The Night I Met the Wolf
I had always believed there were two kinds of bad nights.
The first kind was the ordinary kind.
The kind where you spill coffee on your favorite shirt, miss an important appointment, get stuck in traffic, and crawl into bed wondering why the universe seems personally offended by your existence.
The second kind was the kind where you found yourself running through a forest in the middle of a thunderstorm while something that definitely wasn’t human chased you.
Unfortunately, tonight was the second kind.
My lungs burned as I pushed myself harder.
Rain soaked through my clothes until they clung to my skin. My hair stuck to my face, making it difficult to see, and every breath scraped against my throat.
I didn’t know where I was.
That was the problem.
I had grown up in this city.
I knew its streets.
I knew its shortcuts.
I knew which coffee shops stayed open too late and which neighborhoods I shouldn’t walk through alone after dark.
But somehow, tonight, I had ended up somewhere I’d never seen before.
And something was following me.
I glanced over my shoulder.
Nothing.
Just trees.
Dark, twisted trees stretching toward the stormy sky.
“Keep running, Avery.”
My own voice sounded strange in the darkness.
I tightened my grip around my purse.
Whatever happened, I couldn’t lose it.
Not tonight.
Not after everything I’d found inside.
A loud crack echoed behind me.
I stopped.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
For a second, I couldn’t breathe.
Then I heard it.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Crunching over wet leaves.
I turned.
Nothing.
“Okay,” I whispered. “You’re imagining things.”
Another step.
Closer.
I backed away.
“You’re definitely imagining things.”
Then came the growl.
My entire body froze.
It wasn’t like anything I’d ever heard.
It wasn’t a dog.
It wasn’t a bear.
It wasn’t even something I could explain.
It was deep.
Low.
Almost human.
Except there was something underneath it.
Something wild.
My instincts screamed at me to run.
So I did.
I didn’t think.
I didn’t look back.
I just ran.
Branches scratched my arms. Mud splashed across my shoes. My heart pounded so hard I was certain whatever was chasing me could hear it.
I stumbled down a hill.
“Ah!”
My foot slipped.
I crashed against the ground, catching myself with my hands.
Pain shot through my palms.
For one second, I just lay there.
Then I heard breathing.
Behind me.
Close.
Too close.
I pushed myself up.
And that’s when I saw them.
Two golden eyes.
They stared at me through the trees.
My blood turned cold.
The creature stepped forward.
I couldn’t see its entire body.
But I saw enough.
It was enormous.
Much too enormous.
Its shoulders were broad, its movements unnaturally smooth, and its eyes glowed like molten gold.
I screamed.
Then I ran.
I don’t know how long I ran after that.
Five minutes.
Twenty.
An hour.
It felt like forever.
The forest eventually began to thin.
Through the trees, I saw something.
Lights.
I nearly cried from relief.
A road.
A real road.
I stumbled toward it.
Then stopped.
An enormous iron gate stood in front of me.
I stared at it.
The gate was beautiful in a terrifying sort of way.
Black metal twisted into elaborate patterns, covered with thorn-like decorations.
In the center was a symbol.
A wolf’s head.
Surrounded by a crown.
I looked over my shoulder.
Nothing.
I looked back at the gate.
“Okay.”
I was talking to myself now.
That probably wasn’t a good sign.
“Let’s think.”
I looked at the massive wall surrounding the property.
There was no way around it.
Behind me was the forest.
Ahead was the gate.
I heard another branch snap.
“Nope.”
I grabbed the gate.
It swung open.
I stared.
I hadn’t pushed.
I hadn’t pulled.
It simply opened.
“That’s not creepy at all.”
I stepped through.
The gate slowly closed behind me.
I immediately regretted my decision.
But then I saw the house.
Calling it a house felt ridiculous.
It was a mansion.
No.
A castle.
Black stone walls rose toward the sky, illuminated by dozens of golden lights.
Tall windows reflected the lightning.
Two enormous towers stood on either side.
It looked like something from a gothic fairytale.
The kind where the princess never survives.
I swallowed.
“Well, Avery…”
I looked back at the forest.
“At least dying in a castle sounds fancy.”
I walked toward the front doors.
They opened before I touched them.
I froze.
Someone was standing inside.
A man.
Tall.
Very tall.
He stood at the bottom of a massive staircase, dressed entirely in black.
My first thought was that he was intimidating.
My second thought was that he was beautiful.
My third thought was that I needed to stop thinking about how beautiful the terrifying stranger was.
He had dark hair, slightly tousled, and a sharp jawline.
His eyes were dark.
Almost black.
His expression was completely unreadable.
He looked at me like I was something he hadn’t expected to find.
“Who are you?”
His voice was deep.
Calm.
Dangerously calm.
I swallowed.
“Avery.”
He waited.
I realized he wanted more.
“Avery Rose.”
His gaze moved over me.
Not in a way that felt dirty.
It was more like he was studying me.
Trying to figure out what I was.
“What are you doing here?”
“I don’t know.”
One eyebrow lifted.
“I don’t know” sounded stupid.
Especially when standing inside a stranger’s enormous mansion at midnight.
“I mean…”
I pushed wet hair away from my face.
“I wasn’t exactly planning to come here.”
“How did you get through the gate?”
“It opened.”
“It doesn’t.”
I stared at him.
“Well, it did.”
For the first time, I thought I saw the smallest flicker of amusement in his eyes.
It disappeared almost immediately.
“What were you running from?”
I hesitated.
Then I pointed toward the forest.
“Something.”
“What something?”
“I don’t know.”
His expression hardened.
“Try again.”
I crossed my arms.
“Look, I understand that this is your creepy mansion and you’re probably used to people answering your questions, but I just ran for my life through the woods, so maybe don’t interrogate me for five seconds?”
Silence.
A very long silence.
A man appeared at the top of the stairs.
He looked between us.
Then he looked at me.
Then back at the man standing in front of me.
“Sebastian?”
So that was his name.
Sebastian.
It suited him.
Dark.
Elegant.
Dangerous.
Sebastian didn’t look away from me.
“What was chasing you?”
I took a breath.
“Something with glowing eyes.”
The man behind him stiffened.
Sebastian’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
But I noticed.
“What color?”
“Gold.”
Silence.
Sebastian turned toward the other man.
“Lock down the estate.”
My stomach dropped.
“Wait.”
He looked at me.
“Why?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he turned toward the doors.
Then I heard it.
A scream.
Somewhere outside.
I jumped.
Sebastian immediately stepped in front of me.
His entire demeanor changed.
The calm man disappeared.
What replaced him was something colder.
More dangerous.
He looked like a predator.
“Stay here.”
“Where are you going?”
“Outside.”
“That’s probably a terrible idea.”
His eyes flicked toward me.
“You should take your own advice.”
I opened my mouth.
Then closed it.
Fair.
He started walking away.
Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed his sleeve.
He stopped.
I immediately regretted touching him.
His warmth traveled through the fabric.
He turned slowly.
I looked up at him.
For some reason, my heart started beating faster.
“I…”
I had no idea what I was going to say.
His gaze dropped to my lips.
Only for a second.
But I noticed.
And suddenly, I was painfully aware of how close we were.
The rain.
The thunder.
The strange mansion.
Everything seemed to disappear.
His eyes lifted back to mine.
Something flickered there.
Something I couldn’t understand.
Then he stepped away.
“Don’t leave this room.”
He walked outside.
The doors slammed behind him.
I stood there.
My heart was still racing.
“Okay,” I whispered.
I looked at the empty foyer.
“Definitely not normal.”
I turned toward the staircase.
That was when I heard footsteps.
I spun around.
Sebastian stood there.
Again.
Except…
Something was different.
His eyes.
They were glowing.
Gold.
Exactly like the creature in the forest.
My breath caught.
He noticed.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
“What are you?”
My voice barely worked.
His jaw tightened.
“Avery…”
“No.”
I stepped backward.
“Your eyes.”
He said nothing.
“They’re the same.”
“What?”
“The creature’s eyes.”
He stared at me.
I could see something fighting behind his expression.
Fear?
Anger?
No.
Something else.
He walked toward me.
I backed up.
Again.
Until my shoulders touched the wall.
He stopped inches away.
I could feel the warmth radiating from his body.
His eyes remained locked on mine.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“I know.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
His gaze moved over my face.
“You wouldn’t believe me.”
“Try me.”
For a moment, his expression softened.
Just barely.
Then he looked down.
At my hand.
At the ring.
My stomach dropped.
I had forgotten about it.
The silver ring I’d found in my purse.
Sebastian’s face went completely blank.
“Where did you get that?”
I looked down.
“I don’t know.”
His voice became colder.
“Avery.”
“I swear.”
He stepped closer.
“That ring belonged to my brother.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“My brother died three years ago.”
I stared at the ring.
Then back at Sebastian.
“I saw him.”
His entire body went still.
“What did you say?”
“The man who chased me.”
I swallowed.
“He looked like your brother.”
Sebastian’s eyes darkened.
“That’s impossible.”
“I know.”
“He’s dead.”
“I know.”
“Then you didn’t see him.”
“I know what I saw.”
My voice cracked.
For the first time, Sebastian looked genuinely shaken.
He reached for the ring.
His fingers brushed mine.
A jolt ran through me.
I gasped.
He froze.
The sensation was strange.
Warm.
Electric.
Almost like something inside my body had recognized him.
Sebastian’s eyes widened.
He looked at our hands.
Then at me.
“What?”
I whispered.
He pulled his hand away.
“Nothing.”
“That wasn’t nothing.”
He didn’t answer.
“Sebastian.”
He looked at me.
And suddenly I felt something.
Not fear.
Not exactly.
It was like a pull.
A strange invisible thread connecting us.
I took one step toward him.
He stepped back.
That surprised me.
“Why did you move away?”
His expression tightened.
“Because I should.”
“Should what?”
“Stay away from you.”
My heart skipped.
“Why?”
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then his eyes dropped to my lips again.
When he spoke, his voice was almost a whisper.
“Because every instinct I have is telling me to do the opposite.”
My breath caught.
Neither of us moved.
The air between us seemed to become heavier.
I could hear my heartbeat.
He could probably hear it too.
His gaze returned to mine.
“You’re dangerous, Avery.”
I frowned.
“I’m dangerous?”
“You have no idea.”
“Maybe you should explain.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because if I tell you the truth…”
He paused.
“…you may never look at me the same way again.”
Before I could answer, another scream echoed outside.
Sebastian immediately stepped away.
The spell between us broke.
He looked toward the doors.
Then back at me.
“Stay here.”
This time, I didn’t argue.
He disappeared into the darkness beyond the doors.
I stood alone in the enormous foyer.
My hands were shaking.
My mind was spinning.
A dead man had apparently been chasing me.
A mysterious man with golden eyes had told me I was dangerous.
And somehow, despite everything screaming inside my head that I should run…
I wanted Sebastian to come back.
I hated that.
I hated how safe I’d felt standing near him.
I hated how my body reacted whenever he looked at me.
And most of all, I hated the strange feeling that I’d known him long before tonight.
I looked down at the silver ring again.
Three words were engraved inside.
Until death claims you.
My stomach twisted.
I had seen those words before.
I remembered them from a photograph.
A photograph of Sebastian’s brother.
A photograph I’d found only hours earlier.
And suddenly, something clicked.
The man who had chased me hadn’t been trying to kill me.
He’d been trying to get the ring back.
Which meant the ring wasn’t a warning.
It was a message.
Avery Rose.
I stared at the inscription.
My hands went cold.
Because beneath the words, almost invisible against the silver, was another engraving.
A name.
Mine.
Avery Rose.
I dropped the ring.
It hit the marble floor with a tiny metallic sound.
I stared at it.
Then toward the doors where Sebastian had disappeared.
And for the first time that night, I understood something.
I hadn’t accidentally found the Blackthorn estate.
I had been brought here.
Someone had planned this.
Someone had known exactly where I would end up.
And whatever was waiting for me inside this mansion…
It had been waiting a very long time.
Outside, a wolf howled.
The sound echoed through the forest.
Then another answered.
Then another.
I looked toward the dark windows.
My heart pounded.
And somewhere deep inside me, something answered back.
