Alisha woke to a canopy of towering tree branches swaying gently above her, leaves dancing to the rhythm of the breeze. Her back pressed against the damp earth, the rough texture of sand and dry foliage prickling her skin. She blinked slowly, confusion furrowing her brows as her senses caught up with her reality. This wasn't her bedroom.
She sat up, dazed, eyes scanning the shadowed woods around her. The chill in the air, the silence....it felt wrong. Her breath caught in her throat as the weight of it settled in. This wasn't a dream.
By the time her mind fully registered where she was, she jolted to her feet, only to sway unsteadily like someone lightheaded from blood loss. Her knees threatened to buckle. She inhaled sharply, steadying herself.
All around her, there was nothing but trees. Endless, silent trees.
And then it hit her.
She was back here, back in the woods.
Panic twisted in her chest. She had no idea how she'd gotten here. The last thing she remembered was switching off her bedside lamp and sinking into her pillow. So how the hell did she end up in the middle of the forest?
Out of pure panic and the haunting memory of what happened the last time, Alisha broke into a run.
Her heart pounded violently against her chest. The forest blurred around her as her legs moved on instinct, not direction. The image of glowing eyes, snapping jaws, and snarling breath flashed behind her eyes like a nightmare refusing to end. She kept glancing over her shoulder, expecting that something was chasing her. A beast. The beast.
Then crack.
Her foot caught on a root.
She fell hard, face-first into the earth, the air knocked out of her lungs. Gasping, coughing, her fingers clawed at the dirt as she tried to push herself up. Leaves stuck to her skin. Her pulse was a roar in her ears.
But then she froze.
A shadow towered over her.
With trembling limbs, she slowly lifted her head, and her breath hitched. Two boots. Mud-caked. Still. She followed the line of them up to legs… a torso… and then a face. One she didn't recognize.
Her eyes widened.
Without thinking, she scrambled backward like a wounded animal, her palms scraping against the ground. She didn't stop until her spine slammed against the base of a tree. Her breath came in sharp bursts. Fear clenched her throat like a fist.
"Milady, it is not my intention to scare you. My name is Alexander, and...."
He stepped forward slowly, holding his hands out as he approached while trying to assure her that he wasn't a threat, but before he could finish, Alisha let out a loud, panicked scream. It rang through the trees like a siren. Not too loud this time. But to him, it was agony.
His hands flew to his ears, his expression contorting in pain. The scream sliced into his skull like daggers. His enhanced werewolf senses, still uncontrolled in this human form, made the sound unbearable. He whimpered like an injured animal.
Alisha didn't wait.
Branches slapped against her arms as she ran blindly through the woods, feet pounding against the uneven ground. But after a few desperate steps, she turned her head, just a glance to see if he was behind her.
That split second cost her.
She slammed hard into something.
Not a tree.
Too soft. Yet too solid.
She bounced back and hit the ground, gasping. Her fingers dug into the dirt as she slowly lifted her gaze, and froze.
Towering over her again, like a shadow reborn, stood the same man.
"That hurt," he said quietly, brushing off his sleeve as if her impact had been little more than a breeze.
She scrambled backward, swinging her legs wildly like a cornered child trying to kick away a monster.
"Who are you?! What do you want from me?!" she cried, her voice cracking under the weight of fear.
He tilted his head slightly, his gaze unreadable. "I was hoping you could tell me, milady," he said, one hand now folded neatly behind his back. "But, since you asked… my name is Alexander. And sadly, that is the only truth I possess."
Her breathing was ragged. Her heart thudded so loudly she could barely hear the world around her. None of this made sense. Who was he? How did he move so fast? And why did he look at her like she was the answer to something?
Tears slipped down her cheeks as panic fully took her. "What do you want from me?" she asked again, voice barely a whisper now, trembling at the edges.
Alexander inhaled softly. He could smell her fear. Her anxiety hung in the air like perfume. Most werewolves relished it, drawn to it like sharks to blood. It stirred their instincts, awakened the thrill of the chase. To hunt, reminded them that they were the apex predators.
But not him.
Not tonight.
He wasn't here to hunt.
He was here for answers.
Because hours ago, he had clawed his way out of the earth, mud-caked, breathless, and utterly lost. And somehow, his first instinct had led him here.
To her.
Alexander took a few measured steps closer, his boots barely making a sound on the forest floor. Then, without a word, he crouched to her level. His expression was unreadably calm, but his eyes… his eyes scanned her like he was searching for something hidden beneath the surface.
Alisha stiffened as his gaze moved slowly over her, her scraped arms, her bruised neck, the shallow cut along her cheek. Every mark from her fall stood out under the dappled moonlight. Then, with movements so gentle they barely seemed real, he reached forward and began to trace the bruises with the backs of his fingers. Not touching fully...just hovering.
When his palm finally cupped her face, she flinched, instinctively pulling back but he didn't tighten his grip. Instead, he met her eyes. And something passed between them. A quiet assurance? A promise?
Alisha didn't understand how she knew. But she felt it. In her gut. In her bones. Like a whisper to her soul.
His thumbs brushed lightly over her cheeks as he closed his eyes and exhaled, almost like he was praying. A soft warmth radiated from his hands, and then, a tingling sensation.
The pain dulled. The throbbing in her arm faded. The tight ache in her neck dissolved. She glanced down and watched, wide-eyed, as the bruises vanished, melting away like they had never existed.
By the time he stood back up, the pain was gone.
He extended a hand and helped her up, but then stepped away, leaving space between them. He could still feel the fear radiating from her. It clung to her like fog. Alisha stared at him, stunned, breath catching in her throat. What just happened? How had he done that? First the silent teleporting, now this… healing by touch?
Just another impossibility in this cursed town.
But the question haunted her deeper than the surface cuts: Why was she here? And what was her role in all this?
Alexander finally spoke, his voice low, calm, and filled with something ancient.
"I shall not harm you, milady… I seek only answers."
Alisha blinked. "Answers?" she scoffed. "I'm the confused one here."
He tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing as though weighing each word. "A few hours passed, I clawed my way from the earth with no memory… save one." He paused. "Your face. It haunted the darkness. A vision… a calling. I was compelled to find you. And now, I ask you… Do you feel it too?"
Alisha froze.
Because… she did.
She'd felt it all day, a strange pull she couldn't explain. Like her nerves had been stretched in one direction. Like something invisible had been beckoning her, guiding her. Drawing her deeper into the unknown. And now, standing this close to him, the feeling had grown stronger. Overwhelming.
A magnetic connection?
A tether?
She swallowed hard. "I don't know what it is," she admitted softly, "but… yeah. I feel something."
Then, the air shifted.
Alisha felt it before she saw anything. The forest grew still, the atmosphere taut like a wire about to snap.
Then, in a blur, they came.
Two creatures...werewolves burst through the trees and soared over her head like shadows with wings, the wind screaming in their wake. They landed beside Alexander with a thud that shook the earth.
Alisha stumbled backward, her breath caught in her throat. Her body screamed at her to run, but her legs wouldn't move. The sight before her was something out of a nightmare. Monstrous, twisted shapes, fur-covered, half-human, beasts eyes glowing with violent intent.
They weren't here to talk.
They were here to kill.
Micha, still in his werewolf form, snarled and lunged at Alexander, claws slashing toward his throat. But Alexander moved catching Micha's arm mid-swing and twisted it, using his own momentum to hurl him into a tree. The impact cracked the trunk, sending bark flying.
Before Alisha could blink, Alexander vanished.
Then...slash.
He reappeared in front of the second wolf, Alan. His hand now morphed into something monstrous and long, bone-colored claws like a true werewolf. He dragged it across Alan's chest in a brutal swipe. Blood sprayed the leaves like rain.
Alan let out a strangled cry as he shifted uncontrollably back into his human form, collapsing to the ground like a felled tree.
Micha froze.
That power… it wasn't just werewolf strength. It was Alpha-level, pure dominance. And this wasn't a fight anymore.
This was a massacre.
Micha's eyes darted to Alisha, then to his fallen comrade. He had one chance left.
He barely had time to react before Alexander turned to him, eyes gleaming, ready to finish what he started.
But then.
Another larger werewolf, fur a deep, earthen brown....crashed into Alexander mid-run, tackling him by the waist and driving him backward.
The impact sent them both hurtling across the clearing.
Alexander slammed hard into the tree where Alisha was hiding.
She screamed, ducking just in time to avoid being crushed beneath them.
The brown wolf let out a bone-chilling howl....a sound that echoed through the woods like a victory cry. Micha followed suit, raising his head to the sky and mimicking the call, claiming triumph.
They believed they had won.
But they didn't know Alexander.
And the fight… was far from over.