2. Evan
Chapter two
Evan
T he instant he unlocked the door, Lila stumbled inside, mascara streaking down her flushed cheeks. Her hair was wild, her cheeks stained with tears.
"What happened?" Evan guided his oldest childhood friend to the couch. "Lila, you shouldn't be outside tonight!"
Evan’s pulse pounded in his ears, but not just from fear. Lila wasn’t just his oldest friend—she was the one person in the world he couldn’t afford to lose.
She had always been there, since childhood, since the first time he’d come home crying because the other boys at school thought a quiet, nature-obsessed guy was the perfect target. When the worst of them started whispering slurs, pushing him into lockers, trying to goad him into a fight, Lila had stepped in without hesitation.
“Leave my boyfriend alone!” she’d announced, loud enough for the entire hallway to hear.
And just like that, the bullying stopped. The jocks still sneered at him, but they didn’t touch him anymore. Lila had made herself a shield, pretending to date him all through high school, even when it cost her her own chances to date. When he’d apologized—again and again—she’d just rolled her eyes, flipping her curls over her shoulder.
None of those losers are dating material anyway, she’d said with a smirk.
Even now, in their early twenties, that hadn’t changed. Life had pulled them in different directions—jobs, responsibilities, the weight of adulthood—but somehow, they were still there for each other. Lila still called him when she needed to rant about work, and he still showed up at her door with takeout when she had a bad day. She was the one who dragged him out of his house when he got too lost in his own head, and he was the one who made sure she didn’t self-destruct when she got restless and reckless.
But now, he knew he'd missed something. For her to be out here tonight , something had to be truly wrong.
"Evan… I did something stupid." Lila buried her face in her hands and moaned. "So stupid . I… I signed up for the hunt."
Ice formed in Evan's veins. "You what?!"
"I know, I know! But everyone talks about how much money you can make if you survive… I thought I could just… just run fast." She looked up at him, blue eyes swimming with tears. "I couldn't do it. I saw them. They're so fast , Evan…!"
She looked down, hugging herself. "I got scared. I ran back out of the woods."
"Christ, Lila." Evan ran his fingers through his hair. "They'll come looking for you. You signed that contract…"
She looked up at him, movements sharp with fear. "I know! Y-you have to help me. Please. They'll find me and—" Her voice broke.
Evan paced the room, mind racing. He knew the laws. A volunteer couldn't back out—it disrupted the whole ritual. The werewolves needed their tributes, and if they didn't get them...
"They'll kill me," Lila whispered.
Evan stared at his friend, his chest tight with dread. The annual hunt's rules were simple but binding—volunteer as prey, survive the night, and receive a year of complete financial freedom. No bills, no rent, no expenses. Everything provided by the township's mysterious benefactors.
He watched Lila wipe her tears with trembling hands. Of course the reward had tempted her this year. She'd been struggling to make ends meet at the café, sharing a cramped apartment with three other girls, dreaming of travel she couldn't afford.
The promise of a whole year without financial worry must have seemed like a dream.
And now she was in a nightmare.
"I-I thought I could outrun them." Lila's voice cracked. "Everyone says there's a chance, that they know someone who just hid all night and walked away with all that money..."
Evan's jaw clenched. That's what they all thought. Every year, fresh volunteers convinced themselves they could sprint their way to freedom.
He'd seen the aftermath of that delusion firsthand during his ranger patrols. The clawed finger marks in the dirt. The torn clothes. The traces of what happened when human flesh met supernatural desire.
"It'll be okay," he said softly, though the words tasted like ash. There was no walking away from the hunt once you signed up. The contract was ironclad, enforced by powers far older than paper and ink.
The only escape clause was finding a replacement.
Evan stopped pacing. The woods behind his house stretched dark and endless, but he knew every trail, every hollow. He'd spent years mapping them as a ranger…
"I'll do it." The words left his mouth before he could stop them.
She looked up sharply. "What?"
"I'll take your place." His heart hammered, but his voice stayed steady. "I know these woods better than anyone. I can outrun them."
"No." Lila grabbed his arm. "You can't. I won't let you—"
"You don't have a choice." Evan gently pulled free. "And neither do I. I won't watch them hurt you."
"Evan..." Lila's voice broke as she wrapped her arms around him, her tears soaking into his shirt. Her small frame shook against his chest. "I can't believe you'd do this for me."
"Hey, what are friends for?" Evan's attempt at lightness fell flat, his voice rough. The weight of his decision pressed against his ribs, making each breath shorter than the last. "Just stay here, okay? Lock the doors. Don't answer for anyone."
Her eyes full of tears, she nodded.
He slipped away from her embrace and headed to his bedroom. His hands trembled as he pulled on black running pants and a dark thermal shirt. The familiar clothes were thin, insufficient armor against what awaited him.
Each step toward his back door echoed with finality. The metal handle was cold under his palm, grounding him in reality.
This wasn't just another patrol. This was something ancient, something hungry.
The door creaked open, spilling golden light onto the porch before the night swallowed it whole. The air outside was sharp with pine and something wilder—something that raised the hairs on Evan’s arms.
His pulse pounded as he stepped forward. One step. Two. The safety of his home fell away behind him, replaced by the vast, waiting dark of the woods.
Then he ran.
The familiar trail stretched ahead, twisting through the hills, but tonight, it wasn’t just a path he knew by heart. Tonight, it was his only chance. Cold air burned his lungs. Muscles strained, his body adjusting to the rhythm of pursuit. The trees loomed like silent sentinels, watching him, whispering secrets in the wind.
He wasn’t a ranger now. He wasn’t a man who spent his days finding lost hikers and doing paperwork.
He was prey.
The thought sent a sharp jolt through him, one he refused to acknowledge. Instead, he pushed harder, faster, his breath ragged, his heartbeat a frantic drumbeat against his ribs.
Then a howl, deep and resonant, rolled through the trees.
Evan’s stride faltered. Just for a second. Then he forced himself forward, lungs burning, legs aching.
The hunt had begun.