The Night Bound Pact

home. She turned off the engine, listening to the sudden silence as the hum of the road faded away. The house, a small bu

hes and a few boxes of belongings, in a house she'd impulsively rented in a town she'd never heard of b

She'd found herself avoiding her easel, the paint dried in her brushes. It was an unsettling feeling, one that had pushed her to pack her life into boxe

he scent of pine and earth that filled the crisp evening air. Th

, she saw a man standing on the porch of the house next door, his figure half-shadowed by the

rd wave. "Hello!" she called,

s gaze felt intense, almost invasive, and she resisted the urge to look away. But then, as if

ry smile. She knew she hadn't come here to make friends, but that

e rustic charm were enough to make Mina feel at home. She placed her bags on the floor and wan

rious neighbor. She'd been too far away to make out many details, but something about his stillness had felt... off. Like he

ened into night, casting d

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g the room in golden hues. She stretched, feeling the stiffness in her muscle

. Birds chirped somewhere in the trees, and a light breeze brushed her cheeks. She felt a bit of th

oice said from her left,

ylight, she realized he was younger than she'd initially thought-maybe in his early thirties-with a rugged, almost haunted look to him. His jaw

eplied, offering

" he asked, taking

to," she said. "It's

the trees behind her house. "I

n eyebrow. "C

e's a lot of wildlife around here. It's n

she clutched her coffee a little tighter. "T

into his house without another word. Mina watched him

-

nding woods, and her evenings reading or sketching on the porch. Yet every so often, she'd catch a glimpse of her neighbor, Alec-

distant but haunting, and it seemed to echo through the night, carried by the

h a bit cautious around her, as small towns often were with new faces. She made small talk with the cashi

Sarah said as she bag

he hadn't been paying att

voice. "They're saying it's wolves, but

. "What kind

mpers were found torn apart near the edge of the forest. And just last night, a farmer's liv

ught of Alec's warning about not going out

keep your doors locked and stay inside af

-

strange attacks and her odd neighbor. She sat at her easel, hoping that painting would he

blend of shadowy trees and a moonlit figure-vaguely human, but with eyes tha

easy feeling, her mind swir

-

if it were holding its breath, watching her. And there, in the dirt just

belong to any ordinary animal she knew of, and they had an unsettl

aze instinctively drawn to Alec's house. The windows were dark, and

f to herself, feeling the weight

prowling the woods. Mina couldn't shake the feeling that Alec was somehow involved, that he knew more than he was

it meant facing the darkness head-on. And whatever secrets Dunford held, she was dete