Chapter Five — Teeth in the Dark

Keya:

“You finally brought her.”

The words slip from the shadows of the cave like a knife drawn slow.

Lina freezes beside me. The stranger steps in front of me without a sound, the edge of his cloak brushing my arm.

My throat goes tight. “Who’s there?”

A figure emerges from the dark, tall and broad-shouldered, the silver of Lake View’s crest catching the faint shimmer of the barrier dust.

I know that face. I grew up watching him stand at my father’s right hand. Beta Davin.

He should not be here. He cannot be here.

“You’re a long way from the pack,” the stranger says.

Davin’s smile is thin, sharp. “Not far enough. Not when the prize is this close.” His eyes rake over me like I’m something he’s buying at market. “You’ve grown into something worth having, Keya.”

I step back, my heel hitting rock. “You won’t touch me.”

“Won’t?” He chuckles, slow. “I think you’ve misunderstood. No one out here cares what you want.”

The stranger shifts forward, knife in hand. “You’ll leave her.”

But Davin’s gaze slides past him, to Lina. “Don’t bother pretending. She’ll find out soon enough.”

Lina stiffens. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come now.” Davin’s voice drips mockery. “Weren’t you two—” his hand waves lazily between Lina and the stranger “—in cohorts with me before she got banished? Wasn’t this our plan from the start? Get her alone, away from the pack, so she’s easy to claim?”

The air in the cave turns thick, pressing in on my chest. I look at Lina. Then at the stranger. Both too quiet.

“Tell me he’s lying,” I demand.

Lina steps forward, eyes wide. “Keya, he’s trying to twist this. The cave was safe, I swear. I don’t even know how he got here before us—”

“Lies,” Davin cuts in, his smile widening. “You’ve both been working for me since before she was born. Tell her the truth.”

The stranger’s jaw tightens. “Don’t listen to him.”

My hands curl into fists. “How do you expect me to not listen when everyone is speaking in riddles? Who’s lying? Who’s telling the truth? Is Anastasia even my real mother? Is Peterson my real father? Or are they doubles, like you told me?”

No one answers.

And then the ground shudders.

The sound that follows isn’t a growl—it’s a roar, low and deep enough to rattle the stones under my feet.

Lina’s face drains of all color. “Bloodfang.”

Davin swears under his breath, drawing a long blade. “It’s hunting.”

Before anyone can speak again, the roar is closer—so close it vibrates in my teeth. Red light spills into the cave mouth, glowing from a pair of eyes too high to belong to any wolf.

“Move!” the stranger shouts.

We don’t run together.

Lina bolts to the right tunnel. Davin takes the left. The stranger grabs my wrist, but I yank free and sprint into the night on my own.

The forest blurs. My bare feet tear on roots and stones, branches lashing my arms. Behind me, the bloodfang follows—not after them, only after me.

My lungs burn. My legs feel like lead. The pounding of its massive paws closes in until I can hear its breath—hot, rancid, brushing my back.

I stumble into a clearing and stop.

No more running. Not from this, not from the unknown, not when every face I see speaks in half-truths and lies. If death is easier than chasing shadows, then let it come.

I turn to face it.

The bloodfang’s eyes burn like molten metal in the dark.

Its breath is hot and fetid, washing over me in waves, the stench of rot and old kills. Each step it takes makes the ground shiver beneath my bare feet.

I stand still. I don’t flinch. I can’t run again.

It crouches low, massive claws carving deep grooves into the dirt. Muscles ripple under its matted fur. Its mouth opens wide—too wide—and I see teeth longer than my fingers.

Then it lunges.

Something slams into me from the side, knocking me hard to the ground. The impact rips the air from my lungs. I roll, coughing, just in time to see the stranger between me and the bloodfang, his knife drawn, his stance wide.

“Move!” he barks at me, never taking his eyes off the beast.

Before I can react, Lina bursts from the trees, a branch in her hands thick as my arm. She swings it with a cry, smashing it across the bloodfang’s snout. It barely flinches, but its attention shifts just enough for the stranger to dart in, his blade slashing deep into its shoulder.

The bloodfang roars, the sound splitting the night like thunder.

I scramble back on my hands, my heart pounding so hard it hurts.

Lina shouts, “Get up, Keya! We can’t hold it forever!”

I push to my feet, my legs trembling, torn between running and staying to watch. They move together without speaking—Lina driving the beast back with wild swings, the stranger darting in for quick, deep cuts, always moving, always circling.

Still, it’s too fast. Its claws catch Lina’s branch, snapping it like a twig. She stumbles, and in that half-second the bloodfang lunges for her throat.

“No!”

I don’t even think. I grab a fist-sized rock from the ground and hurl it with all the strength I have. It hits the beast square in the eye.

It howls, staggering back, shaking its head in rage. The stranger doesn’t waste the opening—he slashes again, this time at its flank. Blood, dark and thick, sprays across the clearing.

The bloodfang roars once more, then spins and bolts into the trees, its massive body vanishing into the shadows.

The forest falls silent except for the harsh sound of our breathing.

Lina’s chest heaves. She’s still clutching the splintered half of her branch, her knuckles white. “You… you idiot,” she gasps, looking at me. “You could have been killed.”

I stare at both of them. The image of Davin in that cave, his words dripping like poison, is still in my mind. Weren’t you two in cohorts with me? Wasn’t this our plan?

The stranger wipes his blade on the grass, his eyes flicking to mine. “You alright?”

“I don’t know,” I say, my voice sharper than I mean it to be. “Should I be? Or was saving me just part of the plan, too?”

Lina takes a step toward me. “Keya—”

Don’t,” I snap, backing away. My shoulder throbs from where she grabbed me earlier. “I don’t know what to believe anymore. Davin shows up in a place you swore was safe, and I’m just supposed to think that’s… luck?”

Her eyes flash. “I swear to you, I didn’t know he’d be there.”

The stranger’s jaw tightens. “And I’ve never worked with him. You’ll see that in time.”

“Will I?” My laugh is hollow. “Because right now, all I see are riddles and half-truths. If Anastasia and Peterson aren’t my parents, then who are? If you’re not my enemies, then why does it feel like you’re both hiding something from me?”

Neither of them answers.

Somewhere deep in the forest, the bloodfang roars again—a low, echoing sound that promises it will be back.

The stranger glances toward the sound, then at me. “We have to move.”

I shake my head. “I’m not running anymore.”

Lina steps forward, desperation flickering in her eyes. “If you stay here, it will kill you.”

“Maybe that’s better than following people I can’t trust,” I say. And I mean it.

For a long moment, none of us moves. The cold wind slides between the trees, carrying the copper tang of blood.

Then, from somewhere behind us, a new sound rises—heavy boots. And getting closer.