Chapter 6

Crystal's POV

Warmth was the first thing I felt. Soft, safe, wrong.

My eyes snapped open and I sat up instantly, my body reacting before my mind caught up. My wolf surged forward in alarm, claws scraping against my control.

The room around me was unfamiliar, too clean, too quiet, too peaceful. I was not in the desert anymore, and that alone felt like a threat.

Panic flickered in my chest as I scanned every corner, every shadow. My senses stretched outward, searching for danger, for an exit, for anything familiar.

The door opened.

I tensed immediately, every muscle locking as if preparing for a fight.

He stepped inside, and the air shifted. For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

He was tall, towering, his presence filling the room before he even moved. Broad shoulders, a sharp jawline, and piercing golden eyes made him look less like a man and more like something built to dominate.

My gaze lingered a second too long, tracing the tension in his stance and the quiet strength in the way he held himself. His dark hair was slightly tousled, his expression controlled, but there was something deeper beneath it that pulled at me.

My wolf stirred, not in fear but in recognition.

Mine.

The word echoed again, softer this time, threading through me like something dangerous and inevitable. I swallowed hard, forcing my expression to harden as I tore my gaze away.

“You’re awake,” he said, his voice low and steady. It settled into the room, heavy and deliberate, like it belonged there.

I didn’t respond.

Instead, I shifted back slightly, putting distance between us even as my body betrayed me by noticing how close he was.

“Where am I?” I demanded, my voice sharper than I felt. My eyes flicked back to him, guarded but unable to fully look away.

“In my territory,” he replied simply. His gaze didn’t leave me, and I felt it like a touch I didn’t want.

“If you think bringing me here meant I owed you anything, you were wrong,” I said, lifting my chin. My pulse quickened when his eyes darkened slightly, like I had challenged something I didn’t understand.

“I didn’t bring you here for that,” he said calmly. His voice didn’t rise, but something in it tightened the space between us.

“Then why?” I pressed. I could feel the answer coming before he said it, and I hated that.

“Because you would have died out there,” he answered. His gaze sharpened, like he was daring me to deny it.

I froze, the truth hitting harder than I expected. My fingers curled slightly into the sheets as I forced myself to hold his stare.

“I didn’t need saving,” I muttered. The lie felt thin, and he heard it.

He didn’t argue, and that annoyed me more than anything. His silence pressed against me, controlled and knowing.

A soft knock broke the tension.

The door opened again before I could react.

A girl walked in, her presence lighter but still observant. Her eyes flicked between us, catching something unspoken in the air.

“This must be her,” she said gently. I stiffened, the words scraping against my already raw nerves.

“I had a name,” I replied coldly. My voice cut through the room, but it didn’t shake her.

“I’m Stella,” she said, her lips curving slightly. “Kenneth’s sister.”

Something in her tone made me pause. There was no edge, no hidden cruelty, and that alone made me suspicious.

“Crystal,” I said after a moment. My voice was quieter now, but no less guarded.

“It was good to see you awake,” she said. The words landed strangely, like something I didn’t know how to hold.

I didn’t answer.

No one had said something like that to me in a long time.

“You were unconscious for a while,” she continued. Her gaze softened just enough to feel real.

“I healed fast,” I said quickly. I needed control over something, anything.

“I noticed,” she replied. Her tone was calm, but I could feel Kenneth watching me more closely now.

He hadn’t moved, but his presence felt closer somehow, like the space between us had shrunk without permission.

“I’ll be leaving,” I said suddenly, swinging my legs off the bed. The moment my feet touched the ground, pain shot through me.

My vision blurred, and my body betrayed me. I stumbled forward before I could stop myself.

A hand caught my arm. Warm, firm, steady. My breath hitched for a split second at the contact. The heat of his touch seeped through my skin, grounding and unsettling all at once.

I jerked away instantly. “Don’t touch me,” I snapped, more shaken than I wanted to admit.

Something flickered in his eyes. Not anger, something tighter, restrained.

“Then don’t fall,” he said calmly. His voice was closer now, lower, and it sent an unwanted shiver down my spine.

I steadied myself, refusing to look at him for too long. “I’m not staying here,” I said firmly, even as my body protested.

Stella stepped forward slightly. “No one is forcing you,” she said softly.

I blinked, thrown off. That wasn’t what I expected.

“But you weren’t strong enough to leave yet,” she added. The truth landed between us, heavy and undeniable.

My wolf shifted restlessly, frustrated but aware. She knew they were right, and that only made it worse.

“I didn’t trust you,” I said quietly. The admission felt sharper than any threat.

“You didn’t have to,” Kenneth said. His voice was steady, but his gaze held mine again, unyielding.

Silence stretched.

Thick, charged, impossible to ignore.

“But you were safe here,” he added. The word safe settled between us, unfamiliar and dangerous.

I studied him, searching for cracks, for lies, for anything I could use. Instead, I found control, patience, and something that felt like certainty.

“I’d stay,” I said finally. The decision felt heavier than it should.

“Until I was strong enough to leave.”

He nodded once. The movement was small, but it felt like an agreement sealed in something deeper than words.

“Fair enough,” he said.

Stella smiled faintly. “Then we’d make sure you got there.”

I didn’t return the smile.

But for the first time since I ran, I didn’t feel like I was being hunted, and that unsettled me more than anything.

And somehow, what unsettled me most was him.