Chapter Two – The Awakening
363 Words
The laughter still rang in my ears as I stumbled into the forest, my vision blurred with tears. The night was cold, but my skin burned as if fire lived beneath it. Each step felt heavier, like the earth itself was trying to drag me down.
His words replayed in my mind, sharp as broken glass.
Weak. Unworthy.
I collapsed to my knees, clutching at the damp grass. My chest heaved with sobs I could no longer hold back. The bond was supposed to be sacred. Eternal. To be rejected… it was worse than death.
“Moon Goddess,” I whispered, my voice raw. “Why me? Why give me a mate only to tear him away?”
A howl echoed in the distance. My wolf stirred within me, restless, her voice rising in a tone I had never heard before—low, ancient, powerful.
We are not broken, Aria.
Her voice vibrated through my soul. We are chosen.
“Chosen?” I croaked, clutching at my chest. “But he rejected us—”
The burn in my veins intensified, spreading from my heart to every limb. My vision flared white as pain lanced through me. My body arched back, a scream ripping from my throat.
No, not rejected, my wolf growled. Claimed… by fate itself.
Symbols glowed faintly across my skin, curling like fire-lit vines around my arms. I gasped, staring at them in horror. The mark pulsed with silver light, in rhythm with my heartbeat.
The ground trembled beneath me. My nails dug into the soil—only they weren’t nails anymore. Claws erupted where fingers had been. My teeth ached, sharpening into fangs.
The pain twisted, snapped, and then—
I shifted.
Not into the small, weak wolf I had always known.
But something larger. Fiercer. Glowing with the same silver fire as the mark that now branded me.
I lifted my head, the forest alive around me, and howled. The sound wasn’t just mine—it was something older, something the night itself bowed to.
Far away, I felt it. Damon’s wolf, snapping awake at the sound of my call.
And he wasn’t the only one listening.
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- Writer
