Chapter 2: Marked by the Enemy
1466 Words
Chapter 2: Marked by the Enemy
Dawn arrived both too fast and not fast enough.
Standing at my window, I saw the horizon brighten, the crumpled note burning in my hand. Every sensible idea told me to go, to ignore whatever game Kael Blackthorn was playing.
Still, the link pulsed beneath my skin, a never-ending reminder of what had transpired, of what we would evolve into.
Against every urge, I descended from my room.
Between our territories, the ancient oak towered, huge and towering, its gnarled branches reaching toward either side like it couldn't decide which loyalty. Carefully, I advanced, looking at the treeline for any hint of a trap.
He was already present.
Kael appeared from the shadows, and my gasp caught. Tall, broad-shouldered, and with that predatory elegance distinguishing all strong alphas, he was much more destructive in daylight. His eyes, though, possessed something I hadn't anticipated.
Confusion, agony, and something appeared somewhat like terror.
He said, his voice rough, "You came.
I should not have.
"No. You should not." Stepping toward me, he absorbed that seductive scent of smoke and pine. "But I am glad you did."
Raising my chin, I sought to project confidence I did not possess. "What do you want?"
"Answers." His gold eyes scanned mine. "What are you, Aria?"
The way he stated my name—like he had been rehearsing it, tasting it—sent warmth spiraling through me. "How do you know my name?"
"I know a lot of things about you." He drifted around me slowly; I fought the impulse to face him and remain visible. Aria Hollowfang. Eighteen. Omega. That is what everyone believes, or so.
I turned to confront him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He paused just in front of me, near enough I could notice the amber flecks in his eyes. "It means you're not what you seem." "That power I felt when I touched you—that wasn't omega energy."
My heart thumped against my ribs. "You're incorrect."
He extended deliberately, allowing me time to retreat. His fingertips brushed my cheek when I didn't. "Then why does touching you feel like touching lightning?"
Between us, the connection erupted, electric and demanding. I pulled back, but he grabbed my wrist.
"Don't," I whispered.
His thumb encircled my pulse point, and he asked, "Don't what? Don't you feel this? you recognize what's going on between us?"
"We are enemies," I said desperately; "your family killed mine."
Something flashed over his face—surprise, then something more black. "What did you say?"
"You heard me. The Blackthorns and the Hollowfangs have been at war for generations. Your grandfather murdered my—"
His grip tightened. "You're what? Your grandfather? Your parents?"
I attempted to back off, but his grasp was tight. "Let me go."
"Not till you tell me what you know about your family."
"I know enough." My voice broke. "I know they are dead because of your own."
Kael gazed at me for a long minute and then let go of my wrist like I had scorched him. "You know nothing."
"Then tell me!"
"I can't." He ran a hand through his black hair, now appearing younger. "Not yet. Not until I know for sure."
"Of what exactly?”
Before he could respond, approaching footsteps slammed through the woods. boots, several groups, approaching.
Kael's face changed immediately; predator surfaced. Run.
"RUN!" He shoved me toward the Hollowfang side of the border just as the first enforcer burst through the trees.
Marcus, one of Elder Thorne's most trusted men? I knew him right away. When he saw me with Kael, his eyes opened wide.
Marcus murmured, hand moving to the silver knife at his hip, "Well, well. Do we have it here?
"It's not what it looks like," I said quickly.
"Really? Because it looks like you're fraternizing with the enemy. His gaze danced from us. "Elder Thorne will be rather interested in this development.
Kael moved to place himself between Marcus and me. "She's done nothing wrong.
Marcus laughed, but there was no humor in it. "She is an omega meeting in secret with a Blackthorn heir; I would term that treason.
The word hit me like a physical blow. Treason. Treason carried the death penalty.
"Please," I said softly, "Don't tell him.
Cold eyes examined me from Marcus, "Give me one solid reason why I shouldn't.
Opening my mouth, but no words came. What am I to say? That I was coupled to the enemy? That would just compound problems.
Kael moved forward. "Because she's not who you think she is.
"Kael, don't," I warned.
But he rejected me. "She's not just any omega, Marcus. She's—”
Whizzing across the sky, a crossbow bolt pierced the oak tree just a few inches from Kael's head.
More enforcers, Hollowfang included, swarmed the open area. Growing fear made me see that this had been a trap. For what, then?
"Well played, Marcus," a fresh voice said. Elder Thorne emerged from behind a towering pine tree with a somber, worn face. "Though I wish it had not come to this.
"You knew," I breathed. "You knew I would come here.
"I suspected. His pale eyes pinned on me. "You've been restless since the bonding ceremony. Raising doubts. your fragrance has been changing.
My blood froze. "My fragrance?
"Yes, child. You smell like him now. He nodded toward Kael. "Like power. Like something that shouldn't exist.
Kael snarled, his form beginning to change. "Touch her and die.
Elder Thorne grinned, but his eyes said, "Bold words for someone outnumbered ten to one. Stand down, Blackthorn. You're not the only one with secrets.
"What's that supposed to mean? I demanded.
Elder Thorne grinned. "It means, my dear, that your little mate bond is the least of your difficulties.
He waved, and the enforcers lifted their silver-tipped crossbow bolts directed at my heart.
"You see, Aria, Elder Thorne said colloquially, 'we have been waiting eighteen years for you to show your true nature. And now that you have... '
He took a break and reveled in the now.
"Now we may finally kill you.
The world tipped, weakening my knees.
Elder Thorne chuckled, "Did you actually believe we didn't know what you are? The last of the Moonborn bloodline, the one foretold to either join the packs or exterminate them all.
Moonborn. The term hit me as a physical blow. The legendary bloodline that had been pursued to extinction decades ago. The shapeshifters who could manipulate not only wolves but also all creatures of the night.
I murmured, "That's impossible.
Is it? Say, child, what did you feel when he touched you?
I was unable to respond, unable to draw breath.
"Power," Elder Thorne said for me. "Ancient power. The kind that could reshape our world.
He raised his hand, and I saw the silver-lined crossbow in his hold.
"Which is precisely why you have to die.
Straight and true, the bolt traveled.
It never arrived, though.
Kael rushed in front of me, the silver tip piercing his shoulder rather than my chest. He hit the ground hard, blood spreading across his shirt.
The scream ripped from my voice.
Along with it, something else.
Power.
Unrefined, wild, and utterly heartbreaking.
Underneath my feet, the earth. Trees moved without wind. And all the wolves in the clearing, including the elders, knelt as an old power pushed down on them.
I had it for a short while- the reality of who I was, the person I might be.
Kael's hand then discovered mine; his fingers feeble yet strong.
He whispered, blood flecking his lips, "Run; don't look back.
I couldn't run, though. Not when he was bleeding from me. Not when all I believed myself to know had just cracked.
Rather, I kneeled next to him, my energy swirling in the air around us.
I am not departing from you.
His eyes widened. "Aria—"
"I'm not leaving you," I said louder this time, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Fear overcame the confidence in Elder Thorne's eyes as he fought to stand up. "You don't get what you're endangering.
I turned up at him and saw for the first time in my life that I was not afraid.
"Then educate me on it.
But as I spoke, I could feel it—the force mounting inside me, ready to escape. And I understood with perfect clarity that nothing will ever be the same.
The girl who had knelt helpless under the moon had vanished.
And in her place emerged something much more hazardous.
Something that might save them all.
Alternatively, obliterate all they had ever known.
It appeared that the decision was mine.
First, though, I had to determine what the heck I should pick.
- Writer
