re overworked.”

“Maybe,” I said, staring out the window where I swore I saw movement. “But my gut says otherwise.”

“Are you ok?”

“Barely,” I said. “And I need alcohol. Like, immediately.”

“Now that’s the voice of a woman who just made a life-altering mistake,” she said. “Where?”

“The Rusty Howl?” I suggested. “Cheap beer, bad lighting, decent fries.”

“Done. Meet you there in fifteen. Don’t chicken out.”

“Please. I’m way past chickening out. I’m onto the ‘let’s ruin my liver’ stage of coping.”

I hung up, grabbed my bag, and took one last glance out the window. I could’ve sworn I saw a shadow move at the corner.

My wolf stirred again. "They’re still out there."

“Then they can watch me drink,” I muttered, grabbing my keys.

If the universe was going to throw family drama, fangs, and billionaires at me, it could at least let me face it with tequila.

I locked up and stepped into the city again.