Chapter 2 : My Wolf
850 Words
The hall erupted into chaos.
Gasps echoed around me as I struggled to breathe.
Mate.
The word still rang inside my head.
This couldn't be happening.
Not to me.
Not with him.
I pushed myself to my feet and staggered backward.
Alpha Damien Blackwood was still staring at me.
His eyes glowed gold.
His wolf had surfaced.
The sight sent panic rushing through my body.
"No," I whispered.
The entire hall had gone silent.
Everyone was watching.
Everyone knew.
The Alpha's mate had been revealed.
And it was me.
"Ava."
Damien took another step toward me.
I immediately stepped back.
The distance between us wasn't nearly enough.
Not when the bond was trying to pull me closer.
Not when every instinct in my body suddenly seemed aware of him.
His scent.
His voice.
The warmth radiating from him.
I hated it.
And I hated him.
"Ava, you need to come with me."
I laughed bitterly.
"Why would I do that?"
His eyes darkened.
"Because I said so."
There it was.
The Alpha.
The man who thought everyone should obey him without question.
The man who stood by while my family was dragged through the mud.
The man who watched as pack members whispered about us for years.
My fingers curled into fists.
"You don't get to order me around."
A murmur spread through the crowd.
Most wolves lowered their eyes whenever Damien spoke.
I met his stare head-on.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
"Ava," he said quietly. "This isn't the time."
"No? Then when is the time?" I snapped.
"When can we talk about what happened to my father?"
His expression hardened.
Several elders suddenly looked uncomfortable.
That only made me angrier.
"You see?" I said. "Nobody wants to talk about it."
"Ava—"
"No."
My voice cracked through the hall.
"For years people have treated us like criminals."
I pointed at the crowd.
"They laughed at us."
A few wolves looked away.
"They called me broken."
Silence.
"And where were you?"
Pain flickered across Damien's face.
Real pain.
For a second, it caught me off guard.
Then I remembered who he was.
The Alpha.
The man responsible for all of it.
"You don't know the whole story," he said.
I almost laughed.
"Then tell me."
His jaw tightened.
"I can't."
The answer ignited my temper.
"Of course you can't."
Suddenly, a soft voice echoed inside my mind.
"You're upset."
I froze.
The voice wasn't Damien's.
It wasn't anyone's.
"Who said that?"
A gentle laugh followed.
"Finally. You're talking to me."
My heart nearly stopped.
"Who are you?"
"I'm your wolf."
Shock crashed into me.
My wolf.
After twenty years.
After twenty years of believing I was broken.
Tears burned behind my eyes.
"You're real?"
"Very real."
For the first time in my life, I didn't feel empty.
I wasn't wolfless.
I never had been.
"He's hiding something," my wolf said.
"I know."
"No," she replied softly. "I think he's protecting something."
I ignored her.
The bond was already causing enough problems.
I wasn't about to start taking advice from a wolf I had known for five minutes.
"Ava."
Damien's voice pulled me back.
I looked up.
He had moved closer again.
Close enough that I could see the tension in his shoulders.
Close enough that I could hear the rough edge in his breathing.
Close enough that my stupid heart betrayed me and skipped a beat.
The realization only made me angrier.
"Ava," he repeated.
The way he said my name was different.
Gentler.
Almost pleading.
"I need you to trust me."
I stared at him in disbelief.
Trust him?
After everything?
After years of watching my family suffer?
After years of hating him?
The bond may have chosen him.
But I never would.
"You want my trust?" I asked coldly.
"Start by telling me the truth."
His gaze dropped for a brief moment.
When he looked back at me, there was something in his eyes I had never seen before.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For me.
"You are in danger."
I folded my arms.
"That's not an answer."
"It's all I can give you right now."
"Then it's not enough."
Frustration flashed across his face.
For the first time, the calm, controlled Alpha looked close to losing his patience.
"Ava, please."
The word stunned me.
Please?
Alpha Damien Blackwood didn't beg.
Not for anything.
Not from anyone.
So why was he begging me?
Before I could ask, the main doors burst open.
A guard stumbled into the hall.
Blood covered his uniform.
The room instantly fell silent.
"Alpha!" he shouted.
Panic filled his voice.
"Rogues!"
Every muscle in Damien's body tensed.
"How many?"
The guard swallowed hard.
"Hundreds."
A wave of fear swept through the hall.
My wolf suddenly growled inside my mind.
A low, dangerous sound.
"Ava..."
"What is it?"
For the first time, she sounded frightened.
"They're not here for the pack."
Cold dread settled in my stomach.
"Then who are they here for?"
My wolf hesitated.
Then she answered.
"They're here for you."
Why would hundreds of rogues come looking for me?
- Writer
