Page 2 of Kept
Because he knew what the wolves did when they caught someone. Not just stories—whispers in locker rooms, rumors in chats online. Volunteers didn’t just get chased for the fun of it. They got taken. Stripped down, pinned, marked.
Mated until they couldn’t walk straight. Claimed so hard everyone knew.
Eli clenched his teeth.Don’t think about that.
He wrapped his arms tighter, walking faster, trying to outrun the images in his own head.
The houses on either side blazed with light, curtains pulled tight. Safety. Families huddled inside with hot drinks, pretending not to think about what was happening out in the woods. Pretending not to imagine the other humans out running through the trees tonight, stripped and screaming.
Eli stuffed his hands deep in his pockets and kept on going.
Why did he always have to be alone? Sometimes it felt like something fractured in him years ago, and everything since then had only made the crack wider. Everyone else out there had someone.
A sharp pain bloomed in his chest, something raw and ugly and impossible to name. His fingers clenched at his sides. He wished—god, hewished—there was someone in the world who gave a damn. Someone strong. Someone who would look at him andseehim. Someone who wouldn't hurt him, wouldn't try to break him down into nothing.
Someone who would stand in front of him instead of pushing him into the dark.
But there was no one.
Another howl split the air. Long, low, echoing through his bones.
Eli’s knees nearly buckled. “Jesus Christ.”
It was closer than he wanted it to be. Too close. The wolves were supposed to stay in the woods. That was their hunting ground, the rest of the town off-limits.
But could you really trust a wolf?
He pictured them already fanning out, sleek bodies loping through shadows, nostrils flaring. Hunting the volunteers who had signed their names to the list…
And anyone else unlucky enough to be out here.
He forced himself to keep walking. Not running. Just moving. Just… moving.
He had to find somewhere to go. Somewhere indoors. Somewhere safe.
The houses here in the older part of town were all locked up, all their lights on, as if that could warn away the monsters.
All the houses except one…
Eli stopped dead in his tracks.
A house loomed behind an iron fence, Victorian, set back from the street. Every other place on the street glowed with light, but this one was dark. No porch light, no lamps, no sign of life.
While the rest of the block was putting on a show for the monsters outside, this place looked like it had been forgotten.
Eli’s heart picked up, leaping ahead of his brain.Empty, he thought.Maybe.
His first instinct was to turn away. You can’t break in to someone’s house, he told himself. Even if it is empty. But he couldn’t take his eyes off the place.
He let himself stare for a good thirty seconds, gaze darting from the porch to the sagged front steps to the shadows tucked beneath the railings. No movement. Not so much as a cat on the windowsill.
If anyone lived here, they sure didn’t want company—which was exactly how Eli felt right now.
The hair on Eli's arms rose. Every instinct screamed to keep walking. But he couldn’t. His gaze clung to that darkness like a moth to flame.
Shelter. The wolves were out there. He couldn’t spend the night in the open. And here was a house with no eyes watching, no lights blazing…
He swore under his breath, then climbed the fence. His sneaker caught on the top rail, and he tumbled into the weeds with a muffled curse. He froze, heart hammering.
