The silence that followed the wolves' departure was almost unbearable.
Too sudden.
Too complete.
Lucy stood frozen by the window long after the forest swallowed the white-haired man. Her hands trembled uncontrollably. Every breath she took scraped against her throat like ice.
"What was that… what was he…?" she whispered to no one.
Her mind replayed his face — that unnatural beauty, the impossible eyes, the presence that felt older than legend itself. And then the transformation… those fangs… that fury…
It shouldn't exist.
None of it should exist.
But it did.
The bloody cloth on her window frame was proof.
A cold wind swept through the house, rattling the walls. Lucy finally forced herself to move. She locked the front door, the back door, checked every window twice. She pulled the curtains tight. She turned on every light.
None of it made her feel safer.
The glowing blood-symbol on the window seemed to pulse faintly, as though alive. The five beasts drawn in the circle seemed to almost shift when she blinked. The werewolf at the center felt like it was staring straight at her.
Lucy backed away, heart hammering.
"What does this mean…?"
"Why did he mark my home?"
"Why me?"
Her thoughts spiraled until the sound of footsteps outside snapped her back to reality.
She tensed — but this time, it wasn't wolves.
The door swung open, and Merlin rushed in, slightly out of breath, eyes alert.
"Lucy! Are you safe? I heard the howls on the way back—half the village heard them. What happened?"
Lucy didn't answer immediately. The words stuck in her throat.
Merlin scanned her face, then followed her trembling finger toward the window.
The moment he saw the blood-mark, his expression hardened.
He moved quickly, checking the perimeter, every door, every angle of the room. He didn't speak until he was certain nothing else was lurking.
Then he turned to her.
His voice was quiet, controlled, but heavy.
"Lucy… tell me everything."
She swallowed.
"I—I woke up to howls. Wolves were everywhere. Surrounding the house. And there was a man. A man sitting on a giant wolf. He… he came close. Right up to the window. Merlin, he wasn't human."
He didn't flinch at her words.
Not disbelief.
Not shock.
But recognition.
A chill sank into her bones.
"You believe me?" she whispered.
Merlin exhaled slowly. "I've seen enough today to believe anything. Start from the beginning."
Lucy told him everything she could remember — the man's white hair, his eyes, his unearthly beauty, how her mind felt pulled toward him, how he transformed, how he drew the bloody symbol.
Merlin listened without interrupting.
When she finished, her voice cracked with exhaustion.
"He wasn't trying to hurt me," she said softly. "But he wasn't trying to help me either. I don't know what he wanted. I just know it felt like… like he came for me."
Merlin clenched his jaw. "That's what worries me."
He stepped to the window, examining the blood-symbol closely. His knuckles turned white.
"This… is not good."
"What does it mean?" Lucy asked, stepping beside him despite the chill crawling over her skin.
Merlin pointed at the five beasts drawn in blood.
"These are not animals. They're ancient sigils. Emblems representing entities tied to the Evergreen Forest. Creatures from the oldest myths — the kind even the tribes speak of with fear."
He touched the werewolf symbol at the center.
"This one… the central beast… that's the Wolf King."
Lucy felt her heart stop.
"The what?"
Merlin met her eyes.
"The Wolf King. The most feared creature in the Evergreen legends. The one said to be born from both human and wolf. A creature of immortality, rage, and curse. A being created from the wrath of nature itself."
Lucy shook her head. "That can't be real."
Merlin lifted the bloody cloth slowly, carefully.
"Tonight proved otherwise."
The house felt colder. The air thicker. The shadows seemed to lean closer.
Lucy sat heavily on the couch, burying her face in her hands.
"Merlin… why did he come here? Why did he look at me like that?"
Merlin hesitated — and that hesitation terrified her more than anything.
"Lucy…"
His voice softened.
"There's something I need to tell you. Something I didn't want to say until I was sure."
Lucy looked up, eyes wide.
Merlin sat across from her, elbows on his knees, fingers interlaced.
"When the tribal man saw you," he said carefully, "he reacted like he recognized you."
Lucy felt a jolt of fear twist in her stomach.
"I don't know him."
"I know," Merlin said. "But he knew something about you."
A long silence.
Then:
"Lucy… there's more."
Her pulse quickened. "Merlin… what are you not telling me?"
He closed his eyes briefly — like he was sorting through the pieces of a truth he didn't want to say.
"When I questioned the tribal man before he passed out, he said one thing. One sentence. And it didn't make sense at the time."
Lucy's breath hitched. "What did he say?"
Merlin met her gaze steadily.
"He said:
'The forest will come for the blood it once owned.'"
Lucy stared at him.
"What… what does that even mean?"
Merlin leaned forward.
"I think the wolves weren't just attacking. They weren't trying to harm you. They were… acknowledging you."
Lucy's heart pounded painfully. "Why would wolves acknowledge me?"
Merlin's voice dropped.
"Because something ties you to them."
Lucy stood up abruptly. "No. No, Merlin. That's impossible. I'm just—just a girl. I'm not connected to forests or wolves or anything supernatural."
"I know," Merlin said gently. "But legends say the Wolf King only seeks out what belongs to him."
Lucy's voice broke. "I don't belong to him."
Merlin rose, placing a steadying hand on her shoulder.
"I know. And I'll protect you. But we need answers. And they won't come from humans."
Lucy swallowed hard, fear thick on her tongue. "Then where?"
Merlin hesitated — and then looked toward the forest.
"From them," he said quietly. "From the tribes. The ones who still hold the old knowledge."
Lucy shook her head, taking a step back. "No. Merlin, I can't go into that forest. What if that man comes back? What if the wolves—"
"That's exactly why we need answers," Merlin insisted. "Something is happening, Lucy. Something old. Something powerful. And you're in the center of it."
Lucy hugged her arms around herself.
"I didn't ask for any of this."
Merlin's eyes softened.
"I know. But that won't stop it."
A soft, barely audible tremor passed through the house — as though the ground itself breathed.
Lucy flinched.
Merlin moved to the door and checked outside again. The wind rustled the trees, but no wolves, no glowing eyes, no white-haired man lingered.
"Get some rest," Merlin said. "I'll stay here tonight."
Lucy nodded weakly, though every part of her felt too shaken to sleep.
As she walked to her room, she paused at the window one last time.
The moon hung heavy above the trees.
The blood-symbol glowed faintly.
The forest swayed like a living thing.
And somewhere in the darkness…
something watched.
Something waiting.
Something claiming.
Lucy whispered into the cold night:
"Why me…?"
And somewhere deep in the Evergreen Forest, as if answering her…
A single, low, haunting howl rose into the air.