Chapter 44: The Wild Between Us

Chapter 44: The Wild Between Us

Alex’s POV

The forest swallowed us whole, the air was colder out here than I remembered.
Every breath burned in my chest, every sound felt sharper. The chirp of crickets. The whisper of leaves. The heartbeat of the girl walking just behind me.

Ella; The moonlight spilled through the trees in fragments, painting her face in silver. She didn’t complain, not once, even when her boots sank into mud or when branches tore at her cloak.
She was trembling, though. I could hear it in the way she breathed.

“We’ll stop soon,” I said, keeping my voice low.

She nodded, but her gaze darted around like she expected Darius to step out of the dark.
I didn’t blame her. I half-expected it too.

Every shadow looked like him.
Every sound felt like a memory of his voice; mocking, cold, still echoing in my head from that last fight.

“You’re thinking about him,” Ella whispered.

I didn’t answer.

She stepped beside me, her shoulder brushing mine. “You don’t have to hide it, Alex. I know what he did.”

My jaw clenched. “You don’t know half of it.”

“Then tell me.”

I stopped walking. The forest quieted with me. Only the wind dared to move.

She looked up at me with wide eyes, glowing faintly blue under the moonlight. The mark of her wolf shimmered just beneath the surface. She didn’t even realize how strong she looked like that.
I wanted to tell her everything. I wanted to bury it. Both things at once.

“He killed my parents,” I said finally.

Her breath caught. “Alex…”

“He didn’t just kill them.” My voice cracked on the edges of the memory. “He made me watch. Said it was justice for a sin my father didn’t commit. Said it was the Moon’s will.”
I laughed bitterly, shaking my head. “The Moon’s will. That bastard hides behind faith like it can cleanse the blood from his hands.”

Ella’s hand rose slowly, hesitantly, until it brushed my arm. “You were just a boy.”

“I was twelve,” I muttered. “Old enough to remember every sound. Every scream. Old enough to promise I’d end him one day.”

The silence that followed was thick, almost suffocating.
She didn’t say anything more. She just stood there, eyes glistening, her hand still resting against my arm.

For the first time, I didn’t pull away.
A cold wind cut through the trees, scattering leaves. I turned away before she could see too much. “We should move. There’s a cave a few miles ahead. We can rest there before dawn.”

We walked again. I could feel her watching me from time to time, but she didn’t speak. Maybe she understood that sometimes silence was the only way to survive what words couldn’t fix.

By the time we reached the cave, the forest had grown darker, the stars faint behind the storm clouds. I checked the perimeter twice before motioning her inside.
The space was small but dry, with just enough room for the two of us. She sank onto the stone floor, exhaustion finally catching up to her.

I built a small fire, just enough for warmth, no smoke.
The flicker of the flames lit her face, chasing away the shadows. She looked fragile again, but not weak. There was a kind of quiet courage in her, the kind that didn’t need to shout.

“Are you sure they won’t track us?” she asked softly.

“They’ll try.” I sat across from her, keeping my eyes on the fire. “But the forest bends to me. My wolf knows these lands. Darius trained me here once.”

That earned a faint, bitter smile. “So you’re using his lessons against him.”

“Damn right I am.”

She leaned back against the wall, pulling her cloak tighter. “You hate him,” she said quietly. “But I think he hates you more.”

I looked up at her. “Why’s that?”

“Because you’re everything he can’t control.”

Her words hit deeper than they should’ve. I turned back to the fire before she could see the way they affected me. “Control is all he’s ever cared about.”

“And yet you walked away.”

“No,” I said quietly. “I survived. There’s a difference.”

The fire popped. Silence fell again; comfortable this time. I listened to her breathing slowly. It was steady and soft
She was falling asleep.

I should’ve stayed awake and stood guard like I promised myself I would. But my wolf had other ideas. He was restless, pacing beneath my skin, drawn to her warmth. Her scent.
The bond between us was growing stronger, deeper. Dangerous.

I shifted slightly closer to the fire, trying to keep distance, but her voice came, barely a whisper through half-sleep.
“Alex?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you ever think…” She paused, her words slurring from exhaustion. “If things were different… if I wasn’t pretending to be her… would you still care?”

I froze.
Her eyes stayed closed, her lashes trembling.

The answer was already burning in my chest, but saying it aloud would make it real. Dangerous. Irreversible.

“Yes,” I said finally, so quietly it barely left my lips. “Maybe even more.”

She didn’t reply.
Maybe she didn’t hear.
Maybe she did.

Either way, I sat there long after she fell asleep, watching the fire fade to embers. The storm outside broke at last, rain whispering through the trees.

And for the first time in years, I felt something like peace.
Not because we were safe.
But because, for now, she was beside me and Darius was far, far away, Or so I thought.

Because just before dawn, a howl split the forest.
Not a wild one, A warning.

Darius had found our trail.