Lu Chen's POV
The pain doesn't reach me until I'm already inside the hospital.
The doors slide open, and the scent of antiseptic wraps around me like a boundary line. I cross it willingly. This place has rules. This place keeps monsters quiet.
I come here when the wolf gets loud.
Blood dots the floor behind me. I don't look back. I never do.
"Trauma incoming!"
Hands reach out. Voices blur. I let them move me, strip away fabric, and press cold metal against my back.
Then I hear him.
"You again."Not irritation. Not anger.
Recognition.
Xuyan.
The wolf reacts before I do.
It leans toward his voice, alert and attentive, like it's found something familiar. Something safe.
That alone should terrify me.
I turn my head. He's already there, gloves on, eyes sharp, jaw tight. He looks like he's been awake too long. Like he hasn't slept properly since the last time I disappeared.
He presses gauze to my side.
The pain hits—but softer than it should.
The wolf exhales.
"Don't," he mutters, like a warning meant for himself. "You're bleeding again."
"I know."
It's not an apology. It's not reassurance.
But his hands linger anyway.That's the problem.
Every time Xuyan touches me, the world narrows. The city fades. The noise in my head drops to a low, manageable hum. The wolf settles—not asleep, but contained.
I've killed men under the moon without hesitation.Yet here, under fluorescent lights, I find myself holding still just because he asked.
Xuyan doesn't notice what he's doing to me.What he notices is worse.
His touch grounds me too quickly. My heartbeat slows too fast. My body responds like it recognizes him.
Like it's been waiting.
"Your'e weird," he says suddenly, eyes narrowing. "You always have."
The wolf bristles.I keep my face blank.
"Lucky."
He snorts. "Yeah. Sure."
But his grip tightens—not rough, just… present. As if letting go would mean something slipping through his fingers.
That thought shouldn't matter to me.
It does.
Hours pass. The night thins. Dawn creeps in.When I wake again, the wolf is restless.Dangerously so.
Xuyan is asleep in the chair beside me, arms crossed, head tilted forward. He stayed. Again.
My chest tightens—not pain, not injury, but something heavier. Something inconvenient.
I sit up slowly.
I don't want the wolf to learn his scent too well. I don't want my instincts to start calling this place home.
I removed the IV.No sound. No disruption.
Before I leave, I stop beside him.
The wolf presses close to the surface, curious. Protective.Claiming.
"No," I whispered under my breath.This isn't his.
Xuyan shifts in his sleep, brows knitting together, like he can feel me pulling away.That does something to me.
Something dangerous.
I don't understand why my body relaxes around him. Why my mind clears. Why the thought of hurting him feels impossible.I only know this—
If I stay, the wolf will start to believe he belongs to us.So I leave.
By the time the sun rises, I'm already gone— back into the city, back into the dark, back to a life that keeps its distance.
But tonight, when the moon rises again,
I'll feel the pull.
And I know exactly who it will lead me back to.