Chapter 4

Aurora’s pov

By the time Anna and I returned to Aunt Jenna’s home, my body was still tense, and my cheeks burned with shame. All my thoughts had been circling back towards the strange twins. their striking presence, their contrasting personalities, their arrogance, like i was air, and, most of all, my own reaction. I had acted like a fool.

How could I lose my composure so completely? Like a love struck idiot. If my then old etiquette teacher, Miss Eleanor, should hear how I performed, she would faint from embarrassment.

I sighed, pressing a hand to my temple as we walked down the gradual, lonely, dirty path. Aunty Jenna's house was located a little far from civilization. At first, I had thought it to be a bad thing, but seeing the unwelcoming attitude of the town folks. I was fortunate to live away from their criticizing eyes. 

I glanced at Anna, who seemed just as shakened as I felt, though she was better at masking it. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, and her hands gripped the basket tightly, or what remained of the basket. 

As we neared the cottage, I spotted Aunt Jenna. She looked upset, pacing outside, with her hands folded. She looked up at us with wide eyes, relief washing over her face like a flood.

“You’re finally back,thank goodness” she said, hurrying toward me. “Aurora, are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” I replied, though I could feel the tremor in my voice. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Aunt Jenna glanced around nervously as if the very air could betray her secrets. “Come inside,” she whispered, her tone urgent. “We need to talk.”

Anna and I exchanged a look before following her into the cottage. 

“What’s going on?” I asked, my unease growing with each passing second.

She took a deep breath, her fingers fiddling with the hem of her apron. “The Velvet Devils,” she began, her voice low and trembling. “They’re in town.”

My stomach sank. “The Velvet Devils?” Who gives people such ridiculous names?.

“They’re a pair of mysterious twins,” Aunt Jenna explained, her eyes darting toward the window as if expecting them to appear at any moment. “They are a set of twins. No one knows much about them, except that wherever they go, trouble follows. They’re the embodiment of evil, Aurora. Unrest, disappearances, even death... these things always seem to happen when they’re around.”

I felt my heart stutter, my mind flashing back to the grocery store, the rude, smirking man I had collided with and his quieter, watchful brother. They were twins. Could it be…?

“They are not werewolves like us, but they are stronger than any werewolf,” Aunt Jenna continued, her voice barely above a whisper now. “Ruthless and dangerous. The villagers call them devils because of the chaos they bring.”

I swallowed hard, a cold shiver running down my spine. “Are you sure they’re here? How do you know?”

Aunt Jenna nodded grimly. “Just this evening, the Night Walkers struck again. They kidnapped a young girl from the edge of the village. That’s always a sign. Whenever the velvet devils make an appearance, unrest descends.”

Anna gasped beside me, her hands flying to her mouth. “That’s terrible,” she whispered.

“It’s more than terrible,” Aunt Jenna said, her voice sharp with fear.”

I exchanged a glance with Anna, my heart pounding. No wonder the villagers all had nervous looks, like they were scared of something. Could it be true? Could the twins I had met in the grocery store, so captivating and unsettling, really be the Velvet Devils?

“You saw them, didn’t you?” Aunt Jenna’s question snapped me out of my thoughts. Her eyes bore into mine, filled with worry and a touch of accusation.

“I… I don’t know,” I stammered. “I met two men today, but I didn’t know who they were. They didn’t introduce themselves.”

“What did they look like?” Aunt Jenna demanded.

I hesitated, unsure how much to say. The memory of their piercing eyes and commanding presence was still vivid in my mind. “They were… tall. Dark-skinned. One of them had this smug, arrogant way about him, and the other was quieter but no less intense.”

Aunt Jenna’s face paled. “That’s them,” she whispered. “That’s the Velvet Devils. You must stay away from them, Aurora. Promise me you’ll avoid them at all costs.”

I nodded, though my mind was a whirlwind of confusion and fear. “Why are they here? What do they want?”

“No one knows,” Aunt Jenna said, sinking into a chair. “But whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

Anna reached out to squeeze my hand, her grip firm and reassuring. “We’ll be careful,” she said, speaking for both of us.

Aunt Jenna nodded, though the tension in her shoulders didn’t ease. “Good. Now, let’s have dinner and try to get some rest. It’s been a long day.”

As we ate in silence, my thoughts kept drifting back to the twins. Their faces, their voices, the strange pull I felt toward them, it was all too much. How could two people hold so much power over an entire village?

The night was still, but my thoughts were anything but. I tossed and turned in my bed, unable to shake the feeling of unease that had settled over me since Aunt Jenna’s warnings. The Velvet Devils. Their piercing eyes haunted my mind, and I couldn’t stop replaying the events of the day.

The air in my room felt stiff and stale, making me want to sit up. rubbing my throbbing temples, hoping the motion would clear my head. 

That was when I felt it. an inexplicable sensation prickling at the back of my neck. It was like being watched, but not in any normal way. This was something deeper, more primal.

I turned toward the window, my breath hitching. The forest that bordered Aunt Jenna’s home seemed darker than usual, its towering trees standing like silent watch towers beckoning. The feeling intensified, a tugging in my chest that I couldn’t ignore.

I slipped out of bed and tiptoed toward the window, I peered out into the night, my eyes scanning the shadows for movement.

Nothing.

And yet, the feeling persisted.

My instincts were telling me to follow the pull. Before I could stop myself, I quietly climbed out of the window. The cool night air hit me and my exposed body, immediately, sending a shiver down my spine.

My bare feet moved of their own accord, carrying me across the soft earth. I didn’t know where I was going, only that I needed to follow this invisible pull. The world around me seemed to blur. The only sound was the soft rustle of leaves underfoot and the distant hoot of an owl.

I stepped into the clearing and froze.

Lying in the center was a wolf, but not just any wolf. It was the largest I had ever seen. It's fur is a mixture of deep black and streaks of silver that shimmered under the pale light. Its body was filled with bulging muscles at its powerful.thighs, but one of the powerful legs caught in a steel trap.

I gasped, I winced seeing the injury of the monster.. The creature turned its head toward me, and our eyes met. They were electric blue, glowing with an intensity that made my knees weak. And then it hit me. This wolf was familiar. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew I had come across it before.

Its chest rose and fell heavily, the pain evident in its movements. But despite its vulnerable state, there was something regal about it, something untamed and powerful.

“Who... who are you?” I whispered, my voice barely audible over the pounding of my heart.

The wolf’s gaze didn’t waver, and then, impossibly, I heard a deep, rough voice.

Mate.

I stumbled backward, my breath catching in my throat. The voice wasn’t external. It was inside my head. Commanding, rough, and strangely familiar.

Before I could dwell on it, I watched in horror as the monster began to shift…