The door stood there, impossible and wrong.
Its surface was the same—dark wood, claw marks running deep, splinters jagged like teeth. But what made Vixen's grip on Kin tighten was the sound.
It was breathing.
Slow, heavy, human-like breaths… from the other side.
Kin's nails dug into Vixen's arm. "It's real… it's the same door from my dream."
Vixen's Alpha pheromones surged instinctively, flooding the air with a protective heat.
The lights flickered. The smell of ozone and something rotten clashed against the comforting scent he gave off.
"I'm destroying it," Vixen said, moving Kin behind him.
He grabbed the nearest thing—an iron rod from the fireplace—and swung at the door with all his strength.
The impact was deafening, but the door didn't even dent. Instead… it shuddered.
Not from the hit.
From something inside pushing back.
The breathing quickened. A faint giggle—high, feminine—slipped through the cracks.
"Vixen Seture… always the protector. Always the obstacle."
Kin's eyes widened. "It knows your name."
Vixen turned his head sharply to keep Kin behind him. "Don't answer it."
But the door… spoke again.
This time, it was Shen Seizan's voice.
"Kin… please. You trust me, don't you?"
Kin's heart lurched. His instincts screamed no, but his hands twitched toward the handle anyway.
The Alpha scent in the room thickened, almost suffocating, as Vixen stepped between Kin and the door.
"You touch that handle," he growled, "and I swear I'll tie you to me until this thing is gone."
The giggle returned, sharper now. The door began to… swell. The wood flexed outward, as if something huge was pressing against it from the other side, eager to force its way through.
The air grew colder. The lightbulb above them popped, plunging the room into darkness.
In the pitch black, Kin felt something brush his hair—long, bony fingers sliding down toward his neck.
Vixen yanked him close. His voice was a harsh whisper in Kin's ear:
"If we don't end this tonight… it will take you."
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