Demon Wolf

A shiver crawled down my spine, but I didn't turn.

Not yet.

I could feel him. His presence, thick as a storm rolling in, pressing against my skin. The weight of it made the air harder to breathe, charged with something dangerous.

Wolf whimpered beside me, lowering his head.

The wolves around me kept their heads bowed, their bodies still and obedient.

Everyone but me.

I remained standing.

Defiant.

Foolish.

The silence stretched, thick with expectation, with something unspoken crackling between us.

Then—

A hand curled around the back of my neck.

Large. Warm. Unyielding.

My breath hitched, every nerve in my body going taut as I was forced to turn.

And there he was.

Alpha Zain.

The Demon Alpha.

His midnight-blue eyes burned into mine, dark and knowing. His face was carved from something sharp and unforgiving, the kind of beauty that belonged to a predator.

And gods, he smelled dangerous.

Like smoke and steel, like the forest after a storm.

I hated the way my pulse reacted to it.

I tilted my chin up, meeting his gaze without flinching. "If you're expecting me to kneel," I said, my voice steady despite the way his touch burned against my skin, "you'll be waiting a long time."

Low gasps and murmurs spread through the crowd.

A slow smirk curved his lips.

"Who said I want you on your knees, little hunter?" he murmured, his fingers tightening, just enough to remind me how easily he could snap me in two.

Heat licked up my spine. Not fear.

Something far more dangerous.

And from the way his smirk deepened, he knew it.

The pictures I had seen didn't do justice to the devil in front of me.

He looked like a dark soul, cast away from light—something born in the depths of the abyss, shaped by violence and shadow. But somehow, somewhere, he must have done something redeemable for God to make him this beautiful.

Because he was.

Terrifyingly, sinfully beautiful.

Not in a way that softened him. No, there was nothing soft about him. He was all sharp edges and ruthless intent, the kind of beauty that lured you in just to watch you break.

His midnight-blue eyes locked onto mine, filled with something dark and unreadable. They drank me in, slow and deliberate, as if peeling me apart layer by layer.

I clenched my fists, my breath steady despite the way his presence sank into my skin, despite the way every inch of my body screamed at me to run.

But I didn't.

I wouldn't.

"Finished staring?" I said, forcing my voice to remain level.

He tilted his head, his smirk deepening. "Not even close, little hunter."

My pulse skipped.

His fingers dragged along the back of my neck before falling away, leaving a ghost of warmth in their wake.

I should have been relieved.

I wasn't.

What the hell was wrong with me!?

His smirk lingered, slow and knowing, as if he could hear the way my heart betrayed me, pounding beneath my ribs like a caged animal.

I hated him for it.

For the way he looked at me like he already knew how this would end. Like he had already won.

I lifted my chin. *"Enjoy the view while you can, because soon enough, I'll be the one standing over your corpse."*

His laughter was low and dark, curling around me like smoke. *"Oh, little hunter,"* he murmured, stepping closer, *"I think you have it all wrong."*

The air between us stretched tight. I refused to move, even as his fingers lifted, brushing a stray lock of hair from my face with unnerving gentleness.

"You should be more worried about what I plan to do with you while you're still breathing."

Heat bloomed low in my stomach, unbidden, unwelcome. I gritted my teeth. "And you should be worried about how quickly I'll slit your throat if you try."

He grinned, sharp and wicked. "Now that's the spirit."

Before I could respond, Cian's voice cut through the thick air between us. *"We should move. We're close."*

Close.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to focus. The tall, dark walls of his territory loomed ahead, jagged as the trees that surrounded them. An entire kingdom of wolves waiting behind them.

And me?

I was walking straight into the den of monsters.

But I'd survived the night.

If I survived the rogues.

I can survive this, too.

Zain barely spared me another glance, the coldness returning as soon as he turned his back walking toward the looming gates ahead. The cold night air seemed to bend around him, his presence heavier than the darkness itself. He moved with slow, deliberate steps, a king returning to his kingdom, knowing no one would dare stand in his way.

The massive gates groaned as they opened, revealing a fortress of stone and shadow. Torches flickered along the high walls, casting jagged, shifting light over the figures that waited inside. Wolves. Dozens of them. Some in human form, others half-shifted, their eyes glowing in the dimness.

I felt their gazes land on me instantly.

A ripple of murmurs. Low growls. The scent of suspicion thick in the air.

"A hunter?" someone spat from the crowd.

"Why is she still breathing?" another demanded.

Zain didn't pause. He didn't acknowledge their words, their anger. He simply kept walking, the weight of his silence cutting through their unrest like a blade. The wolves parted for him, stepping back instinctively, though their stares never left me.

Cian walked ahead of me, and Selene lingered at my side, watching with something between amusement and anticipation.

I squared my shoulders, forcing my steps to stay steady. Weakness here would get me killed.

But the moment I crossed the threshold, a chill ran down my spine, as if I had stepped into something far deeper, far darker than I had realized.

The gates slammed shut behind me.

Locking me in. Only then did I realize that I may not get to see my sisters or my parents again, There was no turning back now.