Chapter 6

I did not wait; I was making a run for it. They had found me. They would finish what they started all those years ago. I couldn’t go back after how far I had come. I turned the knob of the door, but it wouldn’t budge. The realization sunk in just as I felt Silas’ large frame looming over me.

He caged me with his body. "You can't leave just yet, Stella." His hot breath fanned across my neck. I froze, my heart threatening to burst out of my chest.

For what felt like a lifetime, we stood like that. I tore myself away from him, my body slamming into the wall as I scrambled to put distance between us. My heart pounded so hard I thought it might burst.

"What the hell are you doing here, Silas?" My voice was sharp, trembling with barely controlled panic. How did he find me? How long had he been watching?

He didn’t answer right away. His eyes, dark and unreadable, tracked my every movement, calculating. "You already know, Stella." His voice was infuriatingly calm, as if he had all the time in the world.

"You can’t be serious." My pulse raced, my mind reeling as I tried to grasp the reality of him standing here. "You shouldn’t even know where I am. What is this?"

He took a slow step toward me, and I pressed harder against the wall, fingers curling into fists. "It's time to come back."

A cold shiver ran down my spine. "Come back?" I spat, the words bitter. "You think after everything you did—after what the pack did—you can just show up here and—"

"Stella." His voice was lower now, dangerous, but not hostile. Almost like a warning. "This isn’t a game. The pack needs you."

I laughed, sharp and bitter. "The pack? The same pack that abandoned me? Rejected me? The same one that tried to kill me?" My voice cracked, but I didn’t care. "Why the hell would I ever go back?"

"Because," he said, stepping forward again, his presence suffocating, "without you, no one can shift."

I froze. His words hit me like a punch to the gut. What?

"You planned this," I whispered, barely able to get the words out. "You’ve been watching me all this time—"

Silas didn’t deny it. His silence hung in the air like a noose tightening around my neck.

My chest heaved with panic, the walls closing in. "No... no. You don’t get to control me anymore." My voice shook, but I forced myself to glare at him. "I’m not going back."

"You don’t have a choice." His words were ice, each one sinking deep.

I shook my head, my pulse thundering in my ears. "Why are you doing this?"

Silas stepped even closer, his gaze locked onto mine, unwavering. "It’s not just about you, Stella. You know that."

I swallowed hard, fear clawing at my throat. "I won’t go back."

His eyes softened for just a moment, then hardened again as he leaned in, his voice a whisper that sent a chill down my spine.

"You will."

"Never." With that, I walked straight to the door and let Rona take over. I broke the knob, and he didn’t stop me as I walked out. I counted each step out of his office, apprehensive of him grabbing me from behind. I got back into my car and spared a glance at the building. Our eyes met through his window.

I looked away and drove home in a daze, my hands gripping the steering wheel tight as I replayed the encounter with Silas. The audacity, the nerve—he thought he could just drag me back into that nightmare? I clenched my jaw, trying to steady my racing heart. I was done with him, with the pack, with all of it.

The car screeched to a stop in front of my small house. I stumbled out, locking the door behind me, but the instant I stepped inside, my breath caught in my throat.

Silas was sitting on my couch, his legs spread casually, hands resting on his knees, as if he belonged there.

"How—" I choked, my heart plummeting to my stomach. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"You can’t run from your own home, Stella," he said, his voice unnervingly calm. "You need to listen."

"I don’t need to do anything!" I snapped, my chest tight with panic and fury. "Get out."

Silas leaned forward, his gaze locking onto mine with deadly intensity. "Angela is missing."

I froze. My pulse hammered in my ears, but I forced myself to keep breathing, keep standing. "What?"

"She was taken," he said, his words deliberate and heavy. "By Silver Claw."

For a moment, I couldn’t move. The name, the pack that had brought nothing but blood and ruin, echoed in my mind like a death sentence. The room felt like it was closing in, but then... I laughed. The sound came out harsh and bitter, shocking even me.

"I don’t care."

Silas blinked, his stoic mask slipping for the first time as surprise flickered across his face. "What?"

"I said I don’t care." My voice was ice, each word sharper than the last. "Angela, the pack, all of it. I have no family, Silas. They are all dead to me."

He stood abruptly, towering over me, his expression hardening. "She's your sister."

"She was never my sister." My heart twisted, but I refused to show it. "Whatever happens to her is none of my concern."

Silas stepped forward, his eyes darkening with something I couldn’t place—anger, desperation, maybe even regret. "Stella, you—"

"I. Don’t. Care." I spat the words like poison, cutting through the tension between us. "Now get out of my house."

He didn’t move, his gaze searching mine for something, anything, but I was done. I turned my back on him and walked to the door, my hand on the knob.

"You can’t run from this, Stella." His voice was low, dangerous.

"I already have," I said, yanking the door open.

"I could take you by force."

I smiled, devoid of any warmth. "Then you can fucking try, but I would slit my own throat before I am dragged back to that place."

"You act like you were the victim," he drawled, "like you didn’t deserve it."

My expression sharpened. "No one deserves it," my voice was surprisingly solemn. "No one should ever have to go through that."

"Stella..." There was confusion on his face, a softness that hurt.

"No!" I snapped. "Leave, and next time you come, I dare you to come with your army. I am not going without a fucking fight."

"Let me talk. Give me five minutes. Please, Stella, let this be payback for saving you all those years ago."

"Silas..."

"A debt repaid, Stella, just this once."

"Okay," I conceded. "Talk to me. Five minutes."

Silas exhaled in relief, stepping back slightly but never breaking eye contact. “Five years ago, since the Winter Solstice, no one in Blood Moon has shifted.”

I blinked, the weight of his words sinking in. “What?”

He continued, his tone clipped. “Since the night you left, no new shifters have risen. The pack is getting weaker, Stella. The elders tried to cover it up, but now... they can’t hide it anymore. People are going missing, dying. Silver Claw is pressing down on us because they know we’re vulnerable.”

My pulse quickened, but I masked my surprise. “What does this have to do with me?”

Silas ran a hand through his hair, his frustration barely contained. “The curse, Stella. They think it has something to do with you. That the night you shifted—something changed.”

I let out a sharp laugh, shaking my head. “You're grasping at straws. That’s not my problem anymore. Your pack wanted me dead.”

“We had to invest in human businesses just to keep the pack afloat,” he said, ignoring my deflection. “We’re using human weapons, hiding behind false names—anything to survive. But it’s not enough.”

My stomach churned at the thought. Human businesses? Weapons? That wasn’t the Blood Moon pack I grew up in. That was desperation.

“So what?” I spat, crossing my arms, trying to steady myself. “You think dragging me back will fix everything? You think I’m some key to all this?”

He stepped closer again, eyes locked on mine. “Yes. You’re the only one who shifted that night. The curse started with you.”

I recoiled. I was the only one who shifted? “I didn’t cause the curse.”

“Maybe not,” he said, voice tight, “but you’re tied to it. And we need to know how.”

The walls felt like they were closing in again, but I wouldn’t let him see the fear that crawled up my spine. “I don’t owe you or the pack anything. You’ve brought this on yourselves.”

Silas’ jaw clenched, but I saw the flicker of something else behind his eyes—fear, desperation. “This isn’t just about the pack anymore. Silver Claw won’t stop with us. They’ll spread their influence, their violence, beyond our borders. They’ve already started.”

I swallowed hard, memories of the bloodshed Silver Claw had caused in the past flashing in my mind. The fear, the devastation.

“They’ll come for everyone, Stella,” Silas continued, voice low. “Including you. You have to come back."