Chapter 4 Captured

Evelyn

They didn't speak.

Not once.

Not that I had anything left to say. My throat was raw from screaming-though I couldn't remember when I'd stopped. My wrists ached, bound tight with rough cuffs, and my boots dragged across the uneven forest floor.

The werewolf who caught me stayed just behind my shoulder, claws brushing my arm whenever I slowed. His silence was worse than shouting. I would've preferred threats-anything over this watchful, waiting menace.

Only the crunch of leaves and the occasional snap of twigs filled the air.

I was surrounded.

Three, maybe four others moved on either side of me. Cloaked in shadow, hulking-half-shifted, but not human. Somewhere in between. Somewhere terrifying.

We walked for what felt like forever.

The trees grew denser. The air colder. Each step deeper felt like crossing a line I couldn't return from.

The compound was long gone. Swallowed by forest. I didn't even know which direction it was anymore.

They didn't speak to each other either-just communicated through exchanged glances, body language, a grunt here or there. Like a pack.

The one who caught me now walked ahead, dragging me by the chain between my wrists. Tall, broad, dressed in dark clothes that blurred with the night.

I hated how small I felt beside him.

How useless my training was.

I was supposed to be ready for this. The hunter's daughter.

But I was just prey.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

No one answered.

I glanced at the nearest figure-green eyes glinting beneath a hood. He didn't even acknowledge me. As if I were furniture.

Branches thinned at the top of a ridge. Ahead, I saw flickering firelight.

We were close.

The scent hit me first. Woodsmoke. Wet earth. Blood.

Then at first, a few rooftops. Low wooden structures nestled in the trees, like they'd grown from the roots themselves. Smoke curled from chimneys.

I heard life-chopping wood, dishes clattering, even a child's laughter quickly hushed.

These weren't monster dens.

They looked like homes.

And that made it worse.

Because it meant the stories had left things out.

They didn't just survive,

They lived.

The houses thickened as we walked. Warm lights behind drawn curtains. Figures at doorways. Some curious. Others cautious.

Eyes flicked to me-glowing faint in the dark.

Then I saw it.

The stronghold.

Massive stone walls jutted from the mountain like fangs. Ivy and fog curled along their surface. Towers rose above the canopy, torch-lit windows burning dim in the night.

Not a castle. A fortress.

Guard posts flanked the entrance. Two wolves in partial shift stood sentry, taller than men, eyes gleaming.

They stiffened as we approached, noses flaring to catch my scent.

One grunted-not at me, but at them.

A warning? A question?

The one dragging me just nodded.

They let us pass.

Stone scraped underfoot as we entered. The scent of fur and fire thickened.

Inside, wolves were everywhere. Some walked upright, others in half-shifted forms. All stopped to stare at me.

Curious. Suspicious.

Some looked... hungry.

I shivered.

We passed a courtyard lit by flame pits. Arched corridors branched deeper into the mountain. Somewhere below, distant growls echoed-low and chained.

A prison.

The chain between my cuffs pulled tight, jerking me to a stop outside a heavy oak door banded in iron.

"Wait here," said the male who caught me-his voice low, rough as gravel.

The first words I'd heard from him.

He knocked once, stepped inside, and left me with two guards.

I tried not to stare but they were massive. One with a scar across his cheek, the other with gray eyes and shoulders like stone.

They didn't speak. Didn't blink.

What were they going to do with me? Interrogate me? Torture me? Send a message to my father?

Or worse-keep me.

After what felt like hours passed, the door creaked open again.

"Bring her in," came a voice from within. Calm. Male. Commanding.

The guards moved. I was pulled into a room lit by firelight.

It was warmer than I expected. Lined with stone, yes-but filled with bookshelves, maps, and dark furs on the walls.

A massive table stood in the center, covered in weapons and scrolls. A fireplace crackled at the far end.

And beside it... stood him.

Not the one who caught me.

Someone else.

He stood tall. Dressed in black. Silver buckles glinting under the firelight. Tousled dark hair. Gold eyes sharp as blades-and locked on me like a target.

The moment our eyes met, something shifted in the air.

Like gravity tilted.

Like every inch of me remembered something I didn't understand.

Heat bloomed in my chest. My skin prickled.

I didn't understand it.

My fear hadn't faded-it deepened. But this was something else.

Adrenaline, maybe.

He stepped closer. Arms crossed. Eyes unblinking.

No one introduced him.

They didn't need to.

The Alpha of the Blackthorn Pack.

The one whose parents my father killed.

A story I'd heard my whole life.

My blood turned to ice.

He didn't move as I was dragged to the center of the room.

I lifted my chin, hiding how my knees trembled.

"You wandered far from your side of the forest," he said-smooth, but dangerous.

I said nothing.

He stepped closer. "What were you doing out there, hunter's daughter?"

He knew who I was.

Of course he did.

I clenched my jaw. I would not beg. I would not cry.

He circled me once. Slow. Deliberate.

His scent hit me-wolf, smoke... and something older. Wilder.

He stopped behind me.

"You don't smell like a threat," he murmured.

"But you ran," he added. "Like prey."

"I was scared," I snapped. "I was being chased through the woods!"

He returned to my line of sight, unreadable.

"You should be scared," he said.

Then, quieter-closer-

"Especially because of me."

Silence.

Then: "Take her to the lower wing. One of the secure rooms. Unbound, but watched. No one speaks to her unless I say so."

Unbound?

The guards obeyed without question. They turned, gripping the chain.

As I was led out, I looked back once.

He was still watching.

Unmoving.

Unshaken.

The Alpha of the Blackthorn Pack.

And I was his prisoner.

My legs shook from the realization.

And my heart?

Still echoing with the sound of his voice.