CHAPTER TWO — SILVER EYES
The house looked exactly the same as the day I left it four years ago like a photograph trapped in time, untouched, unchanged, and unwilling to acknowledge that I had grown past it.
Three stories of sharp white siding and black shutters rose in front of me, immaculate as ever. Flower boxes, overflowing with pastel roses, framed the windows. My mother's pride. Her hobby. Her obsession. Even the porch railing gleamed, freshly painted, as if she'd prepared the house itself for my return.
A giant WELCOME HOME ARIA banner hung over the entrance, the letters glittering faintly in the fading light. It was too big. Too cheerful. Too fake.
Typical Mom.
I swallowed hard and stepped toward the porch, my bag feeling suddenly heavier. Tasha walked ahead of me, humming under her breath, completely unaware of the violent storm swirling inside me.
Or maybe she was aware just trying to pretend everything was fine.
Too bad the universe didn't cooperate with delusion.
Because the moment my foot touched the first porch step, a chill swept over my skin. My wolf snapped her head toward the tree line.
And that was when I saw them.
Silver eyes.
Not reflective. Not animalistic.
Sentient.
Watching me from the shadows.
My breath froze halfway in my throat. A shiver ran straight down my spine so violently that I had to grip the railing to steady myself.
"Aria?" Tasha's voice drifted from the doorway. "Are you coming?"
The silver eyes blinked slowly.
Like whoever was watching me had all the time in the world.
Then they disappeared into the dark.
I forced a breath into my lungs.
Get it together.
You're just on edge because you're home. That's all this is.
But my wolf disagreed. She prowled beneath my skin, pacing in sharp, restless circles, every sense on high alert.
Not imagination.
Not nerves.
Mate. Close.
"Yeah," I croaked. "I'm coming."
I rushed into the house before those eyes could appear again.
Inside, everything smelled like memory.
Warm spices. Fresh bread. Lemon polish. A hint of lavender from the diffuser my mother always kept on the entry table.
But beneath all of that was an undercurrent I hadn't expected:
Fear.
Not mine.
Mom's.
Just faint enough that only a wolf would notice. Something was off in this house, behind the perfect decoration and forced perfection.
"Sit," Mom said quickly as she swooped into the room like a well-dressed hawk. Her blonde hair was pinned in its signature twist, her lipstick a flawless cherry-red. "Dinner is almost ready. You must be starving."
I wasn't. Food was the last thing on my mind.
"Hey, Mom." My voice came out stiff.
She kissed my cheek barely. More like her lips brushed the air near my skin. "You lost weight. Too much weight. Do they not feed students at that university?"
"I'm fine."
"You're pale."
"I flew across the country."
She tsked. "Excuses."
Tasha shot me a sympathetic smile. She'd grown used to translating Mom-speak over the years.
Mom moved around me, adjusting coasters, straightening frames, smoothing pillows that didn't need smoothing. Anxiety wrapped around her like a tight shawl.
Which was weird enough to make me pause.
My mother was not an anxious woman. She was iron wrapped in pearls.
What was she worried about?
Before I could ask, the doorbell rang.
"That'll be Owen," Tasha said brightly and hurried off.
Wonderful.
Declan's Beta. His second-in-command. His old sidekick in tormenting me during school.
My stomach twisted.
Dinner would be torture.
Sure enough, the moment we sat at the table, every muscle in my body reached new levels of tension. Mom launched into polished chatter about pack events, upcoming ceremonies, floral arrangements for the Alpha gala.
Tasha and Owen kept giving each other googly-eyed looks that made my chest ache with something I refused to name.
I barely spoke.
I ate even less.
Because the whole time, the pull in my chest grew sharper. Stronger. More insistent.
Like a string tugged through my ribs, pulling me toward something or someone that I wasn't ready to face.
"So," Owen said, clearing his throat, "Alpha Marcus wants to meet with you tomorrow morning."
My fork paused mid-air.
"Why?"
"It's protocol," he said. "With the succession cycle, the Alpha is confirming all pack member statuses. Anyone returning for the ceremonies has to check in."
"Since when?"
"Since things got… complicated," Owen said carefully.
Mom shot him a warning look.
Complicated how?
But I didn't ask. I wasn't giving Mom the satisfaction of thinking I cared.
"I'll be there," I said.
"Do you need a ride?" Owen offered.
"No."
"Aria" Mom began.
"I'll walk."
Mom's lips tightened. "Walking through the woods alone after dark is not wise right now."
Right now.
Those words echoed through the back of my mind.
"What's going on?" I asked slowly. "Why would it be dangerous?"
Nobody answered.
Tasha fidgeted with her napkin. Mom stabbed a carrot like it had insulted her. Owen suddenly found the tablecloth extremely interesting.
Something was happening in Blackwood Ridge.
Something they weren't saying.
And that something had teeth.
Dinner dragged on for what felt like hours, though the clock insisted it was only forty minutes. When it was finally over, I excused myself as politely as I could and headed upstairs to my room.
It was like stepping into a time capsule.
Same pale-green walls.
Same white furniture.
Same photos from Ridge Academy.
Same neatly folded blankets Mom insisted I use.
She hadn't changed a thing.
Not even after four years.
Not even after I left without looking back.
The thought should've comforted me. Instead, it felt like a cage.
Too small. Too familiar. Too suffocating.
I needed air.
I needed space.
I needed out.
My wolf howled the second my hand touched my running shoes.
Run. Now.
I changed into leggings and a hoodie, tied my hair back, and went downstairs.
"I'm going for a run," I called through the living room.
Mom appeared in the kitchen doorway with a dish towel. "It's almost dark."
"So?"
"So it's not safe."
"For who?"
Her jaw clenched. She hesitated. Actually hesitated. "Just… stay on the trail."
That was not the answer I expected.
I nodded once, then stepped outside before she could stop me.
The forest swallowed me whole within minutes.
The moment the first tree canopy closed overhead, my wolf surged up, pushing hard, demanding I let go.
So I did.
Bones shifted.
Fur erupted.
The world sharpened.
I landed on four paws, breathed in the cool night air, and took off.
Running felt like freedom. The wind whipped through my fur. The earth thudded beneath my pads. The scents of pine and moss and damp leaves filled my nose.
This forest had shaped me.
Held me.
Hid me.
And betrayed me.
But tonight, as I ran deeper and deeper into the dark, something new stirred in the air
A scent.
It hit me so strongly I stumbled.
Pine smoke.
Winter frost.
Wild storms.
My wolf's heart slammed against her ribs.
Mate. Mate. Mate.
She pushed forward, accelerating before I could stop her.
"Wait stop "
But wolves didn't obey human logic. Instinct ruled everything.
And instinct demanded we find him.
A low growl drifted through the trees.
Deep.
Commanding.
Alpha.
I froze.
Branches parted across the clearing.
A massive black wolf stepped out.
His fur was so dark it swallowed the moonlight. His shoulders were broad, easily double the width of mine. Muscles rippled beneath his coat with every calculated step.
But it was his eyes the impossible silver of them that locked me in place.
Silver eyes I had seen every day for twelve miserable years.
Silver eyes I knew even in nightmares.
Silver eyes that were now focused on me like I was the only thing that existed in the world.
Declan.
My wolf whimpered, tail lowering instinctively.
Mate.
I tried to step back. To break the gaze. To run.
But I couldn't move.
He approached slowly, never breaking eye contact.
Predatory.
Powerful.
Impossible.
He circled me once, his scent flooding my senses, overwhelming me. Every nerve lit up at once. My wolf pressed her nose against the ground, her whole body trembling.
This close, I could feel it.
The bond.
The invisible thread tying us together.
It tightened, pulling hard enough to hurt.
Declan growled softly a sound of recognition. Of possession.
He nudged my neck. An intimate gesture. A mate's gesture.
I jerked away, snapping my jaws, warning him back.
His eyes flashed annoyance, surprise, something else.
He growled deeper this time. A command.
Submit.
Like hell.
I pivoted sharply and bolted into the woods.
Behind me, an enraged roar shook the trees.
He gave chase.
I ran faster than I ever had. My paws tore across familiar paths, leapt over roots, dodged trunks, but he was gaining. I could feel the vibrations of his stride through the soil.
Alpha wolves were powerful enough.
Mated Alpha wolves?
Unstoppable.
He closed the distance in seconds.
His weight slammed into me from behind.
We tumbled. Rolled.
I shifted mid-fall, crashing onto the ground in human form. Dirt scraped my knees, branches tore at my arms, but I scrambled to my feet.
Declan shifted too.
And suddenly, he wasn't a wolf.
He was a man.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. All carved lines and coiled strength. His black hair was tousled, his chest bare, his breath ragged.
And his eyes those silver eyes were full of something terrifying.
Recognition.
Claim.
Need.
"Aria," he breathed, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "It's you."
My heart stopped.
He took one step toward me.
I took one step back.
"No," I whispered. "No. Stay away."
He didn't stop.
I turned
And I ran.
Deeper into the forest.
Away from him.
Away from the truth clawing at my insides.
Declan Storm was my mate.
And I had never been in more danger.
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