Chapter 6 - Off A Cliff

𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞

He remained silent.

I whipped toward him, panic sharpening my voice. "Students vanished here. People. You can't just drive through—this place is—"

"Stop the car!" I yelled. "This road is insane. It's unnatural. People go missing, they return changed. It's dangerous!"

The forest pressed closer, shadows writhing against the glass. The tires gripped gravel and something unnameable beneath. Cold invaded the cabin.

Still, he said nothing.

I lunged for the door handle, but the vehicle surged faster.

"Please," I choked out. "I'm begging you, please—stop!"

The car only sped up, faster and faster, trees streaking past in a blur. The wheels felt untethered from the ground.

Then—

I screamed.

The car hurtled forward with violent speed, and my body lifted from the seat. Before I could crash into the windshield, a powerful arm locked around my waist, pinning me in place.

My breath hitched, head whipping around in disbelief. He remained composed, eyes fixed on the road as if this madness was mundane. As if we weren't—

I snapped my gaze forward. My eyes blew wide. We were barreling straight toward a cliff edge.

"No—no, no—"

I curled inward, arms shielding my head, bracing for impact.

But the car never fell. Instead, reality warped.

Brilliant colors burst across the windshield—electric blues and shimmering greens, a molten haze twisting through impossible dimensions. We'd left the forest behind and entered nowhere at all.

Yet somehow, through the chaos screaming in my skull, the tires touched down. Gentle, like settling onto velvet. The entire vehicle thrummed as though it had passed through something sentient.

I blinked hard. The lighting had transformed. More trees surrounded us, but no cliff loomed ahead, no void ready to devour us.

Instead, my gaze caught sleek steel and reflective glass glowing under pale light. Moonlight ricocheting off unfamiliar structures. Expansive streets stretching beyond comprehension. Silhouettes resembling sculptures. A cityscape I'd never witnessed. Snow descended from above, already blanketing rooftops and walkways. The air temperature had plummeted.

Where the hell had we landed?

My hands quaked. "What—what just happened? What did you do?"

Silence. Naturally.

He simply gazed ahead, calmer than before, behaving as though we hadn't just launched off a cliff into some dimensional rift. As though this was ordinary procedure.

I should've shaken myself awake right then. Obviously to him, this was normal. This nightmare was mine alone.

I twisted completely in my seat, pulse thundering. "Where are we?"

Quiet.

"I asked you where we are?!"

Nothing.

I clutched the armrest as if it held answers. "You can't just—just drag me through dimensional space and pretend that's acceptable! What is this place?!"

His gaze shifted toward me momentarily. Those frozen orbs stayed remote and detached, as if he peered not at me but beyond me. Then returned to the windshield.

We rolled past what appeared to be a security checkpoint. We halted.

The guard approached, encased in armor—streamlined black gear trimmed with silver accents. Weapons hung casually at their sides, yet their stance transformed the instant they recognized him.

One dipped his head respectfully. "Alpha," he acknowledged. "Welcome home."

The second echoed with a nod. "All secure. No incidents logged since your absence."

His acknowledgment was brief. The vehicle resumed moving.

I pressed forward, scanning our destination.

Massive gates loomed like ancient sentinels, stone columns towering skyward, iron bars embedded with silver threading. At the center, a white wolf emblem pulsed faintly under cold illumination, a towering watchtower briefly spotlighting us.

Everything surrounding us contrasted sharply with the city. Just wilderness, secluded and hushed. Disturbingly so.

The gates divided soundlessly, and the moment they sealed behind us, I sensed the transition. As if something irreversible had locked into position.

The path constricted. Towering, bare trees bordered both sides, their limbs stark against falling snow. An extended driveway wound forward, bordered by lights flickering faintly, mimicking a pulse.

Then it appeared.

Frigid steel and shadowed glass. Colossal. Commanding. Its windows soared dark and hollow, resembling watchful eyes. A single balcony protruded, where a white wolf sculpture glared down the approach, fangs exposed.

His territory. His fortress.

I swallowed thickly. It resembled not a residence but a stronghold engineered to unsettle.

We stopped before the entrance. Two figures bracketed the doorway, straightening upon seeing him.

No exchange occurred. The door beside me released with a click.

I remained frozen. Terror had seized me completely.

She materialized, heels soundless on stone. For an instant, I couldn't process what I was seeing.

She was stunning.

Angular features carved like sculpted marble, yet possessing warm undertones and timeless beauty. Her hair gleamed like molten copper spun into thread, sleek and gathered into a tail reaching her lower back. Her violet eyes reflected moonlight, exquisite, yet glacial.

She wore tailored clothing fitted as if stitched directly onto her frame. Midnight fabric, pristine, with pale shirting beneath and silver fasteners gleaming like ice crystals. Attached to her collar sat the identical white wolf symbol I'd noticed on the gates.

She moved with innate authority belonging to someone never challenged. Tall, refined, built like a battle-ready deity. She appeared capable of felling a grown man with a single strike without disturbing her immaculate appearance.

She offered her hand.

For one fleeting heartbeat, hope stirred. A woman. Perhaps she'd—

Her fingers withdrew before I could accept.

Her violet stare hardened, tone sharp enough to slice steel. "Your legs function, don't they?" Her speech carried a pronounced accent. Russian origins.

I tensed. Whatever compassion I'd imagined vanished instantly.

"Exit," she commanded. She required no additional threat. The directive was both instruction and warning perfectly merged.

Trembling, I complied.

Her hold on my arm felt like forged metal, refined fingers cinched too firmly around my bicep, nails hovering near puncturing. Her grip wasn't designed to injure. It was designed to dominate.

I flinched, attempting to pull free. "Please," I whispered, breathing unsteadily. "Release me. I—I wasn't trying to—just let me leave."

She maintained her grasp. Her expression remained unchanged. The quiet expanded uncomfortably.

Then a gradual smile curved her lips. Not warm. Not entertained. The kind suggesting she'd already anticipated my next words.

"If that's true," she remarked casually, "can you navigate your exit? Through snow? Without assistance?"

I nodded frantically. "Yes. I can."

She observed me briefly longer, then finally released me. With a finger snap, she addressed the stationed guards. "Unseal the gates."

They responded instantly. Zero hesitation.

She retrieved something from her jacket and extended a small metallic card. "Present this to patrols. They'll grant passage. One time."

I accepted it as if it might scorch me.

Nobody spoke. Not her, not the Alpha, not his personnel. Everyone simply observed.

My legs felt liquid, but I forced motion. I descended, boots crunching quietly through snow.

The gates groaned apart again, the sound resonating with finality.

I fled.

I didn't glance backward—until I did.

He remained positioned near the vehicle, motionless as sculpture, observing, expression unreadable. As if he'd anticipated from the start that I would bolt.

And he wasn't pursuing. He wasn't even shifting.

That frightened me more than anything.

Still, I ran.