Chapter 4 - Nicholas
The night air hums with tension, thick enough to choke on, the silence becoming unnerving, even if I’m far from being afraid.
How could I be? I’m the alpha of Crescent Moon, and every instinct in me is on alert, the wolf beneath my skin pacing, restless.
I stay crouched behind the tree, my focus pinned on the shadows ahead.
Tobias stands under the skeletal canopy of pine trees, his back to me, one half of his body illuminated by the moonlight filtering through the leaves.
The figure beside him is draped in black from head to toe, its presence radiating something…
unnatural, something unholy. The air around it feels warped, cold even, as if the oxygen recoils from its presence.
I strain my hearing, using my wolf’s hidden ears to drown out the forest noises until only their voices remain.
“The Rivera girl…” Tobias mutters, his tone low and uneasy as he nods, and my heart stops at the mention of her, my ears getting sharper, the fine hairs on the back of my neck prickling like blades.
My fingers curl into fists at my sides. The Rivera girl? That’s Donna.
A low, guttural growl escapes the cloaked figure. At least, that’s where I suspect the treacherous sound comes from. It couldn’t have been Tobias.
“Yeah, she trusts me. That’s why I’ve gotten this far,” Tobias continues, and my stomach lurches.
The cloaked figure shifts slightly, and its reply crawls like oil through the still air, its voice thick and sinister. It’s more like an echo when it replies, “Not far enough. You’ll have to get closer. Seduce her if you must.”
I can’t make out if the figure is male or female, but that doesn’t even matter.
Its words are all it takes for my restraint to snap.
My blood surges with red-hot anger, my vision darkening, and my wolf howling for release.
I step out from behind the tree, each boot crunching on the dry leaves beneath me.
“Tobias!” I roar, and both figures turn.
The cloaked one jerks its head sharply, then vanishes in a blink, disappearing behind the tree and dissipating into the shadows that slither into the forest like smoke. Tobias’s blue eyes widen, the color fading fast into a panic-stricken white.
“N—Nicholas?” His voice cracks. “What are you—”
“What am I doing?” I snarl, closing the distance in two strides. “No. What the hell are you doing, Tobias?”
He stumbles backward, palms raised as he becomes imprisoned against the tree trunk behind him. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“Oh, really?” I grab him by the collar, slam him against the tree trunk hard enough to send bark splintering. “Because it looks like you were selling out my best friend’s sister to some demon.”
“I—”
“Who was that?!” I demand, shaking him once, rage tightening my grip. “Who was here with you just now?”
Tobias doesn’t answer. His throat bobs as his jaw clenches. I can smell the fear radiating from his pores, but beneath it is something worse, something foul. His pulse is too steady, his breathing too controlled.
“Speak, motherfucker!” I growl, my voice lowering, guttural, teeth grinding when a foul stench enters my lungs. My nostrils flare, my eyes narrowed with fury. “What the fuck are you? ‘Cause you sure as hell don’t smell human anymore.”
His eyes flash black, empty pits as if he’s swallowing the moonlight whole.
“What the—”
Before I can finish, his body convulses violently, his bones cracking like dry wood in a fire.
The sound echoes through the trees as his jaw distorts, stretching unnaturally as coarse, dirty cream fur bursts through his skin.
His scream twists into a feral snarl, and his teeth distend into sharp fangs.
I stumble back a step, stunned. He’s a wolf?
No.
He’s not supposed to be.
Tobias lunges before I can gather my thoughts, pain searing through my shoulder as his jaw clamps down, teeth sinking deep into my flesh. I roar, my body instinctively shifting, the wolf surging forward with vengeance.
My bones snap mid-motion, muscles contorting to fit my wolf’s large size.
In seconds, the forest fills with the sounds of snarling and snapping teeth.
I grab him by the scruff, distending claws slicing his furry flesh as I fling him off me, slamming him into the earth.
But the bastard is faster than I expected, and rolls over onto his paws, then darts into the darkness, vanishing like a shadow through the trees.
I give chase, my paws pounding against the ground, the metallic tang of my blood mixing with the scent of rot and corruption that trails behind him. He’s bleeding too, but it doesn’t slow him down. The forest blurs past as I tear into a clearing, hot on his tail.
But then, he’s gone. Just gone. His scent stops dead, cut clean, like it’s been erased from the air itself. I skid to a halt, raising my head and letting out an anguished howl.
What the hell was that?
The wind shifts, carrying another scent that makes my heart lurch.
Lavender and something sweeter.
Donna.
My wolf quiets instantly, instinct shifting from the hunt to protection. I spin on my hind legs, then pivot and sprint back toward the resort, weaving through the trees until the edge of the woods breaks open into the forest ingress shrouded in moonlight.
And there she is, standing at the edge of the woods in her robe, hair tumbling loose around her shoulders, eyes wide with worry. She looks like a dream with tousled hair and wide, worried eyes, skin as smooth and creamy as the finest ivory.
I slow down my steps, shifting back into human form as I step into the clearing, my chest heaving, my shoulder slick with blood.
“Donna.” Her name leaves my lips with relief. But there's an alarming amount of dread in between, churning my insides, a dangerous mix. She’s unharmed. But Tobias—
Her eyes narrow. “Where’s Toby?”
The question cuts like a blade, sharper than Tobias's teeth.
For a moment, all I can do is stare at her, gauging the wild panic in her eyes, the way her chest heaves as she takes a step closer, her robe clutched tightly around her trembling form. She’s shaking, but it isn’t fear of what’s out there that has her trembling; it’s fear for him.
For Tobias.
That’s why it’s his name, she uttered.
The name alone burns through my throat like acid, building like bile.
“Where’s Toby?” she demands again, her voice rising desperately. Her eyes flicker to my shoulder, where I’m covered in blood, and she gasps. “Nicholas…what did you do to him?” Her tone turns accusatory, and I let out a bitter laugh, the kind that sounds more like a growl.
“What did I do?” I scoff, taking a step forward and baring my teeth. I can’t believe this. “You’ve got it all wrong, sweetheart. You should be asking what he did.”
Donna flinches, but doesn’t back away, tilting her chin defiantly. “Don’t. Call. Me. That,” she warns, her eyes darkening with fury. “Just tell me where he is!”
My wolf snarls in my mind, my skin crawling with irritation as my control begins to slip like water through my fingers.
She’s standing here, defending the bastard who just bit me, the fucker who was out there conspiring with something that doesn’t even belong to this world.
Conspiring to taint her. The scent of decay and darkness still clings to me, and she’s worried about him?
“You really care that much about him, huh?” I mutter, my tone low and dangerous. “You barely even know who he is.”
“I know enough!” she fires back, her voice cracking. “H-he’s my friend! He’s been there for me when no one else was!”
The words sting more than they should.
When no one else was.
I grit my teeth and look away with a tormented gulp, my hands trembling at my sides. The wound on my shoulder throbs, sending warm blood trickling down my arm, but I keep it hidden from Donna by turning to the side, keeping myself together by sheer will alone.
“Your friend,” I bite out, turning my glare on her, “isn’t who you think he is.”
She frowns, confusion flashing through her eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“Come with me.” My tone leaves no room for argument. “You want answers? Fine. You’ll get them.”
I shoulder past her, ignoring the fresh ripple of pain shooting down my arm. Her sweet scent follows me, but doesn’t wrap me in the warmth I would have craved if the circumstances were different. Instead, there’s cold lavender crawling through my airways and under my skin, taunting me, mocking me.
I hear her quick footsteps behind me as she marches along, soft but determined against the gravel path, and the faintest hitch in her breath when she realizes I’m leading her toward Dominic’s tent.
By the time we reach it, my patience has worn thin. I call out, voice sharp, “Dom.”
The tent door parts almost immediately, and Dominic emerges in shorts, his expression sharpening the moment he sees the blood seeping through the fabric clinging to my shoulder. Cecelia follows close behind, peeking out from behind his arm and gasping.
“What the hell happened, Nick?” Dominic asks, his tone calm but edged with worry as he steps forward.
But before I can answer, Donna steps between us to face me. “That’s what I want to know, too,” she snaps, crossing her arms and glancing at her brother. “You came out of the woods covered in blood. Tobias isn’t in his tent, and now you’re acting like—”
I cut her off. “I’m covered in blood because Tobias isn’t who he says he is.”
Deafening silence follows, and even the forest seems to freeze.
Dominic’s brows furrow. “What do you mean?”
“I mean”—I pause to take a deep breath, turning to face him fully—“your sister’s human friend just met with something cloaked in black out there in the woods—something that didn’t smell human.
Nor did it smell like wolf, or anything we’ve ever faced before.
Whatever it was, it told him to get closer to her. To seduce her.”
My eyes flit to Donna, and her face pales instantly, her lips parting, a tremor running through her frame. “That’s not—” she shivers. “No. You’re lying.”