Falling For The Demon Wolf Chapter 9: Demon Wolf

A shiver crawled down my spine, but I didn't turn.

Not yet.

I could feel him. His presence, thick as a storm rolling in, pressing against my skin. The weight of it made the air harder to breathe, charged with sothing dangerous.

Wolf whimpered beside , lowering his head.

The wolves around kept their heads bowed, their bodies still and obedient.

Everyone but .

I remained standing.

Defiant.

Foolish.

The silence stretched, thick with expectation, with sothing unspoken crackling between us.

Then—

A hand curled around the back of my neck.

Large. Warm. Unyielding.

My breath hitched, every nerve in my body going taut as I was forced to turn.

And there he was.

Alpha Zain.

The Demon Alpha.

His midnight-blue eyes burned into mine, dark and knowing. His face was carved from sothing sharp and unforgiving, the kind of beauty that belonged to a predator.

And gods, he slled dangerous.

Like smoke and steel, like the forest after a storm.

I hated the way my pulse reacted to it.

I tilted my chin up, eting his gaze without flinching. "If you're expecting to kneel," I said, my voice steady despite the way his touch burned against my skin, "you'll be waiting a long ti."

Low gasps and murmurs spread through the crowd.

A slow smirk curved his lips.

"Who said I want you on your knees, little hunter?" he murmured, his fingers tightening, just enough to remind how easily he could snap in two.

Heat licked up my spine. Not fear.

Sothing far more dangerous.

And from the way his smirk deepened, he knew it.

The pictures I had seen didn't do justice to the devil in front of .

He looked like a dark soul, cast away from light—sothing born in the depths of the abyss, shaped by violence and shadow. But sohow, sowhere, he must have done sothing redeemable for God to make him this beautiful.

Because he was.

Terrifyingly, sinfully beautiful.

Not in a way that softened him. No, there was nothing soft about him. He was all sharp edges and ruthless intent, the kind of beauty that lured you in just to watch you break.

His midnight-blue eyes locked onto mine, filled with sothing dark and unreadable. They drank in, slow and deliberate, as if peeling apart layer by layer.

I clenched my fists, my breath steady despite the way his presence sank into my skin, despite the way every inch of my body scread at to run.

But I didn't.

I wouldn't.

"Finished staring?" I said, forcing my voice to remain level.

He tilted his head, his smirk deepening. "Not even close, little hunter."

My pulse skipped.

His fingers dragged along the back of my neck before falling away, leaving a ghost of warmth in their wake.

I should have been relieved.

I wasn't.

What the hell was wrong with !?

His smirk lingered, slow and knowing, as if he could hear the way my heart betrayed , pounding beneath my ribs like a caged animal.

I hated him for it.

For the way he looked at like he already knew how this would end. Like he had already won.

I lifted my chin. *"Enjoy the view while you can, because soon enough, I'll be the one standing over your corpse."*

His laughter was low and dark, curling around like smoke. *"Oh, little hunter,"* he murmured, stepping closer, *"I think you have it all wrong."*

The air between us stretched tight. I refused to move, even as his fingers lifted, brushing a stray lock of hair from my face with unnerving gentleness.

"You should be more worried about what I plan to do with you while you're still breathing."

Heat blood low in my stomach, unbidden, unwelco. I gritted my teeth. "And you should be worried about how quickly I'll slit your throat if you try."

He grinned, sharp and wicked. "Now that's the spirit."

Before I could respond, Cian's voice cut through the thick air between us. *"We should move. We're close."*

Close.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to focus. The tall, dark walls of his territory lood ahead, jagged as the trees that surrounded them. An entire kingdom of wolves waiting behind them.

And ?

I was walking straight into the den of monsters.

But I'd survived the night.

If I survived the rogues.

I can survive this, too.

Zain barely spared another glance, the coldness returning as soon as he turned his back walking toward the looming gates ahead. The cold night air seed to bend around him, his presence heavier than the darkness itself. He moved with slow, deliberate steps, a king returning to his kingdom, knowing no one would dare stand in his way.

The massive gates groaned as they opened, revealing a fortress of stone and shadow. Torches flickered along the high walls, casting jagged, shifting light over the figures that waited inside. Wolves. Dozens of them. So in human form, others half-shifted, their eyes glowing in the dimness.

I felt their gazes land on instantly.

A ripple of murmurs. Low growls. The scent of suspicion thick in the air.

"A hunter?" soone spat from the crowd.

"Why is she still breathing?" another demanded.

Zain didn't pause. He didn't acknowledge their words, their anger. He simply kept walking, the weight of his silence cutting through their unrest like a blade. The wolves parted for him, stepping back instinctively, though their stares never left .

Cian walked ahead of , and Selene lingered at my side, watching with sothing between amusent and anticipation.

I squared my shoulders, forcing my steps to stay steady. Weakness here would get killed.

But the mont I crossed the threshold, a chill ran down my spine, as if I had stepped into sothing far deeper, far darker than I had realized.

The gates slamd shut behind .

Locking in. Only then did I realize that I may not get to see my sisters or my parents again, There was no turning back now.