The silence after the Psycho Alpha left pressed down on like a heavy blanket. My chest rose and fell too quickly, my lungs dragging in air that didn’t feel like enough. Joan sat curled against the wall, her knees to her chest, her face wet and pale. Elara lay still on the ground, shuddering whenever she tried to move. The air reeked of fear, our fear, the kind that clung to your skin even when you wanted to scrape it off.
I forced myself to breathe slower. I can’t let them see like this. I have to keep control, even if it’s only an act.
"Listen," I said, my voice breaking a little, "you two should go back to the ogas’ quarters. It’s safer there. You don’t need to stay with anymore. I’ll be fine."
Joan’s head snapped up as if I’d slapped her. "No! Don’t say that. He’ll co back. If we leave you alone, he’ll—he’ll kill you. Or worse." Her lips trembled on the last word.
Elara groaned, rolling to her side, then forced herself upright despite her trembling limbs. Her eyes glistened as she crawled closer, grabbing at my wrist with both hands. "Please, Ellie. Don’t make us go. Please! If he finds out we left you alone, he’ll kill us. He’ll kill ." She burst into sobs, her head shaking violently. "Don’t send us away!"
Her desperation clawed at , but beneath it I saw the truth: they were terrified, just like , trapped in a cycle of fear that none of us could escape. But I couldn’t stand the thought of them suffering because of .
I softened my tone, stroking Elara’s hair the way one might calm a child. "Shh... I promise, I’ll be okay. You’ve done enough. Just... get so fresh air. Look at you both, you’re pale as ghosts. Go outside for a minute, breathe, clear your heads. It’ll help."
Joan frowned. "Fresh air? Here?"
"Yes," I insisted, my heart hamring faster. "Step outside. Just for a mont. I’ll still be here when you co back. I promise."
They hesitated. I could see the fight in their eyes the loyalty, the fear, the disbelief. Elara clutched my sleeve so tightly her knuckles turned white. "Ellie please don’t..."
I forced a weak smile. "I’ll be right here. You’ll co back in two minutes, and I’ll still be here. Go. For ."
Joan finally tugged at Elara’s arm. "Maybe she’s right. Just for a breath of air. My chest feels tight.
Elara shook her head violently, but Joan urged her again, and finally, trembling, they both edged toward the door. My heart pounded as I followed, masking my panic with a reassuring expression.
The mont the door opened, the stale corridor air rushed in, a little cooler than the suffocating heat of the room.
"Go on," I whispered. "Breathe." And as soon as they stepped out, I shoved the door shut and twisted the lock with shaking hands. The click echoed like thunder in the hallway of my mind.
"Elie?!" Joan’s voice cracked from the other side. She rattled the handle. "What are you doing?!"
Elara’s fists pounded against the wood. "NO! Ellie, open it! Open it now! Don’t leave us! Please!" Her voice broke into a scream.
My throat tightened. My whole body shook. But I stayed silent, pressing my forehead to the cool surface of the door. It’s for your safety. If you’re away from , maybe he’ll leave you alone. Maybe he’ll only focus on .
Their pounding grew louder, frantic, desperate. Elara wailed like a child, her sobs scraping against my ears.
And then a low chuckle slithered through the air, vibrating through the walls, freezing my blood in place.
The pounding stopped instantly. And everywhere went silent instantly. Then his voice, smooth and sharp like broken glass, slid into my mind.
"Well, well, well... isn’t this touching?
My stomach dropped. The Psycho Alpha. I backed away from the door, my legs nearly buckling.
Outside, Joan whimpered. "He’s here."
I heard footsteps. Slow. Deliberate. Boots scraping across the floor like a predator circling prey. Elara whimpered audibly, her sobs choked off as though her throat had closed. I dared not breathe. You think you’re clever, little Ellie, his voice whispered inside . Sending them out like lambs to the slaughter while you lock yourself away. Did you really think I wasn’t watching? That I didn’t see?
I clutched my chest, gasping silently. No, no, no...
From the tiny gap at the bottom of the door, I saw the shadow stretch across the floor broad shoulders, a towering form. The outline of a monster in human skin.
Elara’s voice cracked. "P-please, Alpha... she didn’t an it. Please don’t hurt us. Please!"
The sound of him inhaling, slow and deep, sent shivers straight through my bones. Fear, his inner voice purred. It slls divine. I could drink it for eternity.
Joan whimpered again. The sound of sothing heavy scraped against the doorfra as though he had leaned on it. I covered my mouth, stifling a sob.
"Run," he said aloud, his voice like thunder laced with amusent but neither of the girl moved.
"I SAID RUN!"
Their footsteps scrambled in opposite directions down the corridor, uneven and frantic. I heard a stumble, a gasp, the sound of soone tripping.
Another chuckle. And then silence again. I pressed my ear to the door, trembling, straining to hear. Nothing but my own heartbeat slamming against my ribs.
Do you see, Ellie? His voice slithered back into my mind. No matter what you do, no matter how you fight, I will always see. Always know. You are mine to play with. And them, The silence stretched until it hurt.
Them? They are yours to lose. My knees buckled. I slid to the floor, arms wrapped around myself as though I could hold the pieces of together. The room around felt smaller, darker, as though the walls leaned closer to smother . From sowhere distant, a scream tore through the corridors, high and thin, before being cut off abruptly. I slamd my palms over my ears. "Stop. Stop. Stop!" Oh God please. But the silence that followed was worse.
It pressed in, heavy and endless, leaving in the dark with only my thoughts and the knowledge that he had seen everything. That he was always watching. I pressed my palms hard against my ears, but the silence that followed that scream was worse than the scream itself. The quiet carried weight, the kind that slithers into your lungs and makes it hard to breathe. Every muscle in my body shook as I crouched against the door, waiting for the inevitable sound of breaking bones or the dull thud of bodies hitting the ground.
It never ca. Instead, his voice rolled through the corridor, low and unhurried. "Pathetic little things."
Joan whimpered sowhere to the left. Elara choked on her sobs. I could picture them frozen in place, their wide eyes darting like rabbits in a trap, waiting for the jaws to close.
"You really thought she could save you?" His words dripped with mockery, but he didn’t sound angry. That unsettled even more. Anger I could understand anger was fire, sharp and brutal. But this calmness... it was colder than ice, the kind of calm a predator has before it decides whether to bite down or let go.
Elara’s voice trembled. "P-please, Alpha... we’ll do anything. Please don’t-don’t kill us."
The sound of his boots shifted closer, slow, deliberate, and I couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped my throat. He was right there just beyond the wood I leaned against. I almost felt the heat of him seeping through.
"You think I need to kill you?" he asked, almost amused. "Do you think you’re worth that effort?"
A long silence followed. I imagined Joan’s lips quivering, her eyes flicking toward Elara, both of them too afraid to answer.
And then, his laugh was low, cruel, echoing down the hall. "No. You’re not worth breaking. You’ll break yourselves just fine."
My stomach twisted. The sound of boots scraping against stone rang out again, moving away. I dared to breathe, just a little, until his voice cracked through the silence like a whip.
"Go back to your quarters."
For a second, I thought I’d misheard. Elara certainly did, because she stamred, "W-what?"
"Did I stutter?" His tone dropped into that dangerous, velvet growl. "Run back to your den with the other little ogas before I change my mind."
The shock in Joan’s voice was almost painful. "You’re- you’re letting us go?"
Another laugh, sharper this ti.
"Letting you go? Don’t flatter yourselves. I don’t need you. You’re nothing."
The words stung, even though they weren’t aid at . I pressed my forehead harder against the door, guilt pooling in my chest. They were out there because of , because I thought I was protecting them by locking them out. And now he was dismissing them like discarded toys. But the real horror was the way their feet didn’t move. They didn’t run. I could hear the trembling in their silence, the disbelief pinning them in place.
"Still here?" His voice curled upward, almost playful, but the threat beneath it was undeniable. "Do you need to count to three like children? One.
Joan yelped, the shuffle of her feet echoing down the corridor.
"Two.
Elara’s sob broke into a frantic cry, her footsteps stumbling after Joan’s. I shoved my fists against my mouth to stop the sound threatening to rip from my throat. My heart beat so fast it made dizzy. The footsteps grew faint, echoing farther and farther away. And then silence again. I sagged against the door, relief and dread tangling in my veins until I couldn’t tell which was stronger. He hadn’t killed them. He hadn’t even touched them. That should have been good news. But it wasn’t. It was worse. Because if the Psycho Alpha spared you, it wasn’t rcy. It was a ga. He wants alone.
The realization crawled over my skin like icy fingers. He hadn’t let them go because he didn’t care. He let them go because he wanted without distractions, stripped of anyone to cling to. From the other side of the door, silence stretched long and taut. I waited for his footsteps to move again, but they didn’t. He’s still there. I didn’t need sight to know it. His presence pressed against the walls, against my chest, filling the room like smoke. I could feel the weight of his gaze as though it burned straight through the wood, through my skin, into the marrow of my bones.
"Inner voice: You think you’ve won, Ellie," his voice slithered inside my head. Sending them away. Locking yourself in. But rember this every choice you make, I see. Every step, every breath. And I’ll be waiting when you think you’re safe.
My teeth clattered together as I tried to hold back sobs. I wanted to scream for Joan and Elara, to call them back, but the words wouldn’t leave my throat. What if he turned on them after all? What if he heard weakness in my voice and punished through them later? So I stayed silent.
Minutes passed, Ti blurred into the pounding of my heart and the ringing in my ears. At last, faint footsteps retreated down the hall, fading into nothing and then the psycho was gone. I exhaled shakily, my whole body trembling. But the dread didn’t lift. It never lifted. Because even when he wasn’t here, he was. His voice echoed in the hollow spaces of my mind, his shadow lingering behind every flicker of light. And worse now I was alone. Exactly as he wanted.
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