Chapter 5: Run If You Want to Live
1412 Words
I didn’t wait for permission.
The moment the courtyard erupted into whispers, I felt it—
the shift.
Not in the pack.
In me.
Power hummed beneath my skin, restless and volatile. The bond pulsed like a warning bell, urging me to choose now.
Stay—and become something they feared.
Run—and become something hunted.
I turned away before anyone could stop me.
“Aira.”
Kael’s voice followed me—low, commanding, threaded with something dangerously close to desperation.
I didn’t look back.
My feet carried me past the gates, past the watchtowers, past the invisible lines that marked safety. The forest swallowed me whole, shadows closing in as moonlight filtered weakly through the canopy.
My lungs burned.
Branches clawed at my arms as I ran, heart slamming against my ribs. The bond screamed in protest, tightening with every step I took away from him.
He knows.
The realization hit hard.
Kael knew the second I crossed the boundary.
The bond flared hot, sharp enough to make me stumble.
Stop, it demanded.
“No,” I whispered through clenched teeth. “I won’t be owned.”
The forest shifted around me—sounds sharpening, colors deepening. I could hear wolves moving miles away, could smell damp earth, blood, fear.
Mine.
The word echoed again, uninvited.
I shook my head violently, fighting the instinct clawing its way up my spine.
I wasn’t prey.
And I wasn’t his possession.
A howl split the night.
Deep. Powerful. Furious.
Kael.
My pulse spiked.
He wasn’t calling the pack.
He was calling me.
I pushed harder, legs burning as I darted between trees, letting instinct guide me deeper into the wildlands—territory no pack claimed.
Dangerous territory.
But free.
Or so I thought.
The deeper I ran, the more the forest resisted me.
Roots twisted beneath my feet as if alive, branches snapping back to claw at my skin. Every breath tasted sharp, metallic, filled with fear that wasn’t entirely mine.
The bond pulsed violently.
Not calling me back—
warning me.
I slowed, pressing my palm against my chest as dizziness washed over me. Heat pooled beneath my skin, crawling up my spine in waves that made my vision blur.
This wasn’t exhaustion.
This was transformation.
My senses sharpened painfully. I could hear my own heartbeat echoing through the trees, could smell the lingering traces of wolves that had passed through days—no, weeks—ago.
I staggered against a tree, nails digging into bark.
“Get a grip,” I whispered to myself.
The bark cracked under my touch.
I froze.
Slowly, I pulled my hand away.
Deep grooves scarred the trunk.
Claws.
Panic surged through me.
“No… no, no—”
The bond flared hot, a voice curling deep inside my bones—not Kael’s, not mine.
Awaken.
I slid down the tree, breath coming in ragged gasps as memories not my own flickered behind my eyes.
A crown of silver fire.
A wolf standing between warring packs.
A woman whose voice silenced armies.
Me.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “I didn’t choose this.”
The forest answered with silence.
Then—movement.
Footsteps. Careful. Calculated.
I scrambled to my feet, heart slamming violently against my ribs.
That’s when the quiet settled in.
The wrong kind.
No night sounds. No insects. No distant howls.
Predators don’t announce themselves.
My skin prickled as instinct screamed at me to hide, to strike first, to run—
Too late.
A low chuckle rolled out of the shadows.
“You feel it now, don’t you?”
My breath caught.
The voice was male. Confident. Cruel.
I turned slowly, forcing myself not to bolt.
A wolf stepped into the moonlight—taller than Kael’s warriors, his presence pressing against mine like a blade drawn halfway from its sheath. His eyes glowed amber, unnatural and hungry.
Behind him, others moved.
Circling.
“You crossed into unclaimed land,” he continued. “That makes you fair game.”
“I didn’t know this was your territory,” I said, keeping my voice steady.
He laughed softly. “It isn’t. That’s the problem.”
Cold dread slid down my spine.
“You’re the Alpha King’s rejected mate,” he said, eyes dragging over me with disturbing interest. “And now you run alone, glowing with power you don’t understand.”
I took a step back.
“How long have you been following me?”
“Since you decided to run,” he replied. “The bond screamed your location across the wildlands.”
So Kael wasn’t the only one who could feel me.
Fear sharpened into resolve.
“I won’t go with you,” I said.
The wolf smiled wider. “You don’t have to.”
The air shifted.
Before I could react, a wolf lunged from my left.
Instinct took over.
Something ancient surged through me, ripping free from fear and hesitation. Power blasted outward, knocking him back with bone-jarring force.
I stared at my hands in horror.
“What… am I?”
The wolves hesitated now.
Good.
Because somewhere behind them—
A roar shattered the night.
Kael.
The forest exploded with movement.
The forest went unnaturally quiet.
No insects.
No wind.
No distant howls.
Wrong.
I slowed, senses flaring painfully.
Then I smelled it.
Blood.
Fresh. Metallic. Laced with hostility.
I froze.
“You shouldn’t have run alone, little Luna.”
The voice slithered out of the darkness.
A wolf stepped into view—tall, broad-shouldered, eyes glowing an unnatural amber. His aura pressed against me like a blade.
Not Kael’s pack.
Enemy.
I backed away slowly. “I’m not your Luna.”
He laughed. “The Blood Moon disagrees.”
More shapes emerged—wolves fanning out, cutting off my escape routes.
My heart pounded violently.
“How did you find me?” I demanded.
“The Alpha King isn’t the only one who felt the shift,” he replied. “Your awakening sent shockwaves across the territories.”
Cold dread settled in my stomach.
They didn’t want me alive.
They wanted my power—or my death.
“You’re valuable,” the wolf continued, circling me. “Too valuable to be left unguarded.”
I braced myself as the bond surged again—angry now, feral.
Kael felt it.
I knew he did.
The forest exploded with movement.
A roar tore through the night—close. Furious.
The wolves stiffened.
“Too late,” one snarled.
Kael crashed into the clearing like a force of nature.
His control was gone.
Silver light blazed from his eyes, his wolf barely restrained beneath his skin. He didn’t speak—didn’t need to.
The enemy wolves attacked.
Chaos erupted.
Kael moved with brutal precision—bone snapping, blood spraying, his dominance crushing everything in its path. I watched in stunned horror as he tore through them like they were nothing.
Terrifying.
Magnificent.
Mine.
The thought slipped through before I could stop it.
One wolf lunged at me from behind.
I reacted without thinking.
Power surged from my core, blasting outward in a shockwave that sent him crashing into a tree with a sickening crack.
Silence fell.
Kael froze.
Slowly, he turned toward me.
Silver fire flickered along my skin, my eyes burning as something ancient stared back at him through my gaze.
“What did you do?” he asked hoarsely.
I stared at my hands, shaking. “I didn’t know I could do that.”
Fear crossed his face.
Not fear of me.
Fear for me.
“They’ll come,” he said urgently. “Other packs. Hunters. Anyone who sensed that.”
I swallowed hard. “Then I can’t go back.”
He stepped closer, voice rough. “You can’t stay out here either.”
The bond tightened, pulling us together despite the tension between us.
“I ran because I don’t want to be your weakness,” I said softly.
His jaw clenched. “You’re not.”
“You’re lying,” I replied. “You’d burn the world for me.”
His silence confirmed it.
I met his gaze, heart breaking and hardening all at once.
“That’s why I have to leave.”
Before he could stop me, I turned and ran again—this time faster, stronger, fueled by power I didn’t understand.
Behind me, Kael roared my name.
And deep in my chest, the bond answered with a promise that terrified us both.
This was only the beginning.
- Writer
