Chapter 7

ALINA

I couldn’t believe that it had already been three months. When I had left the lycan pack, I never thought I’d find myself in a new pack, surrounded by strangers, and yet here I am. I was a lone wolf when I came across them, and they were very quick to take me in as one of theirs. I promised myself this new pack would be temporary, just a place to catch my breath before deciding what to do next. But life has a funny way of turning things upside down when you least expect it.

Then I met Xavier, the alpha of the small pack I was staying in. I never had direct contact with him for the first few days but as time went on, I started to notice him around the pack. I first saw him helping a young pup who had fallen off a tree.

He crouched to the pup’s level, his brown eyes warm with concern. “Hey, little man, you okay?” he asked, his voice light and playful, with just the right amount of worry. The pup nodded, trying to be brave, but a tear slipped down his cheek. Xavier ruffled the boy's hair with a grin. “Don’t worry, we all fall sometimes. I fell just this morning getting out of bed. Dangerous world out there,” he joked, and the boy giggled, sniffling through his tears.

I couldn’t help but smile from where I stood. There was something about Xavier that made me feel safe. Unlike all of the other men I have met in the past, there was something different about him. Our paths crossed a few more times after that, always in small, insignificant moments. But each time, he made me feel a little less alone. One day, he caught me staring at him from across the training grounds. He walked over with a lopsided grin.

“See something you like, Alina?” he teased, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

I felt my face flush with heat,“No. I mean… I was just…”

“Checking me out?” he laughed, leaning closer, his face just inches from mine. “It’s okay. I don’t mind. I think you’re pretty cute too.”

I tried to suppress a smile but I was too bad at that. I did not think that he had ever even noticed me, but he even knew my name. That made my heart swell in my chest, but I did not let it show. Instead, I tried to put on a front, “You are cocky.”

“I can’t help myself. I do not know how to act around beautiful women like you.”

Despite the constant pain gnawing in my chest, I laughed. Since then, we hit it off. He had helped me throughout my journey of grief after I was rejected by Alpha Kai. He had this way of making everything feel lighter, like the world’s weight wasn’t so heavy after all. I found myself looking forward to our conversations. Xavier was easy to talk to, always knowing when to make me laugh or when to just listen.

Even when I told him that I was pregnant, which I had just found out recently, he did not care. He helped me throughout and because of him, I was not the nervous wreck I thought I would be. I knew everything was going to be fine. When I told him about my mother, he was truly sorry for me.

He held me in his arms while I cried, and I realised that I never healed from her death. He promised to find the person behind the wheels that night and make them pay, so we spent most of our time investigating. Susie, the pack detective, had been helping us chase new leads.

When Kai and I went to her office today, she was still working on it. “Alina, I’m sorry,” Susie said, her shoulders slumping as we stood in her cluttered office. “I’ve looked everywhere, spoken to everyone. It’s like the trail we found just vanished into thin air.”

I nodded, forcing a smile. “It’s okay, Susie. I know you’ve done your best.” I knew that since it had been a long time since that happened, it would be hard for us to get actual answers about what had happened that night. I hated that I got my hopes up, because it just resulted in me wallowing about it all day.

That night, unable to sleep, I decided to go for a walk in the woods to clear my head. The moon was bright, and the chirping of insects made me feel somewhat at peace. I sat down under a huge tree and laid my head back so I could let the feelings go, but then, I felt it. A presence, lingering in the shadows. My skin prickled, and my instincts flared. I stopped, straining to hear any sound, but there was nothing.

“Hello?” I called out, standing up to my feet. “Is someone there?”

Silence.

I took a step forward, my heart pounding in my chest. The feeling of being watched grew stronger, and I swallowed hard, trying to calm my racing thoughts. Then, a faint rustle came from the darkness. I turned around sharply, searching for the source but there was still nothing. My pulse quickened. I couldn’t shake the sense that someone was out there, watching me. I felt my breath seize, and fear coiled tight in my stomach.

I decided I’d had enough. I turned and hurried back toward the pack, my footsteps quickening with every step. I still could not shake the feeling. I felt the eyes following me with every step I took, and I kept glancing over my shoulder, feeling a chill crawl down my spine. Just then, I heard an almost inaudible whisper. I froze, my blood running cold.

“Alina.” A male voice called out. I spun around, but saw nothing. My heart hammered in my chest as I started to back away. My mind screamed at me to run, but my legs felt like lead.

“Alina, where are you?”

Panic surged through me, and I turned, sprinting back to the pack with all the speed I could muster. I didn’t stop until I reached the pack, panting and out of breath. This has never happened to me before. I have been to these words so many times, and it was the safest woods that existed in the entirety of the Seven Isles, even though it was a relatively small pack.

I came across Xavier. He was coming back from pack quarters. He straightened when he saw me, and his eyes filled with concern. “Alina? What happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I swallowed hard, my voice shaking. “I don’t know. I felt something. I heard a voice calling out to me.”

He stepped closer, placing a hand on my shoulder. I instantly felt safe, “Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe now. Whatever it was, it can’t hurt you here. Come on, let's go back.”

I nodded and followed him but as I looked back toward the dark woods, a sense of dread settled deep in my bones. I wasn’t so sure. Someone was out there, probably with malicious intent towards me, and I had a feeling they were waiting for me.