Chapter 7 Friend is foe
1400 Words
Alyssa’s POV
The cold air stings at my skin like a thousand paper cuts, each gust slicing into me as if to remind me that I’m still alive. I gasp for breath, the chill scraping my lungs raw.
My body feels heavy, my limbs stiff, and my head pounds like I’ve been crushed under a mountain.
My eyes flutter open slowly.
The sky is a soft grey-blue, dawn breaking just over the horizon. The fire crackles nearby, the scent of smoke drifting in the air.
My body aches, but I can feel my wolf working overtime—healing me, holding me together.
Where am I?
I blink hard, trying to piece it together.
Did they take me back?
Am I in Moonborn again?
Is this it?
Are they waiting to execute me?
Is this my punishment?
I lift my face just enough to see a figure crouched near the fire. Something about her posture is familiar. Something about the way she moves.
"Mira?" My voice is hoarse. I barely recognize it.
She turns.
"It is Alyssa," she says, her voice flat, unreadable. "How are you feeling now?"
I push myself upright slowly, my ribs protesting every inch of movement. But the worst of the pain is dulling. My wolf must have been busy healing me while I was out. I nod, unsure what else to say.
Mira stares at me for a moment longer before standing. "Are you well enough to walk?" Her tone is impatient like this is all a chore.
I blink at her, confused. "Why?"
She crosses her arms. "What do you mean why? So I can bring you back to the pack."
My heart stops. "You can’t do that, Mira. If you bring me back… I’ll be executed. Please."
"You should’ve thought of that before you attacked Alpha Conan," she snaps.
"Attacked him?" My voice rises, disbelief thick in my throat. "Mira, he was going to kill me. He had his hand around my throat! I was seconds from death—I didn’t attack him, I defended myself."
"You deserved it," Mira spits, her eyes blazing with a fire I’ve never seen in her before. Hatred. Pure and unfiltered.
I stare at her, stunned. "Mira… what’s going on? Why are you really here?"
Her jaw tightens. "I know what you did, Alyssa. I know you f****d Levi. You slept with my mate and put our alliance at risk."
The words hit me like a slap.
"You betrayed me," she hisses. "You betrayed everything we stood for. Everything we promised each other".
I shake my head, stunned, heart pounding in my chest.
"I betrayed you? Did I betray you? Mira, you knew how much I loved Levi. I told you everything. I asked you again and again if there was anything between the two of you, and every single time you said no. You said he was like a brother. Then you married him."
The words spill from me, the pain and confusion, heartbreak and betrayal.
"You’re the one who betrayed me first," I whisper, voice trembling. "You broke us before I even knew what was happening."
Mira’s lips curl in disgust. "Alyssa, you’re an omega. You’re nothing. Did you really believe someone like Levi would be mated to someone like you?"
Tears prick at my eyes, but I refuse to look away.
"How can you say that?" I whisper. "Don’t I deserve happiness too? I didn’t ask to be abandoned. I didn’t ask to be born an omega. I’ve done nothing but try to survive. And now—now I’m finally fighting back, and this is what I get?"
"I don’t care," Mira says coldly, her voice cutting through me like a blade. "I will take you back to Moonborn, and there you will pay for your insolence."
She takes a step forward, her eyes glowing gold, her wolf barely contained. Rage rolls off her in waves.
I stumble back, my heart racing. The Mira I knew—the one I laughed with, cried with, trusted—is gone. Replaced by this stranger with fury in her eyes.
And I know then: this isn’t just about Levi. This isn’t about the pack. This is personal.
And she’s not going to let me go without a fight.
“I’m not going back, Mira,” I say, my voice trembling but strong. “I will not be murdered because I dared to love someone.”
Mira’s lips curl into a sneer. “You still don’t know your place, do you?”
Before I can answer, the sound of heavy footsteps breaks through the tension like thunder. The trees part and there he is—Levi. His face is hard, eyes furious, jaw clenched.
“Stop! The both of you!” he growls.
He doesn’t look at me. Not the way he did last night. Not like I matter.
“Get the prisoner ready,” Levi says coldly. “We need to leave.”
Prisoner? That word burns deeper than any wound I’ve ever felt.
“That’s not what you called me last night!” I scream at him, and the words barely leave my mouth before pain crashes into my face. Mira. Her slap is sharp, vicious, filled with hate.
“You filthy traitor!” she snaps, her wolf snarling beneath her voice. “How dare you speak to my mate like that?!”
“Enough!” Levi shouts, rushing forward. But I’m already shaking, already breaking.
“Levi, please,” I beg. “You can’t take me back. You know what they'll do to me. You know your father will kill me!”
His face hardens, but his eyes… they flicker with something. Guilt?
“It’s out of my hands, Alyssa,” he says. “You laid your hands on the Alpha. What did you expect me to do?”
“I expected you to protect me!” I scream, tears blinding me. “I was bleeding, Levi! I was gasping for air and you just stood there! You watched him beat me like a dog. And now you want to take me back so he can finish the job?”
“I’ll carry you if I have to,” Levi growls, his eyes glowing. Alpha eyes. “Don’t make me do it.”
“Then you’ll have to kill me first!” I snarl, feeling my wolf stir inside me. “Because I’m not going back!”
“Then we’ll kill you right here,” Mira says. Her voice is ice. Real. Deadly.
My blood turns cold. My legs tremble. I don’t know if I can fight them both. Not like this. But I can’t go back. I’d rather die.
“Please, Alyssa,” Levi says, softer now. “Just come back with us. I’ll talk to my father. I’ll explain everything.”
“Explain?” I laugh bitterly. “You didn’t stop him when I was choking, Levi. When I was crying. You just let it happen. You did nothing. So what’s different now?”
Levi’s silence answers me louder than his words ever could.
“I finally understand,” I whisper. “You used me.”
“Alyssa—”
“No!” I cut him off. “What exactly did I do wrong, Levi? Love you? Should I be executed for that? You kissed me. You touched me. You begged me to stay. But now, I get to die and you get to become Alpha one day. That’s fair, right?!”
I step back, my heart breaking all over again. Mira’s eyes burn as she steps toward me.
“I said I’m not going back,” I growl, my voice low, my wolf unchained. I can feel my power returning—fast, wild, dangerous. The last of my wounds seal up, heat burning under my skin.
A sound breaks through the tension—a shift in the wind. A scent. It's new. Someone else.
Mira pauses.
“What is that?” she mutters.
Levi tenses. His eyes scan the woods.
There’s movement in the trees. Slow footsteps crunch against the frostbitten ground.
Then I see him.
Tall. Calm. Dangerous.
Golden eyes meet mine.
It’s him.
The stranger from that night.
“I told you I’d see you soon, little wolf,” he says, stepping into the light.
Mira stiffens. Levi growls.
But me?
My heart races, not from fear… but something else.
Hope.
- Writer
