CHAPTER 113:The Scream in the Woods
ADAM
The buzz of the city faded the farther I walked into the woods. Streetlights disappeared behind me, swallowed by the towering trees and the quiet hum of the night. Crickets sang, owls called but none of it bothered me. Darkness never did. It lived inside me.
A thin breeze passed, brushing against my jacket as if reminding me I wasn’t alone. I sighed and shoved my hands deeper into my pockets.
Selena.
Her name floated up again, uninvited.
Damn it, I muttered under my breath.
“She chose your cousin over you,” I snapped at myself.
“Let her go.”
But the ache still lingered raw, bitter, and unwanted.
I told you, my wolf growled inside me. We’re here to forget her. Stop dragging her into our thoughts.
I clenched my jaw. He was right. She wasn’t worth the pain. Besides, she wasn’t even my mate. And the one who was? I’d rejected her without blinking.
Because she chose them my brothers over me.
The human world was supposed to be an escape. A place to breathe. A place without betrayal. My father had made it easier, handing me the key to his hidden house, tucked away far from curious eyes.
A place to hide.
I hadn't known he visited the human realm so often, but now I understood why. Humans had a way of making you forget the weight of everything you carried.
But they were dangerous too in a different kind of way. Not with claws or teeth, but with questions and cameras and their insatiable hunger for knowledge. If they ever found out what I really was, they’d strap me to a cold steel table and cut me open just to see what made me tick.
No. I wouldn’t let that happen. I might be fast, but they had machines that could bring down giants.
Leaves crunched beneath my boots as I walked deeper into the woods, headed toward home. The shadows thickened. No moon tonight. Still, I didn’t need light to see. The darkness wrapped around me like an old friend.
Then I heard it.
A scream.
High-pitched. Frantic. Human.
I stopped. Every muscle in my body tensed. The sound cut through the silence like a blade. I could hear the terror in her voice. Desperate. Repeated.
Don’t get involved, I told myself.
You’re not here for them. They’re not your responsibility.
But it came again sharper this time.
A girl. Alone. Crying for help.
Let it go, Adam. Humans live. They die. Their lives are brief candles flickering in the wind. I took a step back.
We’re not monsters, Zane, my wolf, whispered. Go back. You know you can’t just leave her.
“She’s not my pack,” I hissed.
But she’s still a girl. And we’re still protectors.
I cursed under my breath. “Fine,” I growled. “One time. That’s it.”
I shifted mid-run, paws hitting the earth as I tore through the trees. The wind rushed past me, twigs snapping, the forest blurring into streaks of green and black. I reached the clearing and froze.
Four men.
Their laughter was jagged, teeth-baring. One had the girl pinned by her arms, his fingers bruising her skin. The others circled like wolves, hungry and high on power. Her shirt was torn down the seam, her knees dirt-smeared, and her mascara had bled into her cheeks. She trembled, not just from cold—this was fear that lived in the bones.
Something snapped in me.
My pulse thundered. My vision narrowed.
Don’t get involved.
My father’s voice coiled through me like a leash. Their world isn't yours. Their pain isn't your burden.
But the girl’s wide, wet eyes locked with mine through the dark.
Too late.
I stepped out of the shadows, boots crunching dead leaves.
One of them turned. “Well, well,” he drawled, lips twisting. “Didn’t know we invited company. You looking to share?”
The others laughed like it was all some dirty joke.
I didn’t smile. “Let her go.”
Another one stepped forward, cocky. “Or what? You gonna cry, little man?”
I tilted my head, let my hands hang loose at my sides. “Try me.”
Knives flashed cheap steel glinting in the moonlight.
They lunged.
I moved.
The first guy didn’t even register my fist before it caved into his jaw. He flew backwards like dead weight, spine cracking against a tree. The second had time to gasp before I drove a punch into his ribs, lifting him clean off his feet. He collapsed, wheezing.
The last two froze.
I let them see.
Golden light flared in my eyes. My bones shifted just enough. Claws glinted. My growl peeled through the trees like thunder.
They screamed and stumbled into the dark, tripping over their own feet as they vanished between the trees.
Silence.
Except for her breathing.
I turned.
The girl lay in the dirt, curled into herself, eyes fixed on me like I was the worst kind of nightmare. Her chest rose and fell too fast. Her lip was split, trembling.
I crouched beside her, softening my voice. “You’re safe. They’re gone.”
She blinked up at me, like she didn’t know whether to cry or run.
Then her gaze drifted to my arm. Hesitantly, she reached out fingertips brushing over my skin.
“You don’t look strong,” she said, voice hoarse. “You look… normal.”
I blinked.
That was her thank you?
I sighed and looked away, already feeling the headache coming.
This was going to be a mess. Best to end it now—clean.
I met her eyes. “You were never here. You didn’t see me. When you wake up, you’ll be back in your room. This never happened.”
Power trickled through the words, subtle but strong.
She stared.
Then her hand shot up and slapped me hard.
The crack echoed.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she snapped, pushing to her feet on shaky legs. “You sound just as messed up as them!”
My face stung.
Stung.
That shouldn’t happen.
She’d hit me.
And it hurt.
I stared at her, everything inside me going still.
Humans couldn’t hurt me.
And they sure as hell couldn’t resist a memory spell.
But she had.
She was still staring angry, exhausted, and somehow... unaffected.
“What… are you?” I whispered, more to myself than her.
And for the first time in my life
I had no idea what I was dealing with.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
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