Claimed by the Alpha

Episode 5:Marked by The Moon

An unsettling gleam from the moon illuminated the dominating gulfs of the forest that enveloped her as Selene's heart thumped in expectation. Selene couldn’t forget the events of the previous fretting night. Even the feeling of Damian’s rough hands gripping her infused in her possessive growl which reverberated within his throat. No matter what aspect she tried to submerge into, something more profound changed inside her. It felt ominous, nefarious, and most importantly, ever persisting.

The woman that appeared post her tumultuous encounter with the Alpha's world was a shadow of aura and violence. A quaking target was never her identifying trait. But facing the raging consequences of Damian wasn’t the boldest idea either.

As she slumped her back against the oak tree, a shiver surged through her unprotected arms, a stark reminder of the chilling wind. With every erratic breath she tried to control, an increasing awareness of the futility began to set in within her. Struggling to run as far as her legs could propel her, enduring steps out of desperation towards inevitability was yet another unheard symphony. No distance will bode well to the growing bond between two forces stronger beyond comprehension.

“Running away will not help, Selene.”

Damian’s deep, husky voice made her spin around, her pulse on fire with anticipation. He had not changed — still imposing, blazingly tall.

“Hope you slept well, because I watched you the entire night,” came the words that left his mouth.”

“Stay away from me,” she warned, but even she could hear the wavering uncertainty in her voice.

Damian took a step toward her, slowly. “Is that truly what you want?” he asked with a smirk across his lips.

For some reason, she loathed how her body burned her, how the mere sight of him thrilled the very core of her. What made the most sense fled from her brain as her instincts gently told her to submit.

“You can’t just claim me like I am some prize,” she growled, her fists balled up tight next to her torso. “I do not belong to you.”

His eyes darkened, and before she knew it, he was right before her with blinding speed, gripping her hands and holding her firmly in front of the tree. “You are mine, Selene. Your soul knows it, whether you accept it or not,” he said. “Your body knows it.”

A gasp trembled out of her as his mouth scraped against her heart, her spine brought the thrill of fear but the mix of chills drove her down. “And you know it too,” he whispered.

Before she had the chance to near him, a shrill and urgent howl echoed not too far away. The look on Damian’s face changed from seductive shifts to deadliest.

"Enough." He released his hold on her and shifted his body toward the noise. "We are in trouble now."

Selene listened, perplexed even further. "Who?"

Before the answer could be given, the shadows burst forth in a flurry of motion. Three figures emerged, their eyes glinting in wickedness. Rogues. The air around them vibrated with primal savagery, mockeries of growls slithering through the atmosphere.

Damian coiled subconsciously, his frame enveloping her. “Stay behind me.”

Selene was discomforted. “I can fight.”

His attention switched to her. There was something hard to decipher within the depths of his eyes. “None tonight.”

Before claiming the head of this rogue, claw marks ready, Damian’s lunge was half a claw’s length before contact. A split-second prior to the spin, the fist connecting to the jaw had already completed sending the adversary sprawling to the earth. From the blind-spot, the second sought to attack, but the first was his target. Rico’s plan unearths my head; blood gushing from the chest wounds claimed by his barbed hook. Deep guttural grunts as loose spice flows from the jar of silence cause heart shattering echoes beneath the canopy of the great oaks.

Entranced but mortified, Selene observed. Nature’s brute emerged, unyielding, primal, yet something about the steps of a man who fights for the men too weak to carry a battle captivates with an elegance they need to unhook themselves from this illusion no one can untangle.

But neither of the bolts were clad in steel, and the third rogue had no intention of diving headlong into the rubbery embrace of wildfire foundry.

Before Selene could even think of a reaction, she was pulled backwards. A hand with claws was wrapped around her neck, squeezing lightly to the point where she was struggling to breath.

Selene could think of several ways to fight but being a damsel in distress could never be one of them. It was about time something was done.

With no further consideration, she slammed her elbow into the rogue's stomach. A grunt escaped his lips and his grip loosened a little which was just enough for her to escape his hold. From there, she used the momentum to knee him in the face which caused him to howl in pain and stumble back.

Damian took advantage of the moment.

Without a second thought, Damian let out an enraged scream and launched himself at the rogue. He viciously sank his fangs into the rogue's neck which resulted in a ghastly gurgle before the rogue fell to the ground, lifeless.

With deep breaths echoing in the silence, both of them took a moment to collect themselves.

Briskly turning to glance at her, Damian’s eyes were filled with a strange mix of emotions. “You could be dead or even worse, reckless,” he grunted while tracing the thin mark on her neck with his thumb. “Maybe you are stronger than I thought.”

Selene could feel the pulsating lump in her throat. “I told you I can fight,” she confirmed.

Damian lifted his lips, a ghost of a smile shimmering on his face before his expression turned grave yet again. “We have to move, more will approach as time goes by.”

Slowly accepting reality, Selene asked, “And where are we headed?”

His fingers tangled with hers, careful yet purposeful. “To a safe location, far from him, where you won’t be touched.”

She felt the need to fight back and seek an explanation. Whatever the case, his tone made her stop in her tracks. Beneath his arrogant and domineering exterior, there was something else hiding—something fragile, something hopeless.

Selene had a feeling that her life was going to shift into something unimaginably new as soon as she and her friends ventured into the woods. As much as she wanted to resist it, t

here was one fact that surged to the front of her thoughts.

Claimed.