Chapter 2 - The Wound He Left
1660 Words
Raven moved before Cameron could reach her.
She threw everything she had into the first punch, catching him across the mouth with enough force to snap his head sideways. His surprise gave her the opening she needed. She stepped in and drove her elbow into his ribs, then brought her knee hard against his stomach.
Cameron staggered backward, gasping.
For a brief moment, Raven felt something she had been missing since the poison began spreading through her body.
Control.
Her wolf stirred beneath her skin, weak but furious, and Raven pushed forward before the weakness could catch up with her.
Vance came toward her.
She turned and caught him across the jaw.
His head snapped sideways.
Raven struck again before he could recover, driving her fist into his ribs.
“You should have stayed out of this,” she spat.
Vance stumbled, one hand going to his side.
Cameron came at her from behind.
Raven heard him and turned just in time. His fist grazed her shoulder. She caught his wrist, twisted with the last of her strength and pulled him forward.
Her forehead slammed into his nose.
Cameron stumbled back with a curse, blood spilling across his face.
Raven breathed heavily as she faced them.
Her vision was beginning to blur again, but seeing both men hurt gave her enough adrenaline to keep moving.
She looked toward Roman.
He hadn't moved.
He was watching her.
For the first time since they had entered the woods, surprise crossed his face.
Raven wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
“Still think I'm too weak to challenge you?”
Something dark passed through his expression.
Roman came for her.
Raven barely managed to raise her arm before his fist struck. The force drove her backward until her shoulder slammed into a tree.
Pain shot down her arm.
She pushed herself away and swung.
Her fist caught Roman across the jaw.
His head turned with the impact.
She hit him again.
Then she kicked his knee.
Roman staggered.
Raven drove her shoulder into his chest, sending him back several steps.
For one breath, she saw an opening.
Then Roman's hand struck the side of her face.
The blow sent her stumbling.
Her ears rang.
She touched her cheek in disbelief.
He had slapped her.
Hard enough to make her vision swim.
Roman crossed the distance between them before she could recover.
His hand closed around her throat.
Raven's back hit the tree.
She clawed at his wrist, fighting for air as he lifted her until her feet barely touched the ground.
“Let go.”
Her voice came out strangled.
Roman's grip tightened.
“You still think you're stronger than me?”
Raven kicked at him.
He barely moved.
Her wolf snarled inside her, desperate to fight, but the poison held it down.
Raven's vision began to darken.
She forced herself to look into Roman's eyes.
“You're afraid,” she managed.
His expression twisted.
His fingers tightened around her throat.
Raven's lungs burned.
She drove her knee into his stomach.
Roman grunted and released her.
She dropped hard, coughing as air rushed back into her lungs.
For several seconds, she could only breathe.
Then she heard Cameron approaching.
Raven pushed herself upright.
Cameron was bleeding from his nose, his face twisted with anger.
He swung.
Raven ducked beneath the blow and drove her fist into his stomach.
He doubled over.
She grabbed his shoulder and brought her knee into his face.
Cameron dropped to one knee.
Raven turned toward Vance.
He had stopped several feet away.
Their eyes met.
“Help me.”
The words slipped out before Raven could stop them.
She hated the vulnerability in her voice.
Vance's face tightened.
For a moment, she thought he might actually listen.
Then his eyes shifted toward Roman.
That was enough.
Raven swung.
Her fist caught Vance across the jaw.
He stumbled backward.
“You deserved that.”
The ground suddenly seemed to move beneath her.
Raven's knees buckled.
She caught herself against the tree, breathing hard.
The adrenaline was fading.
The poison was winning.
Her fingers felt numb.
Her wolf's presence had become little more than a distant pulse.
Roman approached.
“Get up.”
Raven lifted her head.
She wanted to tell him exactly what he could do with his command.
Instead, she forced her legs straight.
She leaned against the tree until she could stand on her own.
Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Roman stopped in front of her.
“You should have known this would happen.”
Raven stared at him through the blood running down her cheek.
“What are you talking about?”
“You knew I couldn't keep you as my Luna.”
Her brow furrowed.
“You never gave me a choice.”
His jaw tightened.
“You would have fought me.”
“Of course I would have fought you.” Her voice shook with anger. “You never even told me you wanted me gone. You brought me into these woods pretending you wanted to talk, then poisoned me before I knew what was happening.”
Roman's eyes hardened.
“I knew you would never willingly step aside.”
Raven stared at him, disbelief slowly giving way to fury.
“So you decided to take away my choice.”
“I decided to make sure you couldn't challenge me.”
“You were my mate.”
“And you were becoming a threat.”
The words hollowed her out.
Raven swallowed against the pain in her throat.
“You could have told me the truth.”
Roman's expression remained cold.
“And risked you fighting back?”
A bitter laugh escaped her.
“You were always afraid of that, weren't you?”
His eyes narrowed.
“Afraid of what?”
“Me.”
The word hung between them.
Raven held his gaze despite the weakness dragging her toward the ground.
“You were so afraid of what I could become that you decided to destroy me before I ever had the chance.”
Roman's face hardened.
“You never knew when to stop.”
“Neither did you.”
His breathing grew heavier.
“You could have been my Luna.”
“I could have been your equal.”
His expression changed.
“That was never going to happen.”
Raven stared at him.
The certainty in his voice hurt more than she expected.
He had never wanted an equal.
He had wanted someone who would make him feel powerful.
Roman released a slow breath and looked at the blood running down her face.
For one brief moment, Raven thought it was over.
Then she saw his claws extend.
Her stomach dropped.
“Roman.”
Fear entered her voice before she could hide it.
He heard it.
His eyes met hers.
He knew exactly what she was afraid of.
Then he struck.
His claws tore into the side of her forehead.
Raven screamed.
The pain was blinding.
His claws dragged from her temple, cutting downward in a curved line toward her cheekbone.
She stumbled backward and dropped to her knees.
Blood ran hot across her face.
Her hands flew to the wound.
When she pulled them away, they were covered in red.
Raven stared at them.
Her breathing became uneven.
Slowly, she lifted her eyes to Roman.
He was looking at the mark he had made.
He had done it deliberately.
He hadn't simply wanted to hurt her.
He wanted her to carry him on her skin.
A permanent reminder of the night he had decided she was too strong to remain his mate.
Raven's voice came quietly.
“You're going to regret that.”
Roman looked down at her.
“You won't live long enough to make me regret anything.”
He grabbed her throat again.
Raven fought with everything left inside her.
Her hands closed around his wrist.
Her feet kicked against the ground.
She tried to call her wolf, but the response was faint and distant.
Her lungs began to burn.
Roman lifted her from the ground.
The forest blurred around her.
She could hear Cameron and Vance somewhere behind him, but their voices seemed far away.
Raven stared at Roman.
She wanted to remember his face.
She wanted to remember the man she had loved and the moment she finally understood who he really was.
His hands around her throat.
The blood running down her cheek.
The coldness in his eyes.
The hatred she could barely recognize as coming from the man who had once held her as though she were precious.
Roman released her.
Raven hit the ground.
She lay there gasping, her body refusing to obey her.
Roman looked down at her for a final moment.
“Leave her.”
Footsteps moved through the forest.
Raven heard them fading into the distance.
She tried to lift her head.
Her arms shook beneath her.
“Cowards.”
Her voice was barely audible.
No one came back.
The forest became quiet again.
Raven remained where she had fallen, blood running from her forehead and across her cheek, her throat burning with every breath.
She didn't know how long she had before the poison took her completely.
She didn't know whether anyone would find her.
She didn't know if she would ever see another sunrise.
But she knew what Roman had intended when he carved the scar into her face.
He wanted her to remember him.
He wanted every glance in a mirror to remind her of the man who had decided she was too strong to keep.
He had no idea what that scar would become.
Raven closed her eyes.
The pain was overwhelming.
The betrayal was worse.
Yet somewhere beneath it all, her anger remained.
And as darkness began pulling her under, one thought stayed with her.
He had wanted to destroy her.
He had only given her another reason to survive.
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