Elias moved first.
Not with panic.
Not with noise.
With precision.
He reached behind the armchair, pulled out something small some kind of silent alarm device and pressed his thumb to it. A faint blue blink, nothing more, but Rowan reacted immediately. He grabbed my arm and eased me back, placing my body behind his.
Ethan stepped in front of me too, jaw tight, eyes locked on the window.
No one spoke.
The air felt thick, like the house itself was holding its breath.
Another crunch sounded outside.
Closer.
Too close.
Rowan's voice was barely a whisper.
"It's him."
Elias didn't blink.
"He's not just watching anymore. He's testing the boundary."
Ethan's fists tightened. "We need to—"
A sharp knock hit the door.
Just one.
Precise.
Purposeful.
My heartbeat slammed into my ribs.
I knew that knock.
That rhythm.
That cold, deliberate calm.
He wasn't breaking in.
He wanted to be invited.
Elias lifted a hand, signaling all of us to stay silent.
The knock came again.
Still calm.
Still controlled.
Still his.
Then a voice slid through the door, muffled but unmistakable:
"Ava… open the door."
Rowan swore under his breath.
Ethan's breath hitched.
Elias's face hardened into something I'd never seen before pure, lethal stillness.
"Ava," the voice called again, almost gentle.
"You left something of mine."
My stomach twisted.
Not in fear,in rage.
Because I had left something behind.
My past.
My silence.
My fear.
Elias finally spoke, his voice soft but deadly:
"He won't leave."
Rowan stepped closer to me, guarding my side.
Ethan moved to stand beside him.
The three of them formed a wall between me and the door.
I didn't ask them to.
They just did.
The voice outside spoke again lighter this time, playful in a way that made my skin crawl:
"I know you're not alone, Ava.
I know who you're with."
My blood turned to ice.
He knew.
He knew about the Hale brothers.
A slow, dragging scrape of metal touched the door.
Not trying to open it…just tracing it.
Then—
A click.
Elias swore under his breath.
"He's marking the lock."
"Why?" I whispered.
Elias looked at me, eyes flat with cold truth.
"Because he wants us to know… he can come in any time he wants."
Rowan's jaw flexed.
"Let him try."
"We're not ready," Elias snapped. "Not yet."
The scraping stopped.
Silence seeped in.
Then footsteps, slow, deliberate, circling the house.
Every step echoed like a countdown.
Ethan whispered, "He's not going home. He's settling in."
Elias nodded once.
"He's choosing the next move."
Rowan's hand tightened around mine.
"Ava… he's not here to take you back."
Elias finished the sentence.
"He's here to start a war."