Definitely not normal human eyes.
“Who are you?” I demand. “What are you?”
He’s close now. Too close. I can see the faint stubble on his jaw, the individual strands of gold in his hair. His scent fills my lungs with every breath—smoke and pine and something underneath that makes me want to lean closer.
I do the opposite. Back up until I’m standing in the stream up to my ankles, water seeping through my boots. The cold is a shock, a reminder that I need to keep my head.
“Someone who’s trying to keep you alive.” His voice is strained. Controlled. As if he’s fighting something. “Despite your apparent determination to get yourself killed.”
“I didn’t ask for your protection.”
“No. You didn’t.”
We stare at each other. The stream rushes around my legs. His heat pushes against me even from this distance, impossible, intoxicating.
Kiss him,something whispers in the back of my mind.Stab him. Same thing.
An inhuman roar shatters the moment.
It tears through the forest from somewhere to the east—a sound that vibrates in my bones, primal and furious. Not an animal. Nothing that belongs in these woods. Nothing that belongs anywhere in the natural world.
The man’s entire demeanor transforms in an instant.
Gone is the controlled tension, the careful stalking. He whirls toward the sound, his body coiling with a predatory readiness that raises every hair on my arms. His hands curl into fists. Something ripples under his skin—something not human, straining to break free.
“Get to the cabin.” His voice is different. Deeper. Rougher. Animal authority bleeds through every syllable. “Lock the doors. Don’t come out until I return.”
“But—”
“GO!”
The command hits me with physical force. My legs move before my brain catches up, scrambling out of the stream, slipping on wet rocks. I look back once and see him movingtoward the sound, his stride lengthening, his body seeming to grow as he disappears into the trees.
I run.
The trail blurs past me. Branches scratch my arms. My lungs burn. But I don’t stop, don’t slow, don’t let myself think about anything except reaching the cabin.
Behind me, something roars again. Closer this time. Answered by another sound—a different roar, deeper, resonant, that shakes the trees.
Two of them. There are at least two of whatever the hell is out there.
The cabin appears through the trees. I burst through the door, slam it behind me, throw the deadbolt. Shove a chair under the handle. Grab the baseball bat from where I left it by the couch.
My hands shake. My whole body trembles.
Through the window, I can see nothing but trees and morning light. No monsters. No mysterious strangers. Just the peaceful mountain forest pretending it isn’t hiding impossible things.
I sink onto the couch, bat across my knees, and try to process what just happened.
Great, Selene.I press my palms against my temples.Attracted to the possibly dangerous mountain man. Your judgment in men hasn’t improved.
But even as I mock myself, I can’t shake the image of him stepping between me and that sound. The way his body had tensed, ready to face whatever was coming. The protective fury in his voice when he ordered me to run.
He knew what was out there. He wasn’t afraid of it.
No—that’s not quite right. He wasn’t afraid for himself. But when that roar echoed through the forest, his first thought had been to protect me.
Why? He doesn’t even know me.
