Chapter 5 +18 I'm coming to take you;🔥🔥

The sound that tore from her throat as she came plunged her into deep shame. But she hadn't been able to stop herself.

He kept his fingers inside her, feeling every spasm, every tremor, watching her face with that burning, shameless gaze as she fell apart. Eva had gone rigid with the force of it, left breathless. The sheets beneath her were soaking wet.

He leaned down. His lips found her ear.

"This was only the beginning," he whispered. "The seal is awakening. And I'm coming to take you..."

Eva's eyes flew open.

She was alone in the bed.

Her heart was slamming. Her pajama pants and sheets clung to her skin, damp with something real and cold. Between her legs still throbbed. The echo of his fingers, the violence of that climax, was still vibrating through her muscles.

Her face was flushed. There were tears on her cheeks.

She brought trembling hands to herself. The wetness was proof. The dream wasn't only in her mind.

None of her previous dreams had ended like this.

"God," she sobbed, her voice stripped raw. "Again. That dream again. Who is he?"

Those amber eyes burned clear in her memory. The tattoos. The weight of him. The fullness. All of it so vivid it felt like memory, not fantasy.

She pressed her hands over her face. "This is madness," she whispered. "It's just a dream. Stress. Loneliness."

But her body wasn't lying. Wet, responsive, and completely satisfied.

She shook her head and forced herself upright. The room was ice cold. The fireplace had died hours ago and every last trace of warmth had vanished. The contrast was brutal, her body still burning from the inside while the air bit at her skin.

She got up on trembling legs. The cold carpet made her shiver from the soles of her feet straight up.

"Ugh," she muttered, moving toward the fireplace. "Is this cursed mountaintop always going to be this cold?"

One of the genuine comforts of city life had been central heating. Out here, she had to go fetch wood from the shed or freeze to death. She pulled on her boots at the door and stepped outside.

The moment her foot landed on the porch, a rustling at her feet made her look down.

She froze.

An enormous bouquet of flowers sat right there on the step.

She picked it up and looked around. Snow. Trees. Silence. No one.

"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered. "We're on a mountaintop. Who put this here?"

She didn't spend long on the question. She had always been results-oriented, and right now her priority was not freezing. She left the flowers on the table inside and went for the wood.

When the fire finally crackled to life, Eva crouched in front of it and stretched her hands toward the flames.

"God, there's nothing more soothing than fire," she murmured. Then she laughed softly at herself. "I guess I really am a cursed witch."

A few minutes later, her eyes drifted to the bouquet. She went over and examined the flowers. No note. And they were undeniably lovely, small-leafed and colorful, still holding their shape perfectly.

She brought them to her nose and breathed in. The scent hit her like something familiar she couldn't name. A strange warmth moved through her.

Then came the knock at the door.

She stared at it for a few seconds, gathering herself, then went over and opened it.

Elly stood on the step holding a basket, the smell of fresh pastry drifting off it before Eva could even say a word.

"Good morning!" Elly said, beaming. "I brought pastries!"

"Get in here," Eva said, already smiling.

They made coffee. As they ate, Eva told her about the flowers, casual about it, pulling her shawl tighter over herself.

Elly's eyes landed on the bouquet and went wide.

"Oh! Gerberas!" She crossed the room and picked them up. "How did you gather these? They're beautiful!"

"I didn't. They were at the door this morning. I have no idea where they came from."

Elly turned to her slowly. "What do you mean you have no idea?"

"I mean I woke up and they were there."

Elly examined the bouquet with growing seriousness. "Eva. These flowers are a messaging tradition from decades ago. They mean welcome. And they only grow at the mountain peak. They couldn't have come down here on their own."

Eva leaned back in her chair, unbothered. "I guess I have a handsome admirer."

"This tradition is from about fifty years ago," Elly said.

Eva's mouth curved. "Perfect. So I have an elderly stalker who climbs mountains at dawn to bring me flowers. What more could a woman want?"

Elly burst out laughing, but her eyes stayed unsettled.

"Come on," Eva said, gesturing at the pastries. "I'm starving."

A few hours later, they headed down to town. Eva needed sugar, Christmas decorations, and apparently a daily reminder that the townspeople despised her existence.

"This town is genuinely strange," Eva said as they drove. "People act like they're living in a different century. Witch hunts. Wolf tales. Don't they have more sensible things to do?"

Elly glanced sideways at her. "You won't believe any of it until you see it yourself, will you?"

"You're talking about things from a long time ago, Elly. Have you actually seen any of it?"

"I believe," Elly said simply, and her voice was so steady, so full of quiet certainty, that Eva didn't push back.

They parked in front of the market. Eva took a slow breath. If that old man said one more word to her, she was going to lose her mind. She steadied her pulse.

"Ready?" Elly asked.

"Ready for the daily dose of being called cursed? Sure. Let's go."

The moment they walked in, every head turned. Whispers started immediately. Old David stood at the register with his arms crossed, glaring at Eva like she'd personally wronged him in a past life.

Eva ignored him. She moved through the aisles filling a basket. Canned goods. Flour, sugar, eggs. Some Christmas decorations. She handed it all to Elly.

Elly went to the register with a bright smile. "Hello, David! I'll be buying these."

David's gaze never left Eva. "I won't sell to her," he said.

Eva's blood shot straight up to her face. "Excuse me? I'm a customer and I'm paying."

"I won't sell anything to Rose's daughter. Get out."

The people around them watched. No one moved.

Elly grabbed Eva's arm.

Then the door opened.

Joe walked in.

Tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired, and carrying that sharp, commanding presence that apparently made the whole town rearrange itself around him. His eyes swept the room, landed on Eva, then moved to David.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

David backed up slightly. "Joe... this woman..."

"This woman what?" Joe's voice was flat and hard. "She's a customer. She'll pay."

Eva stared at him.

Joe turned and nodded at her once. Then he picked up the basket and set it on the counter himself. "We're buying these, David."

David muttered something under his breath, calculated the total, and handed over the bags.

Joe took them and turned to Eva. That insufferable smile was back.

"Have a good day, Rose's daughter," he said, and walked out.

Eva stood there for a moment, caught somewhere between gratitude and annoyance. Before she could decide which one, Elly grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out.

"Thank you, David, have a lovely day!" Elly called behind them, practically sprinting.

Outside, Eva pulled free. "Let go! He wouldn't sell to me, but the moment Joe touches the basket it's suddenly fine? That old fool listens to nobody but him?"

"He's like the crown prince of this town," Elly said, still laughing. "His father owns most of the workshops. Half the families here depend on them for work. They've been in this valley for generations."

"So the cursed girl gets nothing, but the crown prince gets whatever he wants."

"Essentially, yes."

Eva walked toward the car, thinking. "In that story you told me, what is Joe exactly?"

Elly's face shifted. "Never mind, let's just go."

Eva stopped. Looked at her. Started to grin. "Wait. Is Joe one of those demons from your legend? He reminded me of them."

"Eva, stop making fun already," Elly said, getting in the car.

Eva got in after her, still laughing. She loaded the bags in the back and pulled out onto the road.

They'd barely rounded the first curve when a vehicle came from nowhere and cut directly across their path.

Eva slammed the brakes. The car skidded on the ice and stopped with the front bumper hovering over the cliff edge.

"What's happening?" she breathed.

Elly's face had gone completely white. "Eva. Back up. Now."

But it was already too late. Masked men surrounded the car. Black ski masks. Clubs in their hands.

Eva hit the door locks. One of the men punched the window anyway.

"Get out, Rose's daughter!"

"Get lost!" she shouted back.

Another man came to the front and started swinging at the windshield. It cracked. Then it shattered.

Elly screamed. Eva had her foot on the gas but there was nowhere to go, they'd blocked every angle.

Then something came out of the trees.

A wolf. Smaller than the one she'd seen on her first day, but built like a weapon, black-gray fur, muscles pulled tight. Its eyes caught the light and threw it back silver.

The men organized instantly. They pulled back in a tight formation, no panic in them, moving like they knew this animal. Like they'd prepared for it.

Inside the car, Eva and Elly sat completely still.

The wolf held its ground. Then it turned and looked directly at Eva.

There was nothing warm in that gaze. Not like before. This was cold. Measuring. An icy sensation moved down Eva's spine...