THE REJECTED OMEGA AND THE BEAST

How am I supposed to find a white moonflower in the middle of the night?” Wrenna grumbled, shoving a branch out of her way. It snapped back, nearly hitting her in the face. “Damn it.” The cold was almost too much for her body to handle, and the wind howled through the trees like it was laughing at her misery. She pushed forward, boots sinking into the muddy ground, the sound of snapping twigs only added to her fear. If something was hiding in the shadows, she was making it really easy to find her. “Astrid, you witch,” she muttered under her breath. “If I don’t freeze to death out here, I swear I will put poison in your food.” Not that she would ever actually do it. No matter how much she hated her sister, she wasn’t a killer. Just a fool. A fool wandering through a dark thick forest because Astrid had ordered her to. Her stupid sister had sent a maid to wake her in the middle of the night, ordering her to find a white moonflower and she wasn’t allowed to return home until she did. Wrenna had no choice but to obey because she had always been the unwanted one. The forgotten child. The one shoved aside while Astrid enjoyed love and praise. She had spent her whole life as a shadow, never truly seen, never truly heard. Her parents treated her like a servant, not a daughter. And the worst part? She had let them. Not like there was anything she could do. Her fingers curled into fists as she walked faster, forcing her way through the forest. Maybe one day, she would stop being the girl everyone trampled over. Maybe one day, they would regret making her feel so small. But first, she had to survive this damn night. “Oh, finally.” The words slipped out before Wrenna could stop them, her voice filled with relief. Her heart pounded, not from fear this time, but from pure exhaustion. She had been walking for hours, her legs screaming, her body aching. And now finally, there it was. A white moonflower. It stood alone in the middle of a clear path, glowing under the moonlight. Just one. But that was enough. Moonflowers were rare, stupidly rare, and somehow, she had managed to find one. Maybe the universe didn’t hate her as much as she thought. She let out a breath and stepped forward, closing the distance between her and the flower. Slowly, she bent down, fingers brushing over its petals before carefully plucking it. A small smile on her lips as she internally thanked the moon goddess. Then.. The smile vanished. Something changed. The atmosphere felt wrong. Like something unseen had just passed by her. A shiver crawled up her spine as the cold night wind swept through her hair. Goosebumps erupted across her skin, her body reacting before her mind could catch up. She wasn’t sure what had just happened, but she knew one thing for certain . She was no longer alone. “Akela, did you feel that?” Wrenna reached out through their mind-link, expecting her wolf to answer right away. But there was nothing. Just silence. Akela was never silent, especially not on a full moon. If anything, she was usually loud, opinionated, and impossible to ignore. But now? Nothing. Not even a growl of acknowledgment. That was weird. Too weird. “It’s probably nothing,” Wrenna muttered to herself, shaking off the feeling. No need to freak out over every little thing. She had the flower, and that was all that mattered. She stood up, dusting off her dress, and tucked the moonflower safely into her pocket. Time to head back home, crawl under a warm blanket, and pretend this ridiculous errand never happened. She was about to turn but then.. she froze. She heard a c***k in the forest behind her. The sound of a branch snapping under a footstep. She suddenly forgot to breath. Every hair on her body stood on end. No. Nope. Not happening. She had walked through this forest for hours, and the only things she had seen were crickets, the occasional owl, and the full moon lighting her path. No people. No creatures. So why, why was there suddenly someone behind her? Nope. She wasn’t sticking around to find out who. She ran. Her feet hit the ground hard, her heart beating fast as she ran like hell. She didn’t dare look back. That was how people died in horror stories, looking back like an i***t instead of using that time to run. And then she started hearing it, footsteps. Loud one running after her as she ran. Her lungs tightened. But it wasn’t just the footsteps. No, that would have been too easy. She heard growlings, snarling and snapping behind her too as she ran. Something was chasing her and she was too scared to turn back to see what. Oh, hell no. She had heard the stories. The ones whispered around dying campfires about monsters in this forest. The ones meant to scare kids into staying inside after dark. But they were just stories. Right? Except A story wasn’t supposed to be running after her. A story wasn’t supposed to have claws. And yet, here she was. Running for her life. "Oh, dear Moon Goddess, help me! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!" Wrenna screamed inside her head as she ran for her life. Her legs burned, her lungs ached, but she didn’t stop, not when the thing behind her was getting closer. She didn’t want to see what was chasing her, but curiosity was a terrible thing. So, against her better judgment, she risked a quick glance over her shoulder and instantly regretted it. A blur. A monstrous, ridiculously fast blur. Her stomach dropped. Nope, nope, NOPE. She snapped her head forward, focused on running, but before she could run farther BAM. She slammed straight into a wall. No. Not a wall. A person. A very strong person. The impact sent her falling to the ground, hitting the dirt. "Argh!" she groaned, clutching her head as pain shot through her skull. What the hell had she just run into? A damn mountain? A tree disguised as a man? Then she heard the voice of the man. "Well, well. What is something so delicate doing out here all alone?. His voice sounded like it could both seduce and kill at the same time. It sent shivers down her spine, not entirely from fear. Whatever was chasing her behind had Gone. Just like that. Slowly, very slowly she lifted her head, eyes traveling up, up, up until she finally saw him. And oh, wow. Her brain? Gone. The ability to form words? Deleted. Because standing in front of her was not just a man. No, that would be too simple. Too normal. This was something else. Something unreal. White hair like freshly fallen snow fell over broad shoulders. His eyes? An unnatural shade of ice-blue, so piercing they could probably freeze time. His face? A crime. Sculpted to perfection, sharp jawline, cheekbones that could cut glass. And his body? Let’s just say, if muscles had a ranking system, he would be in a league of his own. Who the hell was this guy? "Should I just kill all the rogues in this forest?" he mused, not even looking at her, as if she were an afterthought. "No, shouldn’t involve myself in the affairs of the weak." Oh. Okay. Rude. Wrenna just blinked, trying to process everything. Her brain wasn’t catching up fast enough. She was still stuck on who this dangerously beautiful man is and why does he sound like he is debating whether or not to commit m*********r? Then out of nowhere, he looked down at her and muttered under his breath. "Tch. She looks at me like the others. Disgusted. Shocked. Just another person horrified by how ugly I am. At least this one is not screaming” Wrenna froze. Wait. Ugly? Her eyebrows shot up. "Pardon me, what?" she blurted before she could stop herself. Did he just ? Was he serious? "What do you mean ugly ?" she suddenly asked, looking around in mock confusion. "Did I die? Is this the afterlife? Because I always imagined otherworldly beings would look like you." That got his attention. His cold expression changed, eyes narrowing slightly as if trying to figure out if she was joking. "What do you mean?" Wrenna sucked in a breath, trying to ignore how unnervingly pretty he was up close. "Your hair." She gestured at it, eyes shining with fascination. "It is, white. Like snow-white. I have never seen anything like it." He looked confused. "You see it?" he asked, taking a step closer. Wrenna instinctively dragged herself back on the floor, not sure if she should trust. But Wait. Why did he sound so surprised? "Well, it is obvious, don’t you think?" Wrenna said, still staring at him like he wasn’t real. The man didn’t react. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, his piercing blue eyes on her like he was searching for something. "Describe what I look like." Wrenna blinked. What kind of weird request was that? But she played along. " tall, blue eyes, white hair , ridiculously white. Unreal. You look like you walk out of someone’s imagination” maybe hers She expected him to laugh, maybe smirk, or at least say something back. But no, he just stared, a slight look of shock on his face. Like she had just said something impossible. Now, Wrenna wasn’t exactly used to making men speechless, but this guy? He looked like she had just told him the moon goddess was her sister. For a long second, neither of them spoke. The night air was cold, making the silence between them even more uncomfortable . The way he was looking at her made her scared as she rose to her feet slowly, prepared to run Then A sound. A c***k behind her. Instinct took over, and she turned around so fast to see what it was that she nearly tripped over her own feet. But there was nothing , Just trees. Her pulse pounded. She gulped, turned back and nearly screamed. He was gone. Vanished. Like he had never even been there in the first place, "Okay... what the hell?"