ELENA'S POV
The air was still, the silence heavy with unspoken questions as I leaned Lucas against a tree. His unconscious form was slumped, his silver hair damp with sweat and streaked with dirt. I had found myself, almost instinctively, propping him up so he could breathe easier. I crouched in front of him now, staring at the man who had just shifted from a wolf into this very human form.
He was still naked so I covered his groin with the scarf that was around my neck.
My mind raced, struggling to make sense of everything I had just witnessed. Wolves—no, men—had chased me, only to transform into monstrous creatures. Lucas, the man who had seemed so ordinary when I first met him, had saved me. But it wasn't as a man that he had fought them, it was as a wolf. A... wolf...
I shook my head, trying to push the surreal images out of my mind. My heart was still hammering against my ribs, and I couldn't seem to catch my breath. The forest around us felt alive with its eerie quietness, every shadow suddenly threatening.
I glanced at Lucas, his chest rising and falling in shallow breaths. The man who had saved me. The man who was somehow... not just a man. His skin was pale beneath the dirt, his body littered with scratches and bruises. Blood oozed from a gash on his arm, but he looked alive. For now, at least.
I pressed my back against the tree opposite him, curling my knees to my chest. What am I supposed to do now? My hands shook as I hugged them close. My instincts screamed at me to run, but something kept me rooted here.
Minutes passed, feeling like hours, before Lucas stirred. His lashes fluttered, and he groaned softly as he shifted against the bark. My breath hitched as his eyes finally opened—those same stormy gray eyes that had held me captive the first time we met.
His gaze darted around, panicked, until it landed on me. His brows furrowed in confusion.
"You're still here?" He rasped, his voice hoarse but tinged with disbelief.
"Where else would I go?" I replied, though my voice sounded weaker than I intended.
He winced as he tried to sit up straighter, and I could see the tension in his body as he noticed the distance I had placed between us. "You stayed... even after everything you saw?"
I didn't respond right away. I didn't know how to. My mind was a mess of emotions: fear, confusion, and a hint of anger. "You were hurt." I said finally. "I couldn't just leave you here."
His expression softened, a flicker of gratitude crossing his face. "Thank you." He whispered.
The weight of the moment pressed down on me, and I looked away. "I saw you, Lucas..." I said quietly. "What you did... what you are... I don't even know how to process it. What was that?"
His shoulders slumped, and he rubbed a hand over his face, smearing dirt across his cheek. "I'm sorry you had to see that. But I need you to understand that I'm not your enemy, Elena."
I looked at him sharply. "How do I know that? How do I know you're not just another one of them?"
His gaze locked on mine, pleading. "Because if I were, I wouldn't have fought them off. I wouldn't be sitting here, begging you not to be afraid of me."
The sincerity in his voice gave me pause. My chest tightened as I tried to reconcile the man I had met with the creature that I had just seen. He seemed to sense my hesitation.
"I need you to believe me." He said in a pleading tone, leaning forward slightly despite the pain it seemed to cause him. "I'm on your side, Elena. I'll always be."
I didn't know how to respond to that, so I stayed silent.
After a moment, Lucas shifted, wincing as he moved his injured arm. His eyes studied me carefully. "There's something I need to ask you though." He cleared his throat. "Back there, when you were running... how did you manage to outrun them for so long?"
I blinked at him, startled by the question. "I... I don't know," I admitted. "It just happened. One minute I was running like normal, and the next... I don't know. It was like my body wasn't mine anymore. Like something else had taken over."
Lucas leaned back, his expression thoughtful. "It's starting..." He murmured, almost to himself.
"What's starting?" I demanded, the edge in my voice sharper than I intended.
He looked at me again, his gaze steady. "Your powers, Elena. They're starting to surface."
I stared at him, the words not making any sense. "My... powers? What are you talking about? I don't have any powers."
He shook his head slowly. "You do. And that's why Viktor and his men are after you. They've been hunting you for years, waiting for this moment."
A chill ran down my spine. "What moment?"
"The moment your blood begins to awaken." He answered. "It's why you were able to run like that. Why you're faster, stronger, even though you don't realize it yet. It's in you, Elena. It always has been."
I swallowed hard, my head spinning. "You're not making any sense."
"I know it sounds crazy." He said gently. "But it's the truth. Whatever's in your blood... your lineage, it's powerful. More powerful than you can imagine. And if Viktor gets his hands on you... he'll use it to make himself unstoppable. It'll be bad for the whole of Silverwood."
I shook my head, trying to process his words. "So what? I'm supposed to believe I'm some kind of... what? Am I a werewolf!?"
"No." he said firmly. "You're not a werewolf, Elena. But you have what it takes to defeat one if you can learn to harness your power."
I stared at him, my mind racing. This was too much, too fast. Powers? Bloodlines? Werewolves? It felt like I had stepped into a nightmare I couldn't wake up from.
Lucas watched me carefully, his expression softening. "I know it's a lot to take in. But I promise, I'll help you. You don't have to face this alone."
His words hung in the air between us, heavy with promise and uncertainty. I wanted to believe him, I really did. But nothing in my life had prepared me for this. And as much as I wanted to trust him, a part of me couldn't shake the fear that he might be wrong.
Or worse... that he might be right.