CHAPTER 3 - THE FOREST INCIDENT
1297 Words
ELARA’S POV
Why does his wolf refuse the rejection?
The question followed me into the night and I did not wait for answers.
I ran and my feet hit the earth fast, my dress tore on branches, I did not care, the moon was high above me and the wind hit my face and then my chest burned.
“Faster,” my wolf whispered inside me and she sounded broken.
The bond still pulled at me, it was thin, painful and not gone.
It should be gone, he rejected me and I signed in blood.
So why did I still feel him?
I ran past the pack houses and past the training field and no one stopped me.
Maybe they thought I was leaving at dawn like he said, but I was not waiting for dawn.
I would not stay one more minute in a place where I was only a shadow.
The trees grew thicker and the air changed.
It was the forbidden forest and no pack member entered here without permission.
I then stepped in and branches brushed my arms and the ground was uneven and then the scent of wild earth filled my nose.
“Elara, stop,” my wolf said but I kept moving and tears blurred my sight.
“You were never his,” she whispered.
“I know,” I said out loud and my voice shook and then memories flashed.
His hand was on my waist and his voice told me to stay close.
His scent on my pillow.
Lies.
All lies.
A sharp pain then hit my chest again and I stumbled.
The bond moved like a dying flame and then it pulled hard and I gaspsed and grabbed a tree trunk.
“Why?” I cried into the forest but no answer came but the sound of night creatures moved and then I tried to shift.
Maybe my wolf would feel better if we ran in fur.
I then closed my eyes and called her but she pushed forward.
But something was wrong, the shift hurt and my bones ached and then my head spinned.
The broken bond was making her unstable.
“I cannot,” she whimpered.
“Try,” I begged and she tried but pains exploded through me and I screamed and fell to my knees.
Leaves stuck to my skin and my breathing turned uneven and then I crawled forward.
I need to reach the ancient border, if I cross it, I will no longer be Silvermoon's problem.
The border stones rose ahead, it was old and tall and it was covered in marks from past wars.
I then reached one and my fingers touched the cold surface.
Then my strength left me and I collapsed beside it and my body was heavy.
My wolf moved inside me, and it was weak.
“I am sorry,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“For loving him.”
Then I heard footsteps, not one but many.
I then lifted my head slowly and the shadows moved between the trees.
Dark figures then stepped out, Rogue wolves.
Five of them.
Their eyes glowed in the moonlight and they circled me.
“Well, well,” one of them said, shifting into a man with scars across his chest. “Look what we found.”
Another laughed. “That is the rejected Luna.”
“Not Luna anymore,” the first one said. “Just a lonely female.”
They then smell the air.
“I can still scent Silvermoon on her.”
“And Alpha Kael.”
They grinned, easy prey and I tried to stand but my legs shook.
“Stay back,” I warned and my voice was not strong and then they laughed again.
“You cannot even shift,” one said and I forced my claws out, they came slowly and weakly.
“I said stay back!”
One then lunged and I dodged and slashed his arm and he snarled.
Another grabbed my hair and threw me to the ground and my head hit earth and stars burst behind my eyes.
I rolled away just before claws tore the soil where I was and then I managed to shift halfway.
Fur spreads over my arms, teeth lengthen, but the shift stopped again and pain moved through my abdomen.
I then cried out but they surrounded me fully now.
“Finish her,” one growled.
“She will fetch a good price if we sell her,” another suggested.
“No,” the scarred one says. “Killing her will hurt Silvermoon more.”
He then lifted his claw and I tried to move but my body did not listen.
“This is how it ends? Not as Luna! Not as wife! But as prey in the dirt?”
My wolf whimpered.
Then….
The forest changed and the air turned heavy, it was not dark, it was not loud but it was powerful.
Every rogue froze and their eyes widened.
“What is that?” one whispered.
A pressure then filled the space and It pushed against my skin, against my bones.
The rogues dropped to their knees, one after another and they trembled.
“Run,” one gasped but they could not move.
Then a growl echoed through the trees, it was deep and ancient and it shook the ground under me.
From the shadows, a wolf stepped forward, it was massive, it was larger than any Alpha I had ever seen.
His fur was black at night and his eyes shone silver, it was not normal silver, it was bright, old and wise and then my breath stopped.
This was not an Alpha, this was something else.
The rogues then press their faces to the dirt.
“Lycan,” one choked and the wolf walked past them as if they were nothing.
He then stopped in front of me and his silver eyes were locked with mine.
I could not look away, fear should fill me, but it did not.
Instead, my wolf lifted her head.
She did not whimper and she did not fight, but she felt calm.
The giant wolf shifted.
Bones moved, and fur disappeared .
A man then stood before me.
He was tall, broad shoulders and dark hair fell over his forehead.
His eyes remained silver and they studied me slowly, he smelt the air around me and his jaw tightened.
When he spoke, his voice was deep and steady.
“Why does my mate smell like another Alpha?”
My heart stopped.
Mate?
The word echoed inside me.
Impossible.
You cannot have two mates.
The Moon Goddess did not make mistakes.
I then shook my head weakly. “You are wrong.”
His eyes narrow.
“My wolf does not lie.”
My wolf then stepped forward inside me, she did not reject him and she did not growl.
She felt safe and the feeling shocked me more than fear would.
He then crouched in front of me and his hand hovered near my face but did not touch.
“You are injured,” he said.
“I am not your mate,” I whispered and his gaze hardened.
“You are.”
The rogues still knelt behind him, shaking and I tried to speak again.
But the world tilted and the pain in my abdomen flared and my vision faded at the edges.
“No,” I murmured.
Strong arms then caught me before I hit the ground and his scent surrounded me.
It was not like Kael’s, it was different, wild and powerful.
My wolf sighed, it was safe and claimed.
The last thing I heard before darkness took me was his voice.
“Mine.”
And I fainted in his arms.
- Writer
