Chapter 2: The child I Never Held
1215 Words
Chapter 2: The child I Never Held
POV: Ayla Nightwind
No one moves after my words.
The snow falls more heavily, thickly, and quietly, as if the forest is listening.
His men are waiting for the Alpha's signal. I can tell by how their bodies lean forward and how close their hands are to their weapons that they are dangerous. They don't see a woman who is bleeding right in front of them. They see a problem that has survived too long.
Finally, the Alpha lifts his head.
"Eli," he says again, this time with more force. "Come here." That's a command.
The order of the words snaps through the air.
Eli flinches.
I can feel the pull of it in his hand. The urge to follow orders. The instinct that every pack child has. His fingers relax a little in mine.
I hold on tighter.
"No," I say.
The Alpha's eyes dart to my hand. To the blood that was on Eli's sleeve. His jaw sets.
"You are hurt," he says.
I laugh in a short, sharp way. It tastes like metal. "You noticed."
Blood keeps sliding down my arm and soaking into my glove. It should hurt more than it does now. It might later. It's just noise right now.
The Alpha moves forward.
One of his wolves growls. Low. Warning.
I move right away, pulling Eli behind me. I don't have my knife anymore, but my body remembers violence better than steel. I bend my knees and plant my feet, ready to jump.
"Don't," the Alpha snaps at his men. "Everyone—back."
They are unsure.
He turns on them, and his voice cuts through the snow like a knife. "I said back."
They do what they are told.
Eli pushes his small, shaking forehead against my back. His breath comes in short bursts that fog up my cloak. The contact hits me in a deep, ugly place.
Way too familiar.
Too close.
I see it again—
A room made of stone.
Walls that are cold.
My wrists were tied.
There is blood on the floor that isn't mine yet.
I blink hard to push the memory down.
"Why were they after him?" I ask. My voice stays steady, even though my chest is getting tighter. "Those men. They weren't scouts.
The Alpha doesn't respond right away. His eyes scan the tree line, figuring out risks that I can't see.
Finally, he says, "They were supposed to escort him."
"Escort," I repeat. "With knives?"
His lack of words is enough of an answer.
"I say, "Someone wanted him dead." "Or taken."
Eli makes a quiet noise. I feel his fear rise like a knife between my ribs.
I bend down a little so I'm closer to his height. I say, "Hey," without taking my eyes off the Alpha. "Look at me."
Eli looks around my side.
"You didn't do anything wrong," I say. "Nothing."
He gulps down hard. "They told me I was too slow."
Something inside me breaks.
Not too loud. Not clean.
It's just a quiet crack that spreads.
I straighten up slowly, and anger curls tightly and dangerously in my stomach.
I say to the Alpha, "You let your pack hunt a child."
His eyes flash. "You don't know—"
"I know exactly what happens when leaders decide some lives are okay to lose."
The words hit me harder than I thought they would.
The Alpha gets stiff. For a brief moment, something like guilt flashes across his face.
Then it's gone.
"You can't judge me," he says.
I laugh out loud. "That's funny." That's what they said the night they took my child.
The clearing is quiet.
Too quiet.
One of the wolves moves around uncomfortably. Another looks away.
Eli's grip gets tighter again.
The Alpha's voice gets lower. "Don't."
"Don't what?" I push. "Be honest?" "Bleed where everyone can see it?"
His hands turn into fists.
"You can't use the past as a weapon," he says.
"You did," I say angrily. "You all did."
My arm hurts and throbs. My fingers are cold. Numb. I change my position without thinking, and I keep my weight balanced even though I feel dizzy at the edges of my vision.
The Alpha sees.
"You need a healer," he says.
"I need you to step back," I say.
He looks down at Eli again. Just a little bit softer.
"He is freezing," he says. "You can't keep him alive like this."
"I already did," I say.
Another memory comes back to me.
Me yelling.
Hands holding me down.
Someone saying she's crazy.
Another saying the child didn't make it.
I push air into my lungs.
"Eli," I say in a low voice.. "You run into the trees if things go wrong. Do you get it?
He shakes his head quickly. "No." I won't leave you.
The words hurt more than any knife.
They hear the Alpha.
"That's enough," he says in a sharp voice. "This ends now."
He moves forward.
I move at the same time.
I push Eli behind me and reach for the blade that fell at my feet, but I'm not as quick as I should be. The Alpha's hand snaps out and grabs my wrist as I move.
Pain shoots up my arm.
I snarl and twist, pushing my elbow into his ribs. He grunts and lets go just enough for me to get away.
The wolves rush.
The Alpha yells, "Stand down!"
It's too late.
One wolf lunges.
I turn to the side so that the hit goes to my shoulder instead of my spine. We both crash into the snow. His breath smells like adrenaline and fear.
I hit him in the stomach with my knee.
He falls down, gasping.
Another one pulls on my hair hard. I feel my head snap back. Stars exploded behind my eyes.
I scream, but not in pain; I'm angry.
I bite his hand.
He screams and lets go.
I roll to my knees, and the blood flows more freely now.
Eli yells my name.
The Alpha charges into his own men, throwing them back with brutal force.
"Enough!" he roars again.
Silence hits hard.
I can barely hear because my heart is pounding so loudly.
The Alpha is now between me and his wolves, and his chest is heaving.
I laugh, and it's shaky and wild. "Be careful," I say. "They might start to think for themselves."
His eyes are on mine.
He says, "You're dying on your feet."
"Not tonight."
He looks at Eli. At the blood. At the dead bodies in the snow.
Then he makes a choice.
“Bring her,” he orders his men. “Both of them.”
I bare my teeth. “I won’t step foot inside your territory.”
"You already have," he says in a cold voice.
I can feel the forest closing in. Feel the weight of every path being blocked.
I look down at Eli.
Then look up at the Alpha again.
And I say that the only thing that still gives me strength is—
"If you take us inside," I say in a low, deadly voice, "I swear on my dead child that I will tear your pack apart from the inside out.”
- Writer
