Chapter 3 The Predator's Gaze

The impact knocked the breath from my lungs.

My back slammed against the cold stone wall, the rough texture biting through the thin fabric of my shirt. A gasp wrenched from my throat, but before I could move, before I could even think, a powerful hand seized my wrist, pinning it beside my head. Another gripped my shoulder, pressing me in place with an effortless strength that made my pulse thunder in terror.

I couldn't see his face.

The dim light barely reached us, which leaves his features cloaked in shadows. But his eyes...his eyes pierced through the darkness like twin blades of light.

Hydrochromic blue and green.

They flickered between the two colors, shifting like an ocean caught between storm and calm, like they couldn't decide what shade they wanted to be. And for a single, breathless second, I swore I had seen those eyes before.

The man in my dream... The one who had saved my life, but this wasn't a dream, and he was not here to save me.

He radiated power, an aura so intense, so suffocating, that the air itself felt heavier in his presence. Every nerve in my body screamed in awareness, my wolf spirit instinctively shrinking into the depths of my soul. I had never felt something like this before. Not just dominance but absolute, terrifying control.

He could crush me in a second. I could feel it in the way his body caged mine, in the raw force that pulsed beneath his skin and heat rolled off him, his presence drowning out everything else, even my own fear. I felt like he was carved into the space around me, and his scent was a paradox of Dark Ember & Winter Smoke – a lingering trace of burnt cherry wood and cold midnight air, like the embers of a dying fire beneath a moonless sky. It clung to my skin, seeped into my lungs, a wildfire and a haunting, all at once.

I couldn't breathe.

He was close...too close... Every nerve in my body was hyper-aware of him, from the way his fingers flexed against my wrist to the way his slow, measured breaths barely disrupted the silence.

"Who are you?" He finally spoke after a long moment of silence and his voice was sharp, cutting straight through the air.

I opened my mouth, and tried to speak. I wanted to speak. But no sound came out. My wolf...my own wolf was suppressing me, smothering my ability to answer, to react. She was terrified and hiding from him.

"What are you doing in the restricted section?" He asks again, each word dripping with quiet menace.

I tried to speak, to force the words out, but my throat locked up. My pulse pounded so hard it felt like my heart was trying to claw its way out of my ribs.

"I won't ask again." He warned me this time and his thumb brushed against the inside of my wrist, pressing just hard enough that my knees almost buckled. Not out of pain, but because I felt him. Felt the power thrumming beneath his skin.

"If you don't answer," he murmured, "I'll take you to the Headmaster myself."

My stomach twisted.

" Oh, no...No-no, no, no. If he took me there, my scholarship would be gone. My only chance of staying in Ashwood...of surviving in this world, would disappear in an instant," I thought.

Somehow, I forced the words past my trembling lips.

"I-I got lost," I whispered. "I didn't know this area was restricted."

I didn't know if he believed me. I didn't know if it even mattered because his grip didn't loosen and his stance didn't change. He just studied me, with his eyes cold, as if peeling back the layers of my soul and finding something lacking, but then he said,

"Liar! Did you think you could fool me?" And his words hit harder than his grip. I swallowed hard. "I swear, I didn't know."

"You're pleading," he said, and his tone devoid of any sympathy. "Pathetic."

"Please," I forced out. "Don't take me to the Headmaster. If you do-I'll-I'll lose my scholarship."

I hated the way my voice wavered, hated the way I sounded small in front of him. But I had no choice. If he took me, I was done, but he didn't care. He exhaled sharply, like this entire conversation was a waste of his time. In one swift motion, he grabbed my wrist tighter and started dragging me forward.

I twisted against his grip, panic spiking through me. "Stop," I gasped, my feet struggling to keep up. "Please-just listen to me-"

He didn't slow, didn't react and desperation surged through me. I had to get away. I struggled harder, wrenching against his hold, but it was like trying to move a mountain. He barely flinched, dragging me through the dim corridor as if I was nothing more than an inconvenience.

"Let me go!" I gasped, trying to dig my heels into the stone floor, but it did nothing to slow him down. He barely even reacted, as if my resistance was beneath his notice.

"You're wasting your breath," he said flatly. "Keep struggling, and I'll make this worse for you."

"Worse?" I choked out, trying to twist free. "You're already ruining my life!"

A sharp exhale left him, something between a scoff and a sigh. "Ruining your life?" His tone was edged with mockery. "Don't be so dramatic. You got caught trespassing. Actions have consequences."

"I told you, I didn't know it was restricted!" My voice rose, but he still didn't slow.

"And I told you..." He yanked me forward, forcing me to stumble closer. "I don't believe you."

I was getting frustrated because he wasn't even listening.

"Please!" My voice cracked on the word, but I didn't care. "If you take me there, I'll lose my scholarship. This school-it's all I have. You don't understand..."

He suddenly stopped, and I nearly crashed into his back.

"You're right," he said, "I don't understand." He turned his head slightly, just enough for me to catch the flicker of blue-green in his gaze. "And I don't care."

My stomach dropped.

He started walking again, faster this time, and I nearly tripped trying to keep up.

"Please," I whispered, "I'm begging you."

"Then stop talking."

Tears burned the back of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I refused to give him that satisfaction. But desperation was clawing up my throat.

"Think, Aubrey. Think." I thought, and my pulse raced. I had seconds-seconds-before he pulled me so deep into this nightmare that there would be no escaping it.

And then, suddenly, I moved with all the force I had. I twisted my arm and slammed my elbow into his ribs and his grip loosened on my wrist, just barely, but it was enough. I didn't hesitate.

I whipped around, driving my knee up into his stomach with everything I had. And a low, sharp sound escaped his lips, but out of surprise, not out of pain, but it didn't matter because I was already running.

The moment my feet hit the stone floor, I tore down the corridor, my breath coming in ragged bursts. The walls blurred around me, the shadows twisting and stretching as I pushed myself faster. I didn't dare look back, but I could feel him but not chasing me or hunting me.

I turned sharply, my boots skidding against the floor, my lungs burning. My only thought was to escape, to find somewhere, anywhere, safe. And then I saw a light and a doorway. It was luckily opened, and I lunged for it, stumbling through.

The air changed instantly. The suffocating weight of the corridor disappeared, and was replaced by the warm glow of chandeliers, and I turned, chest heaving and the corridor behind me was empty. No sign of him. No sign of what had just happened.