Pulled Towards Her
Draven sat in the dimly lit study, the heavy scent of aged parchment and ink clinging to the still air as the quiet hum of the evening settled around him. Before him lay a thick stack of intelligence reports—some hastily scrawled by field informants, others meticulously penned by Jenna in her crisp, elegant hand. Each document contained the potential seeds of a brewing storm: murmurs from neighboring territories, sightings of strange movements near the borders, and coded suspicions of betrayal. It was the sort of material he had reviewed a thousand times before, an Alpha’s constant vigil—preparing, predicting, preventing. And yet tonight, the words refused to anchor him.
His eyes might have scanned the paper, but his thoughts had long since drifted past the walls of the study, beyond the politics of pack alliances and whispers of rebellion. They lingered elsewhere—down the corridor, where dust and shadows curled around cracked shelves and broken crates. Where a rogue girl labored in silence, surrounded by rot and time.
Valerie.
He had spent the previous night seated in the cold outside her cell, cloaked in silence as she slept—unaware of the storm that watched over her. Something about the rhythm of her breathing, the delicate way her fingers twitched in restless dreams, had unraveled something inside him. A quiet had fallen over his mind, one he hadn’t felt in years. Not even during hunts. Not even during war.
It was foolish. He knew that.
An Alpha harboring fascination—no, obsession—for a rogue was a path paved with disaster. It was not only reckless, it was dangerous. But logic meant little when instinct clawed its way through the mind. Being near her, even without speaking, sparked a sense of stillness in his heart, like the eye of a hurricane where everything held its breath.
His scowl deepened, the leather of his chair creaking slightly as he shifted. The moment shattered with a knock—sharp, precise. His gaze snapped toward the door, irritation rising like a tide.
Knox stood in the threshold.
Draven sighed, low and heavy. “How many times must I tell you not to knock?”
Unbothered, Knox stepped into the study with the quiet confidence of a man who had survived kings, wars, and time itself. His sword remained strapped across his back, and the half-smile tugging at his lips was as familiar as it was persistent. “You’re an Alpha, and I’m a creature of habit,” he replied smoothly. “Neither of those things is likely to change anytime soon.”
He moved toward the desk, but as usual, didn’t sit—standing meant readiness, and Knox was never truly off duty.
Draven raised an eyebrow, reading the subtle weight behind his general’s calm. “What is it?”
Knox’s voice dropped to a whisper meant only for Alpha ears. “The border’s been restless. Patrols report movement—too much of it. And the hunting parties return with less food every day.”
A stillness crept into Draven’s frame, sharpening his focus in an instant. “You think someone’s preparing for an attack?”
Knox’s nod was measured. “I think something is watching. Waiting. We don’t know who or what—but the woods aren’t empty.”
Draven’s jaw tightened as he stood, the quiet rustle of his shirt sleeves being rolled up echoing with finality. “Or,” he said calmly, “something wild is moving through them. Either way, I’m going out tonight. I want to see it for myself.”
Knox’s expression faltered. “I advise against that, Alpha,” he said firmly, his tone now clipped with concern. “Your life holds more weight than you realize. If there’s a threat, we should send Omegas first.”
Draven’s answer came without hesitation. “And let them take the first hit while I sit on my throne? No. I’ve said this before—I won’t be the kind of Alpha who hides behind others. This is my pack. My people. If something is hunting us, then I will look it in the eye myself.”
His conviction rang through the study like steel against steel, unwavering and absolute.
But Knox, older and wiser, pressed still. “I was your father’s age when he ruled. I warned him of this same pride. He let love for his people cloud his judgment. And it killed him. He forgot one truth—the pack survives only as long as the Alpha does.”
Draven’s head snapped up, a flicker of something primal igniting behind his eyes. Anger. Memory. Pain. “And what about my uncle?” he said, voice low but heavy with old wounds. “He followed every rule. Took no risks. Sent others to bleed in his place. And because of it, our people starved. We were broken under his rule.”
He stepped closer, his tone dark and decisive. “My father fought for his pack—even when it made him cruel. My uncle abandoned it for his own safety. I’m not interested in becoming either. I intend to be better.”
Without waiting for permission or debate, Draven swept past Knox, his boots echoing against stone as he left the room with purpose thrumming through every movement.
Knox remained still, eyes shadowed with silent worry as he watched the Alpha vanish around the corridor’s bend. For all his strength and fire, Knox wondered if the young Alpha’s relentless drive to protect might one day be the very thing that destroyed him.
Draven moved swiftly through the corridors, his anger still simmering beneath his skin, thoughts snarling through his mind like restless wolves. Each step was precise, yet fueled by a storm that hadn’t quite calmed since the conversation.
He rounded a corner sharply—and froze.
A soft cough broke through the silence, and only then did he realize where his footsteps had carried him.
He stood at the threshold of the storage room.
And there she was.
Valerie balanced carefully on a rickety wooden stool, arms stretched above her head, her fingers scrubbing at the webs clinging to the cracked ceiling. A strand of her hair had fallen across her cheek, and the fabric of her shirt lifted just enough to reveal a flash of skin beneath the grime.
Time stilled.
Draven didn’t speak. Didn’t move. He simply watched her, mesmerized by the grit in her silence and the strange calm she brought to the storm inside him.
He had only meant to walk. To think.
But somehow, he had ended up here.
Right where she was.