Chapter 5: When smiles become weapons
690 Words
( Aria POV)
I knew Selena wouldn’t stop.
The way she had smiled after Alpha Liam dismissed me in the rain calm, victorious, relieved told me everything. Wolves like her didn’t simply protect what was theirs.
They destroyed threats.
By the next morning, the pack had already decided who I was.
A problem.
I felt it the moment I stepped outside the omega quarters. Conversations died mid-sentence. Wolves who once tolerated my presence now watched me openly, some with fear, others with thinly veiled disgust.
Selena stood at the center of it all.
She walked beside Alpha Liam with practiced grace, her hand brushing his arm as she spoke animatedly to pack members. Each smile she wore was an unspoken message.
I am Luna-in-waiting.
She is nothing.
I kept my head down and worked.
That was my mistake.
A pair of omegas were gossiping near the herb huts when I passed.
“She stared at the Alpha yesterday,” one whispered.
“I heard she tried to provoke Selena,” another added.
“Rejected omegas lose control sometimes…”
I stopped walking.
Slowly, I turned.
“I didn’t provoke anyone,” I said quietly.
They flinched as though struck, eyes widening not because my words were sharp, but because something in my voice was different. Stronger.
They hurried away.
My pulse thundered as that familiar warmth stirred beneath my ribs again, reacting to my rising anger. I clenched my hands until my nails bit into my palms, forcing it down.
Not here.
Not yet.
By midday, the whispers had grown legs.
Selena watched it all from afar, her gaze sharp whenever she thought I wasn’t looking.
That afternoon, a guard approached me.
“The Beta’s daughter needs you,” he said flatly. “Outer storage shed.”
My stomach sank.
I hesitated for half a heartbeat.
Then I nodded.
Refusal would only confirm the lies already forming around me.
The shed sat near the boundary paths far enough that screams wouldn’t carry easily.
I stepped inside.
The door slammed shut.
The sound echoed like final judgment.
Before I could react, metal scraped.
A lock.
My heart dropped.
“Selena,” I said sharply, already rushing to the door. “Open it.”
Her voice floated through the wood, warm and amused.
“You’re causing confusion,” she said. “Among the pack. Among the guards. Among my Alpha.”
“You shoved me into the dirt,” I replied. “You slapped me.”
“That,” she said gently, “was correction.”
I pressed my forehead against the door, fighting panic. “Let me out.”
“Soon,” Selena replied. “But I need you frightened first.”
My breath hitched.
“Night will fall,” she continued. “Rogues roam these woods. If something happens…” She paused. “Well. Rejected omegas don’t exactly inspire rescue.”
Footsteps retreated.
Silence followed.
The air changed.
Fear sparked—
And the power answered.
Heat surged through my veins, stronger than before, coiling tight around my spine. The lantern on the wall rattled violently.
“No,” I whispered, staggering back.
The ground trembled.
I placed my hands against the door as instinct not thought, took control.
Wood cracked.
The lock twisted.
With a violent snap, the door burst open.
I collapsed forward, gasping, staring at the broken hinges with horror and awe.
I had done that.
No omega should have.
Across the pack lands, I felt it, something pulling tight, as if a thread had been yanked too hard.
Somewhere far away…
Alpha Liam froze mid-step.
I didn’t stay to be found.
That night, hidden in shadow near the great hall, I watched Selena laugh beside him, her hand possessive on his arm.
Her eyes flicked toward the edge of the crowd.
Toward me.
The smile never left her lips.
That was when I understood the truth.
Locking me in hadn’t been the danger.
It was the test.
And Selena had just realized—
I survived it.
Her gaze hardened with something far darker than hatred.
Calculation.
If fear wouldn’t end me…
Then next time, she’d use blood.
- Writer
