Clara froze before slowly turning her head. Aiden stood there, leaning against a tree, a mysterious smile playing at the corner of his lips. He gazed at her with that intensity she had noticed before, as if he could see right through her.
"Maybe I came to make sure you’re not a danger to this town," she replied, trying to keep a hint of distance in her voice.
Aiden raised an eyebrow, amused. "Really? And do you think you could stop me if I were?"
She met his gaze defiantly. "Never underestimate a wolf."
He laughed, a rough, genuine sound that echoed between the trees. "I see courage isn’t something you lack."
Clara crossed her arms, resisting the urge to smile back. "Why do you live here, Aiden? Away from your kind, away from the lycans?"
Aiden’s gaze shifted slightly, as if weighing his words. "Solitude suits me. So does freedom. Lycan life is not like yours... we don’t need a pack to exist."
Clara studied his face, searching for the meaning behind his answer. "Don’t you ever want to be with your kind? To be part of something bigger than yourself?"
Aiden sighed. "Sometimes, maybe. But pack life imposes rules, constraints. I’ve lived too long in this freedom to want to be caged again."