Chapter 4 The Hunter and the wolf

Jules didn't knock. She didn't have to. She'd been to Kieran's place once, years ago, after his wife's funeral a short, awkward visit that ended in silence. Now, as she stood outside his door with her gun holstered and her instincts on high alert, she felt something entirely different. Not grief. Not nostalgia. A warning in her bones. She pressed her ear to the door. Silence. But it was too quiet. She slipped a small blade into her sleeve and knocked, once. Then again, louder.

Selara heard the knock from the kitchen, where she'd just learned how to use a toaster. Her body went still. She didn't know who was at the door, but she felt the energy shift like a ripple across water. Whoever it was, they didn't come with kindness. She moved with purpose, quietly stepping into the living room. Kieran hadn't returned yet. She had no choice. She opened the door slowly, cautiously and found herself face-to-face with a woman whose eyes screamed danger.

Jules didn't blink. She studied the woman carefully. Her skin was too perfect, her presence too still. And those eyes... they flickered with something wild, something ancient. "You're not from around here," Jules said flatly, arms crossed. Selara tilted her head, her voice calm but cold. "Neither are you." The air between them crackled not with fear, but recognition. Predator meeting predator. Jules gave a tight smile. "You're not human." Selara didn't deny it. She didn't have to. Some truths didn't need words.

Before anything more could be said, Kieran returned grocery bag in hand, whistling faintly until he saw the standoff in his doorway. "Jules?" he asked, confused. "What's going on?" Selara stepped back, and Jules took one last long look at her before turning to Kieran. "Just checking in," she said, her voice clipped. But as she walked past him, she whispered just loud enough for Selara to hear: "I know what you are. And I'm not the only one watching." The door clicked shut behind her, and the game had officially begun.