Chapter 20 The Forest Watches Her
The growl came first.
Low. Deep. Ancient.
It rolled through the trees like a warning carried on invisible waves, brushing the edges of Kane’s skin and sinking straight into her bones. She froze where she stood, her breath catching as every hair on her body rose in stiff alert. Beside her, Leon’s muscles locked tight, his instincts reacting before his mind had fully caught up. He moved slightly in front of her, posture shifting into a defensive stance, eyes narrowing into the shadows.
The forest was breathing again.
Not gently this time.
It breathed like a creature stirring awake.
The trees creaked, groaned, whispered among each other as if passing secrets. The air thickened with something more than cold. It pulsed with hunger. With impatience. With awareness.
Kane did not move. Her chest tightened painfully as she strained her senses.
A faint crunch of leaves echoed from the darkness to their right.
Then a soft scrape of claws from somewhere to their left.
“Kane,” Leon whispered, barely audible. “Do not panic. Stay behind me.”
She nodded, though her legs trembled. Not from fear alone. From recognition. Whatever lurked around them… whatever breathed in the shadows… it was drawn to her blood. To what had awakened inside her in the clearing.
Her ancestor had not been wrong.
They were already coming.
The growl deepened, no longer alone. More voices joined it. A chorus of predators closing in like a slow tightening trap. Kane swallowed hard, her pulse thundering in her ears.
The forest itself dimmed, as if Nightveil wished to hide whatever hunted them.
Leon shifted his weight and reached for Kane’s hand. His grip was strong, grounding her in a reality that suddenly felt fragile.
“We are leaving,” he murmured. “Quietly.”
Kane nodded again, though her gaze darted through the shadows, searching for eyes she could feel lingering there.
They stepped backward.
One slow step.
Then another.
The growls paused.
Silence spread thickly, heavy enough to strangle.
Then—A shadow leapt.
Leon reacted instantly, pushing Kane aside as a massive shape collided with him. Kane screamed as the creature slammed him to the ground. The silhouette was large and wrong. Too big for a normal wolf. Its fur bristled like quills, and its eyes glowed with a strange sickly color that made Kane’s stomach twist violently.
Leon struggled underneath it, teeth bared and hands digging into its throat as it lunged for him.
“Run!” he shouted. “Kane, run!”
She refused to run.
Her body moved before her mind could protest. She threw herself at the creature, grabbing its thick fur and yanking hard. It snarled in fury and turned on her, its jaws snapping inches from her throat. Kane stumbled back, kicking leaves beneath her boots.
Leon surged up and tackled the creature from behind, gripping its hind legs and dragging it down. It twisted violently, claws raking across his arm. Kane’s heart lurched.
No.
She would not lose him.
Not here.
“Kane, go!” Leon roared again, blood dripping freely down his skin.
But Kane’s blood was burning.
Her wolf thrashed beneath her ribs, suddenly awake in a way she had never felt before. It was not the wild, chaotic stirring she felt during danger. This was different. Clearer. Sharper. As if her wolf recognized the threat far more deeply than she did.
Her knees trembled as a surge of instinct ripped through her.
She could hear the creature’s heartbeat.
Feel its rage.
Taste its corrupted scent.
She moved.
Kane threw herself forward and grabbed a fallen branch, swinging with every ounce of strength she had. The wood cracked against the creature’s skull. It snarled and stumbled but did not fall.
Leon took advantage of the opening. He wrapped his forearm around its throat and wrenched it backward. The creature hissed, a chilling sound far too unnatural for any wolf.
Kane stared in horror.
This was no ordinary rogue.
Its shadowed form flickered. Its fur rippled unnaturally. Its eyes glowed with something tainted.
The same taint she felt earlier.
The same taint her ancestor had warned her about.
The creature lunged at Leon again, knocking him back into a tree. The impact forced a harsh grunt from his chest. Kane lifted the branch again, her arms shaking. The creature turned to her, its mouth opening in a strange, almost knowing smile.
Kane’s breath froze.
It recognized her.
As if drawn by something ancient and irresistible.
It stalked toward her slowly, each step deliberate.
She backed up until her shoulder hit a tree trunk. Her heartbeat soared.
“Kane!” Leon shouted, but pain cut his voice sharply.
She did not look at him. She could not.
The creature lowered itself, gathering energy to leap.
Her wolf surged.
Kane shut her eyes. Her breath staggered. Something burned beneath her skin. A heat so intense it felt like her bones were melting into molten fire. Her hands curled into fists. Her heart thundered once, twice, then exploded into a rhythm that did not belong to anything human.
The creature roared and leapt.
Kane’s body moved in a blur.
She dropped low, rolling across the ground with surprising speed, her senses sharper than ever before. The creature soared past her, barely missing her shoulder. Kane came up on her knees, breath heaving.
She had moved like a wolf.
Not fully.
But instinctively.
Leon stared at her with wide eyes. “Kane… what was that?”
She shook her head. “I do not know.”
But she did.
Her wolf had responded.
The creature regrouped, snarling with startled fury. It lunged again, but Kane’s body jerked to the side before her mind gave the command. She was faster now. Stronger. More aware of the air currents, of the angle of attack, of the faint tremor of the creature’s muscles before it moved.
She grabbed another branch and wedged it hard between the creature’s jaws. It snapped through the wood effortlessly, but the pause gave Leon enough time to grab a rock and slam it against the creature’s head.
The beast howled, stumbled, then crashed to the ground.
Breathing hard, Leon dragged himself closer, blood dripping from his shoulder. “Do not get near it. It is not dead.”
Kane stepped back, her chest heaving, her knuckles white. Her entire body trembled. The creature twitched, then went still for a moment.
Leon moved closer, lifting the rock again.
“Kane…” he said with great caution. “Look.”
She forced her gaze to focus.
The creature’s body… was changing.
Its limbs contorted, the fur receding. Its massive wolf shape shrank rapidly, bones cracking as they twisted into something horrifyingly familiar.
A human.
A man.
Gaunt. Ashen-skinned. Eyes still glowing faintly with that sickly taint. His chest rose and fell slowly, strained as if breathing itself was a burden.
Kane’s stomach twisted. “Leon… what happened to him?”
Leon crouched beside the man, cautious and tense. “I do not know. But he is not a rogue. Rogues do not move like that. They do not change like that. Something has twisted him.”
The man’s eyes flickered open.
Kane stumbled back involuntarily.
He stared at her with an expression that was not entirely human.
“Found…” he rasped. His voice was broken, as if torn between worlds. “I… found… you…”
Leon tensed. “Stay back.”
The man lifted a trembling hand toward Kane.
“They want… your blood…” He coughed, a dark fluid dribbling from the corner of his mouth. “The gift… inside you… they want it.”
Kane’s heart stopped.
Leon grabbed the man’s arm. “Who wants her? Who sent you?”
The man’s gaze snapped toward Leon, then back to Kane with terrifying urgency.
“He is rising…” the man breathed. “The one who hunts the ancient line. The one who consumes wolves. The one who killed…”
His eyes rolled back.
His voice dropped to a whisper.
“The mother of your blood.”
Kane felt the world collapse inward.Her vision blurred. Hands numb. Breath gone.
Leon touched her shoulder gently, grounding her. “Kane… look at me. Stay with me.”
Tears stung her eyes, unwanted and hot. “He killed her… he killed my ancestor…”
Leon held her steady as her knees buckled.
“Kane. We need to leave now. If something like that is tracking you, the pack needs to know. Adrian needs to know.”
The mention of Adrian sent a strange warmth through her, followed by a sharp ache.
She nodded numbly.
Leon stood, pulling her up with him. “We are not safe in this forest. Not tonight.”
They turned to leave the clearing, moving quickly through the dark trees. The forest watched them, the shadows shifting behind each trunk, aware and restless.
Kane clutched Leon’s arm.
“Do you think he is still alive?” she whispered.
Leon paused. “The creature?”
“No…” Her voice cracked. “The one who killed her.”
Leon did not respond for a moment. His silence said enough.
“Yes,” he murmured. “And I think he has been waiting for you.”
Kane shivered violently.
As they neared the edge of the forest, a cold wind rolled through the trees.
A whisper followed it.
Soft. Ancient. Terrifying.
“You cannot hide.”
Kane froze.
Leon grabbed her hand tightly. “Move.”
They broke into a run.
The forest roared behind them.