ALPHA'S WITCH (Midnight Oath)

What's the hardest thing for an orphaned girl? Learning to accept death because you've already lost so much? Or becoming so attached to the one person you have left that the thought of losing her feels like staring into an abyss?

I suppose both were true for me.

My grandmother was everything. She and I had left this cursed town years ago, because this town had taken my mother and father from me. The cause of their deaths had always been kept secret like some dark mystery. They'd only ever said "a fire."

That it was a witch hunt, I would learn much later.

Snow blanketed the earth, thick and merciless. I stood alone at the edge of the old cemetery, clutching the small wooden box that was all that remained of the woman who'd been my only family. The priest had refused to come. The townspeople had refused as well. Only a handful of crows were there, watching intently, as if they'd come to witness a ceremony.

I didn't cry. Not yet.

My grandmother had made me promise, as if she'd known it would be her last Christmas. Now I was struggling alone to fulfill that wish. But I couldn't have predicted what was coming.

Three days later, I was driving along the icy road toward Blackthorn Ridge. There I was. Twenty-five years old, the last of the Rose bloodline, returning to a place where people looked at me as if they wanted me dead. My red pickup climbed the hill as the wind filled my ears with an ominous howl. My only goal was to reach the mountain house as quickly as possible.

Then I saw it. A dark shape in the white snow covering the road. As I got closer, it became clear it was a vehicle, hood open, and a man examining the engine. Despite the bone-chilling cold, he was wearing nothing but a t-shirt, as if he wasn't cold at all.

The townspeople's hostility had already started to rub off on me. I thought about driving past. But damn it. I couldn't be as savage as the people in this town. I stopped.

I grabbed my coat from the passenger seat and put it on. The moment I stepped out of the car, I started shivering. Okay, I'm someone who gets cold even on summer days, but these cursed lands were really putting on a show.

I walked closer and called out. "Hello. Looks like you're stranded?"

He lifted his eyes from the engine and looked at me. That gaze made a cold settle inside me that had nothing to do with the weather. Then I got a proper look at him.

He was breathtaking. Jet-black hair, dark silver eyes, chiseled features, tall, muscular. Those eyes, piercing.

I was impressed. Just a little. Don't exaggerate, ladies.

He smiled, a sly, flirtatious look in his eyes. "Yes," he said. "You could say I'm stranded." He closed the hood.

And that was when I froze.

There was a massive log embedded in the front windshield of his car. Seriously embedded. Wasn't this man seeing this? Did he seriously think the problem was the engine right now?

"Wow," I said, my surprise obvious. "It's like a giant came and stuck this tree in your windshield like a big toothpick."

He suddenly burst out laughing. "I think giants went extinct a long time ago." Then his eyes focused on me with a meaningful look. "This town's past is remembered for its wolves and witches," he murmured.

"Hmm. Thanks for the interesting local history lesson. But I don't think I can find you a witch or a wolf right now." I pointed to my car. "What I do have is a vehicle. I can drop you off in town if you want."

He looked at me, those deep dimples appearing when he smiled. For a moment, I could have sworn I saw a silver gleam spinning in his eyes.

"If I'm not bothering you," he said, "I'd be grateful."

I nodded and headed to my door, then called back over my shoulder. "You won't bother me as long as you don't complain about me listening to Elwes."

A deep smile spread across his face. He grabbed his leather jacket from his car and came over. The moment he got in, his expression changed. My heater, which I had cranked all the way up, hit him like desert heat.

"I think you were a bit cold," he said.

I'm always cold," I said with a smile. And I hit the gas.

His eyes were on me from the moment we started moving. Under normal circumstances, being watched by such a handsome man might have been flattering. But the people in this town were so strange I wasn't sure this was a good thing.

"Hey. Could you stop that," I said, briefly glancing at him before looking back at the road.

He ran his fingers through his hair and smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry. You're just so different. I couldn't take my eyes off you."

"Everyone in this town makes me feel different," I said, pulling a face. "I'm starting to think I have 'I'm a stranger' written on my forehead."

He laughed. "Are you always this sarcastic?"

For some reason, I wanted to be honest with him. The words came out before I could stop them. "Let's call it my way of camouflaging pain. I buried my grandmother yesterday."

I looked at his face.

Normally when you tell someone that, their expression shifts. Surprise, at least. But on this man's face there was neither surprise nor anything else. As if he already knew. But no one had attended my grandmother's funeral except the gravedigger who buried her.

That was unsettling.

A few seconds later he asked, "I'm sorry. Did you love her very much?"

"Yes," I said. "She was my only family. I loved her more than anything."

"I understand. Then why are you still here?" he asked.

Normally I would have answered politely. But I didn't like being questioned, especially not in the way the townspeople questioned me, like they wanted me gone. That "why haven't you left" tone was extremely irritating.

I turned to him and raised my eyebrows. "For Christmas," I said. "I just came to celebrate Christmas."

He wasn't surprised. On the contrary, he had the look of someone who understood perfectly well I was mocking him.

We didn't talk for the rest of the drive.

Finally we arrived at the town center. I stopped the car. He got out and came to the window. There was a warm smile on his face.

"My name is Joe," he said.

I extended my hand. "Eva. Eva Rose."

"Pleased to meet you." His expression changed. I could see the sly grin settling in. "Well then. Merry Christmas, Rose's daughter."

My eyebrows came together.

The day I came to town for the funeral arrangements, everyone had looked at me with that phrase like they wanted to kill me. What the hell was this "Rose's daughter" thing? Every person I encountered called me Rose's daughter with a look of disgust. For the people of this town, being named Rose seemed more like a curse than anything.

Just then, the old man who ran the town market, sitting on a wooden chair on the sidewalk, came rushing over, pointing his finger and shouting. "Don't talk to her, Joe! Have you lost your mind? She brings bad luck!"

That was the end of the politeness my grandmother had raised me with.

I stuck my head out the window and pointed right back at him. "I'm not cursed! I don't carry a contagious disease. I haven't even killed anyone yet. And I don't even know you. Stop talking about me, you senile old fool!"

I hit the gas.

But my anger hadn't finished. As I passed right beside him I leaned out one more time.

"I've talked to you now too," I called out pleasantly. "I really do hope I bring you bad luck."

I floored it and drove away.

In the rearview mirror I could see the man's face, red with rage. And Joe, doubled over laughing, slapping his knees.

I suppose it was time for this stubborn town to witness the stubbornness of Rose women...

The mountain house appeared around the bend just as my anger was finally cooling. And the moment I saw it, the anger left me completely. It was exactly as I remembered from childhood, that magical place, though it had aged over the years.

I stepped onto the creaking veranda. The key was still in the same place, under the flowerpot in front of the window. I took it and pushed open the heavy wooden door with trembling hands. The silence of years settled over me all at once.

"Grandma," I called out to the empty house. "You really left me quite a magnificent mess. How did you think we'd celebrate Christmas in this place?"

It looked daunting, but I had to start somewhere. I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.

I swept and wiped for hours. My hands ached and my back was killing me. But the house was slowly beginning to remember itself.

By the time I finished, the sun had already begun to retreat behind the mountains. I remembered the supplies in my pickup and went back outside. It took three trips to carry everything in.

As I set down the last box, my phone rang. Maya.

"Eva! God, finally! I was going crazy. How are you? Are you okay?"

I collapsed onto the old velvet couch. "I'm surviving," I said with a laugh. "Barely. This place is a complete madhouse, Maya. The people here are seriously insane. They refused to sell me food. I had to drive to a town an hour away."

"What? Eva, that's insane! Why are you still there?"

"I promised my grandmother," I said, my voice softening.

A brief silence.

"Eva, you gave her a beautiful funeral. You honored her. Don't you think you've done enough? You can come home. You can even come to me. You don't have to torture yourself in those freezing mountains."

I closed my eyes. My grandmother's wise, loving face came to mind. In that moment, everything made sense.

"She wanted to spend her last Christmas here. Specifically here, with me. I made her a promise, Maya. It will be good for both of us. I'll rest for a few weeks and then I'll come back."

"Alright," Maya said, helpless. "But Eva, please don't forget your vitamins. You hate the cold. I'm worried you're going to get sick."

I laughed. "If you keep talking like this, I'll freeze stiff on this couch. I need to get firewood. I need to light the fireplace."

"Okay, okay. I'll let you have your alone time, but show signs of life every now and then."

"Deal. Talk later, Maya."

I hung up.

I put my coat on and went outside. The sun had nearly disappeared. The woodshed was about twenty meters from the house. I opened its creaky door and loaded my arms with firewood, so full I could barely see in front of me.

I started walking toward the house, turning my head sideways since I couldn't see ahead.

And then I saw it.

At first I thought it was an illusion. But it was there. At the entrance to the forest path, about ten meters away, stood a massive wolf. Far too large for a wolf. The size of a bear. Its reddish-brown fur gleamed in the fading light.

But what truly froze me were its eyes.

Burning amber. So different from any wild animal. Intelligent. Aware. Staring straight into mine with a gaze that reached somewhere deep and old inside me.

I flinched. Because those eyes, I knew them. I had been seeing them since childhood. In dreams that felt less like dreams and more like somewhere I had actually been. Warm, ancient, full of longing.

How could a wolf have those eyes?

When I stepped back in fear, my foot slipped on the ice. The firewood scattered into the snow with a crash and I went down hard. The breath knocked out of me.

When I lifted my head, it was gone. The path was empty. Trees, snow, silence.

"What is happening to me," I whispered.

I jumped to my feet, grabbed a long piece of firewood to protect myself, scanned the tree line. Nothing. No tracks, no shadow, no movement.

I quickly gathered the firewood, glancing over my shoulder with every step. Then I ran for the house.

The moment I was inside I slammed the door and locked it.

I lit the fireplace with shaking hands. When the flames finally caught, I sank to the floor in front of them and let the warmth reach me.

Sometimes people who have been through psychological trauma have hallucinations. Maybe that was what had just happened. I hadn't had coffee in days. As a caffeine addict, I hadn't even thought about it during the grieving process. I went to the kitchen, made a strong cup, and came back to sit on the floor in front of the fire.

Then the wolf came back to my mind.

"Even if it was real," I said to myself, "it's just a wolf. A very large wolf. Perfectly normal for the mountains. Right?"

I had experienced quite enough for one day. I just wanted to rest.

But the universe had one more surprise.

There was a clicking sound at the door.

I nearly spilled my coffee. Who would knock on my door at this hour? On a mountain? In the middle of nowhere?

I got up and went to the window, looking out through the frosted glass.

On the veranda stood a young woman about my age. Curly red hair braided in two plaits, freckles on her cheeks, and a warm, reassuring smile on her face.

I opened the door a crack. "Yes? How can I help you?"

Her smile widened. "Hi! I'm Eleanor!"

I just stared. Then she laughed. "Oh, sorry! You don't remember me. I'm Elly!"

My brain was running slowly from exhaustion. Then a memory surfaced. A girl with mud all over her face, laughing, gap-toothed, hair an absolute disaster. We used to play together as children.

"Elly?!" I exclaimed. "I can't believe it! Mud-pie Elly?!"

"That's me!" she squealed.

I threw the door open and hugged her.

"Welcome back!" she said, eyes shining. "I heard you'd come back to town. I figured you might be missing a few things your first night, so I came straight away."

This was genuinely the best thing that had happened to me all day. A familiar face. One that still cared.

"Come in," I said. "It's absolutely freezing out there."

She stepped inside and moved toward the warmth of the fireplace, rubbing her hands together. Then she looked at me with something tender in her eyes.

"I still can't believe you're here," she said.

In this cursed little town, I had finally found something that would let me breathe...

That evening, the crackling of the fireplace filled the silence between us.

"I still can't believe you're here," Elly said softly.

I pulled my grandmother's old knitted blanket tighter around my shoulders and let out a long breath. The weight I'd been carrying since the funeral suddenly felt like something I could share. I had to be strong against the townspeople all day. But here, with Elly, I could finally let my guard down.

"I'm barely holding on, Elly," I whispered, my voice trembling. "I keep telling myself I'm fine, that I can do this, that I'm honoring her memory. But the truth is I'm scared. She was all I had. And now she's gone, and I'm in this place where everyone looks at me as if I'm cursed, as if I carry death with me."

Elly moved closer and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "You're not cursed, Eva. You're brave. You came back here knowing exactly what kind of welcome you'd get. That takes real courage."

I laughed bitterly and wiped at my eyes. "Courage or stupidity, I'm not sure which."

"Courage," she insisted. "Definitely courage."

A deep laugh burst out of me. "You know what? I think I'm actually losing my mind." I shook my head. "Since childhood I've been dreaming of a man with fire in his eyes, and I just compared him to a wolf."

Elly's expression shifted instantly. "What do you mean?"

I took a sip of my coffee. "Just before you arrived, I was getting firewood from the shed. And I swear, Elly, I saw something. A wolf. But not a normal wolf. This thing was massive, bear-sized. Reddish-brown fur. And those eyes." I paused, still feeling the weight of that gaze. "Its eyes were exactly like the man in my dreams. Glowing. Amber. It just stood there staring at me, and then it vanished."

The moment the words left my mouth, Elly went pale. She set down her cup with trembling hands, moved toward me quickly, grabbed the edge of my sweater, and pulled it aside, exposing my collarbone and upper chest.

"Hey! What are you doing, Elly?" I yelped, pulling back.

Her shoulders sagged with what looked like relief. She let go of my sweater and sat back. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I just needed to check something."

"Check what exactly?"

She bit her lip. "Do you have a fever? High fevers can cause hallucinations. I was checking if you felt hot."

I burst out laughing despite myself. "Elly, I'm a nurse. I think I'd know if I was running a fever high enough to cause hallucinations. And wouldn't checking my forehead be a little more effective than looking at my chest?"

She smiled. "You're right. Of course. That was silly of me."

But I could see it clearly. The fear still sitting in her eyes. The tension in her shoulders. She was scared of something, and it was connected to what I'd just told her.

Then she turned to me with forced cheerfulness. "Hey. Let's play a game. Scary story time. I'll go first."

I shook my head. "Seriously? Aren't we a bit old for that?"

"Come on," she insisted. "It'll be fun. Besides, you're in a creepy mountain cabin in the middle of winter. Perfect setting."

I sighed and sank deeper into the couch. "Fine. But if I have nightmares, I'm blaming you."

Elly's expression turned serious. "They say that long ago, in this valley, blood-drinking demons lived. Not metaphorical demons. Real ones. They hypnotized people, enslaved them, tortured and killed them for entertainment. The demons built their kingdom on human suffering."

Despite my sarcasm, she had my attention. "Go on."

"The witches, a sacred lineage of women with ancient magic, couldn't defeat the demons alone. So they created something new, something powerful enough to protect both themselves and humanity. They combined three elements: the soul of a demon, the body of a wolf, and a witch who willingly gave herself to complete the transformation."

I couldn't help myself. "Let me guess. In every story like this, there's always some foolish girl sacrificing herself for a man."

Elly gave me a look. I just shrugged. "What? Why is there always a woman throwing herself into danger to keep a man or some Frankenstein creature alive? It's basically sexism."

Elly rolled her eyes and continued. "The wolf-kind was born. The Börü lineage. Each wolf had a witch-woman bound to him. Connected by both a curse and a love so powerful it transcended death. Together, they overthrew the demons. Humanity was saved. The witches became the wolves' mates, and the wolves became everyone's protectors."

She paused, her voice dropping. "But then, one of the wolves' women committed betrayal."

Now she had my full attention. "I didn't expect a Lilith to come out of this story. What did they do, ostracize her? Burn her at the stake? How very progressive for enlightened supernatural beings."

"Eva, please," Elly said seriously. "The wolf's woman fell in love with a human man. But she was deceived. The man she loved was a hunter. She betrayed her own kind for him. She broke the ancient magic that bound the witches and wolves together, the midnight seal, the seal that gave the wolves their immortal forms and their ability to shift. It shattered. The wolves became trapped in their immortal wolf bodies, unable to die but unable to truly live. The witches were scorned by humanity because of the betrayal."

"And the hunter? What did he do?"

Elly's voice grew darker. "Once he got what he wanted, he and his hunter bloodline began systematically destroying the witch lineage. They slaughtered them. Hunted them down one by one. They also massacred the common people who had supported the witches and wolves. Their goal was never love. It was only power."

A chill ran through me that had nothing to do with the cold. An inexplicable sadness settled over my heart. Something in this story was wounding me in a way I couldn't understand.

"You didn't tell me this story just for fun, did you?" I asked.

Elly swallowed and nodded.

"Rose's daughter," I said slowly, the pieces clicking into place. "That's why they call me that with such hatred. Because of some old legend?"

Elly reached out and took my hand, squeezing it tight. "Eva, listen to me. People can be shallow, narrow-minded, cruel. But legends don't always lie. Promise me something. If you ever see anything that could prove this story is real, you'll come to me and ask for help."

I studied her face. Genuine fear. Genuine concern.

"Alright. I promise. But tell me one thing. Where do you fit into this story?"

"I'm a guardian," she said simply. "My family has always been guardians. We protect the ancient bloodlines, both wolf and witch. We believe in the balance they brought, the peace and harmony. We remember their sacrifice."

I wanted to dismiss all of it as the superstitious raving of a small town with too much history and not enough sense. But looking at Elly's sincere face, I understood something important. She believed it. Completely. And whether the legend was real or not, she was a real friend.

"I'm glad you're here, Elly," I said. "Even if you are a little crazy."

The tension broke into laughter. "Same to you, Eva Rose."

An hour later, Elly's taillights disappeared down the mountain road. I was alone again with the crackling fire and my swirling thoughts.

I found several bottles of my grandmother's homemade wine in the cellar and poured myself a glass. I settled into the velvet armchair by the fireplace and closed my eyes.

My grandmother always had a Turkish song she used to hum. She hummed it while hanging ornaments on the Christmas tree. While her weathered hands braided my hair. Her voice was always full of love and longing. I never knew what the words meant, but I had learned the sounds, the melody. It was hauntingly beautiful, melancholic and passionate all at once.

Now, with the wine warming my blood and the fire casting dancing shadows on the walls, I found myself murmuring those same words.

"Yar elinden ölüm, olacak benim sonum. Sonu yok bu, Aşk-ı kıyamet..."

Death by my beloved's hand will be my end.

This has no end, this love is apocalypse.

Whether you take it or throw it to the ground,

this heart yearns for you, is your servant.

Look, my pain never ends. It cannot be without you.

My voice faded into the quiet crackling of the fire. The wine weighed down my limbs and my eyelids. I didn't even try to make it to the bedroom. The velvet chair was comfortable, the fire was warm, and I was so tired.

I fell asleep.

Outside, hidden in the pitch-black darkness of the winter night, a pair of amber eyes watched the house. Eyes that held centuries of pain, centuries of longing, and perhaps love.

The wolf had heard every word of that song.

And deep within its cursed form, something ancient and powerful stirred.

The midnight seal had begun to awaken...