Chapter 10 – The Decision
The air in the room changed.
Not physically.
But they all felt it.
—
Paulina was still looking at her phone.
Her fingers tensed on the screen.
—
"He's three streets away," she said.
Her voice didn't tremble.
But something underneath it did.
—
Eliza stood up immediately.
No noise.
No drama.
Just the efficiency of someone who had done this before.
—
"We're leaving."
Pause.
"Now."
Terry didn't move.
—
His right hand trembled.Not from fear.
From something deeper.
The mark on his chest pulsed.
One.
Two.
Three.
Faster each time.
As if it wanted to get out.
—
"Terry."
Eliza's voice.
Firmer.
"We have to go."
—
He turned his head toward her.
Slowly.
His eyes.
His eyes.
For an instant they weren't brown anymore.
They were another color.
And Eliza noticed.
And Paulina.
And Lin Mei.
—
"No," said Terry.
—The word fell like a stone in still water.
—
Eliza blinked.
"What?"
—
"We're not leaving."
Pause.
"I'm not leaving."
Paulina lowered her phone.
"Excuse me?"
—
Terry stood up.
Slow.
As if testing whether his body still answered him.
It answered.
But differently.
Heavier.
More awake.
—
"You've been speaking for me for days," he said.
His voice sounded different.
Deeper.
Lower.
"You decided to bring me here.
You decided what to tell me.You decided when."
—
Pause.
—
"I didn't decide anything."
—
Silence.
—
Eliza stepped toward him.
"Terry, you don't understand what—"
—
"You're right."
He interrupted her.
Without raising his voice.
But she stopped.
Because he had never interrupted her before.
—
"I don't understand," he continued.
Pause.
"Because you didn't explain until you had no other choice."
Paulina crossed her arms.
Her expression was unreadable.
Not anger.
Not approval either.
Something between the two.—
"And now what," she said.
Pause.
"Are you going out to find him?"
—
"Yes."
—
"Alone."
—
"Yes."
—
"You're an idiot."
—
Terry looked at her.
"Maybe."
Pause.
"But if I stay here, you're going to fight my fight for me."
Pause.
"Again."
Eliza clenched her jaw.
Her eyes shone differently.
Not with tears.
With something older.
Recognition.
—Because in that moment—
Terry didn't sound like Terry.
He sounded like an alpha.
For the first time.
—
"If you walk out that door," she said, "I can't protect you."
—
"Good."
—
"You could die."
—
"I know."
—
"You don't know how to fight yet."
—
Terry looked at her directly.
"You didn't either, the first time."
—
Silence.
—
That answer they didn't expect.
Lin Mei spoke before the other two.
"I'm going with you."
—
Everyone looked at her.—
"No," said Terry.
—
"I'm not asking for permission."
—
"You're not a wolf."
—
"I'm not useless either."
—
Pause.
—
Terry looked at her.
Really looked at her.
Lin Mei had her hands clenched.
She was trembling.
But not from fear.
From swallowed rage.
From everything she had eaten in silence the past weeks.
—
"If he kills you," she said, "at least I won't be the one who stayed here sitting down."
Eliza turned to Paulina.
A short look.
An exchange that didn't need words.
—
Paulina sighed."Fine."
Pause.
"But with rules."
—
"No," said Terry.
—
Paulina arched an eyebrow.
"What do you mean no?"
—
"You stay here."
Pause.
"If this goes wrong, I need to know someone is still alive when it's over."
—
"That's—"
—
"It's my decision."
—
The word decision fell into the room.
And something changed.
In Eliza.
In Paulina.
In the air itself.
—
Because an alpha who decides is different from an alpha who reacts.
And they knew it.Eliza closed her eyes for a second.
When she opened them, her look was different.
"Alright."
—
Paulina let out a breath.
"If you're not back in an hour, I'm coming for you."
Pause.
"And I'll kill everything I find on the way."
—
Terry nodded.
"Good."
He walked to the door.
Lin Mei followed him.
—
Before leaving, Eliza stopped him.
With a hand on his arm.
Barely.
—
"Terry."
—
He turned.
—
She looked at him.
Without ice this time.
Without disdain.Without strategy.
Just the girl who crossed the street weeks ago and recognized him.
—
"Your wolf already knows what to do," she said.
Pause.
"But it doesn't trust you yet."
Pause.
"If you're going to control it, don't fight it."
Pause.
"Listen to it."
—
Terry swallowed.
Nodded.
—
And walked out.
Outside
The night was cold.
The streets empty.
Not a car.
Not a person.
As if the city knew something was about to happen and had decided to step aside.
—
Lin Mei walked beside him.
In silence.
Her steps made more noise than his.—
He hadn't noticed before.
But now he did.
He barely made any sound walking.
His body knew how to move without him asking.
—
"Why did you come?" he asked.
His voice sounded strange in the empty street.
—
Lin Mei didn't answer right away.
—
"Because you're the only one who never looked at me like I was a prize."
—
Terry turned his head.
—
"All the boys look at me," she continued.
Pause.
"My parents sell me in society like I'm a house.
The teachers treat me like I'm fragile.
You looked at me like I was a person."
—
Silence.
—
"That's why I came."
Terry didn't know what to say.He wasn't used to someone speaking to him like that.
No agenda.
No planning.
Just the truth.
—
"I'm sorry," he said finally.
—
"For what?"
—
"For dragging you into this."
—
Lin Mei smiled.
Barely.
"I dragged myself in."
They walked two more blocks.
—
Terry stopped.
—
There was something in the air.
Not a smell exactly.
A presence.
Like an invisible weight across the street.
—
"He's here," he said.
—Lin Mei tensed.
"Where?"
—
Terry didn't answer.
He turned his head.
Slowly.
Like an animal finding a trail.
—
And there he was.
—
Sebastián.
Standing under a broken streetlight.
Half his face in shadow.
Half lit.
—
No thugs behind him.
No car.
No money.
Just him.
—
But something was different.
—
His posture.
His shoulders.
The way he breathed.
Slower.Deeper.
As if the air itself tasted different to him now.
Sebastián smiled.
It wasn't the smile from before.
This one was new.
Wider.
Hungrier.
—
"You came," he said.
—
Terry didn't answer.
—
"I knew you'd come."
Pause.
"I felt you.
Your heart beating faster with every step you took."
—
He straightened up.
Walked to the middle of the street.
Without rush.
—
"Do you know what it is," asked Sebastián.
Pause.
"To hear someone's heart from three blocks away."
Pause."It's beautiful.
It's music."
—
Terry took a step forward.
"Sebastián.
Go home."
—
Sebastián laughed.
Soft.
Genuinely amused.
—
"My home?
My home doesn't smell like anything anymore.
My parents don't smell like anything anymore.
Everything is flat there.
But here with you…"
—
He inhaled long.
—
"Here everything smells."
Lin Mei stepped back.
Without meaning to.
Instinct.
—
Sebastián turned his head toward her.Fast.
Too fast.
Not human.
—
"Ah," he said.
Pause.
"The shy one.
You brought snacks."
—
"Stay away from her," said Terry.
His voice dropped two octaves.
—
Sebastián didn't look at him.
He kept looking at Lin Mei.
—
"Do you know what fear smells like," he asked her.
Pause.
"Sweet.
Like ripe fruit."
Terry moved before thinking.
—
He put himself between Sebastián and Lin Mei.
And growled.
—
The sound came out of his throat without permission.Low.
Long.
Animal.
—
Lin Mei felt it in her bones.
Not in her ears.
In her bones.
—
Sebastián finally looked at him.
And his eyes shone.
Golden.
Not purple like Terry's.
Dirty gold.
Like gold when it's rusted.
—
"There it is," said Sebastián.
Pause.
"The alpha.
The one who made me."
"I didn't make you," said Terry.
—
"Yes."
—
"It was an accident."
—"Accidents don't exist."
Pause.
"Blood exists.
And yours got in my mouth.
You woke me up."
—
He took another step.
Three meters between them now.
—
"And I have to thank you."
Pause.
"Because before, I was no one.
I had money, I had parents, I had a last name.
But I was no one.
And now…"
—
He smiled more.
—
"Now I'm something."
Terry felt the mark on his chest burn.
Not metaphor.
Actually burn.
As if someone had pressed a hot iron from the inside.
—
Eliza's voice came back to his head.Don't fight it.
Listen to it.
—
Terry breathed.
Closed his eyes for a second.
—
And for the first time, instead of pushing the thing inside him down—
He listened.
—
It wasn't a voice.
It was a sense.
A deeper smell.
A longer hearing.
A body that knew things his mind didn't.
—
And what the wolf told him was simple:
The one across from you doesn't know how to use what he has.
I do.
Terry opened his eyes.
Something had changed.
His posture.
His weight.
The way his hands hung at his sides.
—
Sebastián noticed.For the first time that night, he hesitated.
Barely.
A blink.
But he hesitated.
—
"Lin Mei," said Terry.
Without turning his head.
"Step back."
—
"But—"
—
"Step back."
—
She did.
Three steps.
Five.
She stayed near the wall.
—
Sebastián smiled again.
But the smile was smaller now.
—
"Are you going to fight me, alpha?"
—
"No."
—
"No?"—
"I'm going to stop you."
Pause.
"It's different."
Sebastián attacked first.
Fast.
Too fast for a human.
Too sloppy for a wolf.
—
His arm crossed the air toward Terry's face.
—
Terry wasn't there anymore.
He had moved.
Not consciously.
His body moved him.
Like when you breathe without thinking.
—
Sebastián's fist passed to the side.
Terry grabbed his wrist on the way.
Twisted.
And threw him against a parked car.
—
The metal dented.
Sebastián bounced.
Landed on his feet.Smiling.
Blood on his eyebrow.
—
"More," he said.
Pause.
"Give me more."
—
He attacked again.
Harder.
Faster.
Claws showing from his fingers.
—
Terry dodged two blows.
The third connected.
A scratch on his arm.
Deep.
It burned.
—
Terry growled.
But didn't step back.
He listened to the wolf again.
He spends energy showing he's strong.
You spend energy finishing it.
Terry lowered his center of gravity.
Let Sebastián come to him.And when he was close—
He met him with a rising elbow.
Straight to the jaw.
—
The sound was dry.
Like wood splitting.
—
Sebastián staggered back.
Three steps.
Spat something red on the ground.
A tooth.
—
"Good," he muttered.
Pause.
"Good."
—
But he wasn't smiling as much anymore.
He lunged again.
This time without technique.
Just rage.
Rage of a new wolf who just discovered he isn't the strongest.
—
Terry dodged.
Grabbed him by the neck from behind.
Slammed him into the ground.—
The asphalt cracked.
—
Terry put his knee on his back.
Sebastián roared.
Tried to get up.
Couldn't.
—
For the first time in his life—
Sebastián Blackwood couldn't move.
And not from lack of strength.
From lack of permission.
—
Because beneath him was something stronger.
Something older.
Something his blood recognized as superior.
—
And his body obeyed.
Before his head did.
"Stop," said Terry.
Low.
Firm.
—
"I can't," said Sebastián.
And for the first time, there was no mockery in his voice.There was fear.
"I can't stop.
I tried.
I killed a dog last night.
I didn't want to.
It just happened."
—
Terry closed his eyes.
—
The thing inside him said kill him.
The wolf.
It was clear.
Direct.
Kill him. He's a mistake. Fix it.
—
But Terry wasn't just the wolf.
—
"No."
—
Kill him.
—
"No."
—
The wolf insisted.
He'll kill more. You know it.
—"I know."
—
Pause.
—
"But not today."
Terry lifted his knee.
—
Sebastián stayed on the ground.
Not moving.
Breathing.
Crying.
Not wanting to be crying.
—
Lin Mei walked up to them.
Slowly.
Breathing fast.
—
"Is he—?"
—
"Alive," said Terry.
—
"Why?"
—
Terry looked at her.
"Because if I kill him today, tomorrow I'll be the one who can't stop."Sebastián lifted his head.
Slow.
The golden eyes fading.
Returning to human.
—
"Why?" he asked.
His voice was a child's now.
Not the cafeteria bully.
Not the wolf from the streetlight.
Of a scared seventeen-year-old.
"Why didn't you kill me?"
—
Terry looked at him for a long moment.
—
"Because I made you."
Pause.
"You're my responsibility."
—
Sebastián closed his eyes.
And cried.
Without sound.
Just tears.
Behind
A sound.—
Terry turned.
—
At the end of the street.
Three figures.
—
Not Eliza.
Not Paulina.
—
Others.
—
Tall men.
Dark suits.
They didn't walk like humans.
They walked like something that uses the human shape.
—
One of them smiled.
Teeth too white.
—
"So you're the broken moon pup," he said.
His voice sounded like paper tearing.
Pause.
"The countess hid you well.
But not forever."
—
Terry felt Lin Mei tense beside him.Felt Sebastián on the ground behind.
Felt the mark on his chest scream.
—
And for the first time since it all started—
The wolf inside him didn't say attack.
It said something else.
—
Run.
—
Terry didn't move.
—
Because he couldn't run with Sebastián on the ground.
Couldn't run with Lin Mei beside him.
And the three men at the end of the street were already walking toward them.
Without rush.
As if they already knew how it was going to end.
—
The middle streetlight went out.
Then the next.
Then the next.
—
The darkness advanced toward them.
—
And in that darkness—
Eyes.
Many.Not three.
More.
—
Lin Mei found Terry's hand.
Squeezed it.
—
"What do we do?" she whispered.
—
Terry didn't answer right away.
Because for the first time since he woke up with the bite—
He didn't know.
—
But he knew one thing.
—
This decision was going to be his too.
—
And only his.