THE ALPHA WHO CLAIMED THE EMBER QUEEN

Red and Gold

I felt like I was going to freeze as I walked deeper into the woods. Leaves brushed hard over my skin. It felt like they were alive, and that made chills run down my spine. The darkness made every branch seem crooked, like little fingers that could capture me if I came closer.

My grip tightened around my flashlight. I had the kitchen knife I had picked up before leaving the house in my other hand. It was small. Useless, probably, but it was all I had.

Milie had been missing for three days.

Three days of silence. I was already tired of pretending that everything was fine.

"What if she's hurt?… What if she is even dead?" I whispered under my breath.

That is why I am in the woods tonight, even though I knew this was a big mistake. I needed answers.

“MILIE!” I shouted.

My voice cracked as it echoed through the trees… then vanished. I swallowed hard.

“Milie!” I tried again, louder this time, but there was no response. The silence that followed pressed in on me.

Suddenly something moved in the bushes, just like the first attack.

I froze. At first, I told myself it was just the wind brushing through the bushes.

Then it happened again. A slow rustle moving closer and closer.

My flashlight swung toward the sound. The beam landed on a cluster of bushes. Something was crouched there. I saw fur first, then a claw. Long, jagged, dragging slowly across the dirt. It was slowly revealing itself to me.

My breath caught. The creature lifted its head fast.

Right then I knew it was the same thing. The same nightmare from months ago.

Only now... it was real, and it looked hungry.

It stepped out of the shadows.

My stomach twisted.

It moved wrong... too tall, too bent, like its body had forgotten how to exist properly. Its limbs were stretched, its joints angled unnaturally.

Its mouth hung open too wide.

Teeth like broken shards.

Its eyes locked onto me.

A low growl vibrated through its chest.

My heart slammed violently against my ribs.

Then it lunged violently toward me. I screamed and stumbled backward, my flashlight slipping in my grip as panic exploded through me.

I wasn’t fast enough. I knew I wasn’t. This was how it ended. But before it could reach me, something crashed hard into it.

A second beast exploded out of the darkness, slamming into the creature midair with enough force to shake the ground beneath my feet.

They hit the forest floor in a tangle of claws and teeth.

Snarling.

Ripping.

Destroying.

I couldn’t move. My body locked in place as I watched. The second creature was different. It fought with precision, like it calculated every move.

It didn’t thrash like the first monster.

Claws tore through flesh, teeth snapped, and blood sprayed across the leaves as they slammed into tree trunks, splintering bark with the force of their bodies.

The forest echoed with their fight. A violent, brutal symphony of survival. It ended quickly. The first creature let out a high, twisted scream before staggering backward. It was wounded and bleeding, as it limped into the darkness and vanished.

Silence fell again. The second beast didn’t follow.

It stayed where it stood, its chest rising and falling slowly.

Moonlight slipped through the trees, revealing its black fur. A stronger and more powerful build.

But something made my breath catch. It didn’t feel like an animal. It felt like something… higher.

Then it lifted its head, and I saw its eyes.

Red and gold.

My knees nearly gave out. The same eyes. The same ones from that night. The ones that had watched me from the darkness. It stared at me.

Not like prey. It felt like it knew me.

Seconds stretched, and neither of us moved.

Then it turned away and slipped into the trees.

My body started shaking. Cold sweat soaked through my shirt. My lungs burned like I’d forgotten how to breathe. And then I ran as fast as my legs could carry.

Branches tore at my skin as I stumbled through the forest, barely able to see where I was going. I didn’t stop. I could not even think or look back. Not until I was home, safe and locked inside my room. But even then sleep never came.

The next morning I didn’t wait. I walked straight into the principal’s office. The secretary tried to stop me.

“Lina, you can’t just...”

I ignored her and pushed the door open.

Principal Arah looked up as I entered. He was too calm and composed, like nothing in the world was wrong.

“Miss Lina,” he said evenly. “Is something urgent?”

I slammed my hands against his desk.

“Milie is missing.” My voice shook.

“With everything happening, you expect me to believe this is normal?”

His expression didn’t change. “I understand your concern...”

“No,” I cut in sharply. “You don’t.”

Silence stretched.

“I saw something,” I added.

His eyes flickered. Just slightly.

“You saw something?” he repeated.

I hesitated, then nodded. He leaned forward slowly.

“Trauma can distort perception,” he said calmly. “It creates shadows where there are none.”

Anger burned in my chest as I listened to him.

“You don’t believe me.”

A polite smile touched his lips. “You will be fine, Lina.”

My hands clenched. “Students are disappearing.”

This time, he paused. “And yet,” he said quietly, “you believe the danger is outside the school?”

Something about the way he said it made my stomach twist.

“Goodbye, Lina.”

And just like that, the conversation was over. I left with one certainty. He knew what was going on.

I started watching Lucien more carefully. He looked different. Always tired and worn down. Dark shadows beneath his eyes. A long scratch along his neck. Bandages wrapped around his knuckles, like he’d been fighting something. Or someone.

And sometimes... I caught him watching me.

More than before. Lucien was definitely hiding something. I just didn’t know if he was the danger or the only thing keeping it away.

The next day, I didn't see him in school, but that didn't bother me until one day turned into two. Then three. And just like that, Lucien Blackmoor was gone.

No one in school noticed or even talked about it.

That was when I knew something was very wrong.

As usual, I took matters into my own hands.

The rumor reached me quietly. Someone had seen him near the west ridge. It was deep in the forest. Restricted land. I decided to go see for myself.

That’s how I found it. A cabin, hidden beneath twisted pines, covered in ivy. It looked forgotten, and I believed that it was his. So I waited there until dusk. Watched from the trees.

And then he appeared, moving too quietly.

There was dark, dried blood on his jacket. He stepped inside the cabin and closed the door.

A few minutes passed and I started hearing him scream from inside. It tore through the forest. He was in raw pain. I ran toward the cabin. The window was fogged but cracked. I looked inside and froze.

Lucien was on the floor, barely conscious. He was covered in deep cuts, bruises, and blood. His body trembled violently, like something inside him was breaking apart.

I didn’t think; I moved. The door creaked open.

The air inside smelled like ash… and iron.

“Lucien?”

He didn't answer me.

I dropped beside him. Pressed cloth against his wounds. His skin burned too hot.

“Stay with me,” I whispered. Then he suddenly stopped moving.

My heart dropped.

“Lucien…?”

His hand snapped around my wrist.

I froze.

His eyes snapped open. Red and gold glowing eyes stared back at me. The truth hit me all at once.

It was him all along.

“Lucien…”

He looked at me, but not like himself. Then he screamed and bolted out of the room into the woods. I ran after him. Through trees. Through darkness, but the forest swallowed him whole.

And in that moment... I understood something that made my blood run cold. The monster I had been chasing… might not be the real danger.