Chapter four
POV
Mira
The Wolf in the Shadows
The night was heavy, one of those humid Nigerian nights that clung to your skin, pressing on your lungs like wet cloth. The kind of night that made even silence feel alive, whispering secrets through the rustle of leaves and the hum of distant generators.
'Mama had sent me to deliver food to one of her friends in Jikwoyi, a neighboring community. By the time I finished, darkness had already swallowed the estate. The roads were almost empty; the traders had packed up their goods, the smell of roasted corn and suya fading into memory. Children who had spent the evening chasing tyres were gone, leaving only echoes of their laughter behind.
Only the flicker of weak bulbs hung from roadside kiosks and the pale, watchful glow of the moon remained, spreading a ghostly shimmer over the cracked tar road.
'I shifted my bag to the other shoulder and walked faster, my heels clicking softly. Abuja nights could be unpredictable. I knew that. Even as a managing director at Dalesman+Mainstream Petrochemical, I also knew my title meant nothing to men lurking in shadows. Out here, your name and worth vanished with the light.
But it wasn't men I was afraid of.
Not tonight!
'A strange feeling had been following me all day, 'a whisper at the edge of my senses, like someone breathing my name on the wind. I had brushed it off, blaming fatigue from work. But now, every sound felt amplified; every rustle of grass, every distant bark, every flicker of shadow.
'Then I heard it!
"A low grow"l.
'I froze! 'My heart slammed against my ribs so hard it almost hurt. 'That sound didn't belong here. Dogs barked, whined, or yelped and they didn't growl like this. This sound was deeper, primal, ancient. It rolled through the night like thunder under the earth.
'I turned slowly, breath caught halfway in my throat.
"The shadows moved".
'And then they stepped forward!
'My breath hitched!
"Not a man".
"Not a dog".
'A massive wolf!
'How can this be!
'His coat shimmered silver beneath the moonlight, every strand glowing faintly like liquid steel. His muscles rippled with restrained power, and his eyes - those unmistakable golden eyes; locked onto mine.
'For a heartbeat, I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I just stared, my mind scrambling for sense. 'Wolves didn't exist in Abuja!
'They didn't exist in Nigeria!
Although mystic exist which I believe! But he was real. Flesh, breath, and danger standing before me.
'A strange familiarity rippled through me, like I'd seen him before - in dreams, in flashes behind my eyelids, in the strange visions that haunted me at night.
"This can't be real," I whispered!
'But deep down, I already knew.
"He wasn't a dream".
"He wasn't a nightmare".
'He was him!.
"Not the man from my dreams".
'Not the stranger at the immigration office whose gaze had burned through my soul.
"This was the Alpha King's other self".
'His beast!
"The wolf"
'How can this be possible!.
He padded closer, silent, deliberate. The night itself seemed to bow to his presence. 'The wind stilled, the crickets went mute, even the hum of faraway generators dimmed as if the world knew a god walked the earth again.
"Stay away," I whispered, my voice trembling - but not entirely from fear. Something else stirred beneath the terror. 'A dangerous longing! A magnetic pull that made my pulse race in ways no man ever had.
'The wolf tilted his head slightly, golden eyes softening. In that moment, everything around me faded. There was no fear, no darkness; only him. I could feel the air between us thrum with something wild and ancient, as if the bond of a thousand lifetimes was waking inside me.
'And then;
'The growl deepened.
Not at me.
At something - behind me.
'I spun around just as four men stumbled out from the shadows, their laughter sharp and ugly. The sour stench of alcohol clung to them. One held a broken bottle, another a length of pipe, and the rest wore that same kind of street arrogance that hid cowardice underneath.
"Fine girl, walking alone this kind night?" one sneered, his eyes crawling over me.
Another licked his lips. "MD or no MD, you no go pass here like that. Drop the bag."
'My throat went dry!
I clutched my bag tighter and took a step back. "Please, I don't want any trouble".
'But before I could finish, the wolf moved!
With a snarl that split the night in two, he leapt between us. His massive frame landed with a thud that shook the ground. His teeth bared, his golden eyes blazed with lethal promise.
"What-what kind of animal is that?" one stammered.
'The others froze. For a moment, their bravado crumbled, fear dawning on their faces.
"Guy, forget this thing!" another shouted, already backing away.
"Na juju ( Africa power)) be that! I no dey!"
'They scattered, vanishing into the night like rats fleeing fire.
'Silence returned!
The wolf turned back to me, eyes glowing, chest rising and falling with slow, heavy breaths. The moonlight bathed him in an ethereal glow, silver against the blackness.
'My fear began to melt. In its place bloomed something far more dangerous - wonder, awe, and the sharp ache of longing.
'He stepped closer' I could feel the heat of him now, radiating through the night air, wrapping around me like invisible fire.
'I should have run; I should have screamed.
'But I didn't.
My feet carried me forward instead, as if pulled by an invisible thread. My hand trembled as I reached for him.
"Please… don't vanish," I whispered.
He lowered his head, allowing my fingers to brush his fur.
'It was warm - softer than silk, yet beneath it pulsed raw power. His heartbeat thundered through my palm, steady, commanding, alive. And beneath that rhythm, I felt something else; a pull, a connection, ancient and unbreakable.
'Tears welled in my eyes'. "Why me?"
The wolf's gaze softened, and for a fleeting second, I saw him - the man behind the beast. His golden eyes shifted, flickering with the human soul trapped within.
'He saw me too.
Not as prey.
But as something meant.
'The night around us shimmered, energy swirling through the air. The same force I'd felt in my dreams surged within me now - a strange warmth blooming in my chest, spreading to my fingertips. My skin glowed faintly, the air humming with an ancient resonance.
'His eyes widened slightly - recognition, reverence, and something like sorrow!
'Then, 'just as suddenly, he stepped back. The glow in his eyes dimmed. With one powerful leap, he vanished into the shadows, swallowed by the night.
'The silence he left behind was heavier than before.
I stood trembling, my chest heaving, tears sliding down my face. My heart felt torn between terror and something achingly beautiful.
"He was real".
'Not a dream.
'Not a story whispered in myth.
"The Alpha King".
'The beast of the moon.
And somehow, impossibly… he was connected to me.
'As the wind stirred again, I looked up at the moon, now brighter, fuller, as if it had witnessed our meeting and approved.
"I don't know who you are," I whispered, voice breaking, "but somehow… I think you've always known me."
'The night answered only with silence. But somewhere in the distance, a howl rose; deep, mournful, and heartbreakingly beautiful.
And I knew then that this was only the beginning.