Chapter Three: The Crimson Wolf
577 Words
Chaos erupted around them.
Selene's cry tore through the night's stillness, silencing everything as the wolf's massive body slammed her into the icy snow. The biting cold gave way to the oppressive warmth radiating from the beast, its powerful paws trapping her with fearsome intensity. Its breath, hot and wild, mingled blood and ash with something primal, stirring something deep inside her.
Teeth sank viciously into her shoulder.
Fire surged through her veins.
She screamed, a desperate, raw sound swallowed by the encircling trees. Pain seared through her like molten metal flooding her core. Her body convulsed, boots kicking uselessly against the snow. Yet the wolf's jaws dug deeper, enclosing her in a relentless embrace of fire and shadow.
The forest spun violently. Her world shattered.
Visions ignited behind her eyes,
Blackthorn engulfed in flames, its rooftops collapsing in glittering showers of fiery sparks. A moon, heavy and crimson, painted the snow below in a hideous tapestry of blood. Under its cursed light, wolves clashed, their snarls like distant thunder.
And at chaos's epicenter, her own reflection.
She stood defiant amidst the turmoil, eyes blazing red like the wolf's, her hands aflame as if forged by fire.
Mine.
The voice coiled through her mind, a growl resonating in her blood. Though wordless, it infiltrated her essence as if it had always been a part of her.
Mine.
She went still, her scream fading into the beast's dominion. The fire inside her did not diminish, it grew, fueled by a potent undercurrent of strength. A pulse that thrummed with her own, a heartbeat both foreign and familiar.
The wolf's eyes locked onto hers, crimson and eternal.
And then, suddenly, it let her go.
Its crushing weight vanished as its jaws released her. Gasping, Selene clutched her shoulder, warm blood steaming against the snow. Her body trembled violently, caught in an internal storm as the world blurred around her.
The wolf lingered a moment longer.
It stared at her intently, as if memorizing her face. Slow breath hanging in the cold, Selene feared it might finish her, but it didn’t.
Silently, it vanished into the trees, swallowed by shadows as if it had never been.
Selene lay trembling in the snow, her breath ragged, heart racing as if trying to escape. Her wound burned fiercely, not from mere injury but with an intense, living heat.
She should have died, a bite like that was fatal.
But,
Her senses buzzed, catching sounds she shouldn’t hear: the river ice groaning far off, a fox cautiously stepping half a mile away, an owl's wingbeat slicing through the stillness.
Her vision sharpened, moonlight turning branches and drifts of snow to silver.
Her blood boiled hotter.
Still, the voice echoed in her depths, reverberating through her being.
Mine.
Selene pressed a hand to her shoulder, stumbling uncertainly to her feet. The trees swayed, or perhaps it was her own trembling. She craved the safety of firelight, but her legs, seemingly possessed, moved toward the ruins.
Deeper. Into the land no one dared speak of, steeped in forgotten terrors.
Each step left crimson trails in the snow. Each step burned, fire consuming her from within.
By the time she collapsed against the blackened stones of the Forgotten ruins, she was no longer sure where her body ended and the fire began.
And as her eyes closed, the last thing she heard was the wolf’s dark voice entwining with her spirit, its claim a whisper.
Mine.
- Writer
