CHAPTER 2 — THE GIRL IN WHITE
1123 Words
Sophie’s scream tore through the forest, shrill and raw, as pain erupted like fire across her shoulder. It wasn’t just a bite, it was as if molten lightning sank into her skin, branding her from the inside out. The stranger’s weight pinned her down, his body hot like fever, his breath wild and animalistic, nothing human about the way he growled against her flesh.
“Stop,! Get off me!” she choked out, her voice breaking.
She pushed at him, beat her fists against his shoulders, clawed at whatever part she could reach, but he didn’t budge. He was built like stone. His muscles, half-shifted beneath his skin, rippled as though something inside him fought for dominance.
Just when she thought she would pass out from the pain, it happened,
He collapsed.
The powerful body that had been pressing her into the earth suddenly slackened, falling to the side with a heavy thud. Sophie gasped, scrambling away on her hands and knees, her heart pounding so violently she could barely breathe. She clutched her shoulder, fingers brushing the wound,
And then froze.
It throbbed.
It glowed.
Faintly, like living fire beneath her skin.
“No… no, no, what is this?” she whispered, voice shaking as she traced the faint crescent shape with trembling fingers.
The forest seemed to hold its breath.
Sophie crawled backward, staring at the man, no, the thing, who had attacked her. Under the moonlight, his features were both beautiful and terrifying. Strong jawline, tousled dark hair, and eyes that only minutes ago, had gleamed gold like a predator. His hands looked human now, but she had seen them shift, seen claws where fingers should have been.
“What are you?” she whispered, her voice cracking.
The man didn’t move. His breaths came out in deep, pained rasps. His face was twisted in agony, as though he was fighting something inside himself.
Sophie didn’t wait for answers. Didn’t want them.
She scrambled to her feet, every part of her shaking, and turned to run.
Branches whipped against her face. Roots snagged her bare feet. Her wedding dress, already torn from her escape, ripped further as she pushed through the undergrowth. She didn’t care. She just needed to get away. From the bite, the creature, the forest, everything.
Her lungs burned, each gulp of air feeling like knives. Her throat tasted like fear and salt. She stumbled, caught herself, and kept running.
Get home, her mind screamed.
Get home and pretend nothing happened.
Pretend he never touched you.
Pretend everything is normal.
But the burning mark didn’t let her pretend.
It pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat, a heat that sank deeper with every step, spreading from her shoulder to her chest, her neck, her veins, like something was waking inside her.
“What is happening to me?” Sophie cried under her breath.
The moonlight above flickered as clouds drifted across it. Shadows danced between the trees, stretching long fingers toward her racing figure. Her tears blurred her vision, but she didn’t dare stop.
Then she heard it.
Voices.
“SOPHIE! Get her!”
“Over there, by the northern path!”
The Aldridge guards.
Her stomach dropped.
Her foster father must have sent them the moment he discovered she’d run from the wedding. Aldridge didn’t tolerate disobedience. He didn’t accept anything that wasn’t under control.
“No, please…” Sophie whispered, pushing herself harder.
But she was exhausted. Barefoot. Wounded. And the burning mark was making it harder to breathe, not easier. It felt like something was gripping her heart, tugging in a direction she didn’t understand.
She stumbled again, falling hard onto her knees.
Branches cracked behind her.
“There she is! Grab her!”
“No, let me go!” Sophie cried, scrambling to her feet, but it was too late.
Two guards lunged out of the shadows, grabbing her arms. Another stepped in front of her, blocking her escape path. His torch cast a harsh orange glow across her pale face and ruined dress.
“You’ve caused enough trouble, girl,” the first guard snapped, tightening his grip.
Sophie struggled, kicking, clawing, fighting with everything in her,
But she was weak.
Too weak.
The bite had drained her strength like it had taken more than just blood.
“Please, don’t take me back,” she begged, tears streaking down her cheeks.
The guard scoffed. “Your foster father is furious. Running from your wedding? Making the family look bad? You’re lucky he only sent us.”
Lucky?
Sophie felt bile rise in her throat.
The Aldridges had taken her in out of obligation, not love. They had never let her forget she was unwanted. A replacement. A tool. And tonight,
Tonight she had been meant to stand at the altar in place of her foster sister, Emily, who refused the marriage.
That alone had been humiliating enough, but after what happened in the forest?
She didn’t know what awaited her now.
The second guard stepped closer, his eyes narrowing at the wound on her shoulder. “What happened to you?”
Sophie instinctively covered it. “Nothing.”
“Doesn’t look like anything.”
“It’s… It’s just a scratch. Let me go.”
But as she spoke, the mark pulsed again, harder, making her gasp.
The closest guard noticed her reaction. “You’re hurt.”
“No!” Sophie jerked away. “Don’t touch me!”
But that only made them more suspicious. One guard grabbed her arm, yanking her closer to inspect the glowing bite mark.
His eyes widened.
“What in the gods’ names is that?”
Sophie backed away, shaking her head violently. “Please don’t tell Aldridge, please, ”
“Oh, we’re telling him,” the guard said darkly. “This is no ordinary wound.”
“Maybe it’s from whatever monster’s been roaming these woods,” the second guard muttered.
Monster.
The word struck Sophie like an icy blade.
She didn’t want to think about the man in the forest, about his golden eyes, his strength, the way his bite felt like it reached deeper than her flesh.
The guards grabbed her again.
“Let’s go,” the first commanded. “Aldridge will deal with you.”
Sophie struggled, desperation clawing at her chest. “Let me go! Please, please, ”
Her voice broke, but they didn’t care.
They dragged her through the trees, the forest fading behind them, the bite burning brighter with every step, as if something inside her protested being taken away.
She didn’t know it yet.
But the man who marked her,
the monster,
the Alpha she’d just become bound to,
was already waking.
And he would come for her.
One way or another.
- Writer
