ALPHA'S WITCH (Midnight Oath)

Eva woke in the early morning hours to sunlight and a pounding headache from sleeping awkwardly. She was disoriented, and the old velvet chair had left her aching everywhere. But she felt something strange.

She opened her eyes and looked around carefully, but what she truly perceived wasn't a sight. It was a scent. Gerbera flowers and the aroma of coffee spread throughout the house. Colombian extra roast this was her coffee.

She suddenly stood up, but then noticed another oddity. The blanket that had been draped over her fell to the floor with her abrupt movement.

But she hadn't covered herself last night! In fact, this blanket had been in the bedroom she hadn't brought it down.

Then she startled in fear and called out toward the rooms. "Hello? Is someone there?" But there was no answer.

She moved toward the kitchen and saw fresh gerbera flowers in a vase. And in the coffee pot, a beautifully brewed coffee waited for her, ready.

If she hadn't seen the flowers, she might have thought Elly had come early. After last night's tension, she would have worried about her, Eva thought. But Elly had said these flowers were very difficult to gather. Besides, this wasn't her style.

Then she clutched her head between her palms and tore at her hair in frustration. "Nothing is normal in this fucking cursed town! I can't even be surprised anymore!" she shouted. She remembered her conversation with Elly from the other day, did she really have an elderly stalker? Even the thought unnerved her.

Finally, she gave up on all the madness, poured the coffee into a mug, and tasted it. A huge smile spread across her face. She thought she was beginning to lose her mind.

"Well, at least he makes good coffee," she muttered.

Shortly after, she thought she should light the fireplace and take a shower. She grabbed her coat and pulled on her boots. The moment she stepped outside, her eyes caught on footprints in the snow. Now she was truly starting to get scared. But driven by curiosity about what would come of this, she followed the footprints on the ground. She traced them step by step to the beginning of the forest path, where the tracks suddenly ended and vanished. Did this guy fly away? she wondered. Suddenly she raised her head and collided with a large, solid body. When she opened her eyes, she saw Joe standing before her, his lips curved in a sly smile.

"You'd make a good hunting dog. You follow tracks well," he growled.

Eva was furious. She instantly raised her hand and swung to slap him, but Joe caught her wrist with quick reflexes. "Don't. You'll hurt yourself."

Eva narrowed her eyes and shouted with an angry glare. "Let go of my wrist! And explain how you entered my house without permission!"

Joe raised his eyebrows, looking at her with curious interest. From his expression, Eva almost believed he wasn't the one who had entered the house. But logic wouldn't allow it-there could be no other explanation.

Joe said, "Go inside."

"I'm not going to ask you what to do. Answer my question!"

"I didn't enter your house, Eva! Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. Now go inside."

She understood the "I didn't enter" explanation, but what kind of explanation was "even if I wanted to, I couldn't"?

"If I asked why you can't enter the house, you wouldn't answer, would you?" she asked.

Joe shook his head with a roguish smile, as if saying "no."

Eva was truly angry now. She quickly turned around. "You and your secrets can go to hell!" she shouted and took several steps toward her house.

But she couldn't contain her anger. She suddenly spun around, pointed her finger, and yelled, "I'm going to the police! Stay out of my house!" But no one remained there. "Great! He has teleportation powers! Perfect!" she said, entering the woodshed to grab logs and carry them inside.

As she lit the fireplace, she noticed the medallion swinging in front of her. The liquid inside the medallion that had glowed brilliantly amber last night had disappeared. At that moment, she screamed out the scenario that was beginning to make sense in her mind.

"Fuck! I released a ghost!"

Her voice carried all the way to the forest. And hearing this, there was a bestial, rasping growl. As if... laughing.

Eva took a shower, then poured herself another mug of the remaining coffee. She began to examine what she'd taken from the chest yesterday. Words. Symbols.

"The wolf's woman," she murmured. She didn't understand the meaning. She pulled out her phone and began searching for the symbols. But she found nothing on the internet. Finally giving up, she rested her head against the chair.

"I'm not the bookworm here. Looks like I need to go to Elly."

She quickly got ready and went to Elly's, telling her everything that had happened last night. Elly suddenly screamed and began pacing around the house. She was stomping her feet like a child. Laughing with delight.

Eva crossed her arms over her chest with a sullen expression. "You're all medical cases! All of you! What am I even doing here!" she grumbled.

Elly came over shortly after with excitement, bringing a dusty book. The symbol on the cover caught Eva's attention. It looked like an arrow embedded in a large letter L. She touched the raised design with her hand.

But Elly was excited. She pushed Eva's hand aside and showed her. "Did the light from the necklace look like this?" she asked. The picture showed orange lights streaming in horizontal bands.

"Yes, it was exactly like that, like you'd lit a lantern," Eva replied.

"I can't believe it. It's a spirit!" Elly clapped her hands.

Eva took a deep breath. "I knew it. I released a ghost, didn't I? Please tell me you have a ghost hunter team in this town. Because I made a promise to my grandmother! I'm going to celebrate this Christmas in that house!"

Elly laughed. "This isn't a normal spirit! It's an ancient spirit." She flipped through the pages. "Look, there are many legends about this around the world. The Turks' wolf ancestors, the female wolf Asena! The male great protector Bozkurt! For the Tatars, the great wolf Börü! For the Mongols, Borte Çino! And for Native Americans, a spiritual guardian." She showed her. Eva stared, mesmerized, breathless.

Eva tried to stay calm. "Okay, so I summoned the ancient wolf of the witches from your legend?"

Elly nodded happily. "I think so."

Eva rolled her eyes. "Elly! Those legends also have virgin sacrifices, girls eaten alive, and people whose blood is drained! How do you know this thing is friendly?"

"I know," she said.

"Because he's your mate."

Eva's eyes flew wide open. She was in shock. "Okay, you've completely lost it!" she said, standing up and reaching for her coat. She wanted to get away from here as soon as possible.

Just as she headed for the door, Elly grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

Eva turned angrily and shouted, "Enough of this crazy nonsense! I'm single! I haven't married anyone! I don't intend to!"

"Wait, wait!" Elly insisted. "We can see this."

Eva suddenly stopped. She raised an eyebrow, looking at her curiously.

"Bare your chest. If the seal has begun to form, he has set foot on earth," Elly said.

Eva's shoulders suddenly dropped. "And here I was hoping you'd say something logical. How stupid of me," she said and headed for the door.

Elly shouted, "Can you explain everything that's happened so far, Eva! If you can explain it, then go. But if you can't, check just once, and if it's real, then I'll tell you all the truths!"

Eva looked at her with hopeless eyes, pulled down her blouse, and fixed her gaze on Elly's eyes. She stared at her angrily.

Elly's face took on a mesmerized expression. She was staring directly at Eva's chest.

Eva suddenly became flustered and turned her eyes to herself. She saw a hazy circular mark on her chest. Barely there, faint purple veins forming a mark that was between existing and not existing, but there it was, just sitting there...