Chapter 138 - 95 : The Stranger And The Wolves (1)

Chapter 138: Chapter 95 : The Stranger And The Wolves (1)

Ethan tried once more to gather his strength, but his muscles refused to cooperate. He could not even stand.

So this is how it ends?

The thought came quietly. After everything he had survived, after everything he had become, was this really where it would end?

His gaze shifted toward the darkness between the trees. Several faint points of light appeared among the bushes.

Eyes.

One pair.

Then another.

More followed, gradually appearing throughout the darkness. The wolves had surrounded the crater, their bodies mostly hidden by the vegetation while their eyes caught the occasional flash of lightning.

Ethan stared at them.

They stared back.

Low growls rumbled through the rain. The pack did not rush him. They watched from the edge of the darkness, waiting and judging the creature lying wounded at the bottom of the crater.

Ethan understood what they saw.

Prey.

To them, he was an injured creature that could not move, easy prey that could not fight back. Ethan tried to move again, but his body refused to respond, his hands slipping helplessly against the mud.

I really am going to become food for wolves.

Under any other circumstance, the thought would have been absurd. He was supposed to be a top creature of the night, a vampire, yet here he was, bleeding beneath the rain while a pack of wild animals waited to devour him.

A low growl sounded from the edge of the crater.

Ethan shifted his gaze toward it.

Two wolves slowly emerged from behind the bushes. Their wet fur clung to their bodies, and their heads remained lowered as they watched him. They moved closer to the crater’s edge, their paws sinking slightly into the rain-soaked earth.

One wolf stopped at the edge of the crater while the other moved a little closer, both keeping their eyes fixed on Ethan. Behind them, more shapes shifted among the trees, waiting.

The two wolves lowered their heads and stared down at him. Their bodies were tense, their attention completely fixed on the wounded figure below. Saliva slowly dripped from their jaws, mixing with the rain as they watched him like they had found the most tempting meal they had ever seen.

Then they began to move.

Slowly at first, then with growing certainty, the wolves advanced down from the edge of the crater.

Ethan watched them approach, his body still refusing to respond. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. He could only lie there and watch as they came closer.

He was completely at their mercy.

Then something changed.

A different presence entered his Blood Perception.

Stronger than the wolves.

Human.

Ethan’s eyes shifted toward the source as movement stirred beyond the trees. Someone was running through the forest, moving fast enough that branches snapped one after another and hurried footsteps struck the wet ground. Whoever it was seemed to be coming directly toward him.

For a brief moment, the tension around the crater seemed to loosen. Even the wolves paused. The sudden movement had caught their attention, and several of them turned their heads toward the sound, their focus shifting away from Ethan as they listened.

The footsteps grew louder.

Ethan’s mind sharpened slightly.

Another person?

Then the trees ahead suddenly parted, and a figure burst through the rain-soaked forest.

Lucian Veymont stumbled out of the bushes, one hand still gripping his blade. He had just cut through a branch blocking his path when his footing suddenly gave way beneath him. His boot slid through the mud at the edge of the crater, and his body lurched forward as the ground dipped sharply. He nearly fell iinto a pit, but caught himself at the last moment and staggered onward.

Rain poured over him as he pushed through the clearing. His once-fine outer robe was torn across the shoulder and stained with mud, while one sleeve had been ripped nearly to the elbow. Wet hair clung to his forehead, and his breathing was uneven from the frantic pace he had maintained through the forest. He looked nothing like the heir of a wealthy noble family now, though the quality of his clothing was still difficult to hide. Even soaked and damaged, the dark fabric carried fine stitching along its edges, marking it as something far better than the clothes of an ordinary traveler.

Lucian glanced back through the trees, his expression tightening as he listened.

Nothing.

Not yet.

But he could hear them somewhere behind him.

Voices carried faintly through the rain, followed by the flickering glow of torches moving between the trees. Men were calling to one another as they searched the forest, their voices drawing closer with every passing moment.

"Spread out!"

"Check the trees!"

"He can’t have gone far!"

Lucian’s jaw tightened as he paused to catch his breath. His chest rose and fell heavily, and for a moment he simply stood there, listening to the rain while his mind struggled to catch up with everything that had happened. His guard had been ambushed, and in the chaos, the rest of his men had engaged the attackers while his guard captain had stepped forward to hold them back and give him a chance to escape. Lucian had taken that chance and run. He had not dared to look back, but the thought of what might have happened to them weighed heavily on him. They could still be fighting. They could have been captured. Or worse. He forced the thought aside and glanced back through the trees, his fingers tightening around his blade. The voices behind him were still there, carried faintly through the heavy rain.

Another flash of lightning suddenly illuminated the clearing around him.

Lucian’s attention shifted as he finally took in his surroundings. The depression he had nearly stumbled into was larger than he had realized. What he had taken for a simple pit in the darkness was actually a shallow crater, its edges broken and muddy from whatever had struck the ground. But it was not the crater itself that caught his attention.

Wolves surrounded it.

Several of them stood around the edges, their bodies tense as they watched something below. Lucian frowned. Wolves normally sought shelter during a storm this heavy, especially in the middle of the night. Yet here they were, gathered around this strange crater as though something inside it had drawn them out into the rain.

"What are you doing here?"

The words left him in a low, almost subconscious mutter.

The wolves immediately turned their attention toward him. A low growl rolled through the clearing as several of them bared their teeth, their bodies stiffening in warning. Their attention shifted between Lucian and whatever lay inside the crater, as though they were guarding something they had no intention of surrendering.

Lucian instinctively tightened his grip on his blade.

What were they after ?

He looked past them, following their movements toward the bottom of the crater. For a moment, the darkness and rain made it difficult to see anything clearly. Then another flash of lightning split the night, revealing a figure lying motionless in the mud.

A person.

Lucian stared at the stranger, momentarily forgetting the men pursuing him. The figure was covered in blood and mud, barely moving at the bottom of the crater.

Lucian’s first instinct was to leave.

The thought came immediately, almost as naturally as breathing. His guard had already paid dearly to buy him this chance. His men had risked their lives to hold the attackers back, and his guard captain had deliberately placed himself between Lucian and the danger so that he could escape. Every moment of distance between them had been bought with that sacrifice. To stop now and involve himself in someone else’s trouble felt like gambling away the precious time they had given him. The voices and torchlight behind him were a constant reminder that those men were still paying the price for his escape. He had enough problems of his own.

He glanced back. The torchlight flickered between the trees, moving slowly through the rain.

He could still run.

If he kept moving, he might be able to disappear into the forest before they caught up with him. Whatever happened to the stranger in the crater was not his concern. He had enough problems of his own.

Lucian took a step backward.

Then his eyes returned to the figure lying in the mud.

The stranger had barely moved. The wolves were still gathered around him, their bodies tense as they slowly edged closer. Something about the sight made Lucian stop.

He looked back toward the torchlight, then at the stranger again. His grip tightened around his blade. He knew he should leave. Every instinct told him to keep moving, yet his feet remained where they were.

Lucian closed his eyes for a brief moment, rain running down his face. He could already imagine what would happen if he stayed. He was already running from one danger. Now he was about to throw himself into another for someone he did not even know.

It was reckless, maybe even foolish.

And yet, if he turned and left now, he knew he would never be able to forget the sight of those wolves surrounding a helpless person while he simply walked away.

Lucian opened his eyes.

"Dammit."

He tightened his grip on his blade as he broke into a run, heading straight toward the wolves.

"Get away from him!"