Chapter 2
1945 Words
Anaya’s heart thudded in her ears as she shifted to take a different path and there before her loomed the two wolves in her way. Caleb and Thomas, both grinning at her, their eyes shining with mocking joy.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Caleb jeered. “Aren’t we good enough for you? Wanting to be off so soon.”
Anaya’s breath caught. She couldn’t take them on, she had never been taught to fight before, the only thing she had was her speed.
‘Run,’ her wolf barked at her. ‘Run now!’
Without a second thought, Anaya spun on her heel and took off running into the thick forest.
“Get her!” Caleb’s voice rang out from behind her, his tone laced with fury. The heavy sound of his footsteps pounding against the earth as he gave chase through the night air.
Laughter echoed through the night. “You’re not going to be able to run forever, Luna!” Thomas bellowed, his voice booming through the forest. “We’re faster than you, and deep down… you know it!”
Anaya ignored her packmate and instead pushed her legs harder, jumping over low branches which whipped by as she zigzagged through the woods. Her breathing came sharp and quick but fear clawed at her chest keeping her from catching a deep breath and stopping as she knew they would catch her.
‘Packhouse,’ her wolf urged. ’Go there.’
Anaya shook her head as she ran, her lungs burned. ‘No, they’ll expect that. I have to go home. They won’t follow me there.’
‘They will,’ her wolf warned. ’Please, Anaya—‘
‘I know what I’m doing,’ she snapped at the wolf in her mind, forcing herself to move faster.
Her tiny home was nestled in the far part of the land, from the packhouse, and from the busiest parts of town. It had been the first place she assumed they wouldn’t look for her, if only she could make it there. If she could just reach her house then she would be able to hide, to come up with a plan.
Then she heard them behind her—closer this time.
“You’re fast, Luna, but not fast enough!” Caleb’s voice was echoing through the words.
Anaya gritted her teeth and pushed herself harder, she couldn’t believe she was doing this. Her legs were burning but it didn’t matter now, she could see her house through the forest right from here. She felt relief flood through her chest as she practically sailed toward the door.
Almost there, she thought to herself.
She burst into the clearing, stumbling onto the soft grass in front of her house. Her lungs burned, and she could barely think straight, but she was safe now. She yanked the door open and stepped inside, quickly shutting it behind her.
For a moment, all she could hear was the sound of her own ragged breathing. She leaned against the door, trying to calm herself.
I did it, she thought. I got away.
But her joy was short-lived.
A low growl rumbled from the shadows of her living room.
Anaya’s widened in pure terror as a massive figure stepped forward. A giant wolf, larger than any she had ever seen before, materialized out of the darkness. His golden eyes shone with malevolence and his lips drew back into a snarl.
“You really thought you could escape, little Luna?” the laugh sneered. It was male and deep, a sound so full of malice that her already skidding heart dropped.
No… how had he-?
Before she could move he attacked, smacking her out of the house as the door flung open while she spiraled onto the ground. Anaya barely had time to scream before he was on top of her, holding her down as if she weighed nothing at all.
She struggled against him, pushing and clawing at his massive arms, but he didn’t budge an inch. He leaned in close, his hot breath fanning against her face. “You’re weak,” he whispered, contempt riding on those words. “Just like your father.”
Anaya’s chest heaved as she pushed against him. “Please… don’t do this,” she gasped, fear constricting her throat.
The wolf chuckled darkly. “Begging? You still haven’t learned your place.”
Anaya summoned what little remained of her strength and pushed at him, just enough to slip from beneath him. She scurried back, now on her feet.
“I won’t let you kill me!” she shouted with more bravery than she felt.
The wolf laughed. “Oh, Luna,” he mocked. “You don’t have the power to let me do anything. I take what I want.”
He leapt at her and this time Anaya actually tried to fight back. She pulled her arm back and threw a punch but he caught it easily in his hand before she felt a bone breaking pain shoot through her wrist making her scream.
“Pathetic,” he growled. “You’re not fit to lead anyone.”
He struck her with a backhand that sent her flying, her body arcing and crashing into the tree with a terrible crack. The ancient tree split in half from the force of it and Anaya fell to the floor with a dull thud.
Her body was screaming in agony, black spots danced in her vision and she coughed, tasting her own blood.
The wolf took one step closer, glaring down at her broken form. “This is where your story ends, Anaya.” His voice was nothing but steel. “No one will remember you.”
Anaya groaned, trying to push herself up, but her limbs felt heavy and weak. Every breath hurt.
‘Get up,’ her wolf urged weakly. ’We can’t give up.’
“I…” Anaya whispered. She could barely say anything.
The wolf had lowered his face toward her, taking her chin in his hand so that she was staring deep into his eyes. “You are nothing,” he said, spitting out the words in the hot air. “And when I am finished with you, nobody will even remember your name.”
Tears blurred her vision, but a small ember of anger was burning through the fog. Her parents… everything she’d kept together after they had died. She couldn’t let it all blow away because of this.
Squeezing her eyes even tighter, she put everything she had left into one last desperate kick–and connected it with the balls of the wolf. The wolf toppled over with a yelp and for a moment, Anaya didn’t realize she had won.
She got up and tried to run as the wolf’s laughter echoed behind her. “Running again, Luna? That’s all you’re good at. Running!”
Tears filled Anaya’s vision, but she kept putting one foot in front of the other. She had to survive.
She would survive.
A low branch stood in her way but due to her swimming vision she miscalculated her step and fell onto the ground.
Almost immediately, the large wolf loomed over Anaya, his golden gaze radiating a malicious hatred that sent shivers down Ananya’s spine before he growled.
“It’s over, Luna. You don’t deserve that throne. You never did.”
Anaya coughed weakly, trying to push herself up, but the wolf chuckled darkly.
“Pathetic,” he spat. “Your father was a damn fool if he really thought you could lead this pack.”
Before Anaya could react, he had her by the collar of her shirt in his powerful claws and flung her across the ground. She cried out as she struck the earth hard, rolling over leaves and twigs, her back searing with pain as the rocks there made cuts that littered across her exposed skin.
She attempted to crawl away, but it was clear that she would never be able to scramble away from him fast enough.
“Say goodbye, Luna,” he sneered.
Before he could lunge at her something moved so fast Anaya barely saw it as the wolf before her was thrown a hundred miles away from where she was.
A loud thud resounded through the air, as a man suddenly appeared out of thin air and slammed the wolf into the ground with a force so mighty, shockwaves reverberated through the fields. The earth shook beneath her feet from the force, and a pained yelp sounded from the wolf’s mouth as he crumbled before his attacker.
Anaya blinked slowly, hardly registering what had just happened. Towering above her was her savior standing in an imposing stance. He had a calculating gaze with his muscle bulging from the black singlet he wore.
She could see his feet bare of any footwear as his trousers looked like they would break out due to how muscular his thighs were.
The enemy wolf groaned, writhing on the ground before he changed back into a naked man. His face twisted in fury as he tried to get up, but the man who had saved Anaya didn’t give him an opportunity.
“You think you should be in charge of this pack?” The strange man sounded cool and lethal. “You’re nothing but a sneaky weasel trying to gain leadership through the wrong means.”
The attacker spat on the ground, glaring at Anaya with hatred. “She’s weak! She doesn’t deserve to be our leader!” he shrieked, his voice full of anger and desperation. “She’s an omega-born! She’ll bring nothing but ruin to the pack!”
Anaya winced, but the man in front of her didn’t move. He simply took another step closer to the attacker, his movements quick and sure.
“You talk too much,” he said, flatly.
Before the attacker could react, the man moved with inhuman speed. He reached up and caught the attacker by his throat, effortlessly lifting him off the ground. The attacker gagged and desperately tried to fight off the hand crushing his windpipe to no avail.
“You had your chance,” he told him as he snapped his neck without any visible effort on his part.
The attacker’s body went limp, and the strange man tossed him aside with a casual look. The forest remained still with a silence Anaya could have only imagined in her dreams.
She managed to sit up, every muscle hurting her.
The man turned his head to her direction, his sharp blue eyes softened a bit. “You should be careful Luna,” He replied with a calm note. “You’ve got more enemies than you can imagine.”
Anaya blinked rapidly several times before she could register what he had said. “I didn’t think they would follow me here.”
The man sighed in response and then slowly made his way over to her. Upon reaching Anaya, he crouched down low and extended his hand out to her. “They’ll follow you wherever it is you go,” he told her in an urgent tone of voice. “But they want you dead also so you cannot be careless. You need to look around you before you do anything. That is what a true leader does whenever they have enemies because all true leaders have enemies.”
"You're strong." the man observed, watching her carefully as he helped her to her feet. "But not strong enough."
Anaya looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "Who... who are you?"
The man shrugged. “My name is Theo. The future alpha of the mooncrest pack. And I’m your destined mate.”
- Writer
