Chapter 2: The Crimson
828 Words
Chapter 2: The Crimson Awakening
The thorns of the Blackwood Forest tore into my skin, but I didn't stop running.
The rain was pouring now, washing away the blood from the scratches on my face.
Behind me, the distant howling of the Crescent Pack patrols echoed through the trees.
They weren’t just letting me leave; they were hunting me for sport. Brandon’s enforcers wanted to make sure the "useless Omega" never made it out alive.
My breath came in ragged gasps. My thrift-store dress was ruined, soaked in mud and clinging to my shivering body.
Run, Aria. Just keep running.
Suddenly, a heavy grey blur slammed into my side.
I flew through the air, crashing hard against the roots of a massive oak tree.
The air was knocked out of my lungs, and for a second, everything went black.
When I blinked away the dizziness, a massive wolf was standing over me, its yellow eyes gleaming with s******c pleasure.
It was Lucas, one of Brandon’s loyal lackeys.
He shifted back into his human form, n***d and arrogant, a cruel smirk on his face.
"Well, well. Look at the little runaway,"
Lucas sneered, stepping closer.
"Alpha Brandon said we should make sure you don't survive the night.
It’s mercy, really. A wolfless b***h like you would just be meat for the rogues anyway."
I tried to push myself up, but my ankle sharped with agony. It was sprained.
"Screw you, Lucas,"
I spat, wiping a mixture of rain and blood from my mouth.
"Still got a mouth on you?"
Lucas lunged forward, grabbing me by the hair and pulling my head back.
The pain made tears prick my eyes, but I glared at him with pure hatred.
"Let’s see how loud you scream when I tear your throat out."
He began to shift, his bones cracking and his face elongating into a snout.
His claws dug into my shoulders, drawing fresh blood.
Deep inside me, something snapped.
It wasn't a spark. It was an absolute explosion.
For eighteen years, I had been told I was empty.
But right now, as death stared me in the face, a roaring flame ignited in my chest.
It wasn't the weak, submissive wolf spirit of an Omega. It felt old. It felt ancient. It felt angry.
How dare they?
The voice echoed in my head, but it wasn't mine.
It was deeper, echoing with the power of a thousand thunderstorms. How dare these mongrels touch the blood of royalty?
A blinding silver light erupted from my skin.
Lucas let out a yelp of pure terror as the light scorched his flesh. He stumbled back, dropping me.
My bones didn't just c***k—they shattered and reformed in a split second, fueled by an agonizing, intoxicating rush of raw power.
My vision shifted.
The pitch-black forest suddenly became as bright as day.
Every scent, every sound—the heartbeat of a mouse a mile away, the rustle of the leaves—slammed into my consciousness.
I looked down at my paws.
They weren't grey. They weren't brown.
They were covered in fur as white as pure snow, glowing with a faint, ethereal silver aura. I wasn't just a wolf.
I was massive. I towered over Lucas’s wolf form.
The Silver Wolf. The legend was real.
Lucas, now fully shifted into his grey wolf, took one look at me and his tail tucked instantly between his legs.
The arrogance in his eyes vanished, replaced by a primal, bone-deep terror.
The bloodline pressure radiating off me was so suffocating that he sank to the mud, whimpering like a beaten puppy.
He tried to run, but I was faster than thought.
With one leap, I pinned him to the ground.
My silver claws sank deep into his back. He howled in agony, begging for mercy through our broken mind-link.
‘Aria! Please! I was just following orders!’
I didn't feel pity.
I didn't feel hesitation. They had thrown me to the wolves, and now, I was the apex predator.
I leaned down, my jaws snapping close around his neck.
I didn't kill him—death was too easy.
Instead, I bit down just hard enough to sever his wolf connection, crushing his pride forever.
I threw his limp, unconscious human body aside into the mud.
I threw my head back and let out a howl.
The sound ripped through the Blackwood Forest, shaking the very earth.
It wasn't a cry of pain. It was a declaration of war.
Brandon, Chloe, and the entire Crescent Pack would pay for what they did.
But first, I had to survive the night.
As the echoes of my howl died down, the bushes across the clearing rustled.
The scent of ozone, dark chocolate, and pure, intoxicating danger flooded my nose.
A massive, pitch-black wolf—three times the size of any Alpha I had ever seen—stepped out of the shadows.
His eyes were a piercing, hypnotic crimson.
A Lycan.
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