Chapter 6

ila's footsteps seemed to echo in the silence of the forest as she moved further from the clearing, her heart racing with every step. The howls still reverberated through the trees, louder and more insistent than ever, as though they were drawing her in—compelling her to come closer. But even as she felt that pull, her mind raced with the warning from the mysterious man, the one who had emerged from the shadows and vanished just as quickly.

“You’re in Pine Hollow now, Lila. You’ll learn the truth soon enough. The wolves... they don’t let go of those who belong to them.”

Her breath caught in her throat, and her pulse quickened at the thought. The wolves. The eerie call, the strange connection she felt to the forest—it all made sense now, but that only scared her more. She wasn’t just an outsider here. She was part of whatever ancient force gripped this place, whether she liked it or not.

Another howl echoed through the trees, too close now, making the hairs on her neck stand on end. She hesitated, her foot poised above the ground, when a sudden voice pierced through the silence, sharp and urgent.

“Lila! What are you doing here?”

Startled, Lila spun around to see a familiar face. Mrs. Winters, the elderly woman who had welcomed her to Pine Hollow on her first day in town, was standing just inside the edge of the forest. Her eyes were wide with concern, her face tight with a kind of worry that Lila hadn’t expected.

“I—” Lila started, but her voice faltered. “I just needed to think. The forest… it’s calling me.”

Mrs. Winters shook her head, her frail hands gripping the edge of a walking stick. "That’s exactly what I’m worried about, child." She took a step closer, her eyes scanning the woods behind Lila with suspicion, as if she feared something might be lurking just beyond the trees.

Lila frowned, a knot forming in her stomach. "What do you mean? The wolves... they’re not real, are they?"

Mrs. Winters gave her a grave look. "The wolves are real, Lila. But they’re not like any wolves you’ve heard of. They’re part of the forest, part of the very land itself. And if you go too deep into their territory, there’s no telling what you might awaken."

Lila blinked, trying to understand. "Awaken?"

"Yes," Mrs. Winters said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "There’s a reason the town is so quiet about the woods. There are things in those trees that have been there long before the first settlers ever arrived. Things that don’t take kindly to strangers—especially ones who don’t understand what they’re dealing with."

Lila’s chest tightened as she turned her gaze back toward the darkening forest. The air was thick with the scent of pine and earth, and the howls seemed to be growing closer, closer to the point where they almost seemed to be inside her, reverberating in her mind.

"But… why me?" Lila asked, her voice trembling. "Why is it calling me? Why is the forest reacting to me like this?"

Mrs. Winters sighed, her eyes softening with a mixture of pity and something else—something almost sorrowful. "It’s not just the forest that’s calling you, child," she said. "The pack—they’ve been waiting for you."

"Waiting for me?" Lila echoed, her voice rising in disbelief. "What do you mean?"

The elder took a deep breath, steadying herself with her cane. "Pine Hollow isn’t just a town, Lila. It’s a place of old magic, of ancient rituals that run deeper than the roots of these trees. And you—" Mrs. Winters paused, her gaze hardening, as though measuring Lila’s reaction. "You have blood in you that’s tied to this land. A bloodline that goes back to the very first wolves that roamed these woods."

Lila’s mind reeled. "My bloodline? What are you talking about?"

Mrs. Winters glanced over her shoulder, her voice lowering even further. "You should go back, child. Leave the forest, and don’t come back." Her voice wavered, as if the weight of what she was saying was too much for her to bear. "There are dangers here that no one can escape once they’ve crossed that line. You may think you’re just a visitor in this town, but the wolves know differently."

Lila stood frozen, the words heavy in the air between them. Her bloodline? She couldn’t make sense of it. She had grown up in the city, away from the stories and legends of small towns like Pine Hollow. This was all so far outside her reality, so impossible.

But the howls, the dreams, the connection she felt to the forest—it was all starting to make an eerie kind of sense. She wasn’t just a random newcomer to this town. The wolves had been waiting for her. The forest had been calling to her. And no matter how much she wanted to walk away, it felt like something deeper was at play here.

“I… I don’t know if I can leave,” Lila admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "It’s like something inside me is pulling me toward them."

Mrs. Winters looked at her with sad, knowing eyes. "It’s a dangerous thing, that pull. The pack, the wolves—they don’t care about what you want. They’ll take you in whether you’re ready or not."

Lila turned, looking back toward the trees once more. The forest felt alive now, the shadows moving, the air thick with an energy she couldn’t quite understand. The howls were louder, closer. A shiver ran down her spine.

“I can’t stop it,” Lila murmured. “I don’t know how.”

The elder reached out, her frail hand touching Lila’s arm gently. "Listen to me, child. Some things in this world are bigger than us. They follow the rules of nature, and they don’t care about the consequences. But you can make a choice. Don’t let the forest swallow you whole."

Lila nodded, though doubt clouded her thoughts. The pull was growing stronger, and the whispers of the forest seemed to grow louder by the second.

"Please," Mrs. Winters said quietly, "don’t go too deep. The forest isn’t kind to those who wander too far."

Lila didn’t respond immediately. She couldn’t. Instead, she turned, her feet dragging as she made her way back toward the edge of the woods. The howls still echoed behind her, and even though she was walking away, a part of her still felt the pull. The darkness of the forest, the power of the pack—it was hard to ignore.

But for now, Lila had a choice. And she wasn’t sure if she was ready to face whatever waited for her in the heart of the woods.

Lila walked slowly, the crunch of leaves beneath her feet the only sound in the otherwise still forest. Mrs. Winters’ words clung to her like a second skin, each step feeling heavier than the last. The warning echoed in her mind: The wolves don’t care about what you want. They’ll take you in whether you’re ready or not.

She glanced over her shoulder, but the trees had already swallowed the elder’s form. The woods were quiet now, save for the distant whisper of wind through the leaves, but the weight of the words hung in the air, making the silence even more oppressive.

Lila’s hand tightened around the strap of her sketchbook, the familiar weight of it offering little comfort now. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching her, following her every movement. The pull she had felt earlier, the call from the forest, wasn’t just something in her head—it was real, alive, and insistent. Her chest tightened as she walked faster, the sounds of the woods around her seeming to close in.

By the time she reached the edge of the forest, she couldn’t help but glance back one last time. The dark trees loomed behind her, stretching into an inky void. For a moment, she swore she saw movement—shadows flickering between the trunks—but when she blinked, everything was still.

It wasn’t until she had reached the town’s edge that she allowed herself to breathe deeply, her lungs filled with the crisp, cold air. Pine Hollow seemed so quiet from this distance. So ordinary. But Lila knew better now. There was nothing ordinary about this place. The howls had only confirmed it.

She walked slowly into town, her thoughts whirling. The pack. The bloodline. She couldn’t shake the image of the mysterious man’s face, or Ethan’s cryptic words. They both seemed to know more than they were letting on, and they were right: something was changing inside her. But she didn’t know what it was, or how to stop it.

As she walked past the small shops, the houses, the winding road that led deeper into the town, she caught sight of a familiar face—a figure standing near the general store, watching her with an intensity that sent a chill down her spine. It was Ethan.

Her heart skipped a beat. His eyes locked with hers, and for a moment, it felt like time itself had stopped. Then, he moved—quickly, purposefully—his long strides bringing him to her in an instant.

"You shouldn’t have gone back there," Ethan said, his voice low, but there was an edge of concern to it that Lila hadn’t expected. He looked over his shoulder at the trees in the distance before focusing back on her. "The forest... it’s not just a place. It’s something older than us. You don’t know what you’re messing with."

Lila swallowed hard, her mouth dry. "I didn’t go far," she lied, though her voice wavered. "I just wanted to understand. I—" She stopped herself, unsure of what she was even saying. She felt foolish. The pull she had felt, the draw to the forest, wasn’t something she could explain. It wasn’t something anyone would understand.

Ethan’s expression darkened. "You don’t get it. It’s not about curiosity. It’s about survival." His voice was firm now, almost desperate. "Lila, the pack—" He stopped abruptly, as though the words were too dangerous to speak aloud. He glanced around, then lowered his voice to a near whisper. "The wolves—they’ll try to claim you. And once they do, there’s no coming back."

Lila took a step back, her mind racing. “Claim me?” she repeated, her voice barely above a whisper. She felt dizzy, disoriented. "What are you talking about? I don’t… I don’t understand."

Ethan looked around again, his face pinched with anxiety, and then pulled her aside, behind one of the buildings, away from prying eyes. His hands trembled slightly as he looked her over, as if making sure no one was nearby to overhear them.

"You’re changing, Lila," he said quietly, his voice urgent. "You’ve felt it, haven’t you? The howls, the pull. It’s not just in your head." He paused, eyes searching her face. "You’re connected to the pack now. Your blood, your family—whatever it is that ties you to this place, it’s awakening inside you."

Lila took a shaky breath. "My family? I don’t know anyone here. I don’t have any family in Pine Hollow."

"You don’t need to know," Ethan said, his voice rough with emotion. "But the wolves will come for you anyway. Your bloodline is tied to them. They’ve been waiting for someone like you to come back."

Her heart pounded in her chest. "I don’t—what do you mean? I don’t know anything about wolves or bloodlines." She laughed, a harsh sound, trying to dismiss the growing sense of fear that was gripping her. "This is crazy."

Ethan’s eyes softened slightly, but there was a flicker of something dark and serious in them. "I wish it were. But the forest isn’t like anywhere you’ve been. There’s something ancient and wild that’s been bound to this land for generations. And you, Lila, are a part of it. You are the forest’s heir."

Lila shook her head, trying to push the panic rising in her chest away. "No. That doesn’t make sense."

Ethan took a deep breath, his hands gripping the edge of a nearby railing as he steadied himself. "I didn’t believe it either. I thought it was all stories, all myths. But I’ve seen what happens when someone ignores the warnings. It doesn’t end well. The wolves… they’ll take you, whether you understand it or not."

A cold shiver ran down Lila’s spine. The words seemed to settle in her chest like ice.

Ethan looked at her, his expression softening slightly. "The only way to fight it, to keep from being lost to the pack, is to break the connection. You have to leave Pine Hollow. Leave before it’s too late."

Lila took a step back, her thoughts spinning. She hadn’t even begun to understand what was happening to her, but everything inside her screamed that Ethan wasn’t lying. The pull, the wolves, the howls—it was all too real. She didn’t know if she could walk away from it.

But then again, if she didn’t, would she lose herself completely to whatever was lurking in those woods?

Her voice cracked as she spoke. "And if I can’t? If I don’t leave?"

Ethan’s eyes darkened with something Lila couldn’t quite place—regret, sorrow, or perhaps something more dangerous. "Then the wolves will come for you. And there will be nothing left to save.