Through the Shadows
1009 Words
The forest swallowed Erin whole.
Every step she took was a gamble between safety and capture. The pine needles muffled her hurried footsteps, but the scent of blood and silver lingered on her skin like a trail she couldn’t wash away. Her lungs ached, her legs burned, but she didn’t dare stop. Not yet.
She had spent two years planning this escape, scratching every detail into the back of her mind while pretending to be the perfect, silent Omega. She had smiled when Kael kissed her forehead and called her his treasure. She had bowed her head when Soraya draped herself in royal silks, stealing the Luna title that was never hers.
But tonight, Erin was no longer pretending.
Tonight, she was no one’s treasure. No one’s shadow.
She was something far more dangerous—free.
Somewhere behind her, the fortress alarms had died down. They hadn’t found her trail yet, but she knew the wolves wouldn’t stop hunting until the moon itself fell from the sky. Especially not if Soraya realized her scent was coming back.
Erin stumbled over a gnarled tree root and dropped to her knees, breath catching in her throat. Pain flared in her shoulder where the guards had clipped her with a silver dagger, but she bit down on her sleeve and forced herself upright.
She couldn’t afford weakness now.
A soft rustle came from the underbrush ahead.
Her eyes snapped toward it, senses sharpening. She crouched low, reaching for the jagged piece of metal she had pried from the cell wall—it was dull, but sharp enough to cut a throat if she had to.
The rustling stopped.
Then came a voice. Low. Rough. Male.
“Easy now. I’m not here to drag you back.”
She froze.
From the shadows stepped a man cloaked in a black hood, his scent masked by ash and pine. His voice was familiar, but twisted by time.
Erin didn’t move. “Who are you?”
The man pulled back his hood.
Her breath caught.
“Caleb?”
He gave a slow nod, a scar curving down from his temple to his cheekbone.
“In the flesh. Or what’s left of it.”
“You… you’re alive. They said you died in the border raid.”
“Let’s just say I had help faking it.”
Erin’s knees buckled, but she didn’t fall. The last time she’d seen Caleb, he was being dragged away in chains for protecting her from Kael’s wrath. That had been the day she’d truly stopped believing anyone would come for her.
Now here he was, standing in the woods like a ghost reborn.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered.
“I’ve been tracking your scent for two days. Your escape lit a fire through the rogue networks. And when I smelled you—” His eyes darkened. “I knew you were back.”
She clutched her cloak tighter. “I can’t go back to Blackfang. Not ever.”
“Good,” Caleb said, stepping forward. “Because I didn’t come to take you back.”
He reached into his coat and pulled out a flask, handing it to her.
“Wolfroot tonic. Not strong enough to heal you, but it’ll mask the scent of your blood for a while.”
She hesitated, then took it. The liquid burned down her throat like fire, but the relief was instant. The sharp, coppery tang of blood receded, replaced by earthy bitterness.
“I know a safe house,” Caleb said. “An old healer's den near the mountain pass. No one patrols there anymore. We can hide until you’re strong enough.”
Erin nodded slowly. She didn’t trust easily—not anymore—but Caleb had risked everything for her once. That counted for something.
Together, they slipped through the trees like shadows.
---
At the same time…
Soraya screamed.
The crystal goblet shattered against the marble floor, crimson wine staining her white silks like blood. Her maids froze, eyes wide.
“She was supposed to be dead!” Soraya roared. “We paid the priestess. We scrubbed her scent. I marked the King!”
Her rage cracked through the palace like thunder.
High Priestess Verena stood nearby, unfazed.
“If the Alpha bond has returned, then it means your claim was never real.”
“Shut your mouth,” Soraya hissed. “You promised me power.”
“I gave you a chance,” Verena replied coolly. “You failed to hold it.”
Soraya stormed toward her, fangs bared, but Verena raised a single hand.
“You threaten me, girl? Without my magic, you’d still smell like a half-bred servant.”
Soraya’s eyes burned. “If Erin is back—if she returns to Theron—I’ll lose everything.”
“Then make sure she doesn’t return,” Verena said simply.
---
In the forest…
Hours passed.
The stars began to thin as dawn crept across the treetops. Erin collapsed onto the floor of a crumbling cottage tucked behind mossy stones and hidden spells.
She didn’t recognize it, but Caleb told her it once belonged to a Luna healer cast out for practicing blood rites. That suited her just fine.
She wrapped herself in a tattered blanket and stared into the ashes of a cold fireplace.
“Why help me, Caleb?” she asked quietly. “Why now?”
He sat beside her, arms resting on his knees.
“Because I made a vow the night they took you,” he said. “And because you’re more than what they made you. You were always meant to be Luna—not some fragile Omega mate—but the Alpha of your own damn story.”
Erin felt her throat tighten.
She looked down at her burnt wrists, where the silver had scarred over. Ugly. Raw.
But real.
I will never be owned again, she thought.
As sleep finally dragged her under, one final whisper echoed in her dreams:
He’s looking for you.
And this time, he remembers.
- Writer
