Chapter 8 - The Threshold

ELOWEN

The shift had been a blur.

Dancing, smiling, pretending everything was normal while my mind stayed fixed on the walk home. Carmen had noticed something was off, but she hadn't pushed. Mina had made her usual comments about my chest, and I'd laughed in all the right places. The tech bros from the private party had tipped well, and I'd pocketed the cash without really seeing it.

After my shift, I'd stopped at the 24-hour grocery store a few blocks from the club. Eggs. Milk. Bread. Frozen meals for the nights I was too tired to cook. And steaks — two more, because the last ones had worked, and maybe if I kept feeding him he'd keep not eating me. I'd moved through the aisles on autopilot, paid without making eye contact, and tried not to think about how I'd have to carry it all home through the dark.

Now I was on the bus, grocery bags at my feet, watching the city lights thin out, and all I could think about was what waited for me in the dark.

It let you leave this morning. It'll let you come home.

Maybe. Or maybe it had been waiting for exactly this — for me to be tired, vulnerable, weighed down with groceries, alone on a dark road at 3 a.m. with nothing but a .22 and a prayer.

The bus groaned to a stop. Last stop. End of the line.

I gathered my bag and the groceries, felt the weight of the gun against my spine, and stepped out into the cold.

The road stretched ahead of me, familiar and strange all at once.

I'd walked this path hundreds of times. Knew every crack in the asphalt, every dip in the gravel shoulder, every tree that leaned a little too close to the road. But tonight the shadows seemed deeper. The silence seemed louder. And somewhere in the darkness, I knew he was watching.

He. When had I started thinking of it as he?

I started walking, grocery bags swinging against my legs with every step. My free hand found the gun at my back, fingers curling around the grip. I didn't draw it — not yet — but I wanted to know it was there.

The trees pressed close on either side, branches reaching across the road like skeletal fingers. The moon was a sliver tonight, barely enough light to see by. I kept my eyes forward, my pace steady, my breathing controlled.

Just a walk. You've done this a thousand times. Just a walk.

Behind me, I heard it.

A rustle in the undergrowth. A soft, heavy footfall. The crunch of leaves.

I didn't turn around. Didn't speed up. Just kept walking, heart pounding, grocery bags suddenly feeling like anchors.

Don't run. If you run, he'll chase.

The footsteps followed. Closer now. Matching my pace, staying the same distance behind me, just like this morning.

But something felt different tonight.

Not dangerous. Not threatening. Just... present. Like he was walking with me instead of stalking me.

I risked a glance over my shoulder.

He was there. Maybe twenty feet back, a massive shadow moving between the trees. Those golden eyes caught the faint moonlight, but they weren't fixed on me like a predator tracking prey. They were scanning the darkness. Watching the woods. Watching the road ahead and behind.

Like a guard dog on patrol.

I turned back around and kept walking.

The turnoff appeared in the moonlight — the old mailbox, the weathered post, the narrow lane leading to home.

I turned onto the gravel path, and behind me, the footsteps followed. Closer now. I could hear his breathing, deep and steady, could almost feel the heat of his massive body at my back.

My hands were shaking. From cold, I told myself. Just from cold.

The cabin appeared through the trees, porch light glowing like a beacon. I climbed the steps, set the grocery bags down, fumbled for my keys.

Behind me, silence.

I turned.

He was at the bottom of the steps. Not crouched to pounce. Not tensed to attack. Just... sitting there, looking up at me. His head was low, ears slightly back, tail wrapped around his paws.

If I didn't know better, I'd say he looked hopeful.

"You walked me home," I said. My voice came out strange — soft, wondering. "You weren't hunting me. You were... escorting me."

He didn't move. Just watched me with those impossible golden eyes.

I should go inside. Lock the door. Put as much distance between myself and this creature as possible. That was the smart thing. The safe thing.

Instead, I unlocked the door, pushed it open, and turned back to face him.

He hadn't moved. Still sitting at the bottom of the steps, still watching, still waiting.

"What do you want?" I asked. "You want to come in?"

His ears perked forward. His tail twitched — just once, a tiny movement that could have been a wag.

I stared at him. He stared at me.

"I must be losing my mind," I muttered.

I picked up the grocery bags and carried them inside, leaving the door open behind me.

The cabin felt different with the door open.

Colder, obviously — October air streaming in, making me shiver as I set the bags on the kitchen counter. But also more exposed. More vulnerable. Anyone — anything — could walk right in.

I unpacked the groceries on autopilot. Eggs in the fridge. Milk in the fridge. Bread on the counter. Frozen meals in the freezer.

The steaks sat on the counter, wrapped in their plastic and styrofoam.

I looked at the open door.

He was there. At the threshold, lying flat on his belly, his massive body stretched across the doorway. Not inside — not quite — but close. His chin rested on his front paws, and those golden eyes tracked my every movement.

Asking. He was asking to come in.

Something twisted in my chest. Fear, maybe. Or something stranger.

"Okay," I said quietly. "Okay, hold on."

I unwrapped one of the steaks, pulled a knife from the block, and cut it in half. The meat was cold, red, raw — probably not how you were supposed to serve it, but I had a feeling he wouldn't mind.

I walked to the doorway. Stopped a few feet from where he lay.

He didn't move. Didn't lunge. Didn't even lift his head. Just watched me with those patient, golden eyes.

I crouched down, held out one half of the steak.

"Here," I said. "I got these for you. At the store."

He stretched his neck forward — slowly, carefully — and took the meat from my hand. His teeth were enormous, could have taken my fingers off without effort, but he was gentle. Delicate. Like he was afraid of scaring me.

He ate it in two bites, then looked at me expectantly.

I almost laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. Hold on."

I gave him the second half. Same gentle acceptance, same careful bite. When it was gone, he licked his chops once, then settled his head back on his paws.

Still at the threshold. Still not inside.

"You're not coming in, are you?" I asked.

He blinked at me. Slowly, deliberately, like a cat showing trust.

"Okay." I stood up, brushed my hands on my jeans. "Okay. That's... okay."

I didn't close the door.

I don't know why. Maybe I was too tired to care about the cold. Maybe I wanted to see what he would do. Maybe I was just losing my goddamn mind, one day at a time.

I went through my routine — washing off the makeup, changing out of my work clothes, pulling on my sleep shirt. When I walked back through the living room, I glanced at the doorway.

He was gone.

I stopped, heart stuttering for a reason I couldn't name. Walked to the door, looked out.

He was there — at the edge of the clearing, settling into his usual spot. He'd gotten up and left the moment I'd gone to change. The moment he knew I was getting ready for bed.

He knew my routine. He knew when his time was up.

I stood in the doorway for a long moment, cold air prickling my bare legs, watching him watch me.

"Goodnight," I said quietly.

I closed the door.

I didn't lock it.

I don't know why. I'd locked that door religiously every night for two years. But tonight, my hand hovered over the deadbolt and then dropped to my side.

He'd walked me home. He'd asked permission. He'd respected the boundary. He'd left when it was time.

If he wanted to hurt me, he would have done it by now.

I went to my bedroom. Climbed into bed. And for the first time in a week, I fell asleep without a weapon in my hand.

And if I dreamed of golden eyes and dark fur and something that felt dangerously like safety, well.

That was nobody's business but my own.