Chapter Four: Teeth in the Dark

The woods were too quiet.

Elara had lived near the forest long enough to know the difference between peaceful silence and the kind that made your skin prickle. Tonight, the snow muffled every sound — no owls, no shifting branches, no wind.

And no wolf.

Not Kael.

Something felt… wrong.

She threw on her coat and boots, heart hammering, sketchbook still clutched in her hand like a charm. Her breath puffed in pale clouds as she stepped off the porch. She didn’t know what she was doing — just that staying inside felt worse.

The moon hung heavy above the treetops. Almost full now. The light turned the snow to silver, casting long shadows that danced with her every step.

She whispered his name again, half-expecting the trees to echo it.

“Kael…”

Nothing.

She reached the edge of the forest — the spot where he always watched from — and paused. Tracks dotted the snow. Not just paw prints, but others. Larger. Deeper. Clawed.

She crouched down, touched the edge of one. It was fresh.

Too fresh.

A low growl ripped through the night behind her.

She spun around.

It wasn’t Kael.

A second wolf — bigger, blacker than shadow, with matted fur and eyes like burning coal — stood between her and the cabin. Its lips peeled back in a snarl, fangs gleaming. It stepped forward, slow and deliberate, blocking her path back to safety.

Her voice caught. She took a step back, then another, but tripped over a branch hidden beneath the snow and fell hard.

The beast lunged.

A silver blur slammed into it mid-air.

Kael.

The two wolves collided with a thunderous snarl, rolling through the snow, a flurry of teeth and fury. Elara scrambled backward, breath coming in short gasps. Her sketchbook fell from her hand and landed open in the snow beside her, pages fluttering wildly.

Kael’s growls were deeper now — not like an animal, but like something ancient and angry. The dark wolf snapped at him, tore at his flank, but Kael was faster, more precise. His jaws locked around the other’s neck, forcing it to the ground.

And then — in a heartbeat — it was over.

The black wolf broke free and vanished into the trees with a pained yelp, retreating into the dark.

Kael didn’t follow.

He turned to her.

Blood stained his fur. A deep gash cut along his side, his breathing ragged. But his eyes — those golden, human eyes — were fixed on hers. Not just watching. Waiting.

Elara slowly stood.

Her whole body trembled, not from cold, but from the weight of what she’d just seen.

“You saved me,” she whispered.

Kael limped closer, step by slow step, until he was within reach. She extended her hand — hesitantly, reverently — and for the first time, he let her touch him.

His fur was warm. Solid. Real.

“Kael,” she said again, voice steadier now. “Who are you?”

He didn’t answer, of course. But his gaze said enough.

You already know.

And somewhere deep in her bones… she did.

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