Page 30 of Howling Night

He turned sharply to look at me, as if trying to decide if I was serious. His expression quickly turned cold.

“This is a joke,” he snapped, his voice deeper than I’d ever heard it. “I’m not something you get to gawk at.”

I flinched. “I… I didn’t mean anything by that. I just want to understand. That guy wanted me dead. Don’t I deserve to understand what I’m dealing with?”

“No, you don’t,” Ryder growled, turning away. “Nobody does. This isn’t for humans to know about. It’s for your own safety. And ours too.”

“But I already know,” I said, cocking my head.

He stepped toward me so fast that we were only inches apart. His eyes blazed with a fiery intensity that sent fear rushing through my veins.

“You need to forget about this.”

“I can’t! Don’t you understand?”

“Enough!” he roared, his hand convulsing at his side.

I gasped as his fingers stretched slightly, the nails elongating into a claw-like form. It happened so fast that I would have missed it if I had blinked.

“Whoa,” I said, my breaths hitting me so fast I thought I was going to fall over. Part of me wanted to run straight out the door, but the more curious part of me stayed rooted in place. “That was?—”

“Nothing. That was nothing,” he said, his voice fading.

Ryder moved to the couch and sank down into the cushions. The furniture looked comically small beneath his big, muscular body. He buried his face in his hands for a moment before looking up at me.

“We have rules for a reason,” he said, holding my gaze. “I beg you to just let it go.”

I approached cautiously and sat on the coffee table across from him. “It’s too late. I already know. And I can’t just... forget this.”

“You have to,” he said, leaning forward. His eyes locked with mine. “It’s not safe for you to know these things. You’re right that you should go back to the city. Forget about this. Forget about everything.”

“I can’t just pretend I didn’t see what I saw,” I argued, my eyes flicking to his completely normal human hand. “I can keep a secret.”

His expression softened slightly. “Just like you can pretend you didn’t see me in the woods that night? I don’t think you’re as good at looking the other way as you think you are.” He let out a heavy breath and met my eyes. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

The air between us crackled with tension as our eyes locked. I don’t know what came over me, but suddenly I was seeing Ryder in an entirely different light. Not just as the intimidating stranger who tried to run me over with his truck, but as something... something else. Something extraordinary.

I found myself leaning toward him, drawn by some force I couldn’t explain. He moved closer too, his eyes dropping briefly to my lips.

“Everly,” he said, and my heart fluttered.

A sharp knock at the door made us both jump.

Ryder was on his feet in an instant, his body tense and alert like a predator sensing danger.

“You expecting someone?” he whispered, already moving toward the window to peek outside.

“I shook my head.”

Ryder’s eyes brightened as he sniffed the air. “Don’t answer that.”

ChapterFourteen

Ryder opened the door, and around the side of his body, I could see a dark gray wolf looking up at him. I pressed my lips together to stop myself from making any kind of noise.

“Give me a minute,” Ryder said, without turning to look at me. He stepped outside, pulling the door closed behind him.

The second they were out of sight, I scrambled to the window, pushing the curtain to the side just enough to peek through. Ryder and the wolf were walking toward a bunch of trees at the front of the house.

---