Chapter Seven — His Eyes in the Dark
I couldn’t breathe.
That eye was still there, staring through the crack in the wall. Watching me. Unmoving. Cold.
I wanted to scream. But the sound was stuck in my throat.
I pressed myself tighter against the wooden wall, trying to disappear into it. My fingers dug into the dirt floor, my heart beating so fast I thought it might burst.
Then, suddenly… the eye was gone.
Gone.
But not far.
I knew that.
The footsteps came next—slow, heavy steps moving toward the shed door. The boards creaked under his weight. He wasn’t in a hurry. He didn’t need to be.
He already knew I was here.
I scrambled up, backing into the corner like a frightened animal.
The door opened.
Not fast. Not loud. Just steady.
And then… he stepped inside.
The man from the shadows.
The alpha.
He was tall. Taller than anyone I had ever seen.
He filled the doorway like a storm, his shoulders broad, his hair dark and falling over his forehead. His clothes were plain, but they didn’t look poor. They looked dangerous. His black coat swayed as he stepped closer, and the night air seemed to follow him in.
His face was quiet. Hard. Not cruel exactly—but sharp. Unreadable. Like stone.
And his eyes… they were the same as the wolf’s.
Dark.
Piercing.
Too knowing.
I took a shaky breath. “W-who are you?”
He didn’t answer at first. His eyes moved over me slowly, carefully. Like he was studying me.
Judging.
Or… something else.
When he finally spoke, his voice was deep and low. Calm. Too calm.
“I could ask you the same.”
My fingers tightened around the edge of the cloak. “This is my house,” I said quietly. “I live here.”
He stepped closer. “I know.”
I frowned. “Then why—why are you here? What do you want from me?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked around the shed, then back at me. His gaze stopped at my scraped hands. At the tear in my dress. He looked like he wanted to speak, but held it back.
He didn’t move closer.
But I still felt like he was too close.
“Stay away from me,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “I’ll scream.”
He tilted his head slightly. “No one will hear you out here.”
A chill ran through me. He wasn’t lying. He didn’t say it like a threat. Just the truth.
That made it worse.
“What are you?” I asked, trying to keep my voice strong.
He took a step back then, giving me space.
His eyes didn’t leave mine.
“A hunter,” he said.
My heart skipped.
I thought of the stories—the ones whispered by servants and villagers.
Wolves in the forest.
Men who weren’t fully men.
Monsters who could walk like shadows.
“You’re… one of them, aren’t you?” I said.
He didn’t nod. He didn’t deny it.
Just watched me.
I saw something flicker behind his eyes. Something almost… soft.
But it vanished quickly.
“You’ve been watching me,” I said.
Again, he said nothing.
“Why?” I pushed. “What do you want from me?”
He stepped back toward the door. “You should come with me.”
My chest tightened. “No.”
“You’re not safe here,” he said.
I shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“You should.”
“Why should I trust you?” I snapped, my voice rising. “You hide in the dark. You follow me. You break into my home. You think I’d trust someone like that?”
Something flashed in his eyes then. Pain? Anger?
No. Something deeper.
But again, it disappeared too quickly to name.
“I could have taken you any night,” he said quietly. “But I didn’t.”
I swallowed hard.
He was right.
He’d been close. Closer than anyone should have been.
And yet… I was still here.
Still breathing.
Still untouched.
But that didn’t mean he was kind.
It just meant he was waiting for the right moment.
And maybe this was it.
“Why me?” I whispered.
He looked at me for a long time before speaking.
“There are things you don’t know. About your father. About the elders.”
My blood turned cold. “You don’t know anything about my father.”
“I know enough.”
My jaw clenched. “He may be strict, but he’s not—”
“He’s a tyrant,” the man said flatly. “He crushes people under his rule. He hides behind power and calls it tradition.”
My fists balled at my sides. “You don’t get to come here and insult him.”
“I’m not here to insult,” he said, eyes narrowing slightly. “I’m here to stop what’s coming.”
I stared at him, confused.
“What’s coming?”
His lips pressed together, like he was holding something back.
Then he said softly, “A storm.”
I didn’t understand what he meant. I didn’t want to understand.
This man—this stranger—he was trouble.
Danger.
And yet… something inside me stirred.
Not trust. Not even fear.
But curiosity.
Why me?
Why not someone else?
Why now?
“You’re lying,” I whispered. “You want revenge. That’s why you’re here. You’re one of the angry ones from the woods. You want to hurt the council. And you’re using me to do it.”
He said nothing.
But his jaw tightened.
That was enough answer.
I took a step toward him, anger growing in my chest.
“I’m not a piece in your game. I’m not a message to my father. I’m not going with you.”
He looked at me for a long time. His eyes weren’t cold now.
Just tired.
“You will,” he said finally.
“No, I won’t.”
He moved closer again.
And I didn’t back away this time.
His voice dropped lower. “Because it’s already too late.”
My heart thudded. “What do you mean?”
He reached into his coat and pulled out a folded piece of cloth. He tossed it to the floor at my feet.
I stared at it.
I bent down slowly and picked it up.
It was my father’s seal.
Burned.
Torn.
“Where did you get this?” I whispered.
But he was already turning away.
Walking out the door.
I ran after him.
“Wait! Tell me what you did!”
He stopped just outside.
Turned halfway toward me.
“I didn’t do anything.”
Then his voice dropped so low, I barely heard it.
“But others will.”
And then, before I could speak again—
A howl tore through the night.
Close.
Too close.
I looked past him, toward the trees.
Figures.
More shadows.
More like him.
Surrounding the house.
And I knew…
I wasn’t going back inside.
I stood frozen.
The tall figures moved slowly through the trees. They didn’t rush, and that made it worse. The way they walked — calm, quiet, like they had all the time in the world — made my chest tighten. I counted four of them. Maybe five. Their faces were hidden by cloaks, but I could feel their eyes on me.
My legs trembled.
I wanted to run, but where to? The forest behind me was thick and dark, and they were already blocking the only clear path. My heart beat so loudly I thought they could hear it. I stepped back. One step. Two. A twig snapped under my foot, and the sound echoed too loudly in the silence.
They didn’t speak. They just kept walking forward.
I turned and ran.
Branches scratched my arms. My dress got caught, and I yanked it free. I didn’t know where I was going — I just ran. My breath came out fast, my chest hurting with each step. All I could hear was the sound of my feet and the wind through the leaves.
But then... I heard them behind me.
Not footsteps exactly. Just... movement. Soft. Controlled. Like they were walking, not running, yet still catching up to me.
I looked back.
That was a mistake.
One of them was closer. Much closer. He wasn’t even out of breath.
“No,” I whispered. “Stay away from me...”
I tried to run faster, but my foot hit a rock, and I stumbled forward, falling hard onto the ground. Pain shot through my ankle. I tried to stand, but it twisted under me.
Leaves rustled behind me.
They were here.
I turned over quickly, dragging myself backward on the ground, my hands scraping against stones and dirt. I stared up as the first figure stepped into the moonlight.
He was tall. Taller than any man I had seen before. His cloak shifted, and for a second, I saw part of his face. Sharp jaw. Cold eyes. No emotion. He looked down at me like I was nothing.
“Please...” I begged, my voice shaking. “Don’t hurt me... I didn’t do anything...”
He didn’t reply. He raised one hand. I tensed, expecting pain — a strike, a hit — but instead, everything blurred.
A soft cloud moved through the air. Not smoke, not wind... something else.
My vision went dark around the edges. My arms felt heavy. My breathing slowed.
I tried to fight it.
But my body gave in.
And everything turned black.