Chapter 2 – “Run With Me”
1195 Words
The moment Aria’s hand closed around his, something shifted.
Not in the air. Not even in her body.
Deeper.
Like a lock sliding open in the pit of her soul.
Kael’s grip was warm and solid, calloused and real, and when he pulled her up, her knees buckled. Weeks of torment had drained her strength, and the moment her weight shifted, her legs gave way.
He caught her before she hit the floor.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured, one arm wrapping around her waist.
“I can walk,” she snapped, breathless.
His brow arched, but he didn’t let go. “Can you?”
Aria gritted her teeth and pushed off him, forcing her legs to hold steady. Each step felt like walking on broken glass. The silver cuffs had burned her down to the bone. Her muscles screamed. But she would not fall again. Not in front of him. Not in front of anyone.
“Fine,” Kael muttered. “Then walk. But stay close.”
She didn’t need to be told twice.
They slipped through the shattered cell door and into the corridor beyond, where the torchlight flickered low. The dungeon’s scent clung to her—blood, rot, damp stone. A place meant to erase people, not imprison them. Her body ached for the open air, for the moonlight she hadn’t seen in too long.
But escape wasn’t just about getting out.
It was about surviving once she did.
“How did you get in?” she whispered as they moved, her voice barely audible over the sound of their footsteps.
Kael didn’t glance back. “Same way I get everywhere. Quietly.”
“You tore the door off its hinges.”
“I said quietly, not subtly.”
Despite herself, Aria almost smiled.
Almost.
The corridors twisted in unnatural ways, carved from stone and old magic, meant to trap even wolves who managed to shift. The guards had once told her no one escaped. Not unless they were carried out in pieces.
But Kael moved like he’d memorized every path.
Or like the shadows parted for him.
“Who are you really?” she asked, breath coming shallow as she clutched the edge of the wall for support.
“Already told you. Kael.”
“That’s not a name. That’s a warning.”
He looked over his shoulder, lips curving faintly. “Then maybe you should’ve stayed in the cell.”
“I’ve been dying for weeks. I thought death would feel colder.”
Kael stopped walking. For a breath, only silence stretched between them.
Then he turned.
“Don’t talk like that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re not dying anymore.”
His voice held no softness—but it hit her harder than any blow. Not a promise. A command. One her wolf seemed to hear.
They moved again, winding past iron-banded doors and through old stone halls that smelled of forgotten things. Aria’s vision blurred. Pain pulsed behind her eyes. But she kept moving.
She had to.
They reached a heavy wooden door. Kael placed one hand against the edge, then closed his eyes. Aria watched as something flickered beneath his skin—power, ancient and dark, lacing through his veins like black lightning.
The lock melted.
Literally.
She stared at the glowing metal now dripping onto the floor. “What are you?”
Kael didn’t answer.
He pushed the door open, and for the first time in weeks, fresh air swept across her skin.
Cold. Sweet. Real.
Aria sucked in a breath like she’d been drowning.
The forest beyond the prison walls was dark, mist curling along the ground. Moonlight filtered through the trees—soft silver and shifting shadows. For a moment, she just stood there, taking it in.
Then she heard it.
A bell.
Low. Distant. But not far enough.
“They know,” she breathed.
Kael’s jaw clenched. “Time’s up.”
He moved fast. Too fast. One moment he was standing beside her—the next, he’d scooped her up like she weighed nothing and sprinted into the trees.
“Put me down!” she gasped, fists hitting his chest.
“You can’t outrun them like this.”
“I’m not a damsel.”
“No. You’re half-dead.”
His grip didn’t loosen. If anything, he held her tighter, and his body moved with terrifying speed, branches snapping in their wake, the wind tearing at her shift. She hated the way it felt to be carried. Hated being helpless.
But gods—it was freedom.
Real. Solid. Racing through her like fire and air and adrenaline.
Behind them, the bell grew louder. Then came the howls.
Not just any wolves.
Trackers.
Trained to hunt, bred to kill. Aria knew their scent—muted pine, rot, and iron. She’d healed one of them once, back before she knew what they were used for. Before she was one of their targets.
“I can feel them,” she whispered.
Kael didn’t answer. His focus was absolute.
The forest blurred. His body moved like liquid shadow, dodging branches, leaping over roots. And still—Aria felt the pull behind them.
She twisted, peering over his shoulder.
Something was coming.
A shadow darker than the trees. Larger than a wolf. Eyes red like coals. And it moved… wrong.
“What is that?” she asked.
Kael didn’t answer.
Because he knew.
And he didn’t like it.
“I need to shift,” she said suddenly.
“You can’t. Silver—”
“I can.”
“You’ll die.”
“Then we both will,” she snapped.
For a second, he looked at her like she was more trouble than she was worth. Then he slowed, setting her down in a small hollow between two jagged rocks. His hand pressed against her collarbone.
“You try to shift, and the silver will eat you alive.”
Her hands trembled. Her knees gave out again. But the moon was overhead now, glowing pale and furious. Her wolf stirred in her chest, still weak, still wounded—but awake.
“I don’t care,” she said.
Kael cursed low. “You’re insane.”
“No,” she whispered. “I’m done being a prisoner.”
The pain hit first—ripping through her limbs like fire. Her scream broke the quiet. Her back arched, eyes rolling white. Her bones cracked. The silver flared against her skin, smoke rising.
But the shift didn’t stop.
Kael stared, stunned, as the metal cuffs hissed, glowed—and shattered.
Aria fell forward, panting. Still human. Barely.
But the silver was gone.
“I told you,” she said, voice hoarse.
Kael crouched beside her, eyes gleaming. “That wasn’t normal.”
“No,” she agreed. “But I’m not normal anymore.”
A howl split the night. Closer now.
Kael’s hand wrapped around her arm. “Can you run?”
She nodded.
This time, she didn’t fall.
They sprinted into the trees together, side by side. And when the shadows surged behind them, it wasn’t fear that burned in Aria’s chest.
It was rage.
And something older.
Something wild.
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