Chapter Three: The Beast Within

Sophie’s breath hitched as she stared at Elias.

His chest rose and fell with barely contained rage, and his golden eyes were embers. Even in the poor light of the moon, she could see the strain in his body—raw power coiled up as if he were at war with something primal.

He wasn’t just protecting her.

He was holding himself back.

The black wolf was larger than life, feral, wrong. It roared, exposing teeth like razors. The rest of the pack hid in the darkness behind him, their eyes luminous and fixated on Elias.

This wasn’t just an attack.

It was a challenge.

Elias stepped forward, his body trembling with barely contained aggression. The black wolf snapped its teeth in warning.

Sophie felt it in the air—thick, charged, unnatural.

And suddenly, she understood.

Elias wasn’t just some brooding man with a bad attitude.

He was one of them.

"Run," he growled again, voice lower, rougher.

In her body which was devoid of any wishes to budge, Sophie felt an odd sensation. Instinctively, she knew that this was a call for her to turn around and head for the trees, but her feet stood rooted.

What the hell is happening?

Then the black wolf lunged.

Elias met it head-on.

The impact sent them both sprawling into the underbrush, breaking branches as they tumbled into a twisted mass of limbs and teeth. Elias was quick, his body blurred as he struck and threw the wolf off its balance.

Sophie stumbled backward, gasping for breath in quick bursts. The other wolves paused, as if deliberating, and then waited.

Then, with a sickening snarl, Elias changed.

His body shifted then: muscles rippling, bones twisting in ways that shouldn’t be possible. Claws lengthened from his hands, his spine arched, and fur rippled over his skin like wildfire.

His growl deepened into something inhuman.

Sophie choked on a gasp.

One moment, Elias had been a man.

The next—he was something else entirely.

A beast. A wolf.

But not like the others.

He was bigger and more powerful, with a deep stormy gray fur. The fire and control still burned in his eyes, but the beast he had become was utterly lethal.

The black wolf hesitated for half a second. That was just enough time for Elias to hit.

He moved with horrific speed, striking the wolf aside and sinking his teeth into its shoulder. The creature howled in pain, writhing beneath Elias’s grip.

The other wolves took a step back.

They feared him.

Sophie’s heart slammed against her ribs.

Elias wasn’t just another werewolf.

He was their Alpha.

The black wolf snarled, wrenching free, and dashed into the darkness. The others followed almost without hesitation, disappearing like ghosts into the trees.

Silence fell.

Elias turned, his bulk still half-crouched, half-evasive of the human posture.

His glowing eyes locked onto Sophie’s.

She should have been terrified. She should have run.

But instead, her heart clenched with something else entirely.

Because no matter what he had become…

He had protected her.

And yet part of her—some deep, hidden part—knew she was bound to him in a way she didn't yet understand.

His body shook, shifting, writhing back. Breath ragged, he clawed the dirt as he fought to return to the man she had met only hours before.

When it was over, Elias knelt there, shirtless, his skin marred by scratches and blood.

He lifted his head.

"Do you see it now?" His voice was hoarse, frantic. "This place isn't safe for you, Sophie."

Sophie swallowed hard, her throat dry.

"You are right," she whispered. "But I am not persuaded that only the city is what I should be afraid of."

She didn’t look away.

Neither did he.

Because they both knew the truth now.

The real danger wasn’t the wolves in the woods.

It was the pull between them.

Sophie’s breath came in shallow gasps.

Elias knelt before her, breathing heavy, fists dug into the dirt. The tremors from the shift quaked his body and sweat soaked his skin. He looked… wrecked. Like shifting had torn something out of him.

And yet, his eyes—those burning amber eyes never left hers.

A war raged in them. Desperation, anger, Fear. Not for himself but for her.

Sophie stepped forward before she even knew it. "Elias…"

"Don’t." His voice was harsh, a growl at the edges. "You should have run."

"You saved me." The tremor in her voice matched the pulse throbbing through her fingertips.

Elias chuckled slightly with a tinge of bitterness, his sound low and rough. "'And that’s the problem.'"

Sophie frowned. "How is that a problem?"

"You don’t get it." He pushed to his feet again, towering over her once more. His presence was overwhelming, even now. Well, especially now. "I told you I'd scare you away. I warned you so many times. Still, you keep coming back."

Her jaw tightened at that. "Because you won't tell me the whole truth."

His hands curled into fists. "The truth won’t change anything."

"It changes everything." She stepped closer, unmoved. "You turn into a wolf, you kill other wolves, and I'm supposed to act like that doesn't mean anything?"

Elias exhaled sharply and ran a hand through his wet hair. "You should be afraid of me, Sophie."

"I was," she admitted, her voice softer now. "But then you stood between me and them. And all I could think about was that you didn’t have to. You chose to."

His lips parted slightly, but he didn’t speak.

Sophie struggled to swallow but still did. "If I was potentially going to be afraid of you… why do I feel so safe with you?"

Elias closed his eyes for a moment, and his body was taut as everything. As if he were in a struggle with something.

When he looked at her again, his expression was raw.

"Because you don’t know what I really am."

Sophie shook her head. "Then tell me."

"You won’t believe me, try me."

Elias tightened his jaw. His hands flexed at his sides as if he were debating leaving the situation behind.

Then, finally, he took a slow breath.

"We're not just wolves, Sophie. Not animals. Not mindless beasts." His voice had dropped now, become more restrained, yet remained heavy with a threat to silence. "We are ruled by this land. By the moon. By instincts older than any of us."

She stared at him, absorbing his words.