I stood frozen, my heart pounding in my chest as I stared at Damian. He was like a ghost, or maybe a nightmare. His presence made my skin crawl, and yet... I couldn’t tear my eyes away. His face, his voice, it was like looking at my past, the one that I had left behind when I was... well, when I was me. The person I used to be, before everything went to hell.
Orion stepped in front of me, blocking my view, his body tense. “He’s ruthless,” Orion muttered under his breath, his voice low but carrying. “Ambitious, and his pack is known for their cruelty.”
I wanted to ask what the hell he meant, but all I could do was glare at the man who looked so much like my ex. Damian, the man who had used me, who had drained me dry, and left me for dead. The man who had stolen everything from me, including my future.
Damian’s eyes flicked over to me, and for a second, I could’ve sworn he knew exactly who I was. There was something in his gaze—cold, calculating—and it made my stomach twist. “Well, well,” he said, his voice smooth like velvet, “looks like fate’s got a funny way of putting people in the same place.”
Orion tensed, and I could feel his eyes flicking between Damian and me, as if he were waiting for something to snap. The air felt thick, charged with something dangerous. I tried to ignore the way my body seemed to react to Damian’s presence—how my pulse quickened, how my breath caught in my throat, like there was some twisted pull between us.
But I hated that feeling. I hated it with every ounce of my being.
“You know her?” Orion asked, his voice laced with suspicion.
Damian’s smirk deepened, and the eerie calmness in his voice made my blood run cold. “Oh, I know her,” he said, voice too smooth. “A little too well, actually.”
I stiffened. How did he know me? What the hell was going on? He wasn’t supposed to know me. He couldn’t.
“Listen,” Orion said, his tone turning sharper, “keep your distance. I don’t care what your business is, but she’s under my protection now. So don’t think you can—”
I didn’t catch the rest of Orion’s words.
Damian leaned back, eyeing Orion like they were sizing each other up, trying to figure out which one of them would make the first move.
Then, it happened.
There was a rustling in the bushes, and suddenly, a hybrid—a creature that wasn’t fully wolf, but wasn’t fully human either—lunged into the clearing.
Before I could even process what was happening, Damian’s pack circled around, their eyes glowing with an eerie hunger. Damian didn’t flinch.
In one swift motion, he reached for the hybrid, his hand gripping its throat, squeezing the life out of it like it was nothing more than a pest. He didn’t hesitate. Didn’t blink. Just... killed it while looking at me.
I felt my stomach churn, but it wasn’t just the violence that hit me hard. It was the way Damian enjoyed it—the way his grin widened as the hybrid’s life drained away. It was the same way I remembered him, cold and merciless.
And then I remembered my death—of that damn bridge, the truck, the coldness of him—rushed back like a tidal wave.
Without thinking, I slapped him. Hard. His face snapped to the side with a sickening crack, almost like it was going to pull off. The sound echoed through the clearing.
Damian’s smirk never faltered. His cheek was reddening where I’d slapped him, but he didn’t even blink. Instead, he laughed—a low, dangerous sound that made my skin crawl. “Not bad,” he chuckled.
His wolves growled, their eyes flashing with violence, but Damian waved them off casually. He didn’t seem worried. “You’re way too strong for a hybrid,” he said, looking directly at me. His gaze was cold, calculating. “I’ll make sure to kill you soon enough.”
I flinched at the coldness in his words, remembering what he had done to me, the way he had pushed me to my death. But before I could react, Damian turned to leave, his wolves following behind him with that same eerie silence.
As they disappeared into the shadows, Damian’s laugh echoed in my ears, the sound so haunting I felt it in my bones.
“See you soon,” he called out, his voice full of dark amusement. “And don’t think you’re getting away that easily… Evelise.”
The blood drained from my face.
How does he know my name?
Before I could react, he vanished into the darkness, leaving nothing but the chill of his words hanging in the air. My legs buckled, but Orion caught me, his grip firm.
“What the hell just happened?” he demanded, his voice cutting through the suffocating silence.
I couldn’t answer. My mind was a whirlpool of fear and questions, each one dragging me deeper.
He knows who I am.
But how?
