Chapter 10

SOL

I watch from the shadows as the motel door shuts behind her, the faint click of the lock echoing in the cool night air. She doesn't know I'm here – she never does.

She thinks the world is simple, full of easily understood dangers that she can see coming. But this town... it's nothing like what she expects.

Swyn doesn't belong here. Not in Spells Hollow.

Her scent still lingers in the air, a soft trail that I've been following since she crossed the town line. It was faint at first, carried on the wind, but the moment she arrived at the motel, it hit me – sharp, clear, and utterly intoxicating.

The perfect musk to complement my vetiver.

I knew then what I already suspected.

She's in danger.

It's strange how drawn I am to her. I barely know her, yet the connection feels so deep it's unnerving. Adria, Ri, claims she's his mate, but I'm not so sure. I think she might be mine.

Even before she arrived, I'd sensed her presence on the outskirts of town. Something about her calls to me in a way I don't fully understand. Maybe it's because even in the short time I've been watching her I can recognise how different she is from the others who come and go.

They don't last long here, not once the darkness wraps around them. But Swyn…she's special. There's something in her – something strong, but fragile, too. I'm not the only one who can sense it. Darkness has been stirring in town.

My brother would've torn into me if he knew I'd been following her like this. Ri, always the protector of rules, always the one quick to remind us that we have a duty to the town, not to some stranger.

He'd tell me I was foolish for getting too close, but that's the difference between us. He's always kept his distance. I never could.

But it's more than that. The moment I laid eyes on her, I knew she wasn't just another human or witch or supernatural being. The way she looked at me – when I was in my other form – spoke volumes. She didn't recoil, didn't run. She trusted me, even when she shouldn't have.

That trust is dangerous for her. Because she's walking straight into the heart of something she doesn't understand. There are things lurking in Spells Hollow – things older than the ground we walk on, darker than the night itself.

I've seen it. I've felt it in my bones. Swyn isn't like the other wanderers passing through. There's a light to her, something the darkness here will latch onto. And it will destroy her if we don't stop it.

I lean back against the gnarled oak tree near the edge of the parking lot, my muscles tense. I can still see her inside, pacing back and forth behind the thin curtains of the motel room, a silhouette against the pale yellow light.

My instincts have been screaming at me to stay close, to protect her from whatever she's unknowingly stepped into.

She has no idea what Spells Hollow really is. Most don't. The town wears a mask – quaint, sleepy, harmless. But that's just the surface. Beneath it, the ground pulses with something far more sinister. Old magic. Dark magic. And a gateway to the Underworld.

And the longer Swyn stays, the deeper she'll get pulled in.

I followed her the night she arrived, slipping through the woods as a shadow. Shifting has always been easier than being human. Less complicated.

As a dog, everything is sharper, clearer. There's no hesitation, no second-guessing. It's just instinct. And that instinct told me to watch over her, to stay close, because something had drawn her here.

But she's not ready for the truth. Not yet.

I replay the moment at the diner in my mind. The way she talked to me – so fearless, so sharp, her words cutting like glass. It made me smile, even if she didn't see it. There's a fire in her that I didn't expect. Ri, the idiot, nearly blew it by acting like a jerk. He has no idea what's really going on. None of them do.

But it's not just Ri. Even Kel has noticed her, though he hasn't said much. He quickly jumped in tonight to take her on a date though. And that kiss…yeah. Maybe I should be jealous of my brother, going round kissing my girl like that.

I'm not sure how my brothers will react once they realise who or what Swyn really is and what she's doing here in town. I haven't figured it out yet myself, but there's power inside her.

Old power, maybe older than the town itself. And power like that attracts attention – especially the kind we don't want.

My brother, with all his self-righteousness, doesn't see what I see. He's always treated me like the reckless one, the one who can't be trusted with important decisions. But he doesn't understand. Swyn isn't just some outsider. She's something more, something that we need to protect. Not just for her sake, but for everyone's.

There's a storm coming, and she's right in the centre of it.

I step back from the tree, my body aching for the shift. It's easier, being a dog. The world makes more sense that way. Black and white, right and wrong. But right now, I need to think like a human, to plan and strategize. The darkness in Spells Hollow won't give up easily, and it won't let her leave once it's gotten hold of her.

I wonder how much she's felt it already. She doesn't know it yet, but something else has been watching her since the moment she set foot in town. Something worse than my brothers or me.

We can protect her from most things, but not this. Not the thing that lurks beneath the surface, waiting for the right moment to strike.

As I glance one last time at her window, I sense it again, that tug deep in my chest. It's more than attraction. It's like I'm tied to her, bound by something I can't name.

I don't know what it means, or why I feel it, but I do know one thing for certain.

I have to protect her.

Because if I don't, Spells Hollow will consume her whole.