The first time Evelyn saw him, he was leaning against the crumbling wall of an abandoned tavern, half-hidden in the swirling mist of Duskrow Alley.
A worn hat covered most of his face, but not the soft, dark curls slipping out from under the brim.
His light brown skin looked pale in the dim light, like the had washed the color out of him.
And his eyes — she couldn't see their color, not clearly, but she felt them watching her.
He was watching her.
Evelyn's pulse jumped.
She should have walked past, pretended she didn't notice him.
That was the rule: don't look too long, don't speak unless spoken to, and never — ever — meet the gaze of a stranger lingering in the shadows.
But something about him pulled at her, not just curiosity, not attraction either.
It was as if her soul twitched, like a thread being plucked from the inside out.
She stepped forward anyway.
The alley narrowed behind her, and the air grew colder.
Her boots echoed softly on the cobblestones.
Around her, the city of Drenmor hummed with its usual nighttime rhythm, carts creaking, tavern laughter, the occasional flutter of wings overhead.
But here, in this pocket of silence and smoke, the world shrank to a heartbeat and two bodies suspended in tension.
"Are you lost?" Evelyn asked, voice careful.
She studied his posture, loose but not casual, hands in his coat pockets, like he was trying not to seem dangerous.
He tilted his head slightly, the brim of his hat casting shadows across most of his face.
But just for a second when the lightning flared — she caught a glimpse.
A sharp cheekbone, wet curls stuck to skin lightened by the moonlight and silver eyes glinting through the dark like distant stars.
Then the shadows swallowed him again, and the moment was gone.
But her heart didn't forget.
It never would.
"Should I be?"
His voice was low, velvet-smooth, but threaded with something...feral.
Evelyn's fingers twitched at her side.
Her instincts flared, the ancient warning her grandmother had called the pull, the one that whispered danger even when your mind screamed fascination.
"Not if you live here," she said.
"I don't."
She took a breath, steadying herself.
The wind picked up and tangled strands of her dark hair across her face, she pushed them aside, trying to read him more clearly.
His features were sharp but not cruel, high cheekbones, a mouth that looked like it forgot how to smile.
There was something guarded in the way he stood, like his whole existence was an apology to a world that never asked for him.
"You shouldn't be here." Her tone hardened. "Not alone. Not this close to the southern border."
"I'm not alone." He held her gaze now, calm, still, and dangerous. "You're here."
The sentence hung in the air like a noose.
Evelyn's siren senses rippled beneath her skin, tasting him, not in the way others did and not for seduction or song but in that instinctual way sirens read people.
He wasn't normal. Not a man caught out of place or wandering in the dark.
There was something inside him coiled tight, like a wolf circling just beneath his skin.
"Look," she said, voice low now. "Whatever you're doing here, don't. Drenmor doesn't take kindly to outsiders."
"And what do you take kindly to, Evelyn?"
She froze.
He knew her name.
"How—" Her voice broke, just slightly, enough to make her furious. "Who are you?"
He gave a ghost of a smile. "No one you should trust."
Something twisted in her gut.
He wasn't being cryptic for the sake of mystery, he meant it.
There was pain in the words, a warning so raw it burned.
And yet, she didn't run.
Her siren magic curled around her like a second skin now.
Beneath her calm facade, her heart beat fast and loud, she could sing him into silence, she could drive him away, make him forget her completely.
One note, that's all it would take.
But she didn't.
Because she wanted to understand why he looked like a man who had lost everything, and why he stared at her like she might be the reason.
"I think you should go," she said, softer this time.
She looked down at his hands, one was clenched in his coat pocket, shaking slightly.
He didn't move.
"Go," she repeated, more forceful now.
"Not yet," he said. "I was sent here. For you."
She stepped back. "What?"
"You're not safe." His tone shifted, heavier now. "They're coming. You need to leave this city before the next moonrise."
Her breath hitched.
"Who's coming?"
The man didn't answer. Instead, he took a step closer, not threatening, but urgent.
"I can help you, but only if you come with me."
She laughed, but it was bitter, defensive. "Oh, sure. I'm supposed to follow a stranger in a smoky alley because he says cryptic things and wears a dramatic hat?"
He almost smiled again. Almost.
"You haven't asked why I care."
"I don't need to. I don't trust you."
His eyes darkened, and for a second, the street around them seemed to dim, as if the shadows themselves responded to him.
Evelyn's pulse spiked.
That wasn't magic, not like hers.
It was something else, older and wilder.
She stepped back again, trying to keep her voice calm. "Stay away from me."
"I'm trying," he said softly, and this time it wasn't sarcasm, it was grief. "Believe me, I am."
Then, from behind him, a sound cut the tension, a shattering crash from the rooftops above.
Both their heads snapped up.
The shadow of something massive slid across the alley walls, too large for a bird, too smooth to be a creature born of this world.
Evelyn's stomach dropped. That wasn't a coincidence.
The man reached for her, not to hurt, but to protect. "Run."
She didn't move. Her voice was a whisper. "What are you?"
But he was already turning, lifting his hand and from his palm, the shadows leapt like living things, answering his call.
She stared, breathless.
Not a man. Not normal.
A whisper echoed in her mind, from magic older than the city itself: Shadow wolf.
And he'd come for her.
Hello, this is my first time writing a novel in this app, so I am a newcomer please welcome me by voting for my story, giving good reviews and liking it. Trust me if you do that, i will thank you a lot for your generosity and support.
It's me your new writer, Haprile(that's my nickname)
God bless you.🥰