Caught between two Alphas

Chapter 4

Ella's eyes were closed ready to embrace one of her deepest fears. Death.

A beast much larger than the others ran right in front of Ella. Protecting her? Claiming her as its prey? Ella wasn't sure which one. But she was grateful at that time for its arrival.

The ground trembled before the clash.

The full moon bathed the forest clearing in a cold silver light. Mist curled around the roots of ancient trees, whispering secrets from the shadows. Six hulking beasts circled each other, fur bristling, fangs bared. The larger One was obsidian-black, his eyes glowing grey like the mist around. The five others black and brown with eyes hungry for death and chaos, lips curled back in a silent snarl.

Every breath steamed in the air. Every muscle was coiled like a loaded spring.

Then...they lunged.

Ella shifted from the chaos looking for that moment. That space of opportunity. To run.

Fangs collided with a sickening crunch of bone and sinew. Claws tore through fur and flesh as the obsidian wolf rammed into the five others with a ferocious growl, it was like a one man army slamming them one after the other into trees with a force that shook the forest. Barks exploded in shards. Blood splattered the snow-dusted leaves.

The five wolves retaliated with a savage swipe, raking across the black one’s chest and sending him skidding back with a yelp. He rose quickly, foam flecking his jaws, and charged again—this time leaping into the air hitting them with a loud thud.

They collided midair, crashing to the ground in a whirl of fur, fury, and raw power. They snapped, bit, rolled. it was five against one. A howl tore through the night, long and bloodcurdling.

Ella didn't wait to see who won, once the opportunity presented itself she ran, but not without taking one last look at the obsidian wolf.

The grey eyes seemed to see deep into her soul, she felt a weird connection but she ran ignoring it all. She had to survive. She had to live.

She ran until the only sound she could hear was her heartbeat until the sound came. She could hear the harsh thundering footsteps of the beast and then suddenly she felt the pain her body had kept secret from her under the guise of adrenaline then almost immediately her body shut down her eyes blacking out.

But not before she heard the sound of the beast. One. But fierce and protective?. For some weird reason Ella knew he wasn't going to hurt her and if it did, she'd try her best to fight, to survive but maybe. Just maybe. Her best wasn't enough.

Was this the end? Was she going to end up as another victim of animal attack?

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Ella woke to the sharp rhythm of machines beeping beside her, each pulse cutting through the haze clouding her thoughts. Her eyelids fluttered open slowly, the sterile whiteness of the hospital room creeping into view. Cold fluorescent lights buzzed overhead. She blinked again.

Where am I?

She turned her head, the motion sending a sharp ache through her skull. Across the room, a few of her classmates lay in beds—bandaged, bruised, broken.

Then it all came crashing back—the forest... the beasts.

Her breath hitched.

“She’s awake!” a nurse called out, her voice urgent as she hurried out of the room.

Moments later, she returned with a middle-aged doctor, salt-and-pepper stubble shadowing his jaw, worry lining his eyes though he tried to smile.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, pressing a cold stethoscope to her chest, his fingers gentle but quick as he checked her vitals.

“Better,” Ella whispered, throat dry. She motioned weakly toward the others. “What happened?”

The doctor hesitated, then forced a reassuring smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Nothing you need to worry about right now. Your only job is to rest and recover, alright?”

Ella nodded, unsure. Something about his tone didn’t sit right.

“You have a weak heart?” he asked, flipping through her chart.

She nodded again. Her immune system had always been fragile—a detail she hated being reminded of.

The doctor turned to the nurse. “Give her some aspirin, beta blockers, and ACE inhibitors.”

Then he looked back at Ella with that same polite, unreadable mask.

“And you,” he added, almost kindly, “get better.”

As the nurse stepped away, Ella’s brow furrowed. “Wait... how did I get here?”

The doctor paused by the door, hand on the knob.

“That’s something only you can answer. You were found just outside the hospital gates. Alone.”

Alone?

But the last thing she remembered was_

A flash of fur. Glowing eyes. A massive wolf standing between her and death.

She curled onto her side slowly, breath catching. Did it… save me? Could something so wild, so monstrous, choose to protect her?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the nurse drawing the curtains around her bed.

“Wait!” Ella said quickly, her voice cracking. “What about a girl named Jessie?”

The nurse paused, her hand tightening around the curtain.

“Was she your friend?” she asked softly.

Ella hesitated. “Sort of… Is she okay?”

The nurse’s face faltered.

Two words fell like a guillotine: “She’s dead.”

The curtain whispered shut.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Police officers came and went, voices hushed, eyes avoiding hers. The official story soon emerged: many of her classmates were badly injured—especially Eric, whose bones were shattered—but Jessie…

Jessie was the only fatality.

Ella’s stomach twisted with guilt. Jessie might’ve been mean, cruel even, but Ella hadn’t wished her harm. She didn’t deserve this.

Her classmates didn’t see it that way.

They blamed her.

Said Jessie would still be alive if she hadn’t gone into the woods looking for Ella. Said Ella lured her there. That it was her fault.

They didn’t see a victim. They saw a scapegoat. A weakling. An easy target—as always.

She’d been dragged into the woods, tied up in a lone shack, and now… they looked at her like she was the monster.

The police said there were no traces of the beasts. No footprints. No fur. No blood. They just—vanished. As if they’d never been there at all.

And then, as if pulled from a dream, the missing women… were found.

At least the ones still alive.

Lined up outside the local police station.

No memory of where they'd been. No wounds. No scars. Just blank stares and empty minds.

But no one cared about that. Not really. Not when someone died.

And Ella? She was the link they could grab onto. The only part that still made sense in a story that had none.

One evening, days later, Ella slipped out of her hospital room, IV pole rattling softly beside her as she walked the quiet halls. The night air outside was crisp. She paused by a window, leaning on the sill.

Above, the moon hung low and full—silver, haunting, beautiful.

She gazed up, chest aching with more than painkillers could ever reach.

Did the beast save me? Or did it save itself?

Whatever the truth, one thing was certain:

Oakwood alps was quiet now. No more disappearances. No strange sightings. Not for weeks. Not for months.

Not for years.

The case was closed.

But the monsters?

They weren’t done yet.