Chapter 4 Chains of the Curse

The alley had never felt so suffocating. My heart hammered in my chest, every nerve screaming at me to run but my feet refused. I couldn't. Not when he was there, waiting.

He stepped closer, and I finally saw the truth. The shadows around him weren't ordinary. They twisted, writhing almost like smoke, following the rhythm of his movements. His hands clenched at his sides, and a low growl rolled from his throat a sound that didn't belong to any human I had ever known.

"I warned you," he said, voice tight, controlled but beneath it, I could hear something raw, feral. "Curiosity can be dangerous, little one."

"I...I don't understand," I whispered, trembling. "What... what are you?"

His amber eyes darkened, glowing with a fierce light that made my knees weak. "What I am is what the moon made me. And what the curse trapped inside me for decades."

A shiver ran down my spine. Curse. The word carried weight, power, and fear. I had half expected him to deny it. I had half expected... nothing.

But the air around him seemed to ripple, the shadows tightening, forming shapes that moved independently. My breath caught in my throat. "You're... cursed?"

He nodded, jaw tight. "Every full moon... I lose myself. Every full moon... I become something no human should witness. Something my own pack fears. Something even I fear."

I stepped back instinctively, but my curiosity my foolish, dangerous curiosity kept me rooted. "And... you're saying... you could hurt me?"

A long pause. He stared at me, the predator and the man inside wrestling visibly across his face. Then, almost silently, he said:

"If I wanted to, I could tear you apart with a thought. But..." His voice softened, and for the first time, there was a hint of vulnerability beneath the feral power. "...you're here. You're still standing. You're still looking at me. And somehow, you're not afraid enough to run."

The words struck me in a way nothing else could. I wanted to run. I should run. And yet... I didn't.

A sudden flare of his power made the shadows surge. I stumbled back, clutching my coat. His form blurred for a heartbeat, his features shifting inhumanly. Claws? Teeth? The outline of a beast that could destroy me in seconds?

My chest heaved. I had never been this close to danger or this close to... him.

And then he stepped forward again, slower this time. His hand reached toward me not to strike, but to brush the hair from my face. His touch was human, warm, safe... and it made me tremble uncontrollably.

"I warned you," he murmured again. "You wanted to see me. Now you know. Now you've seen the chains that bind me."

Chains. The word echoed in my mind. Not literal chains... but the curse, the control, the monster inside him.

"I..." My voice faltered. "...I don't know if I should be terrified... or... or.

He leaned closer, so close I could feel his breath, smell that intoxicating mix of danger and heat. "Or what?"

I swallowed hard, my pulse racing. "Or... I don't know if I can stay away."

For a long moment, he said nothing. Then, a small, almost imperceptible smile curved his lips.

"Good," he whispered. "Because you won't be able to. Not tonight. Not ever."

The moon rose higher, silver light spilling over the rooftops. And in that glow, he didn't just watch me... he marked me. I didn't know how, I didn't know why, but I knew one thing: my life and my heart belonged to him now.