Chapter 112 Chapter 112

Chapter 112 Chapter 112
The drive back to the pack house was a silent, suffocating affair. The heavy black SUV cut through the sheets of late-afternoon rain, the wipers slapping against the windshield in a relentless, hypnotic rhythm. Kai drove with his knuckles white against the steering wheel, his golden eyes constantly darting to the rearview mirror. Koda sat in the passenger seat, staring blankly out at the blurred grey trees of the territory.

In the back, Harper sat pressed against the door, her eyes fixed on the window, though she wasn't looking at the scenery. She was hyper-aware of the freezing draft radiating from the center seat, where The One sat with his legs crossed, entirely unbothered by the cramped human vehicle. He spent the entire ride staring at the side of Harper's face, his dark, possessive gaze a constant, invisible weight pressing against her skin.

When the car finally sputtered to a halt in the grand driveway of the Blackwood mansion, the three teenagers moved quickly, eager to escape the pressurized cabin. They bolted up the stone steps under the shelter of the porch, the heavy oak doors swinging open before they could even reach for the iron handle.

Samantha stood in the foyer, a warm, floral apron tied over her high-collared dress. The frantic terror from breakfast had been carefully tucked away, replaced by the practiced, soothing demeanor of a pack mother trying to keep her family from dissolving into panic.

"Oh, thank goodness you're all back," Samantha said, her voice echoing in the grand, high-ceilinged hallway. She managed a weak, welcoming smile as the kids shook the rain from their blazers. "The storm is getting dreadful out there. Go on into the dining room—I just finished making a fresh lunch. Chicken, roasted potatoes, gravy... everything is still piping hot."

Kai dropped his heavy backpack onto the foyer bench, his chest heaving as his werewolf senses immediately swept the ground floor. The house felt strangely quiet. The oppressive, booming authority that usually saturated the very walls of the mansion was entirely missing.

"Where’s Alpha?" Kai asked, his voice low, his golden eyes scanning the empty archways leading to the study. "Where's Dad?"

Samantha’s smile faltered for a fraction of a second, her fingers twisting the fabric of her apron. "Your father... isn't around right now, Kai. He had some urgent pack business to attend to across the eastern border. He left about an hour ago."

Harper and Koda exchanged a sharp, knowing look. Alpha Marcus hadn't left for pack business. After witnessing the entity's bizarre, possessive attachment to Harper at the breakfast table, the old Alpha had undoubtedly scrambled out of the house to consult the ancient texts, or worse, to gather the neighboring elders to forge a new trap. He was running scared, leaving his children behind as an unintended buffer.

"Great," Koda muttered under his breath, a bitter edge to his voice. "Classic."

"Well, don't let it spoil the food," Samantha urged quickly, trying to steer the conversation away from the missing Alpha. She waved her hand toward the dining room. "Go on, all of you. Go eat."

Kai, Koda, and Harper turned toward the dining room archway, their bodies moving instinctively toward the scent of roasted meat. But as they stepped forward, they realized The One hadn't moved from the center of the foyer. He stood beneath the grand crystal chandelier, his stark white hair glowing against the dark wood paneling, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched them with a look of detached, superior amusement.

Samantha paused, her eyes lingering on the pale entity. She swallowed hard, her hand instinctively rising to touch the high collar hiding the faint red marks on her throat from the night before. She took a shuddering breath, forcing herself to maintain her position.

"You too," Samantha said, her voice trembling slightly but remaining remarkably steady as she looked directly at the ancient demon. "You are included."

The One slowly tilted his head, his bottomless black eyes narrowing as a low, amused rumble vibrated deep in his chest. He took a single, fluid step toward her, the temperature in the foyer dropping instantly, turning Samantha’s breath into a faint white mist.

"Really?" The One chuckled, a dark, jagged sound that sent a visible shiver down her spine. He leaned in just close enough for her to smell the graveyard lilies and cold static humming off his clothes. "After I almost snapped your neck last night, woman? You are inviting the monster to your table?"

Samantha didn't back away this time. Her maternal instincts, forged through years of managing a volatile werewolf pack, anchored her feet to the floor. She looked up into the black void of his gaze, her expression hardening with a quiet, fierce resolve.

"Yes," Samantha told him, her voice firming up. "But never do that again."

The One blinked. For the second time that day, a human's response had completely defied his ancient expectations. First Koda with his dry protein bar and the word brother, and now this woman, standing in her kitchen apron, daring to set ground rules for an entity that had swallowed kingdoms.

The dangerous flare in his dark eyes slowly settled, replaced once more by that sharp, intrigued smirk.

"Okay," he said smoothly.

The dining room table was laden with food—massive porcelain platters heaped with golden-brown roasted chicken, bowls of steaming mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables, and a rich, dark gravy boat that smelled of rosemary and garlic.

The exact second the group sat down, any semblance of civilized high school behavior completely vanished.

The One didn't wait for plates to be passed. He didn't use tongs, a fork, or a napkin. He simply reached across the table with a pale, lightning-fast hand, grabbed an entire roasted chicken breast directly off the serving platter, and shoved the whole thing into his mouth.

Kai, Koda, and Harper all froze, their silverware suspended in mid-air as they stared at him in absolute, wide-eyed disbelief.

The entity chewed aggressively, his sharp teeth tearing through the meat with a terrifying, primal efficiency. He didn't look messy; the grease didn't even seem to dare stain his pale skin or his white shirt. He swallowed hard, let out a satisfied grunt, and immediately reached out his other hand, scooping a massive fistful of mashed potatoes directly from the bowl and shoving it into his mouth.

"Dude," Kai said, his jaw hanging open as he watched a third of the lunch disappear in a matter of five seconds. "You must be really starving."

"Ten years in a spiritual void without a tongue does things to an appetite, werewolf," The One muttered around a mouthful of roasted potatoes, his voice muffled but still carries that chilling, resonant echo. He swallowed, his eyes lighting up as his gaze landed on the remaining pieces of chicken. "This is a thousand times better than that cardboard dirt your brother tried to poison me with in the gymnasium."

Koda let out a short, quiet laugh, though he quickly masked it by taking a sip of his water. Harper just sighed, leaning her head on her hand as she watched the ancient entity completely dismantle Samantha's hard work. It was surreal—one night he was a terrifying, toxic predator invading her mind, and the next, he was acting like a feral teenager who had discovered fast food for the first time.

The One’s pale hand shot out again, his fingers targeting the largest, juiciest chicken drumstick left on the central platter.

But he didn't get it.

Slap.

A tan, calloused hand violently shot across the table, Koda’s fingers wrapping firmly around the entity's pale wrist, stopping his hand exactly two inches above the meat. Koda’s golden werewolf eyes flared to life, his jaw clenched as he used his enhanced strength to lock the entity's arm in place.

The One froze. The temperature in the dining room plummeted to absolute zero in a fraction of a millisecond. The steam rising from the gravy turned to ice, and the glass windows of the dining room began to crackle with frost. The black voids of his eyes focused entirely on Koda’s face, a volatile, murderous promise swirling in the dark.

"Won't let you get into that one," Koda said, his voice dropping into a low, competitive wolf growl. He didn't back down, his grip on the entity's wrist tightening like a band of iron. "You've already eaten half the platter, man. Kai and I just spent two hours sprinting in the rain for basketball drills. You're not hogging the protein."

Kai’s eyes went wide, his fork clattering against his plate. "Koda, are you insane?! Let go of his wrist!"

Harper’s heart leaped into her throat, her body tensing as she prepared for the dining room to explode into a bloodbath. She looked at The One, expecting the black smoke to pour out, expecting him to rip Koda's arm off for the disrespect.

Instead, The One just stared at Koda. He looked at the werewolf's firm grip on his wrist, then looked up at Koda's stubborn, golden gaze. The intense, murderous aura around the entity suddenly stalled, shifting into a strange, twisted look of pure amusement.

"You have a lot of nerve for a vessel," The One murmured, his voice a dangerous, quiet purr.

"And you have no manners for an ancient god," Koda countered, a small, reckless smirk touching his lips as he slowly released his grip, leaning back in his chair. "Share the food, brother."

The One looked down at his own wrist, then back at the chicken. The frost on the windows slowly melted back into water droplets. With a dramatic, heavy sigh, the entity used two fingers to slide the platter exactly three inches toward Koda's side of the table.

"Fine," The One muttered, crossing his arms and looking away like an annoyed child. "Take the burnt bird. It lacks flavor anyway."

Harper let out a long, ragged breath she hadn't realized she was holding, her shoulders slumping in deep relief. She looked across the table at Koda, completely amazed by how her brother was managing to handle the monster. He wasn't fighting him with runes or weapons; he was treating him like an annoying, arrogant older brother—and somehow, it was working.

By the time lunch was over, the table looked like a battlefield. The platters were entirely cleared, the bowls scraped clean, and the kitchen was quiet save for the steady hum of the rain outside. Kai and Koda had retreated upstairs to change out of their damp uniforms, leaving Harper alone at the long table.

The One remained in his seat, leaning back with his arms draped over the structural carved wood of the chair. His dark eyes were fixed on Harper, the playful, chaotic energy from lunch completely vanishing, replaced by that heavy, suffocating intensity that always made her breath catch.

"Your father is a coward," he said smoothly, his voice cutting through the quiet room like a knife.

Harper didn't look up from her empty plate. "I know."

"He thinks he can hide behind the borders," The One continued, a low, possessive chuckle vibrating in his throat. He shifted, his physical presence suddenly looming closer even though he hadn't moved his chair. "He thinks that if he gathers enough old men and dusty books, he can put the chains back on me. He doesn't understand that the only thing keeping me from tearing this house down... is you."

Harper finally raised her head, her green eyes locking onto his bottomless black gaze. She felt the toxic, magnetic pull of his power slamming into her defenses, trying to unravel her mind just like he had in the dark of her bedroom.

"Don't use me as an excuse to threaten my family," she said, her voice sharp despite the tremble deep in her chest.

The One reached across the table, his long, pale fingers gently brushing against the back of her hand. The cold static of his touch sent a sharp, forbidden jolt of electricity straight up her arm, making her heart hammer violently against her ribs.

"It's not an excuse, darling. It's a fact," he whispered, his features twisting into a wicked, dark smirk that promised absolute ruin to anyone who stood in his way. "They can run, they can plot, they can play their little wolf games. But as long as you are in this house, I am the only god this pack answers to. Remember that."

Before she could pull her hand away, the heavy double doors of the foyer creaked open again, signaling that the storm outside was only getting started, and the fragile peace they had built at the table was bound to break sooner rather than later.