Chapter 6 HUNT IN THE FOG

Kiara's POV

The forest had changed since yesterday.

Fog hung heavier, curling around the trunks of the trees like fingers ready to snatch anything that moved. Every shadow seemed to twitch, every rustle sounded deliberate. My heart pounded in my chest, the mark inside me pulsing hotter with every step.

I knew I shouldn't have come back. I knew I was walking straight into danger.

But I couldn't stop myself. Not after the way Rylan's eyes had found me yesterday, the pull of something I didn't understand, something that belonged to him as much as it belonged to me.

I kept my gaze low, forcing myself to focus on the uneven forest floor. Twigs snapped under my boots. Mist swirled. And then I heard it: the growl, low and guttural, echoing between the trees.

Not just one growl. Several.

Amber eyes glimmered in the fog, watching, waiting. Predatory. Calculating. Hungry.

I froze. My legs refused to move.

"Kiara," Rylan said, appearing beside me like he had grown out of the mist itself. His storm-gray eyes swept the woods, calculating, alert, protective. "Don't run. Not yet. They'll notice. They'll-"

A sharp, high-pitched bark interrupted him, and a massive shadow lunged from the fog.

I screamed, but Rylan was faster. His hand shot out, gripping my arm and pulling me behind him. His body pressed against mine, solid, warm, grounding me even as the forest threatened to swallow us whole.

The wolf-bigger than any I'd ever seen, fur black as midnight, eyes burning amber-pinned its gaze on me. Its growl rumbled in my chest, vibrating through the fog. My blood felt ice-cold, my pulse racing.

"You're marked," Rylan growled, his jaw tight. "They can smell it. They know."

I wanted to scream that it wasn't fair, that I hadn't asked for this. But no sound came out.

The wolf circled us, moving with terrifying precision. Another shadow moved behind it-then another. I realized with a jolt that we were surrounded. Multiple pairs of amber eyes glimmered through the fog.

"Kiara," Rylan said, gripping my shoulders now, forcing me to meet his gaze. "Listen to me. You have to focus. Control the mark, or they'll take you."

"Control it?" My voice was barely a whisper. "I don't even know what it is!"

"You will," he said, his hand brushing against my cheek, almost instinctively, as if he could sense the pulse of it inside me. "But not now. Not while they're hunting."

I swallowed hard. The pull inside me flared violently, the mark burning hotter beneath my skin. I felt dizzy, nauseous, terrified. And then I realized something I hadn't wanted to admit: the wolves weren't just hunting me-they were testing me. Waiting for me to react. Waiting for me to fail.

"Kiara, move!" Rylan barked suddenly, yanking me toward a thick cluster of trees. The wolves lunged at us, teeth bared, growls echoing through the fog like thunder.

I stumbled, nearly falling, and he caught me instantly. His body shielded mine as he spun, keeping the wolves at bay with precise, terrifying force. I felt a rush of something I couldn't name-fear, awe, something darker, magnetic-radiating off him.

"Run!" he shouted, and this time I obeyed, my legs pumping through the mist. But the forest itself seemed alive, twisting and turning, guiding us, forcing us into the heart of its shadows.

We barely made it to a clearing. The wolves hesitated, growling, circling the edge of the fog. Their amber eyes glimmered hungrily, but they didn't advance.

I collapsed against a tree, gasping for air, my hands shaking uncontrollably. My chest burned, the mark throbbing beneath my skin like a living thing.

Rylan stood beside me, chest heaving, his storm-gray eyes sweeping the fog. "You survived," he said quietly, though there was no relief in his voice. Only... concern.

I wiped my hands across my face. "Barely."

"You're stronger than you think," he said, stepping closer. His presence was magnetic, almost suffocating. "But the mark... It's growing. The forest isn't patient. And neither are they."

I shook my head, panic rising. "I don't want this. I don't want any of it! I just wanted to disappear, to be normal!"

He knelt slightly so his eyes were level with mine. "Normal doesn't exist here, Kiara. Not for you. Not anymore. The mark chose you the moment you arrived, and now you're part of something bigger. Something... dangerous."

I looked away, trying to breathe, trying to ignore the pull in my chest. But I couldn't. Every instinct, every heartbeat, every fiber of my being screamed for him, and against him.

"Rylan," I whispered, my voice trembling. "Why me? Why this? Why now?"

He didn't answer immediately. He just looked at me, storm-gray eyes flickering with something I couldn't decipher-regret? Pain? Desire? All at once?

Then a growl erupted from the edge of the clearing, closer than before. One of the wolves broke from the fog, sprinting toward us with terrifying speed. Its amber eyes locked on mine.

Rylan's hand shot out, gripping my wrist. "Kiara!"

Before I could react, the wolf leapt.